References cont. (33) — Clergy Child Molesters

!!!: Woman Accuses Nun of Sexual Abuse. [1974-75]

LOUISVILLE (KY): A woman has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Louisville and a community of Dominican sisters alleging that one of the nuns sexually abused her. An attorney for Andrea Dessommes, who now lives in Australia, filed the suit Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court. Of the 256 abuse cases that have been filed against the archdiocese since April 2002, Dessommes' is the first to accuse a nun of abuse. The suit alleges that Sister Mary Helen Thieneman, a counselor at St. Margaret Mary School in Louisville, sexually abused Dessommes, a fourth-grader, in the 1974-75 academic year. Sister Joye Gros, president of the community based in St. Catharine, said Thieneman "strongly denies" the alleged abuse. Thieneman was reassigned to a hospital after Dessommes' father met with Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly in 1992 to discuss his daughter's alleged abuse. Thieneman "has not been working with children of her own choice since then," Gros said. The suit claims that the accusation against Thieneman would constitute a felony and that the archdiocese and Dominican order sisters failed to report the abuse to authorities, as required by state law. -- FOX, www.foxnews.com , Friday, August 01, 2003

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Most newsitems are from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46 e-mails • Expert Says Female Pedophiles Rare. LOUISVILLE (KY): The victims affected by the $25.7 million settlement announced were abused by male priests. But as you heard Thursday exclusively on WAVE 3 News, in the latest sexual abuse lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese, the accused is a nun. As James Zambroski reports, it's the first time a female cleric has been accused here and it's extremely rare. The suit alleges that Sister Mary Helen Thieneman, a nun at St. Margaret Mary School in Louisville, molested 4th grader Andrea Dessommes for months in 1974. Female perpetrators are rare, says Dr. Ron Holmes,an internationally recognized expert on pedophilia. "It's one of those closet phenomenon because reported pedophilia is rare," he said. "It seems that (female pedophilia) is about 10 percent." Male pedophiles molest boys almost as often as girls, but that's not so with female sexual predators. "If you have a female pedophile," Holmes said, "her victims are almost always girls. That's just the way it is." -- WAVE 3, www.wave3.com , By James Zambroski, Aug 1 03
• Sex abuse victims sue Anglican Church over former CEBS leader Robert Brandenburg.
   The Advertiser, "Sex abuse victims sue church," www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6841793%255E2682,00.html , By Court Reporter Simonne Reid, Aug 1 2003
   AUSTRALIA: Two men who were sexually abused by the former leader of the Church of England Boys Society [CEBS] have begun a class action against the Adelaide diocese of the Anglican Church.
   The men, now 26 and 37, were abused by Robert Brandenburg who was chief commissioner of the society from 1965 to 1981.
   In a statement of claim - also lodged on behalf of 26 other victims - they say the church was warned in 1970 that Brandenburg was accused of rape.
   The victims allege they now lead dysfunctional lives and one of the men, the son of a serving priest, is addicted to narcotics and amphetamines.
   They seek an undisclosed sum in damages.
   The claim says they are suing because they "suffered physical, psychological and psychiatric injury as a consequence of ... sexual abuse".
   It is alleged Brandenburg endeared himself to the boys' families and cultivated a persona of "the perfect uncle" and was even called Uncle Bob.
• Sexual misconduct, embezzlement in Ministries parish. [CURRENT] BLUE SPRINGS (MO): Young people arriving at Tri-City Ministries Thursday morning for vacation bible school were greeted by a swarm of news cameras and a storm of controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct by a former deacon and high-level embezzlement by a former employee. In an interview Thursday afternoon, Pastor Carl Herbster said the church is trying to stay focused on its mission and prepare for the upcoming school year. "We want our families to feel safe bringing their children here," Herbster said. "I want to emphasize that none of this (sexual) activity happened on church grounds or during church activities."
   John M. Logan, 41, of Independence, was charged late Thursday with felony sexual misconduct involving a child, two counts of use of a child in sexual performance and one misdemeanor count of sexual misconduct. He surrendered to police voluntarily on Thursday afternoon and was in custody this morning awaiting arraignment. Bond is set at $500,000. -- The Examiner, "Pastor speaks on troubles at church," www.examiner.net , By Darla McFarland, Aug 1 03
• Judge Approves $25.7 Million for 214 sexual victims. LOUISVILLE (KY): A judge Friday approved a $25.7 million settlement from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese to 243 victims of sexual abuse by its priests and employees. Jefferson County Circuit Judge James M. Shake also granted fees contracted by William McMurry, the lead negotiator of the settlement talks, with 214 plaintiffs. Those fees are 40 percent, or about $10.3 million. Shake set at 40 percent the fees for plaintiffs who did not hire lawyers but still benefited from the settlement. Shake ordered a preliminary award of $6.8 million be paid from the archdiocese's settlement fund within 10 days. The judge ordered that the Archdiocese and the Franciscan religious order no longer be liable in the class-action law suit. -- WAVE, "Judge Approves $25.7 Million Archdiocese Settlement To Abuse Victims," www.wave3.com , Fri Aug 1 03
• Diocesan leader reveals ex-pastor had sex therapy. PHOENIX (AZ): A former Phoenix pastor accused in a lawsuit of assaulting a youth received treatment at a New Mexico facility known for treating sexual-behavior problems before he returned to serve the Phoenix Diocese at three predominantly Hispanic parishes. Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan, head of the Santa Fe Archdiocese and temporary leader of the Phoenix Diocese, revealed Thursday that the Rev. Saul Madrid was sent for treatment 15 years ago. During the interview, Sheehan also said he has begun meeting with local victims of sexual abuse. Madrid, who is no longer serving the diocese but is living in the Valley, and Monsignor Richard Moyer and other church officials are named in a lawsuit against the diocese filed June 20 by Victor DiGiovine. DiGiovine accuses Madrid of drugging and sexually assaulting him in 1987 while Madrid was an associate pastor at SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix. Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, now retired, sent Madrid to Jemez Springs for treatment in 1988, Sheehan said. After treatment, "the psychologists said he could be placed again in ministry," he said. Madrid became associate pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe and pastor at St. Henry in Buckeye and St. Anthony and Immaculate Heart, both in Phoenix. The latter three primarily serve Hispanic parishioners. -- The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com , by Michael Clancy, Aug 1 03
• Motion denied in Shanley trial. Local briefs. BOSTON (MA): In the Rev. Paul R. Shanley sexual abuse civil case, Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney turned down a request from lawyers representing plaintiff Gregory Ford. The motion by attorneys from Greenberg-Traurig would have compelled the church to produce unredacted records on another priest, the Rev. Bernard Lane. -- Boston Herald, http://www2.bostonherald.com , Aug 1 03
• Baptist minister sentenced to 60-120 years for child sex abuse. NASHUA (NH): A Baptist minister was sentenced Wednesday to 60 to 120 years in prison for sexually abusing two younger, female relatives, prosecutors said. Stephen Mattson, 47, formerly of 21 Linlew Drive, pleaded guilty to 46 felony sexual assault charges from Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, Deputy Rockingham County Attorney Thomas Reid said Thursday. Mattson never headed any church, but he worked as a minister running special programs, sometimes including youth programs, Reid said. He formerly served at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Litchfield and Victory Baptist in Londonderry, Reid said. He also served at various Baptist churches Maine, Texas and Illinois. Mattson kept moving his family every time suspicious of his sexual abuse surfaced, Reid said. Church officials were made aware of the abuse and hushed it up at least three times, he said. "Over the years there were numerous occasions where the defendant was caught and confronted by others for his acts. He would engage in a routine of crying, apologizing, engaging in prayer ... and of course promising never to do it again. And of course, each time, he did it again," Reid said. -- The Telegraph, www.nashuatelegraph.com , By Andrew Wolfe, wolfea@telegraph-nh.com , (Poynter Aug 2 03)
