References cont. (36) — Clergy Child Molesters

• Archbishop to reopen disputed abuse claim. [Foster, Cummings, Cassem] -- RCC. Male.

   Boston Herald, http://www2. bostonherald. com/news/loc al_regional/ chur0925 2003.htm , by Robin Washington, Thursday, September 25, 2003
   BOSTON (MA): A man vilified as a "pathological liar" when his clergy abuse claim was thrown out by the Archdiocese of Boston last year will have his case reopened, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said in a letter to a victims advocacy group.
   "I recently ordered a full review of the case and of the findings of the Archdiocesan Review Board," O'Malley wrote the Coalition of Catholics & Survivors. The coalition had demanded the church reinvestigate sexual abuse claims by Winchendon's Paul R. Edwards.
   In August 2002, Edwards filed suit claiming abuse by Monsignor Michael Smith Foster, Boston's chief canon lawyer, and the late Rev. William Cummings. He withdrew it after Foster's supporters launched a media campaign, primarily in The Boston Globe, branding Edwards a lifelong liar.
   Amid the controversy, a priest-psychiatrist, Dr. Edwin "Ned" Cassem wrote a medical opinion calling Edwards a "pathological liar."
   But Cassem later admitted he never met Edwards, and the allegations against Edwards' veracity by Foster's other supporters could not be substantiated - prompting victims' groups to demand that the church reopen the case. (This is the first item of Poynteronline Abuse Tracker for Thursday, September 25, 2003, posted 10:02:25 AM by Kathy Shaw),

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Most newsitems are from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46 •Diocese settles in Yukon abuse case. FAIRBANKS (AK): A plaintiff in a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Fairbanks has accepted an offer to end his case for $30,000 and attorney fees, according to court documents filed in Bethel Superior Court. The resolution of the case against the diocese comes just three months after the plaintiff and three others -- all identified in documents as John Doe -- sued the diocese and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province. Two other plaintiffs joined the lawsuit in July. The diocese made the $30,000 offer with the caveat that "this is an offer of compromise only and is not to be construed as an admission," diocese attorney Robert Groseclose wrote in the offer. It was filed with the court Monday. The Rev. Richard Case, chancellor for the Fairbanks diocese, said the diocese did not make a formal admission of fault and that the offer was a way to resolve the litigation. -- Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com/ alaska/story/ 4002108p-402 3361c.html , By NICOLE TSONG, September 25, 2003
•Alleged Sex Victim Dies. BROOKLYN (NY): The lead plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by 24 priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn has died after ingesting antifreeze - just days before the suit is to be filed. Dennis M. Brown, 44, died Sunday night at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick. Police said he was taken there Saturday after his girlfriend called 911, saying Brown was unsteady on his feet and having difficulty breathing. It was not known if Brown ingested the antifreeze by accident or on purpose, a police source said. Brown's legal allegations of sexual abuse by the Rev. James Collins are to be made public next week, Brown's lawyer, Michael Dowd, said yesterday. "He wasn't looking for money," said Brown's mother, Dorothy Fergus of Venice, Fla. "He was looking for Collins to be out of the church." -- Newsday, www.nynewsday. com/news/local/ newyork/nyc-ny abus253468183 sep25,0,4293 325.story?coll= nyc-tophead lines-span ; By Stephanie Saul, STAFF WRITER. Staff writer Wil Cruz contributed to this story. September 25, 2003
• Man Ingests Antifreeze, Dies Days Before Filing Sex Suit. NEW YORK: A Queens man died after ingesting antifreeze a week before his allegations of sexual abuse by a priest were expected to be made public, according to a published report. Dennis Brown, 44, was to be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by 24 priests in the Diocese of Brooklyn, Newsday reported Thursday. He died Sunday at a hospital where he had been taken after his girlfriend called 911, Newsday said. The newspaper said it was unclear whether he had ingested the antifreeze intentionally or accidentally. Brown's lawyer, Michael Dowd, told Newsday that his client's allegations of abuse by the Rev. James Collins were to be made public next week. Brown's mother, Dorothy Fergus, of Venice, Fla., said Brown wrote to the diocese in 1995 to complain that Collins fondled him when he was an altar boy at St. Michael's parish in Flushing, Queens. "He wasn't looking for money," Fergus told Newsday. "He was looking for Collins to be out of the church." Collins was suspended as chaplain at Bishop Kearney High School in Brooklyn last year and could not be located for comment, Newsday said. -- WNBC, http://www.wnbc.com/news/2510049/detail.html
• Diocese claims leadership role. BRIDGEPORT (CT): A national group that counsels victims of sexual abuse by priests Monday urged those who have remained silent to speak out and seek help. Members of SNAP Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests distributed leaflets to Catholics leaving noon Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral. "We just want to get the word out and encourage people to break the silence," said David Clohessy, the group's national director. While SNAP officials encountered few parishioners a handful slipped out a side door while members waited on the sidewalk in front of the church the group did get the attention of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport and the region's media. The diocese dispatched its spokesman and several workers, armed with press releases. Three television stations and several print reporters were on hand. The media contingent outnumbered the half-dozen or so people at the Mass. -- Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96%7E3750%7E1650843,00.html , By BILL CUMMINGS, Wednesday, September 24, 2003
