References cont. (32) — Clergy Child Molesters

• [Full disclosure and co-operation demanded by 'toothless' board.]

CHICAGO (IL): The National Review Board that is investigating sexual-abuse charges in the Catholic Church issued a stern warning on Tuesday to uncooperative church officials: Be cooperative with us or be identified. Some bishops have said that they will wait for the Vatican to tell them directly to cooperate with the board. That is not the attitude one board member wants. "Make no mistake about it, unless the bishops of the country are fully committed to this, take our reports, take our recommendations, and run with them, and work with them, and put the protection of children as their very highest priority, then much of our work will be wasted," said Bob Bennett, of the National Review Board. Francis Cardinal George agrees with Bennett but said the church's leadership has already made a great deal of progress. "There's an awful lot of loose ends, and the constant care of victims is going to go on for years and years and years. These are people that are permanently wounded. A lot of things remain to be done, but the greatest single promise made in Dallas has been fulfilled." -- NBC 5, "Full Disclosure Demanded Of Church Officials," www.nbc5.com/news/2367225/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65194 . (Start of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:09:10 AM, Wednesday, July 30, 2003 edition)

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Most newsitems are from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46 e-mails • O'Malley's new direction. BOSTON (MA): The installation today of Archbishop-designate Sean P. O'Malley as the ninth leader of the Archdiocese of Boston offers hope for transformation in a church hobbled by the calamitous clergy sexual abuse scandal. O'Malley, 59, is known as someone who listens to and respects his followers, the surest way to restore trust after so many years of deception and coverups. O'Malley has acknowledged that he faces monumental tasks. It could hardly be otherwise following revelations that at least 237 priests and 13 other church employees have been accused of molesting at least 789 minors over six decades. He admits even to feeling intimidated by his new post. This is refreshing humility for area Catholics who were not served well for almost 19 years under a predecessor who stubbornly resisted admissions of responsibility, undermining effective measures to end the abuse. -- Boston Globe, "O'Malley's new direction," www.boston.com , (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Recent moves fuel speculation AG Reilly will run for governor. BOSTON (MA): Get yourself elected to a top office in Massachusetts as a Democrat, and the speculation begins that you're planning a run for governor. Throw in a bold call for University of Massachusetts President William Bulger's resignation, launch a 16-month investigation into the devastating effects of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic church, and finally, hire one of Ted Kennedy's top political aides, and the political guessing game really begins. So it is for Tom Reilly, the state's attorney general since 1998 and a Democrat drawing increasing scrutiny as a possible contender for governor in 2006. Reilly was at the center of a storm of attention last week as he unveiled a 76-page report detailing the depth of the sexual abuse crisis that has consumed the Archdiocese of Boston since early 2002. -- Berkshire Eagle, "Recent moves fuel speculation AG Reilly will run for governor," www.berkshireeagle.com/ , By Julie Mehegan, Eagle Statehouse Bureau, Wednesday, July 30, 2003.
• BG seeks dismissal of abuse suits. NASHUA (NH): Bishop Guertin High School and the religious order that owns the Catholic school want two lawsuits filed against them thrown out of court because they were filed more than 20 years too late. The two men who accuse the school of wrongdoing say a longstanding pattern of concealment and cover-up by the school and the Rhode Island-based religious order, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, should allow their cases to go forward. Soon it will be up to Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff to decide. The lawsuits were filed last year by Kevin Dandley of Hudson and Jeffrey Linton of Afton, Va. Both men claim they were sexually abused by teachers while they were students at Bishop Guertin in the 1970s. -- The Telegraph, "BG seeks dismissal of abuse suits," www.nashuatelegraph.com , By Jonathan Van Fleet, (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• The other side of the altar. One Man's Life in the Catholic Priesthood. By Paul E. Dinter. Farrar Straus Giroux. 