• Commentary: NH Catholics, why have you forsaken us? NEW HAMPSHIRE: The New Hampshire Diocese's recent dismissal of the concerns of 1,100 Catholics who have demanded the removal of New Hampshire bishops has a familiar ring to survivors of clergy sexual abuse. But the silence of the remaining 324,000 Catholics in this state gives the diocese solid footing for its rebuke. The 1,100, while impressive, still represent only a small minority of New Hampshire Catholics. The church is free to move on, with them or without them. For the last 35 years, the church has moved on without me. As a teenager in the 1960s, I was unable to raise my voice against the priest who abused me. So I left. Fifteen years ago, when I finally found the courage to report the abuse to the Boston Archdiocese, then. Fr. John McCormack's decision to side with the priest sealed my status as an outsider. The attorneys general in New Hampshire and Massachusetts have now cited Bishops John McCormack's and Francis Christian's unconscionable treatment of victims. But you, the silent majority of New Hampshire Catholics, seem not to care. Again and again I've heard the refrain from Catholics that this crisis has not affected your faith, that the issue is about failed human beings. So then why are you willing to accept moral leadership from these failed men? Why are you not standing up in the aisles demanding that you be given leaders of integrity? Bishops McCormack and Christian have issued apologies for their past mistakes. They say they didn't understand then. They claim a new realization that the safety of children should trump the protection of the church from scandal. How is this worthy of high praise? -- The Union Leader, www.theunionleader.com , By Peter Pollard, Guest Commentary. (Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• Diocese Dismisses Va. Beach Priest. VIRGINIA BEACH (VA): Richmond's Roman Catholic bishop has dismissed a Virginia Beach priest from priestly ministry because of sexual misconduct toward an adolescent as recently as two years ago. The Rev. Dwight Shrader, pastor of St. John the Apostle Church since 1989, will not be allowed to perform any sacraments, such as communion, or wear the clerical collar. The Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan, bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, placed Shrader on administrative leave June 5, after receiving a complaint of alleged sexual abuse. Since then four other victims made allegations. The five victims - four males and one female - now range in age from 19 to the mid-20s, said a diocesan spokesman. -- Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com , (Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• Some Attending Voice of the Faithful Meetings Find They Have No Voice. PROVIDENCE (RI): Voice of the Faithful says it stands for giving the laity a greater voice in the running of the Church. But apparently, some concerned Catholics are not allowed a voice at the reform group's own meetings. Some people suspect Voice of the Faithful, a self-proclaimed reform movement founded in the wake of the clerical sex-abuse scandals, has a hidden agenda and is an organ of dissent from Church teaching. Some Catholics attempting to bring traditional Church teaching to discussions at chapter meetings find themselves marginalized and in some cases subjected to old-fashioned political hardball. The Diocese of Providence, R.I., allows Voice of the Faithful to use Church property for meetings. Mark Gordon joined Voice of the Faithful after he logged onto its Web site, while Lawrence Burns joined at a meeting at Christ the King Church in Kingston, R.I. Both attended several public meetings, where they apparently didn't make many friends in high places. In June, they were blocked from attending a closed working session for members only. Gordon and Burns said they joined Voice of the Faithful so they could witness to authentic Church teaching to people who were being misled by dissenters. "We were known to be members, but when it came time for this meeting our names had disappeared from the membership rolls," Gordon said. "We left. We didn't make a scene, and then [we] sent a protest to the national organization. They were shocked and said any meeting, open or closed, should be open to organization members." -- National Catholic Register, http://www.ncregister.com/ , by Greg Byrnes, Register Correspondent, (Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• We can take a lesson from another scandal. UNITED STATES: As the clergy sex abuse scandal has unfolded over the last 18 months, one of the stinging criticisms bishops have had to endure is that they acted like CEOs rather than pastors. I have been wondering lately if that comment is unfair to CEOs. Running parallel in time to the scandal that has ripped across the U.S. church, a scandal dealing with participation and accountability has ripped across corporate America. Wednesday, in fact, was the one-year anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, sweeping anti-fraud legislation enacted at the height of the scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other companies that wiped out billions of dollars of investor savings. At least some analysts attributed resurgence in the stock markets in recent months (The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 12% from a year ago.) to renewed investor confidence instilled by the new corporate accountability law. While that legislation covers several broad areas, including stricter accounting standards and new criminal penalties for white collar crimes, much of the legislation focused on making CEOs more accountable to their boards of directors and shareholders. -- National Catholic Reporter, http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org , Dennis Coday, NCR staff writer, (Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• Time for some more bishops to resign. UNITED STATES: Bishops John McCormack, Manchester, N.H.; Thomas Daily, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Robert Banks, Green Bay, Wis.; William Murphy, Rockville Centre, N.Y.; and Archbishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans, should resign. Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly's 76-page report on the Boston archdiocese's handling of priestly sexual abuse places blame for the crisis in the Boston church squarely where it belongs: with the former archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Law, his predecessors, and the auxiliary bishops responsible for day to day management of the archdiocese. "The mistreatment of children was so massive and so prolonged that it borders on the unbelievable," says Reilly's report. "For decades cardinals, bishops and others in positions of authority within the archdiocese chose to protect the image and reputation of their institution rather than the safety and well-being of children." No one will go to jail as a result of Reilly's 16-month investigation, though his report is scathing. The laws on the books at the time make it impossible to seek indictments, Reilly said. -- National Catholic Reporter, www.natcath.com (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• Abuse victims group praises Episcopals' forthrightness. MINNESOTA: The national director of an advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse came to Minneapolis on Thursday to offer cautious praise to the Episcopal Church for addressing the matter of clergy sex abuse. "We want to commend Episcopalians for essentially being ahead of the curve on this issue," said David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Before other denominations did, they instituted mandatory background checks for clergy and training programs about abuse prevention, which we think are very good steps." SNAP largely represents Catholics who have been abused by clergy, but Episcopalians also belong to its chapters nationwide, including in Minnesota. Clohessy came from St. Louis on Thursday to present Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold with a letter expressing gratitude as well as pleading for vigilance. -- Pioneer Press, www.twincities.com , (Poynter, Aug 2 03)