• Shortcomings, but not bias in paper's church abuse. [Rueger] -- RCC. WORCESTER (MA): Catholic Bishop Daniel P. Reilly last week accused the Telegram & Gazette of being "unbalanced and inaccurate" in its coverage of one of the alleged child abuse cases by a member of the clergy. The diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Free Press, in an editorial titled "Bias," joined in the complaint. "Obviously," the newspaper said, as a publication of the diocese, it was "in a delicate position when it comes to accusing another newspaper of bias against the church," but that "should not stop it from saying what is true and what is fair and what is not." The case in question is the one filed by Sime J. Braio, 53, against Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger, for allegedly abusing him when he was a teenager, and against the diocese for aggravated sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud or fraudulent concealment and conspiracy. In a ruling released Sept. 12, Superior Court Judge Leila R. Kern dismissed the diocese as a defendant. She said no factual basis had been established on which to hold the diocese liable. At that same hearing, the man who had been representing Mr. Braio, Houston attorney Daniel J. Shea, was allowed to withdraw from the case, since his client was seeking to dismiss him. Mr. Shea is seeking a lien on any awards that might be made to Mr. Braio, charging that his former client was being coerced into a secret settlement, and he had already advanced Mr. Braio several thousand dollars in the case. There were fascinating differences between the ways the two newspapers reported the story. The Telegram & Gazette's headline on Sept. 13 was "Shea withdraws from Braio case." The weekly Free Press's headline on Sept. 19 was "Diocese dropped from lawsuit." The Telegram's lead sentence was: "A Houston lawyer representing a Shrewsbury man charging sexual abuse at the hands of a Roman Catholic bishop was allowed to withdraw from the case yesterday, but is charging that his former client is being coerced into a secret settlement." A couple of paragraphs later came two sentences reporting that the diocese had been "dismissed as a defendant" by the judge. The Free Press story began with: "A Superior Court judge has dismissed all counts against the diocese contained in a civil lawsuit against it and Bishop Rueger." It then reported the ruling that "allowed the plaintiff's lawyer to withdraw from the case." There was considerably more to the difference than the matter of choosing which of two events should be headlined. Both papers reported that Judge Kern ordered Mr. Shea to turn the files in the Braio case over to Mr. Braio within 10 days, and called to the bench two lawyers who were observing the proceedings to inquire whether they were interested in taking on the case, receiving no firm reply. The Free Press, but not the Telegram & Gazette, reported that one of those lawyers characterized Mr. Shea's attitude toward them as "threatening." The Free Press was also alone in reporting that Mr. Braio "told the court that Mr. Shea had harassed him at his home on several occasions and that he had called the police to have him removed." In a later interview with the Free Press, Mr. Shea reportedly denied any harassment but acknowledged one "unprovoked" call by Mr. Braio to the police to have the lawyer removed. Based on a police report, the Free Press reported that Mr. Braio on July 18 told the police who responded to his call that Mr. Shea was threatening to have him committed to a state hospital and that he was afraid of Mr. Shea. Both newspapers reported that Mr. Shea said he had learned from several sources that the diocese was seeking to make a secret settlement with Mr. Braio. Only the Free Press asked the diocese to comment on Mr. Shea's claim, and it received a vigorous denial. Only the Telegram reported in detail additional claims by Mr. Shea that the diocese had been obstructing his efforts to establish that Mr. Braio had been a student at the Lyman School for Boys when he was assaulted and that there was some connection between Bishop Rueger and the Scituate address where the alleged assault took place. Only the Free Press asked church officials to comment on the significance of the dismissal of charges against the diocese. The point of greatest friction, at least for the diocese, seems to be Mr. Shea himself, and for good reason. From all appearances, he has been among the most available and most quotable sources for writers covering this story, and he has been quoted repeatedly on conspiracies and "sex rings" and other tantalizing hypotheses. The Free Press editorial called him "the T&G's most popular source for all matters pertaining to the clergy sex abuse crisis." It complained that the Telegram & Gazette's coverage of the Sept. 12 hearing ignored repeated assertions that Mr. Shea's behavior had been threatening, adding that the judge herself asked him to alter his tone because she, too, found it threatening. Even when it got to "the most disturbing" aspect of the Telegram & Gazette's coverage, the Free Press editorial was drawn back to