240 pp. $23. WASHINGTON: New York's first Catholic archbishop, John Hughes, was a blunt-spoken Irish immigrant fabled for his political and organizational skills. During the nativist anti-Catholic riots of the 1840s, he notoriously posted armed guards around churches. He later laid the cornerstone to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a monument to Catholic ascendancy in the city and the nation. In an overwhelmingly Protestant country, Hughes was determined that the Catholic Church would stand up for itself and its despised congregants. Under him and his successors in New York and the nation's other big cities, that church became the principal vehicle for the education, care and upward mobility of millions of poor immigrants. Not all Catholic bishops have possessed either Hughes's dedication to his flock or his singleness of purpose. According to Paul E. Dinter, who was ordained a priest in the archdiocese of New York in 1971 and resigned from the priesthood 23 years later, bishops are more likely to be pampered, pompous, small-minded bureaucrats who rose through the ranks as sycophants and expect the same abject behavior from their subordinates. Some are even worse than that. In the 1970s, Dinter reports, one bishop -- it is not clear if he was from New York -- routinely invited small groups of seminarians to his country house, where he would select one as his bed-mate for the night. Dinter does not reveal this bishop's name; he claims to have heard the story "secondhand from one of the chosen ones." The bishop, he says, is one of the "cardinals now sanctimoniously crowing about the church's need to protect its children." -- Washington Post, "The other side of the altar," www.washingtonpost.com . One Man's Life in the Catholic Priesthood, By Paul E. Dinter, Farrar Straus Giroux. 240 pp. $23. Jul 29 03
• 5 more suits accuse priest of abuse. ST. LOUIS (MO): Five lawsuits filed Tuesday in St. Louis bring to a dozen the number alleging Catholic priest Michael McGrath molested children and that the Archdiocese of St. Louis covered it up. Like many of the earlier suits, each one filed Tuesday alleges McGrath fondled the children while letting them drive his van during day trips and weekend outings he organized for young teens throughout the 1980s. After the suits were announced, a group representing victims of sexual abuse by clergy leafleted McGrath's neighborhood in Richmond Heights to warn his neighbors of the suits. McGrath could not be reached Tuesday. He has previously declined to comment through his attorney. Each of the five new plaintiffs was identified in court filings as "John Doe" to protect his identity; none of them attended a news conference convened by their lawyer outside the archdiocese offices on Lindell Boulevard on Tuesday. Four accusers allege McGrath abused them between 1979 and 1981 while the priest was an assistant at St. Patrick's in Wentzville. The fifth alleges abuse that occurred between 1984 and 1985 while McGrath was an assistant at St. Simon the Apostle in south St. Louis County. "He took them driving and he sexually molested them," said Patrick Noaker, of St. Paul, Minn., one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "5 more suits accuse priest of abuse," www.stltoday.com , By Jeremy Kohler, 12:20 AM, Jun [?] 30 03.
• Diocese nearing compliance with bishops' protection order. PHOENIX (AZ): The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix says it has almost fully complied with the U.S. bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People a year after the charter's passage. On a day when the bishops' National Review Board released a progress report, the Phoenix diocese is awaiting a visit from a team of auditors gauging compliance with the charter, passed last year by bishops at the height of the sex-abuse controversy. Phoenix diocese Youth Advocate Jennifer O'Connor said the auditors are scheduled to visit Phoenix for a week starting Monday. Nationally, audits are scheduled to be completed in early fall, with release of the report in December, the review board said. It has promised full disclosure of the audit and three other studies under way. -- The Arizona Star, Diocese nearing compliance with bishops' protection order, www.azcentral.com , by Michael Clancy, The Arizona Republic, Jul 30 2003
• N.Ky. bishop's first year marked by crisis, grace. ERLANGER (KY): Bishop Roger Foys' favorite role as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Covington - a post he's had for a year now - is that of pastor. But getting to know the 90,000 Catholics, the priests, deacons and other religious on his 53-parish tour of the diocese is also the most challenging. Despite national attention to a church scandal, sex abuse is not what he's hearing about from parishioners. "What I'm hearing is, 'We love our pastor, don't move our pastor,'" he said. "So I tell them, if I can go 17 or 18 years without moving anyone, I'll be fine." Foys, who turned 58 Sunday, has had an eventful tenure so far, marked by his one-year anniversary this month. He's already dealt with the diocese's brush with the sex scandal, christened a 125-foot bell tower at All Saints Church in Walton from a crane - his knees shaking under his robes - and come to appreciate the diocese's schools and retreat program. -- Cincinnati Enquirer, N.Ky. bishop's first year marked by crisis, grace, www.enquirer.com , By Karen Vance, Enquirer contributor, Jul 30 03.