• Foster accuser to renew claims. BOSTON (MA): The attorney at the center of much of the sexual-abuse litigation against the Archdiocese of Boston agreed yesterday to take up the case of the sole clergy accuser whose claims were formally dismissed by the church last year. In choosing to represent Paul R. Edwards of Winchendon, attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. of Greenberg Traurig said, "I have looked at all his records, his polygraph exam, at every allegation against him, and I believe Paul Edwards." Edwards filed a lawsuit last year alleging he was raped in the 1980s by the late Rev. William J. Cummings. He also claimed molestation by Monsignor Michael Smith Foster, the archdiocese's judicial vicar, in Foster's rectory bedroom at Sacred Heart Parish in Newton. But after a concerted campaign by Foster backers to discredit Edwards, much of which was trumpeted in the Boston Globe, Edwards withdrew his lawsuit "with prejudice," meaning he has to abandon any claims against the church. -- Boston Herald, www2.bostonherald.com , by Robin Washington and Tom Mashberg, Sat Aug 2 03
• Overreaching by Rome. BOSTON (MA): Panicky Vatican has issued a warning to Catholic politicians not to support growing efforts to allow gays the right to civil marriage. This intrusion of sectarian religion into American politics is as unwarranted as it is futile. No one is asking the Catholic Church to recognize or perform gay marriages if they are eventually approved by legal or political action in the United States -- the separation of church and state runs both ways. But to tell independently elected officials that voting even for such measures as civil unions or adoption by gay parents is "gravely immoral" is likely to backfire, as was evident in the indignant replies of several local Catholic politicians interviewed in the Globe last week. ... Particularly galling is the language regarding the adoption of children by gay people, which is already permitted in Massachusetts and elsewhere. The document declares that allowing such adoptions "would actually mean doing violence to these children" because they would be raised in an environment of "deviant behavior." When it comes to doing violence to children, it seems obvious that the church has lost its moral authority, since it ignored, condoned, and covered up a generation of sexual assault -- which was not consensual and not loving -- of children by American parish priests. -- Boston Globe, www.boston.com , Aug 2 03
• Accusers recall outings with priest, broken trust. ST. LOUIS (MO): The Rev. Michael McGrath had a reputation that followed him from parish to parish: He was like every kid's cool uncle. Many who knew McGrath, a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis from 1975 to 1997, must strain to remember him in a white collar. They recall him in a polo shirt and jeans, driving a van filled with teens to Six Flags with the radio blaring hard rock. "He was the coolest," said Herbert Alexander Graham IV, 30, who said he was one of many youths whom McGrath took on outings during the 1980s and early 1990s. Today, Graham is the plaintiff in one of a dozen lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by McGrath. While other priests have been accused of worse - rape and sodomy - no priest in St. Louis has ever faced more accusers. "I think we're barely scratching the surface," said Patrick Noaker of St. Paul, Minn., one of three lawyers representing the alleged victims. Wentzville police are investigating two allegations of sexual abuse. It is unclear whether other authorities are considering charges against McGrath. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, By Jeremy Kohler, Aug 2 03
• Abuse led teenagers to make suicide pact. ANCHORAGE (AK): Two Anchorage teenagers made a death pact nearly 40 years ago. If either ever told what happened with the priest in the Catholic Junior High School locker room, the other had permission to kill him. The two friends eventually did tell a few adults about that night with the Rev. Francis Murphy, but the story otherwise went untold for almost 40 years -- until a news story about a different boy and the same priest prompted them to remember what happened and how it changed their lives. The boys are now 54-year-old men. One is Rick Stanfield and the other is Mike, who doesn't want his last name to become public and declined to have his picture published. Stanfield is an open, chatty sales manager for Microsoft. He lives near Seattle and prefers to communicate by e-mail, which he usually answers instantly. He gets angry when he thinks about how the archdiocese covered up what Murphy did for so long. -- Anchorage Daily News, "Wretched memories," www.adn.com , By Nicole Tsong, , Aug 3 03
• Another Errant Bishop Passes From the Scene. Two down, four to go. UNITED STATES: Now that the pope has accepted the resignation of Bishop Thomas Daily, the head of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, two members of Boston's infamous Gang of Six have been disposed of. The group included Cardinal Bernard Law and the five auxiliary bishops who over the years allegedly hushed up countless acts of sexual abuse by priests and passed those priests along to do more damage. Law was forced out in December, after the litany of crimes committed against children and young men and women during his tenure was revealed to be so horrible that his presence in that city could no longer be tolerated. He is now reported to be at a monastery near Pittsburgh. Bishop Daily is the second to go. Last week he insisted he was leaving the job because of his age and the Catholic church's retirement policy. But his name will always be tarnished by his complicity in the sex-abuse scandal. Meanwhile, the other bishops who've been named by the Massachusetts attorney general as participants in the cover-up continue to head dioceses around the country. They are Bishop Robert Banks in Green Bay, Wis.; Bishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans; Bishop William Murphy, Rockville Centre; and Bishop John McCormack, Manchester, N.H. They deserve to be drummed out of office as well. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , by Sheryl McCarthy, August 4, 2003
• Report: Tests Show Priest Fathered a Child. LOS ANGELES (CA): A paternity test shows to a "99.99 percent" probability that a former Los Angeles priest fathered a child by a 20-year-old parishioner, a lawyer said today. At a news conference outside Our Lady of Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, Gloria Allred handed out copies of a ruling from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge certifying a DNA test she claims proves former priest Valentine Tugade fathered a child with Rita Milla in 1982. Milla, represented by Allred, claims she was abused by seven Catholic priests over a four-year period, which began when she was a 16-year-old volunteer at St. Philomena's Church in Carson. At least two of the seven priests are dead, Allred said. Father Santiago Tamayo, who Milla said initiated the abuse, left the church in the 1980s. Father Angel Cruces, now 76, is still a priest at a church in New York City. The 57-year-old Tugade left the church years ago and now lives in Fremont, Allred said. According to a published report, Tugade suffers from depression and dementia. -- ABC 7, http://abclocal.go.com , Aug 4 03