Mr. Shea. What was "most disturbing" was that merely two sentences were devoted to the dismissal of charges against the diocese. "Two sentences after at least a dozen articles in the last year ... in which Mr. Shea accuses the diocese of a variety of conspiracies and frauds that, according to a Superior Court judge, he could not substantiate." I think the diocesan people have a pretty good case when they say the daily paper neglected the importance of the dismissal of charges, though I doubt that stemmed from a general "bias against the church." I am less impressed with their apparent desire to strike back at Mr. Shea personally -- though what they said about him pales beside what he has said about them. It's a good time for all of us to remind ourselves that what we say or write should not only be true; it should also be fair, a judgment considerably more difficult to make. (Posted by Kathy Shaw 2:01:27 PM) -- Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com , By Kenneth J. Moynihan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE COLUMNIST, Sep 24 03
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, September 25, 2003
• Adelaide archbishop gives details of $2.1m abuse payment. ADELAIDE, South Australia: Archbishop Philip Wilson yesterday spelled out the rationale and details of his decision to pay $2.1 million in response to the needs of former St Ann's Special School students. News of the payment was reported in yesterday's Advertiser newspaper, but the Archbishop had declined to comment before yesterday's announcement. According to the media release from Catholic Communications Adelaide, Archbishop Wilson said offers of $100,000, $75,000 and $50,000 have been made to a significant number of former students based on the best assessment of the extent to which those students were affected. Earlier this month, a District Court judge handed a ten year jail sentence to Brian James Perkins, a former bus driver at the school who was found guilty of acts of abuse and indecency committed against children who attended the school for intellectually disabled boys.
   SOURCE: Catholic Communications Adelaide; ABC. LINKS: $2.1m payout for sex abuse victims (The Age); Church's $2.1m ends 'hush money' for sexual abuse (Sydney Morning Herald); SA Catholic Church offers sexual abuse victims cash 'gifts' (ABC); Archdiocese of Adelaide; Adelaide archbishop welcomes paedophile's "appropriate" jail sentence (15/9/03); Towards Healing - Principles and procedures in responding to complaints of abuse against personnel of the Catholic Church of Australia
   -- CathNews, www.cathnews.com , "Adelaide archbishop gives details of $2.1m abuse payment," Sep 25 03
• Secrecy harms victims and the abusing priests: expert. CANADA: Secrecy about sexual abuse by Catholic clerics has resulted in victims not receiving the help they needed, an expert on church law testified yesterday. Rev. Thomas Doyle, recognized as a top American expert on canon law, told a London civil trial that sex was long a taboo subject in the church, not to be discussed in seminaries or from the pulpit. Doyle said he has been involved in helping victims of abuse by priests for nearly 19 years and has seen the harm caused by maintaining secrecy. One consequence is victims did not receive the pastoral care they required to help them deal with the impact of abuse on their lives, Doyle said. Another result of keeping the problem buried was priest perpetrators have not received the medical help they needed to deal with the problems that led them to abuse, he said. Still another consequence was a proliferation of abuse by clerics in the absence of public scrutiny of the problem, he testified. Doyle, a member of the Dominican order ordained as a priest in 1970, testified at the civil trial in which John, Ed and Guy Swales and their family are suing Rev. Barry Glendinning and the Roman Catholic diocese of London. The Swaleses are seeking damages for pain and suffering they say resulted from abuse by Glendinning when he taught at St. Peter's Seminary in London in the late 1960s and early 1970s. -- London Free Press, Canada, "Church secrecy helps abuse proliferate: expert," www.canoe.ca , (Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:32:57 AM, Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker), Sep 25 03
• Police not told although girls made porn video and showed it to boys, of religious schools. PERTH, Western Australia: Three 13-year-old girls from the most expensive private school in WA [Western Australia] have been caught trying to sell a homemade pornographic video. The scandal involves students at Presbyterian Ladies' College and Hale School. Both schools have been forced into damage control after the explicit video, featuring three PLC students, was found. The video, believed to have been taped at a party a fortnight ago, shows three Year 8 PLC boarding school students performing an explicit sex act. No boys were in the video but a separate photo shows one of the girls engaging in an explicit act with a Hale School student. The photo may have been taken at the same party. The West Australian understands that about a week after the private party, the girls involved edited the video and tried to sell it to a group of Hale School boys for $90. It is understood that the boys did not pay the money but watched the video. Neither school would say yesterday whether any copies of the video were still in existence or who had them. PLC principal Beth Blackwood said it was inappropriate for the school to make any comment in relation to the alleged activity of minors. The school had checked its security records and denied any school equipment or processing facilities had been used in connection with any sexually-explicit activity. She would not comment on whether disciplinary action had been taken or whether police had been notified. Hale School principal Stuart Meade said issues in relation to the matter that pertained to Hale School had been investigated and dealt with appropriately. The West Australian understands that police have not been notified of the incident by any parties and that no complaint had been made. -- The West Australian, "Private schoolgirls caught with homemade porn video," by Susan Hewitt, p 1, Sat Sep 27 03