• Catholic review board promises audit by January. CHICAGO (IL): Members of the panel charged with overseeing cleanup of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States said Tuesday they will release results of an audit of every diocese in January--whether the news is good or bad. The National Review Board of 12 prominent lay Catholics, led by Illinois Appellate Judge Anne Burke, met in Chicago a year after it was formed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to keep bishops accountable for implementing new Vatican laws about sexual abuse. As of Monday, 45 of 195 dioceses in the United States had been reviewed by auditors--many of whom are former FBI agents, said board member William Burleigh, former CEO of the E.W. Scripps Company. Two-thirds of the dioceses also have submitted information for a study expected to detail how many priests have abused children, how many children have been victimized and how much the sex abuse crisis has cost the American church financially, Burleigh said. The results of the audit and study are expected to be released "sometime in January," said board member Robert Bennett, a Washington, D.C., attorney. -- Chicago Sun-Times, Catholic review board promises audit by January, www.suntimes.com , By Cathleen Falsani, Religion Reporter, July 30, 2003
• New archbishop brings hope for a new start. BOSTON (MA): With his reputation for healing dioceses wounded by clergy sex abuse, the expectations for Bishop Sean O'Malley are enormous as he takes over as leader of the Archdiocese of Boston. As final preparations were being made for O'Malley's installation as Boston's new archbishop, some Catholics saw O'Malley as a new beginning for the church. But others questioned whether O'Malley, a traditionalist who supports the conservative teachings of the church, will be able to make the changes needed to repair the damage here. O'Malley was to be installed Wednesday as the sixth archbishop of Boston, the fourth-largest diocese in the nation. In keeping with O'Malley's simplistic life as a member of the Capuchin Franciscan order, the ceremony was planned to be more low-key than the installation ceremonies held for his predecessors. It also was toned down to reflect the circumstances of O'Malley's arrival in Boston, where more than 500 lawsuits are pending from people who claim they were sexually abused by priests over the past six decades. -- Woonsocket Call, "New archbishop brings hope for a new start," www.zwire.com , by Denise Lavoie , Associated Press Writer, (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Moving In Day For O'Malley. BOSTON (MA): The installation of a new archbishop has usually been a cause for rejoicing in Boston. This year, the long shadow of the church abuse scandal has muted celebrations. Bishop Sean O'Malley was to be installed Wednesday as the sixth archbishop of Boston, a community still coming to grips with the allegations that brought down his predecessor. Some Boston-area Roman Catholics see O'Malley's arrival as a new beginning for the church since he has established a reputation for healing dioceses wounded by sexual abuse. But others question whether a traditionalist who supports the conservative teachings of the church will be able to make the changes needed to repair the damage here. -- CBS, (AP), "Moving In Day For O'Malley," www.cbsnews.com , July 30 03
• Catholics' priest troubles spawn variety of Web sites. UNITED STATES: The allegations of clergy sexual abuse that surfaced in the past two years have led to creation of a number of Web sites that provide information on the topic from a variety of viewpoints. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], which has operated a Web site for victims of clergy sexual abuse, together with families of alleged victims and concerned lay Catholics, this week launched a new site at www.catholicsforaction.org , through its New England SNAP chapter. While the recently redesigned SNAP site at www.survivorsnetwork.org , focuses on the needs of victims, the new site is designed to help lay people in Massachusetts who are "determined to do whatever we can to make our church safer." While this site is the latest to arrive in cyberspace, a number of sites already exist on the issue. Worcester Diocese Voice of the Faithful discusses its work at www.votfworcester.org . The area organization lists resources for victims in Central Massachusetts and posts general information on clerical abuse. Mary T. Jean of Leominster, leader of the Worcester Voice, maintains a site at www.worcestervoice.com . Her site contains her own report on the extent of the sexual abuse issue in the Worcester diocese. She also lists resources for victims and provides links to other sites. She said yesterday the report has been downloaded nearly 1,000 times since it went onto the site about two weeks ago. Accused priests and deacons can find information from an organization headed by Monsignor Michael Higgins, a canon lawyer, at Justice for Priests and Deacons. Monsignor Higgins, who is based in San Diego, on his site at www.justiceforpriests.org , maintains priests and deacons have rights under the church's canon law and should not surrender them. -- Telegram & Gazette, "Catholics' priest troubles spawn variety of Web sites," www.telegram.com , by Kathleen A. Shaw, July 30 03.