• Security licence granted to paedophile, can guard schools. SYDNEY: A convicted child sex offender has won the right to hold a security licence and work for a company that guards 300 public schools. The Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, is angered by a tribunal ruling that in effect found Kevin George Jacobs -- who was jailed for two years for having sexual intercourse with two 14-year-old boys -- was a fit and proper person to hold the licence. Applicants for a security licence are disqualified if they have an assault conviction in the past decade, but the Administrative Decisions Tribunal found that Mr Jacobs's sex crimes did not legally constitute assault. Now Mr Jacobs, of Tweed Heads, is free to work for All Point Security, based in Murwillumbah. . . . But All Point Security, which employed Mr Jacobs before his conviction, guaranteed he would now work only in its control room and administration. "On this basis it cannot be said that Mr Jacobs is not a fit and proper person to be issued with such a licence," the tribunal's Sigrid Higgins ruled. . . . Ms Higgins ruled that while the offences were serious, Mr Jacobs was never charged with any form of "assault". It appeared that the relevant legislation was not intended to include sexual offences, she said. In April 2000 Mr Jacobs pleaded guilty in Lismore District Court to two counts of sexual intercourse with a male person under the age of 16 and above the age of 10. The previous year he had performed oral sex on two 14-year-old boys, one of whom he had known for nearly three years and with whom he had formed "a strong emotional attachment". He had previously given that youth $20 to remove his clothes. Police who searched Mr Jacobs's home seized books containing pictures of naked boys, similar photographs and videotapes showing male-on-male sex. . . . [He] was supported by evidence from his doctor and parole officer, and references from his former employer, who wanted him back. Mr Jacobs's barrister had submitted that the public would be afforded greater protection from him if he was in stable employment. -- Daily Telegraph, "Pedophile cleared for schools job," By Stephen Gibbs, Aug 4 2003 ########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Tuesday, August 5, 2003 edition follows:-
• Parishioners Have Fond Memories of Bishop Daily. BROOKLYN (NY): Donald Salvato of Maspeth didn't believe it. Neither did Mary Pradt of Downtown Brooklyn. Ditto for David Rivas of Canarsie. The three were among dozens of parishioners attending Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn yesterday whose farewells to Bishop Thomas Daily were full of fond memories and appreciations. All brushed off the idea that Daily, who at 75 announced his retirement Friday, was leaving because of controversy surrounding his role in the church's sexual abuse scandal. "I think it's just his time to retire. He's 75, and it's time to let go," said Rivas, 49, a city firefighter from Brooklyn. Daily, who was attending the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus in Washington yesterday, announced his resignation after leading the diocese for 13 years. He submitted his letter of resignation to Pope John Paul II last year, standard procedure for bishops who reach age 75. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , By Luis Perez, Aug 3 03
• For a Bishop Appointed, an Overflow Crowd. AVALON (NJ): For his first Sunday Mass after his appointment as bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn was announced, Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio Jr. kept it simple. He sermonized about bread. "I like the Italian kind, with a good crust," he said. Then, more serious: "All of us want to find the ultimate meaning of life. We cannot find it completely within ourselves." A pause. "That deep relationship with almighty God is what sustains us," he concluded. Bishop DiMarzio celebrated Mass today with a standing-room crowd of worshipers at Maris Stella Roman Catholic Church, mostly tanned vacationers in this seaside South Jersey town. The crowd of 1,500 may not have looked much like the polyglot parishes that await Bishop DiMarzio -- who is now head of the diocese of Camden -- in Brooklyn, but Catholics there will be lucky to have him, people at Maris Stella said. "He has done wonderful things in this diocese," said Joe Redican, a year-round resident of Avalon, who has been coming to Maris Stella for seven years. "He's got a yeoman's task up there in Brooklyn, but he is capable of meeting it." The Vatican announced last week that Bishop DiMarzio, 59, would replace Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, who is leaving his post amid criticism of how he handled claims of sexual abuse by priests in Brooklyn and in Boston, where he was a key official in the 1970's and 1980's. Bishop Daily submitted his resignation when he turned 75 last September, as required. Bishop DiMarzio won praise for his handling of sexual abuse claims in the Camden diocese. He set up a toll-free number for people who said they had been abused, and he insisted that claims were shared with the police rather than trying to keep investigations of priests within the church. "He has an exemplary record on that issue," Mr. Redican said. "He will do a lot to help solve the problems up there." -- The New York Times, www.nytimes.com , By Lydia Polgreen, Aug 3 03
• Boston Archdiocese Changes Annual Appeal in Wake of Abuse Scandals. BOSTON (MA): As the Catholic Church reeled from the priest abuse scandals brought to light in 2002, one hard hit archdiocese reacted by revamping its annual fundraising appeal for 2003 to address the situation and recover lapsed donors. At the start of 2002, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston was readying for its annual spring fundraising campaign, said Damien J. DeVasto, director of appeal for the archdiocese. He previously had worked with the archdiocese for about a year on major gifts and capital endowment activities, but came on board to work on the appeal Jan. 2, 2002. "For Catholic dioceses or archdioceses, appeals or fundraisers are the financial underpinning to the work of the church, and in the archdiocese of Boston that had traditionally been the annual Cardinal's Appeal," he said. "It is truly the financial lifeblood of the church, underwriting anywhere up to 90 percent of the operating budget for the archdiocese on an annual basis." So when allegations of involvement by priests in sexual molestation and perhaps even a coverup by Cardinal Bernard Law and other church leadership started to fly in Boston in early 2002, there was concern over the appeal's use of Law as its focus. -- DM News, www.dmnews.com , By: Kristen Bremner, Senior Editor, kristen@dmnews.com , (Posted by Kathy Shaw), Aug. 04, 2003
• Ex-priest to spend at least seven years in prison. FLINT, (Mich.): Ex-priest Jason Sigler asked for forgiveness from the men he sexually abused decades ago and mercy from the judge who would decide his fate. Genesee County Circuit Judge Judith Fullerton, acknowledged Sigler "may be a transformed individual," but still sentenced him to serve seven to 15 years in prison Monday. Sigler, 65, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting Anthony Otero in 1974 and 1975, when the Otero family attended St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Flushing. Otero is now an automotive designer from Macomb Township. Sigler pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting Otero's brother, now a doctor in Washington state, in 1977. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing. Each of the three counts received the seven- to 15-year sentence. They are to run concurrently. -- MLive.com, www.mlive.com , The Associated Press, Aug 4 03
• Houston lawyer says secret document could shake up church. HOUSTON (TX): A Houston lawyer has discovered a 40-year-old document supposedly explaining how to deal with sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Some say the document is a cover-up for the church. Houston attorney Daniel Shea says this document could shake the foundation of the Catholic Church. He says he received it from a clergyman in Germany who has close dealings with the Vatican. And he believes this could be the smoking gun that could prove every Catholic diocese in the world was under direct order from the Vatican to keep allegations of sexual abuse a secret. "And I'm saying, my God, what has happened to the Catholic Church?" exclaimed Shea. Houston attorney Daniel Shea says a document from the Vatican dated back to 1962 calls for secret hearings within the clergy to deal with any accusations against the priesthood about sexual abuse of a minor. Shea said, "It explains how it is that you can have an internal church trial, in which you can never convict a priest. The thing is rigged." The very first instruction on the document says "this text is to be diligently stored in the secret archives of the curia as strictly confidential. Nor is it to be published nor added to with any commentaries." -- ABC13 Eyewitness News, http://abclocal.go.com , By Darren Lyn, http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/aboutus/darren_lyn.html , Aug 4 03