########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Sunday, September 28, 2003 edition follows:-
• A Victim Discovers Hope in the Parish. CALIFORNIA: It was planned as a night to hand out leaflets, not a night to shake the church or rock the parishioners. Standing outside the church doors, the four women didn't come to pick a fight or force a showdown. They knew they weren't especially welcome. They'd asked the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange if they could speak to parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church about abuse that they or their children had experienced at other churches in years past, but were told that wouldn't fit on the agenda. Instead, the night was meant for parishioners to vent or ask questions about allegations of sexual abuse leveled against Msgr. Daniel Murray. So, leaflets it would be on this night in Newport Beach. That was no surprise: The women who wanted badly to talk about how the nation's churches handled sexual abuse allegations were accustomed to being left on the doorstep. Then an unexpected thing happened. The women stepped inside and found the meeting room where dozens of parishioners had gathered. Mary Grant, abused by South County priest John Lenihan over a period of years in the 1970s and now the Southern California head of a victims advocacy group, saw an empty chair among a group of parishioners. "Come in, sit down," one of them said to her. As the evening unfolded, they found out. Grant, 40, told her story of being molested by Lenihan, who in recent years admitted to having sexual relationships with two teen-aged girls and later left the priesthood. Despite the media attention her case had received, Grant had never spoken to parishioners inside any Catholic church. That night, she'd already heard various people say they doubted the allegations against Murray and that they'd support him. Then, Grant -- who isn't involved in the Murray case -- broke her silence. "I raised my hand and told my story, in a nutshell. As I was telling the story, their faces changed," she says. "This huge barrier had come down and no longer was the abuse victim some nonexistent person. It was connected to a person. Although I wasn't the alleged victim of their priest, they had a real person who had been molested by a priest." She wasn't there, she said, to condemn Murray, but she asked them to reconsider public shows of support. Doing so, she says, sends a message to children who might be victims in such cases not to come forward. "Kids can be frightened into being silent by seeing the way the victim or alleged victim is treated and how the alleged perpetrator is treated," she says. If parents or diocesan officials give signals that allegations against priests or others can't be true and hold rallies for them, Grant says, children "are going to be trapped and traumatized." Grant says the evening was a breakthrough. "It was an experience that none of us had ever had. It gave us hope that if you can get in these rooms and simply tell our stories and parishioners get the bigger picture, the way these cases are handled might change." Some applauded her talk, Grant says. Some hugged her. Two invited her to come back. Critical that diocesan officials have discouraged victims from contributing to the discussion of clerical abuse, Grant says the victims' involvement is crucial. While the diocese has set up meetings to let parishioners express feelings, it hasn't invited people like Grant or publicized her group's efforts. "I think we've all felt," Grant says, "that if we could get past church officials hiding and protecting the priests and alienating and blaming the victims, and get to the parishioners, that we could reach them and they would support us." Now, she says, she's sure of it. "The parishioners," she says, "are our hope." -- Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parsons28sep28,1,902568.story , by Dana Parsons, Sep 28 03
   Dana Parsons' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821, at dana.parsons@latimes.com or at The Times' Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
• Culprits in the cloister. PHILIPPINES: Some weeks ago, a Catholic cleric convicted of molesting 150 youths during his watch at an American parish was strangled to death by a fellow convict. The killer was outraged by the priest's acts and was waiting to wreak vengeance on him on behalf of his innocent victims. The Catholic Church had earlier defrocked him and reportedly paid millions of dollars in damages to the boys he had molested, now grown up, who had decided to reveal his sexual abuses. One complaint created a domino effect that led to other accusations his superiors could not ignore. A thorough investigation caused his abject confession and eventual imprisonment and murder. The Catholic Church in the United States has been rocked by similar scandals, most of which have established priestly shenanigans in the cloister. That's the bad news. The good news is that they have not been hushed up or whitewashed by the church hierarchy to protect its sacrosanct reputation. The