• Protesters expected at installation. BOSTON (MA): Protesters ranging from clergy abuse victims to right-to-life activists will gather outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross during the installation Mass for Archbishop-designate Sean P. O'Malley today. Survivors First and another ad-hoc victims' group whose members have protested Sunday Mass at the cathedral for the past 18 months have city permits for a march along Washington Street and rally near the southwest corner of the church. At 9 a.m., the Life Action League of Massachusetts, which did not pursue a permit, will stake a claim on the sidewalk in front of the cathedral to protest O'Malley's invitation of Catholic politicians and others who support abortion rights. "It's morally wrong for the Catholic church to say you shouldn't be voting for politicians who are pro-abortion and then turn around and invite them to a private religious ceremony," said league President Laurie Letourneau, describing the action as a "prayerful protest." -- Boston Herald, "Protesters expected at installation," http://www2.bostonherald.com , by Robin Washington, Wed Jul 30 03.
• Vatican Secret Orders Not To Tell Police -- Conspiracy Grounds? BOSTON (MA): A lawyer for clergy sexual abuse victims said he has documented evidence the Vatican ordered Catholic Church officials in 1962 to keep charges against priests "a secret of the Holy Office" and not to notify law enforcement authorities. Carmen L. Durso, a native of Haverhill, said the evidence is contained in a secret Vatican paper that he only recently obtained and could open the door to prosecution of Cardinal Bernard Law and other Boston Archdiocese officials under federal conspiracy and obstruction of justice laws. Durso submitted the 38-page paper to U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan in Boston yesterday, along with a letter urging a federal investigation into the clergy sexual abuse scandal. "We ask you to consider whether these offenses are punishable under any federal laws or statutes, specifically including those which punish conspiratorial activities," said Durso. "The records which have been produced indicate that the abusive acts and the coverups by supervisors have been ongoing since at least the 1950s to present." A week ago, State Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly concluded his 16-month investigation into six decades of clergy sex abuse, concluding that while the number of victims exceeded 1,000 he could find no criminal law under which to prosecute church leaders. -- The Eagle-Tribune, "Vatican secret disclosed," www.eagletribune.com , By Meg Murphy, Tuesday, July 29, 2003.
[CROSS-INDEX: See also Telegram & Gazette, "Vatican document instructed secrecy in abuse cases," http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030729/NEWS/307290469/1025/NEWSLETTERS08 , by Kathleen A. Shaw, July 29 03.] Newsitem dated Jul 29 03
• Vatican's 1962 excommunication threat shields criminal clergy -- Doyle the source? BOSTON (MA): A Latin document bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII [23rd] outlined a 1962 Vatican procedure for shielding sexually abusive priests, two lawyers for plaintiffs in cases against the church maintain. The "Crimine Solicitationis," translated as "Instructions on proceeding in cases of solicitation," states abuse cases are subject to the "papal secret" and threatens excommunication against victims who do not come forward within 30 days, according to the document given to authorities by Carmen Durso of Boston and Daniel J. Shea of Houston. On Monday, Durso presented an English translation to U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan. "We gave it to the U.S. Attorney because we wanted him to understand what we mean when we say this has been an ongoing conspiracy," he said. Added Shea, "It's an instruction manual for a rigged trial for a priest accused of sexual crimes, including crimes against children." The document, which Shea said he had been trying to uncover for more than a year and recently received from canon lawyer the Rev. Thomas Doyle, allows victims one month to make their claim known to the supervising bishop. -- Boston Herald, "Lawyers eye former pope's blueprint to shield clergy," http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/vati07302003.htm , by Robin Washington, Wednesday, July 30, 2003.