• Lawsuits abound as Hartford archdiocese marks 50th anniversary. BRIDGEPORT (Conn.): The Archdiocese of Hartford will celebrate its 50th anniversary Wednesday as it faces more than a dozen sexual abuse allegations against its priests. The dioceses of Bridgeport and Norwich have settled -- or are resolving -- priest abuse cases, while Hartford is defending itself against 18 lawsuits accusing priests of abuse, the Connecticut Post reported in Tuesday's editions. New Haven lawyer Thomas MacNamara has filed three lawsuits against the archdiocese on behalf of clients and is working on five others, claiming in part that the archdiocese knew of the alleged abuse and did nothing. "In the long run, a settlement would be best for my clients, but if we have to go to trial I think we will be very, very successful," he said. The Rev. John Gatzak, spokesman for the archdiocese, told The Associated Press Monday that there was nothing new about the lawsuits or allegations. -- The Advocate, www.stamfordadvocate.com , Associated Press, Aug 4 03
• St. John's prays for its priest who resigned. VIRGINIA BEACH (VA): Joyce Narducci knows a thing or two about messing up and having to start all over. Nearly five years ago, she and her husband lost everything in a business venture -- their savings, their trust in people and even their faith. Then the Rev. Dwight E. Shrader set them up with jobs through St. John the Apostle Catholic Church and helped them become financially stable. But he didn't stop there. He used his vocation to help them turn their lives around and turn themselves toward God, she said. It was a gift Narducci knows she can never repay, and now that Shrader has resigned over sexual misconduct allegations, she refuses to forget. "I was devastated, and he lifted me out of a place I thought I'd never get out of," she said. "He brought so much light into my life and into this church, and I love him for that. I hate the sin, but I love the man." -- The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com , By Danielle R. Roach, August 4, 2003
• Friends, family plead for leniency for priest. FLINT (Mich.): Friends and relatives of a former priest who has admitted he molested a boy during the 1970s are pleading for a light sentence, saying he has changed his life. Jason Sigler, 65, was to be sentenced Monday in Genesee County Circuit Court. He faces a seven- to 15-year prison term. Sigler pleaded guilty last month to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting the boy and no contest to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting the boy's brother. In exchange for his pleas, Genesee County prosecutors dismissed three similar charges and said they will not bring additional charges should more allegations surface He was sentenced in January in Wayne County to one year in jail after pleading no contest to criminal sexual conduct involving two other boys. He also received four years probation under that plea agreement. -- MLive.com, www.mlive.com , The Associated Press, Aug 4 03
• Ex-priest gets 7-15 years. FLINT (MI): Ex-Catholic priest Jason Sigler, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, handcuffed and with chains binding his feet, asked for "mercy and forgiveness" Monday from the men he sexually abused decades ago and the judge who would decide his fate. But Genesee County Circuit Judge Judith Fullerton, while acknowledging that Sigler "may be a transformed individual" after treatment for predatory behavior involving minors, sentenced Sigler to serve at least 7 years and up to 15 years in a state prison. "Sexual abuse is a cycle and can be treated and healed," said Sigler, who told the Flint court he was abused as a child in River Rouge. "I've been able to break the cycle of sexual abuse." Sigler, 65, said that when he molested young boys, "I was looking for acceptance and love, and I reverted to how I had been taught in childhood" at the hands of abusive relatives. Genesee County Assistant Prosecutor Randall Petrides said he had been an altar boy, like many of Sigler's victims. "Jason Sigler did enormous damage to his victims," Petrides said. "As I see it, we are here today probably as the last stop in the criminal prosecution of Jason Sigler." -- Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news , By Patricia Montemurri, August 5, 2003
• Vote on hold: Sex charge derails gay bishop approval. BOSTON (MA): A top local Episcopal prelate expressed support last night for the New Hampshire man seeking to become his faith's first openly gay bishop after an 11th-hour charge of "homosexual harassment" threw the Episcopal Church's conference into turmoil. "I have every faith that Canon (V. Gene) Robinson will make a great bishop," said Massachusetts Diocesan Bishop Thomas Shaw by telephone from Minneapolis. "I know it's very hard for him to have these allegations against him." More than 290 U.S. Episcopal bishops had intended yesterday to vote on whether Robinson, who lives openly with a male lover, should become the bishop of New Hampshire - a move a large minority of Episcopalians said they oppose on religious grounds. But the prelates were halted in their tracks by a 50-year-old Vermonter's allegation that Robinson "put his hands on me inappropriately" several years ago. -- Boston Herald, http://www2.bostonherald.com , by Jennifer Rosinski and Tom Mashberg, Tuesday, August 5, 2003
• Allegations delay vote on gay bishop. MINNEAPOLIS (MN): The Episcopal Church yesterday delayed a final vote confirming the election of the denomination's first openly gay bishop after a Vermont man accused the bishop-elect of inappropriate physical contact and a crusading Web journalist reported that the website of a youth organization supported by the bishop-elect included an indirect link to a site containing sexually explicit images. Supporters of the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, who was subjected to extensive background checks by the church before being elected bishop by New Hampshire Episcopalians on June 7, said they feared a last-minute campaign by the church's conservative wing to derail the confirmation of Robinson's election by the national church. "We would like to see Gene Robinson's candidacy defeated, but within the Episcopal Church family this is not how we do business," said the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, president and chief executive of the American Anglican Council, an organization of conservative Episcopalians. The allegations, made public less than an hour before the House of Bishops was scheduled to begin debate, threw this week's triennial convention of the Episcopal Church into turmoil. -- Boston Globe, www.boston.com , By Michael Paulson, Aug 5 03
• Women Sue New Ulm Diocese and Willmar Church. MINNESOTA: The Catholic Diocese of New Ulm and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Willmar are being sued because of alleged sexual abuse by a former priest. Two women say the priest molested them when they were children. The late priest served at St. Mary's for more than a decade. He retired from the active ministry in 1993. The New Ulm Diocese says they were made aware of the allegations in 1987. The priest underwent psychological evaluation and two years of psychotherapy. -- KARE, www.kare11.com , (Posted by Poynter, Aug 5 03)
• Accusations delay vote on first gay Episcopalian bishop. MINNEAPOLIS - (KRT) (MN): Just hours before a confirmation vote on the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, the denomination's bishops on Monday put the vote on hold after allegations surfaced that he "inappropriately" touched another man and had ties to a youth group that posted links to pornography on its Web site. Already awash in controversy over the expected vote to make Robinson the bishop of New Hampshire and a separate move to approve a blessing for same-sex unions, the news of allegations against the bishop-elect shocked the general convention of the Episcopal Church. The House of Bishops launched an investigation. Robinson made no comment on the allegations, but his supporters portrayed them as an attempt to discredit him and torpedo his nomination. "I have absolute confidence in Gene. I trust him completely," said the Rev. Michael Hopkins, president of Integrity, a group of gay and lesbian Episcopalians. -- Centre Daily Times, "Accusations delay vote on first gay bishop," www.centredaily.com , By V. Dion Haynes, Chicago Tribune, (Poynter Aug 5 03)