• Victims see Vatican secrecy policy boosting chance of federal prosecution. BOSTON (MA): Alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse are hoping a 1962 Vatican document instructing church officials to keep sex abuse charges against priests secret will help persuade federal prosecutors to bring conspiracy charges against church leaders. A group of alleged victims delivered the 38-page document to the office of U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan on Monday, along with a letter asking Sullivan to investigate clergy sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese. Boston attorney Carmen Durso, who represents 85 alleged victims, said he believes the 1962 document could help federal prosecutors bring charges against church leaders who covered up abuse by priests for decades. Durso said federal prosecutors could use the document to show that there has been a long and continuous conspiracy within the church to keep clergy sex abuse a secret. He and other lawyers representing victims of alleged abuse have gone to federal prosecutors after state Attorney General Tom Reilly declined to press state charges against church leaders who shuffled accused priests among parishes rather than report the allegations. "It's remarkable, the Vatican's willingness to treat sexual abuse of children as a papal secret," Durso said at a news conference. The document, entitled "On the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of Solicitation," was obtained by Houston-based attorney Daniel Shea, who represents sex abuse victims in the Worcester Diocese. The instructional document instructs anyone involved in "denouncing" a priest for abuse to take an oath of secrecy. It indicates that all testimony on those matters is confidential, anyone who breaks the "secret of the Holy Office," risks excommunication. "I always knew about the culture of secrecy, but I didn't know it was stylized and formalized," Shea told The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence. Shea said he obtained the document from U.S. Air Force Maj. Thomas Doyle, a Catholic chaplain in Germany who translated the document from Latin into English. Doyle is a canonist who has advised hundreds of Catholics who have taken molestation claims to civil court. -- Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/ap/ma/1059512033.htm , The Associated Press (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Fourth lawsuit claims abuse at Boys Town. OMAHA, (Neb.): A fourth man who lived at Boys Town, the home for wayward youths made famous in a 1938 Spencer Tracy film, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually abused by a staffer. John Sturzenegger, 20, said in the lawsuit filed this month that he was abused during a 1997 diabetic incident, the Omaha World-Herald newspaper reported in Monday editions. He alleges that when he regained consciousness he found former teacher Glenn Moore fondling him. The lawsuit says Sturzenegger told Boys Town officials about the incident at the time, and no action was taken against Moore. Moore denied the allegation but declined to comment further, the newspaper said. Girls and Boys Town attorney James Martin Davis told the newspaper that Boys Town immediately reported the allegation to police, child protection services, the youth's guardian and juvenile court. Davis said a police investigation found no substance to the allegation. -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com , The Associated Press, (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Abuse suits point at Jehovah's Witnesses.
   Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com , By Don Thompson, Associated Press writer
   SACRAMENTO (CA): Four lawsuits filed in California claim Jehovah's Witnesses officials have been covering up alleged sex abuse of children by congregation leaders, adding to a series of similar suits nationwide. The law firms involved in the suits filed last week in three northern California counties are holding public meetings this week in search of more victims and witnesses. "It is a widespread problem and nothing's been done about it to protect these children, to protect future children," said Bill Brelsford, one of the Sacramento attorneys who filed four lawsuits Thursday in California. "Once they (church leaders) know about it, they don't do anything to stop it," Brelsford said. (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Second Orange Diocese priest suspended for alleged child porn. [CURRENT, Computer porn] ORANGE (California): A second priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has been placed on leave due to allegations of child pornography found on his computer, it was reported Tuesday. The Rev. Dominic Nguyen, who is performing administrative duties at an undisclosed location, was disciplined in the Diocese of Boise and sent to Orange County last year after a computer technician allegedly found child pornography on Nguyen's computer at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Twin Falls, Idaho. Nguyen was sent to Idaho in 2000 after he had a sexual relationship with a woman while at St. Columban Church in Garden Grove, Calif. Nguyen could not be reached Monday for comment. -- The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com , The Associated Press, (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Editorial: Toughening abuse laws. BOSTON (MA): "They let children be raped. Their punishment: NOTHING." So read the sign of a protester in Boston after the Massachusetts attorney general issued a devastating report on sexual abuse of children in the Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese but concluded that no criminal charges could be brought against church officials. Given what the report had to say, it's difficult not to feel the same outrage. Victims of abuse have a right to be angry and frustrated. They can and should put their anger to good use by working to enact stronger state laws to protect children, including the elimination of statutes of limitation in sexual assault cases. That may not do much to ease their personal pain, but it could go a long way toward making sure that future generations aren't sacrificed on the same altar. According to the Massachusetts report, more than 1,000 people may have been abused by clergy and others in the archdiocese since the 1940s. Attorney General Tom Reilly said the abuse was "so massive and so prolonged that it borders on the unbelievable." According to the report, church officials - in particular Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as archbishop in December as a result of the scandal - bore the ultimate responsibility for the tragedy. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com , July 27, 2003.
• Abuse victims share pain. BAY VIEW (WI): For almost 30 years, Mike Sneesby buried the memory of being sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest at St. Austine's Parish in Bay View - the first time when he was 12. Sneesby, 46, of Milwaukee hid it from his wife, his children and others close to him. He even tried to hide it from himself. He sank into depression, became withdrawn, at times angry and devoid of self-esteem. In 1997, Sneesby revealed his secret and has slowly learned to deal with it. His family has been supportive. "They've been on this whole journey with me," he says. "Without them I couldn't have made it through." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com , July 27, 2003.
• Catholics hoping new Boston Bishop O'Malley quells sex-abuse crisis. BOSTON (MA): Draped in the regalia of the church, an assembly of cardinals, bishops and the Knights of Columbus will furnish the pomp and pageantry when a humble friar formally becomes the leader of this city's Catholic Archdiocese this week. But another group among the 2,500 guests that Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley has invited to his installation ceremony will provide a sober reminder that this is far from a triumphant moment in the American Catholic Church. Sitting in the pews of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross will be many Boston-area Catholics who say they were sexually abused by predator priests while the leaders of the Boston archdiocese conspired to keep the crimes a secret. That they were invited to the Wednesday ceremony is a sign of the seriousness with which the unconventional O'Malley views the pervasive scandal that has made the nation's forth-largest archdiocese the focal point of the gravest crisis in the history of American Catholicism. -- Centre Daily Times, www.centredaily.com , By Stevenson Swanson, Chicago Tribune (KRT), (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Clergy abuse group expands in area. DETROIT (MI): A national organization for victims of Catholic clergy abuse launched a support group Monday in Detroit, the only major city without one. "It'll be nice to have a support group in our area where we can finally come together and share our hopes and our stories," Troy resident Rick Hogan, who was abused by three Capuchin priests while at a Wisconsin high school, said. The group -- Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) -- became a national voice for clergy abuse victims during the Catholic Church scandal last year. It pressured Catholic bishops to hold priests accountable and lobbied states to pass legislation, such as increasing the time limit when civil authorities can prosecute child molesters. Founded by Barbara Blaine, who was abused in Toledo by a priest who was transferred to a Taylor parish in 1974, SNAP also provides victim support. -- The Detroit News, www.detnews.com , By Kim Kozlowski, July 29 03.
• Separation Anxiety. NEW YORK: 'Don't make me come down there!" says God, thundering from the skies at a cardinal wearing a "Church Cover-Ups" chasuble in the Mike Peters cartoon. The church has indeed been having a bad time lately with its child-molesting priests and cover-ups. Then the church had visited upon it a bestselling novel titled "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown, a fabulously researched and exciting telling of the questionable mysteries of Opus Dei. Before that, Brown wrote an equally enthralling thriller called "Angels and Demons," all about the Vatican, Rome and the emergence again of the Illuminati (Renaissance scientists and freethinkers who challenged church dogma). But now the church really has something on its hands - "The Magdalene Sisters," the Miramax Film that won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for its director-writer Peter Mullan. This is the true story of how the Irish Catholic church turned feisty young women who'd been raped, flirtatious or had a child out of wedlock into labor slaves trapped in a laundry. It is a display of female and male misogyny to shatter the heart. This loathsome system began in 1938 and didn't stop until 1996. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , by Liz Smith, July 29, 2003
• Alleged victims look past ceremony with wary eye. BOSTON (MA): With 2,500 seats in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for an archdiocese of 2 million, invitations to Archbishop-designate Sean P. O'Malley's installation Mass tomorrow are the hottest tickets in town. But some invitees, such as Ann Hagan Webb of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP], have turned them down cold. "As a survivor of sexual abuse by a priest, being at such a ceremony would trigger too many memories," she wrote the church in declining her invitation. Though some victims and advocates do plan to attend -- forging disagreement over whether they should join celebrants inside the cathedral or protesters outside -- victim leaders said what matters most is what O'Malley does after his installation. "In the best-case scenario, he sells the chancery, he settles the civil cases and he and Attorney General Tom Reilly come and meet survivors and listen to what we know will help children in the future," said Stephen Lynch, an alleged victim who met with O'Malley three weeks ago. -- Boston Herald, "Alleged victims look past ceremony with wary eye," http://www2.bostonherald.com , by Robin Washington, Jul 29 03.