• Charges Stall Confirmation of Gay Bishop. MINNEAPOLIS (MN): On the verge of a historic vote, a convention of Episcopalian leaders was thrown into sudden disarray today when opponents raised allegations involving inappropriate touching and pornography against the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who is awaiting confirmation as the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Church officials said that even though the allegations came at the last minute and might be part of a smear campaign, they would be investigated, forcing the indefinite postponement of a vote on Robinson by the church's senior bishops. Robinson, 56, did not immediately respond to the allegations. The church's presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, read a statement to the convention's hushed House of Bishops saying that Robinson had requested that "a thorough investigation be undertaken before we proceed." A church spokesman said it was not clear whether the investigation would be over before the convention, which is held every three years, ends Friday. If the investigation is concluded after the convention, church lawyers said a special session or mail balloting may be necessary to vote on Robinson's confirmation. The turmoil today was the most dramatic event in an already controversial convention, which has been racked by a debate over gay rights. In addition to balloting on Robinson, delegates are facing a vote on whether to develop a rite for blessing gay unions. -- Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com , By Alan Cooperman, Tue, Aug 5 2003; Page A01
• Priest Sentenced In Sex-Abuse Case. MICHIGAN: A priest who admitted to molesting a Michigan boy has been sentenced to 7 to 15 years in prison. A judge in Genesee County sentenced Jason Sigler Monday. Sigler, 65, will also have to undergo sex-offender therapy as part of his sentence handed down in Genesee County Circuit Court in Flint. He was charged with molesting a 13-year-old altar boy at St. Robert's Catholic Church near Flint, Mich., in 1975, Local 4 reported. He is also reportedly charged with molesting the boy's younger brother. Sigler pleaded guilty last month to abusing the 13-year-old boy and no contest to abusing his brother. In exchange for his pleas, prosecutors dropped other charges and agreed not to charge him if other allegations surface. Sigler was sentenced in January in Wayne County to one year in jail and five years of probation after pleading no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in River Rouge. Prosecutors said Sigler molested a 12-year-old boy in the 1960s while he served at St. Mary Magdeline's in Hazel Park. The assaults allegedly took place in a River Rouge house. -- ClickOnDetroit.com, www.clickondetroit.com , (Poynter Aug 5 03)
• AG: Dead priests accused of abuse entitled to privacy. MAINE: The state Attorney General's Office is worried that if it discloses the names of deceased priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors, it might create a precedent. "Government collects a substantial amount of personal information about private individuals, including unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct," Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin wrote in a brief filed in Superior Court last week. "To disclose such information - especially against individuals who are deceased and therefore cannot defend their legacy - would do a disservice to our private citizens and public figures, as well as their survivors." Robbin was writing in response to a lawsuit by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram asking for documents in the AG's office that refer to allegations against any dead priest. Because the documents are held by the government, they are presumed public under the Maine Freedom of Access Act. The state argues, however, that the documents are exempt under the law because they constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The newspapers' lawyers argue that because the priests are dead, they have no right to personal privacy, and noted that "faced with the brunt of the priest sexual abuse scandal, Massachusetts Courts have consistently recognized the overwhelming nature of the public interest in disclosure of related information." -- Portland Press Herald, www.pressherald.com , By Joshua L. Weinstein, (Poynter Aug 5 03)
• Sex-Abuse Line Answered by Lawyer. CAMDEN (NJ): A toll-free phone line set up by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Brooklyn's incoming Roman Catholic leader, to report sex abuse in the Diocese of Camden is answered by a lawyer, a move critics say can be intimidating to victims. Laurence Rosoff, a Cherry Hill, N.J., lawyer who specializes in employee-labor relations and represents corporations in cases of discrimination, says he was chosen to answer the calls partly for his expertise and partly because of his religion. "I guess an added attraction is that I'm not Catholic. I'm Jewish. I don't have any vested interest, any long-standing ties to any parish or priest. That was one of the reasons they went outside; they wanted someone who is independent." Of the 194 Catholic dioceses around the country, Camden is one of only a handful where complaining victims are first routed to an attorney, according to the victim's support group Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests. The organization says the arrangement is fraught with potential problems in light of a church cover-up spanning several decades. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , By Stephanie Saul, August 5, 2003
• Diocese Battles Insurance Firms on Sex Claims. BROOKLYN (NY): The cash-strapped Diocese of Brooklyn is embroiled in a dispute with its insurance companies over who will pay deductibles on sexual-abuse claims. The disagreement, which potentially involves hundreds of thousands of dollars, has arisen in the case of the Rev. Enrique Diaz Jimenez, a Colombian priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three altar boys in Corona in the 1980s. He worked at both St. Leo's and Our Lady of Sorrows parishes. The victims also have filed suit against Diaz and the diocese. A lawyer for the three, Kenneth Litwack of Bayside, confirmed yesterday that negotiations among several insurance companies are taking place. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , By Stephanie Saul, Aug 5 03
• Local Clergy Responds to Sexual Abuse. ANCHORAGE (AK): Leaders at the Anchorage Archdiocese say they take sexual abuse allegations seriously and are working to help those abused by clergy members. In a phone interview from Minneapolis, Archbishop Roger Schwietz responded to an in-depth newspaper article detailing alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Monsignor Frank Murphy. Schwietz said "It's such a tragedy that these things take place and my heart goes out to all the victims who have suffered." Three reports of sexual abuse in Anchorage have been reported. Two cases are said to have happened in the 1960's, and a third in the 70's. It wasn't until many years later the cases were reported to local authorities. Last summer the United States Bishops adopted a charter for the Protection of Children. -- KTVA, www.ktva.com , By Maria Martin, (Poynter Institute Aug 5 03)
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Tuesday, August 5, 2003
• Diocese Battles Insurance Firms on Sex Claims. BROOKLYN (NY): The cash-strapped Diocese of Brooklyn is embroiled in a dispute with its insurance companies over who will pay deductibles on sexual-abuse claims. The disagreement, which potentially involves hundreds of thousands of dollars, has arisen in the case of the Rev. Enrique Diaz Jimenez, a Colombian priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three altar boys in Corona in the 1980s. He worked at both St. Leo's and Our Lady of Sorrows parishes. The victims also have filed suit against Diaz and the diocese. A lawyer for the three, Kenneth Litwack of Bayside, confirmed yesterday that negotiations among several insurance companies are taking place. -- Newsday, www.nynewsday.com , By Stephanie Saul, Aug 5 03
• Former priest keeps sex conviction secret, won't register. RIO RANCHO (NM): Most sex offenders are required, under state law, to register. Their pictures and criminal histories are then posted to a state-run Web site. Former Catholic priest Daniel Calabrese was convicted in 1992 of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy in Dutchess County, New York, where he was serving as a priest. However, Calabrese has not registered with New Mexico as a sex offender. According to the state's attorney general's office, Calabrese has filed a request with the 13th Judicial District to be exempt from registering. That request is being argued behind closed doors and court documents relating to the case have been sealed. -- The Observer, "Former priest fights registration as sexual offender," www.observer-online.com , by Dave Warren, Managing Editor, Aug 6 03