• Catholic newspaper urges Banks to resign. GREEN BAY (WI): The National Catholic Reporter, an independent [Catholic-oriented] weekly, has called for the resignations of five bishops named in the Boston Archdiocese sex abuse scandal. This includes Bishop Robert Banks of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. Banks submitted his request to retire in February when he turned 75, a requirement for Catholic bishops. Banks is now waiting for the Vatican to accept his resignation. A report last week by Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Tim Reilly said it is likely that more than 1,000 people were molested by priests and workers in the Boston archdiocese over six decades. -- Post-Crescent, "Catholic newspaper urges Banks to resign," www.wisinfo.com , (Poynter, Jul 30 03)
• Victim advocates want federal conspiracy and racketeering laws applied. BOSTON (MA): Less than a week after the state attorney general announced that Massachusetts laws precluded a criminal prosecution of church leaders, lay Catholic reform groups and alleged victims yesterday called for a federal investigation into the Archdiocese of Boston's handling of clergy sexual abuse. The group members and alleged victims delivered a two-page letter to US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan requesting a review of federal conspiracy or racketeering statutes under which accused bishops and priests might be prosecuted. They also voiced support for proposed bills that would eliminate the statute of limitations for both civil and criminal sex abuse cases. "The Catholic lobby has done an amazing job of keeping the laws weak when it comes to mandatory reporting, statute of limitations, and criminal accountability in regards to a personal injury that they have made into a plague," said John W. Harris Jr., an alleged victim of clergy sexual abuse, outside US District Court. "On this day, I invite Mr. Sullivan to take that first step and meet with us to give us a new sense of hope." -- Boston Globe, "Victim advocates seek federal probe," www.boston.com , By Eddy Ramirez, Globe Correspondent, July 29 03.
• Lay group requests to engage O'Malley. NEWTON (MA): A lay group that had a frosty relationship with Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday invited his successor, archbishop-designate Sean P. O'Malley, to enter a dialogue and called on him to establish a commission to oversee a three-year "truth and reconciliation process" examining the sexual abuse scandal that left the Boston archdiocese reeling and led to Law's resignation. Voice of the Faithful, which was founded in response to the scandal and wants greater lay involvement in running the church, released what it called a six-point plan to begin "healing and reconciliation" during O'Malley's first 100 days. O'Malley is scheduled to be installed tomorrow as the sixth archbishop of the nation's fourth largest archdiocese. In addition to forming what Voice of the Faithful called a "healing commission," James E. Post, the group's president, said the group wanted O'Malley to accept a report issued last week by Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, which was highly critical of the archdiocese's handling of the scandal; disclose the results of an audit by the Office of Child and Youth Protection established by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops; and reach a "fair and just" settlement with more than 500 alleged victims who have filed claims against the archdiocese. The group also called on O'Malley to drop the ban that Law imposed against accepting contributions from the group's fund-raising arm and against new chapters of Voice of the Faithful meeting on church property, and to release all archdiocese financial statements. Post called on O'Malley to work with the group as "collaborators" instead of viewing them, as some prelates have, as troublemakers. -- Boston Globe, www.boston.com , By Kevin Cullen, July 29 03.
• Diocese sued in sex allegations. INDIANAPOLIS (IND.): An Indiana Roman Catholic priest has until today to respond to a woman's lawsuit -- the third of its kind involving the Indianapolis Archdiocese within the past year -- alleging he repeatedly sexually assaulted her when she was a child. California resident Gretchen Mayerhofer says she was sexually abused in the 1970s by the Rev. Germain Belen when he was the pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church in Terre Haute -- a parish that is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The archdiocese is among the four defendants listed in the lawsuit stemming from the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis. Besides Belen and the archdiocese, the other defendants are the Franciscan Order province to which Belen belongs -- the Province of Our Lady of Consolation -- and the head of the province, the Rev. Peter Damian Massengill. While Belen has yet to respond to the lawsuit, the other three defendants have filed briefs in Marion Superior Court 11. Their responses either deny Mayerhofer's allegations or argue the defendant is "without sufficient information or belief to admit or deny the allegations." -- Indianapolis Star, "Diocese sued in sex allegations," www.indystar.com , By John J. Shaughnessy, john.shaughnessy@indystar.com , (Poynter Jul 30 03), July 29, 2003.