• Confirmed: "Inclusiveness" of Anglicans confirming homosexual man for bishop may cause split. MINNEAPOLIS (MN): The bishops of the Episcopal Church yesterday dismissed allegations of misconduct against the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and then voted to confirm him as the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The action immediately provoked protests by 19 conservative bishops, who declared a "pastoral emergency" and called for intervention by the other primates, or chief bishops, of the Anglican Communion. Yesterday's vote, the final step required for Robinson to be confirmed as a bishop, is a watershed moment in the history of Christianity, the world's largest faith group. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church described it as a ringing expression of the inclusiveness of the faith, but also, for the church, a risky step. "For some this is a moment of great joy and represents an affirmation of the place of gay and lesbian persons in this church," said Bishop Frank T. Griswold. "For others, the decision signals a crisis and reflects a departure from biblical teaching and traditional church practice. This is not a time for either triumph or desolation." -- Boston Globe, "Gay bishop is cleared, confirmed," www.boston.com , By Michael Paulson, Aug 6 03
• Priest grabs undercover policeman's private parts, exposes. [CURRENT] CINCINNATI, U.S.A.: Already dealing with fallout from sex scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, it was particularly embarrassing -- and distressing -- for archdiocesan officials to learn that one of their priests had been convicted of sex crimes while actively serving a parish. "I think it's additionally painful to the Catholic community in the context of the Church's sexual abuse (cases) nationally and locally," archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said Tuesday. Raymond Larger was suspended as pastor of Our Lady of Visitation in Mack following a Tuesday meeting with Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk. Larger was arrested at 9 p.m. July 23 in a Dayton park by an undercover police officer and charged with two counts of public indecency for grabbing the officer's groin and exposing himself. -- Kentucky Post, "Archdiocese suspends priest after sex charges," By Kimball Perry, (Posted by Poynter Institute Aug 7 03)
• Sex Crimes Cover-Up By Vatican? LOS ANGELES, United States: For decades, priests in this country abused children in parish after parish while their superiors covered it all up. Now it turns out the orders for this cover up were written in Rome at the highest levels of the Vatican. CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales has uncovered a church document kept secret for 40 years. The confidential Vatican document, obtained by CBS News, lays out a church policy that calls for absolute secrecy when it comes to sexual abuse by priests -- anyone who speaks out could be thrown out of the church. The policy was written in 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. The document, once "stored in the secret archives" of the Vatican, focuses on crimes initiated as part of the confessional relationship and what it calls the "worst crime": sexual assault committed by a priest" or "attempted by him with youths of either sex or with brute animals." Bishops are instructed to pursue these cases "in the most secretive way...restrained by a perpetual silence...and everyone (including the alleged victim) ...is to observe the strictest secret, which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office...under the penalty of excommunication." -- CBS News, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/06/eveningnews/main566978.shtml , (repeated on webpage www.rentapriest.com/vatican_implicated_in _worldwide.htm), Aug 6 03
########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, August 7, 2003 items:-
• Controversy Begins Over Priest Moved to St. Louis ST. LOUIS (MO): A victims' rights group is calling on Missouri officials to reverse their decision that lets a Nevada priest serve probation in Missouri. The reason for the request is that one of the priest's sex abuse victims lives in the St. Louis area. SNAP, the Survivors Network Of Those Abused By Priests held a news conference outside the Missouri Probation and parole office in midtown St. Louis. They said Father Mark Roberts, who admitted molesting children in Nevada, is being allowed to serve his probation at a treatment center in Dittmer, Missouri. One of the priest's victims in Nevada moved to South St. Louis County two years ago. The 20-year-old man told NewsChannel 5 he is disheartened and worried now that Roberts is in the St. Louis area, "I come here to collect myself again and recover from the things that he did to me, and he's here now and he's back in my environment. You know even though I don't see him or hear from him, it's still kind of scary to know that he's down the road." -- KSDK, www.ksdk.com/ news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=44848 , (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynteronline, Aug 7 03)
• Abuse victims want voice. JOLIET (IL): A group of people who were sexually abused by priests wants the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet to appoint an abuse survivor to the Diocesan Review Board. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests also wants the diocese to publish a list of all clerics named in credible allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. The diocese said it, too, wants an abuse survivor to serve on the review board, which considers evidence and testimony about allegations and recommends action the bishop should take. "We've been actively looking, but we haven't found anybody who will do it," said John Cullen, the Joliet Diocese's communications director. Some people who were abused don't want their identity disclosed, and the diocese publicly names review board members, Cullen said. But Bob Caron of Glen Ellyn, Illinois director of SNAP, said he knows of people who would serve on the panel. "I could very easily find somebody who would volunteer," said Caron, who was sexually abused by a Joliet Diocese priest when he was a youth. "On the diocesan review committee, priests, lawyers, psychologists and law enforcement are all represented, but there appears to be no one on the committee to represent the victim's point of view." -- The Herald News, www.suburbanchicagonews.com , By Ted Slowik, (Poynter, Aug 7 03)
• Rome rejects County Attorney's request to return fugitives. PHOENIX (AZ): Return to sender. That was the response Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley got last month after he mailed a letter to Vatican officials asking them to order indicted priests back to Arizona for prosecution in child molestation cases. Romley said he sent the request to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretariat of state. Several fugitive priests are known to be overseas, including one in Rome and others in Mexico and Ireland. Romley's letter came back unopened, with a note from the Vatican postmaster: "Sir, the item here enclosed is returned to sender because refused by the rightful addressee." "That's a bit disappointing," Romley said. "This is an issue that is clearly significant to the church and, really, to Rome." Vatican authorities could not be reached for comment. About 30 Arizona priests have been accused in criminal or civil court of sexual misconduct, mostly involving children, during the past two decades. Romley has tenaciously prosecuted the suspects while investigating diocesan officials suspected of covering up abuse. Retired Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, the former head of the Phoenix Diocese, adopted major reforms to stave off a possible indictment for obstructing justice. He subsequently was forced to resign because of criminal charges against him in a fatal hit-and-run accident. -- The Arizona Republic, "Romley's letter to Vatican sent back," www.azcentral.com , by Dennis Wagner, Aug 6 03
• A more open church, a more wary public after abuse scandal. VIRGINIA: In the past year, the Rev. Thomas J. Caroluzza has witnessed all the faces of hurt inflicted by the Catholic sex-abuse scandal. It's been his job as the bishop's representative in eastern Virginia to hear accusers' anguished stories. To tell an astonished congregation their pastor was a suspected abuser. To listen to priests demoralized by clergy brothers' betrayal of their vocation. And every face shows the snowy-haired monsignor something more -- that the ongoing scandal has snatched at the trust Catholics once implicitly gave the church, its leaders and priests like him. "I would have a hard time believing that people weren't wondering about me," he said. The revelations of abuse that first rocked Catholics elsewhere surfaced in the Richmond diocese one year ago this week when Bishop Walter F. Sullivan expelled two priests who admitted abusing minors. -- The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com , By Steven G. Vegh, Aug 6 03
• Alleged sex-abuse cases in the Richmond diocese. VIRGINIA: The Rev. John E. Leonard. The pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church in the Richmond area, Leonard was accused in May 2002 of sexually abusing teenage boys. Diocesan investigators found the complaints credible and recommended he receive inpatient psychological care. Leonard denied the accusations. Bishop Walter F. Sullivan cleared Leonard of serious wrongdoing in June 2002 and kept him in service. The Goochland county prosecutor began investigating abuse allegations against Leonard in August 2002. The investigation remains open. -- The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com , Aug 6 03
• Ex-Valley priest indicted in cases of molestation. PHOENIX (AZ): A Roman Catholic priest who spent four years at St. Mark's Parish in east Phoenix has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing at least three boys nearly a quarter century ago, molestations that reportedly took place in a swimming pool and the church rectory. The Rev. Joseph John Henn, 54, has not been arrested because he is stationed in Rome. Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said extradition proceedings are under way. In the meantime, he added, Henn's Salvatorian Order has placed him on restricted duty. Henn was at St. Mark's from 1978-82. The 13-count indictment claims he fondled and rubbed against one of the victims, an altar boy, in 1979 while in a swimming pool and again in 1980 at a sandwich shop. A second child reportedly was molested at the rectory after swimming, and a third was victimized on New Year's Eve 1979. Approximately 30 Catholic clergy members from Arizona have been accused in court of sexual predation against children during the past decade. -- The Arizona Star, www.azcentral.com , by Dennis Wagner, Aug 6 03
• Group calls on archbishop to publicize information on allegedly abusive priest. BOSTON (MA): A group representing victims of clergy sexual abuse is calling on Boston's new archbishop to post notices in parish bulletins about an allegedly abusive priest. The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests [SNAP] is asking Archbishop Sean O'Malley to place notices in parish bulletins in Fall River encouraging any victims of the Rev. Donald Bowen to come forward. The group also wants O'Malley to contact parishioners in 25 remote Bolivian villages where Bowen worked after leaving Fall River. Bowen has been accused of molesting a girl for several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is currently free on bail as he awaits a criminal trial. The alleged victim settled her lawsuit against the Fall River diocese in January 1992, seven months before O'Malley became the bishop there. According to John Kearns, a spokesman for the Fall River Diocese, Bowen's superiors at the Society of James in Bolivia told O'Malley that Bowen's main duty was preparing a history of the society and that he would not have any contact with children. -- Daily News Tribune, www.dailynewstribune.com , Associated Press, Wed, Aug 6 03
• Episcopal Church and late accusation. BOSTON (MA): Who was this accuser? Why the 11th-hour nature of the allegations of sexual misconduct? What was the hidden agenda here? Wasn't the real motive to derail this nomination? Wasn't this alleged victim just a dupe of the political opposition? If the questions sounded familiar, it is because they are. Conservatives were asking them in 1991 when Anita Hill accused US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. This week, it was liberals who were suspicious of the timing and incredulous of the charges against a New Hampshire priest poised to became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. In the e-mail to a church official that brought deliberations on the Rev. V. Gene Robinson's nomination to a standstill, his accuser, David Lewis of Manchester, Vt., asked: "If I were a straight woman reporting heterosexual harassment by a straight male priest, would you hesitate to take the matter seriously?" -- Boston Globe, "A lesson in openness," www.boston.com , By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist, Aug 6 03
• Lawyer for cleric seeks an alleged victim's counseling records. BOSTON (MA): While the Archdiocese of Boston has dropped efforts to obtain information from church counselors who have aided victims of sexual abuse, not all Catholic clergy are apparently following Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley's lead. A lawyer for the Waltham-based Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers yesterday asked a Middlesex Superior Court judge to order that an alleged abuse victim, Donald P. Smith, turn over records of counseling he received from a nun in the mid-1990s. Smith has sued the Rev. Joseph Fellin, a onetime high ranking Stigmatine priest, in connection with sexual abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of the Rev. Richard J. Ahearn, who is now dead. Smith's lawsuit alleges that Fellin knew about the abuse -- even walking into the same room in the rectory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Pittsfield while Ahearn was molesting Smith -- but did nothing to stop it. -- Boston Globe, www.globe.com , By Ralph Ranalli, Aug 6 03, (Posted by Kathy Shaw)
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, August 7, 2003
• Dioceses move to full disclosure. UNITED STATES: Transparency in finances is seen as a key to rebuilding trust after the sex-abuse cases in the US, but such reporting raises several critical concerns. Boston Archdiocese, which has yet to settle 500 claims, plans to put its budget on its website at www.rcab.org . The payouts are not coming from donations, but from insurance, the sale of property and special fundraising, a spokesperson said. Frank Butler, who directs Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) based in Washington, said it was a step in the right direction for Boston, Chicago and Baltimore to account for sex abuse-related costs. However, insurance companies might not want the world to know how much they had paid out, and it might violate some confidentiality agreements with litigants. (100 col-cm article and picture.) [Picture of new Boston Archbishop, Sean O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan, installed on July 30.] -- Adapted from The Record, Perth, "Dioceses move to full disclosure," by William Bole, Aug 7 03, p 11
• Vatican official says 1962 norms on solicitation no longer apply. VATICAN CITY: The Vatican's 1962 norms for handling cases of priests accused of soliciting sex in the confessional have been superseded by the 1983 Code of Canon Law and new 2001 norms for dealing with serious crimes involving the sacraments, said the Vatican's top canon law official. Archbishop Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, told reporters Aug. 7, "When a matter is re-ordered, the previous procedures are suspended." The archbishop was asked about the status of a 1962 doctrinal congregation "Instruction on the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of Solicitation," a term that refers specifically to sexual misconduct suggested or carried out by a priest in the context of offering sacramental confession. A Vatican official, who asked not to be identified, said Aug. 7 the document's invocation of secrecy was not meant to protect guilty priests, but to ensure a fair trial and safeguard the reputations of innocent priests and of the penitent making the claim. Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. bishops' conference, said the document "deals with crimes against the sacrament" throughout the universal church and "is totally silent with regard to civil crimes." In fact, he said, the document considers solicitation to be "so serious that a person is required to denounce the priest, and the result can be that the priest is removed from ministry." -- Catholic News Service, "Vatican official says 1962 norms on solicitation no longer apply," www.catholicnews.com , By Cindy Wooden, (Posted by Kathy Shaw 6:20:00 PM, Poynteronline, QuickLink : A43904), Thursday, August 7, 2003. [COMMENT: It would be unwise to take the replies at face value. Found this newsitem and put on website on Sep 20 03. COMMENT ENDS.] Aug 7 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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Doc. 238-33: ethicscontents33.htm