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Wednesday, July 30, 2003
• Court orders priest to take a paternity test. PLYMOUTH (MA): A judge has ordered a priest to take a paternity test at the request of two adults who say the Rev. James Foley is their father. James Perry, 38, of Middleborough and his sister, Emily Perry, 32, of Stoughton, claim there is sufficient evidence to prove a biological relationship with Foley, who admits to having a decade-long affair with the their mother in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Perrys filed a motion in May asking for the paternity test, and the Plymouth County Probate and Family Court granted their request on Wednesday. "They feel good about the fact that the judge agreed with them that this should go forward," said the Perrys' attorney, Cynthia Stone Creem. -- Boston.com , Court orders priest to take a paternity test, www.boston.com , By Associated Press, Jul 30 03
• Holy War on the Peninsula. SAN FRANCISCO (CA): A Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual impropriety is openly resisting San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada's order that he step aside as pastor in Belmont. "I have rights, too," Father Daniel Carter, 52, tells SF Weekly. "He [Levada] asked me to resign, and I have told him I do not wish to do so unless he gives me another assignment, which he has yet to do." The extraordinary standoff between the archbishop and the embattled priest -- who was ordered to leave the pastor's post at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish by June 30 -- is almost certain to invite more unwelcome attention to a case that has already raised the ire of advocates for clergy-abuse victims. The archbishop removed Carter from the parish last August, placing him on administrative leave shortly after Danielle Lacampagne, 34, a psychiatric social worker, filed a lawsuit against Carter and the archdiocese alleging that the priest placed his hand inside her clothing and fondled her breasts and vagina while he was a guest in the family home when she was about 8 years old. Carter vehemently denies the allegations. At the time, Carter was a brother of the Marist order and a teacher at San Francisco's Notre Dame des Victoires Parochial School, which Lacampagne attended. -- SF Weekly, www.sfweekly.com , By Ron Russell, ron.russell@sfweekly.com , Jul 30 03
!!!: Nun Named In Sex Abuse Lawsuit: James Zambroski Reports. LOUISVILLE (KY): Good afternoon .. I'm Lori Lyle .. In for Jackie Hays another allegation of sex abuse has been filed against the Archdiocese of Louisville. A woman Living in Australia says she was repeatedly molested by a nun in 1974 at St. Margaret Mary School on Shelbyville Road. James Zambroski has more on ... -- WAVE 3, www.wave3.com , Jul 31 03
!!!: Psychologist, sex with girl 15, co-wrote 1998 Anglican abuse report. [1974]
   The Age, "Abuse report co-author jailed," www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/31/1059480478644.html , Thu Jul 31 2003
   AUSTRALIA: A Tasmanian child abuse inquisitor exposed as a past perpetrator was jailed for at least 12 months.
   The Tasmanian Supreme Court was told psychologist Michael James Crowley - who co-authored a 1998 report into child sexual abuse within the Anglican Church - had fallen from a position of high respect to one of shame and disgrace.
   The 59-year-old university academic pleaded guilty earlier this week to maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17.
   The court was told the complainant was 15 when the nine-month sexual relationship began in August 1974.
   Crowley was a 31-year-old school teacher when he began "grooming" his victim who was then aged 13.
• Bishops didn't know how to handle crimes; 789 children, 250 priests . WASHINGTON (DC): Bishops mentioned in the Massachusetts attorney general's report on clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston and now serving in dioceses across the country said they regretted any misjudgments that might have harmed children, and committed themselves to safeguarding children from any further abuse. But some of the bishops named in the report, released July 23, said it misrepresented their actions or knowledge about clergy sex abuse or assumed information that was not available at the time. The 91-page report said at least 789 children were abused by 250 priests or other workers of the Archdiocese of Boston since 1940. -- The Record, Perth, "Bishops' regret," CNS, Jul 31 03, p 12. [COMMENT: "Misrepresented their actions" and "assumed information that was not available at the time" are the typical "weasel words" that are inaccurate. The bishops condoned sex abuse of minors and women, and they ought to have known the attitude of Jesus to hypocrites, and how Saints Peter and Paul handled rule-breaking people. COMMENT ENDS] Newsitem: Jul 31 03
• Victims served the church by exposing clergy sex abuse, new Boston archbishop says. BOSTON (MA): Boston's new archbishop thanked victims of clergy sex abuse for attending his July 30 installation and once again apologized for the harm done by priests and bishops. Victims have done a service to the church in exposing the clergy sex abuse problem, said Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley at his installation Mass. It is the job of all U.S. parishes, dioceses and schools "to avoid the mistakes of the past" and establish safeguards to protect children in the future, he said. The white-bearded archbishop asked that the "bitter medicine we have had to take to remedy our mismanagement" of the crisis help the church and other sectors of U.S. society "in eradicating this evil from our midst." -- National Catholic Reporter, (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter) http://nationalcatholicreporter.org , By Catholic News Service, Jul 31 03 FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED The POYNTER INSTITUTE is a Journalism School, based at St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.
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