priests were not let off by a mere recitation of the Act of Contrition. The current rash of complaints of sexual harassment has deepened public concern over this offense. Where before they could only suffer in angry silence, many female employees are now boldly speaking up against the sexual abuses and demands of their male superiors. The victims are no longer intimidated by threats of their persecution, demotion or dismissal if they refuse to cooperate. . . . But what about Bishop Teodoro Bacani, who suddenly left sometime ago in the wake of charges of sexual molestation filed against him by his secretary? In his departure message, he pleaded for understanding as if he was asking for forgiveness-that was the impression many people got. Then, as suddenly as he had left, he quietly came back and has reportedly resumed his priestly duties. Many of the Catholic faithful expressed satisfaction over his return, which they saw as an affirmation of their trust in him as a holy man. They also regarded it as his implied exoneration from the accusation that he had taken liberties with his accuser, who had repulsed them and eventually resigned to protect her honor. So what has happened to her formal complaint that was supposed to have been elevated to the Vatican for investigation and decision? There has been no news about whatever action has been taken by the Holy See on this serious matter, which affects the integrity of the Catholic Church in this only Christian country in Asia. All I have heard so far are rumors and conjectures, not a clear decision on the charges against Bishop Bacani. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence, particularly because he is a man of the cloth, but that presumption is only disputable and may be rebutted by evidence to the contrary, if there is any. http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/sep/28/opi_iacruz-1.htm , -- INQ7.net, by Isagani A. Cruz, Sep 28 03
•Letting Their Voice Be Heard. LONG ISLAND (NY): The sexual abuse scandal has given Catholics a historic opportunity to change the structure of their church, a noted theologian told an audience determined to do just that at the first convention of Long Island's Voice of the Faithful. "Jesus did not leave a precise blueprint of the church's structure for the rest of its existence," the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame and author of many books on Catholicism, said at the conference Saturday in Melville. He said moral teachings, such as love, forgiveness and justice, were the divine law Catholics must follow. "In almost every other matter, the church is free, free to do what it must to fulfill its mission," said McBrien. While the Catholic Church will always need a strong structure to function, McBrien said rules on who can be ordained, the methods of selecting church leaders and the role of the laity in governance can be changed. The abuse scandal has awakened ordinary Catholics to the fact that they can pressure the church to make those changes, he said. Those changes would be welcomed by Long Island Catholics, according to a survey the Voice of the Faithful released Saturday that showed an overwhelming desire for reform. -- Newsday http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-livotf0928,0,7941532.story?coll=ny-li-vertical-headlines , By Rita Ciolli September 28, 2003
• Pope Names 30 New Cardinals. PHILADELPHIA (PA): Pope John Paul II named 30 new cardinals on Sunday, including Philadelphia archbishop Justin Rigali, further putting his mark on the group that will name his successor. The ailing, 83-year-old pope also designated a 31st cardinal but did not name him. That man was named "in pectore," or close to his heart, a term used for prelates in a country where the church is oppressed. Even as Vatican City -- along with most of Italy -- was without power from a massive blackout, the pope read the list out from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square to pilgrims and tourists gathered for his traditional Sunday greeting. His voice was amplified with a backup generator provided at the last moment by Italy's RAI state television. -- Newsday, http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nyc-pope0927,0,4518033.story?coll=nyc-topnews-short-navigation , By BILL BERGSTROM, Associated Press Writer, 9:22 AM EDT, September 28, 2003
• Pope names Archbishop Rigali among new cardinals. PHILADELPHIA (PA): Archbishop Justin Rigali, named a cardinal by Pope John Paul the Second today, is known for his quiet leadership. The 68-year-old Rigali has led the Archdiocese of St. Louis since 1994 and is moving to the East Coast this week to become Archbishop of Philadelphia. Of the American archbishops who are also cardinals, he has the richest experience on the Vatican staff. His worldwide experience ranges from heading the Vatican's diplomatic school to working in Madagascar. Rigali was appointed in July to succeed Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH'-kwuh), Philadelphia's archbishop for 15 years. He will be installed in an October seventh ceremony. Like Bevilacqua, Rigali is a conservative with close Vatican ties. Rigali has critics, particularly among advocates for victims of clerical sex abuse. A leading activist has said Rigali has been among the least compassionate American bishops in dealing with the crisis. -- WCAX, AP, http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1460578
• Vt. diocese trying to settle with accuser. VERMONT: Vermont's Catholic Church is working to settle the first of an increasing number of lawsuits accusing state priests of child sexual abuse. The Diocese of Burlington is negotiating a tentative agreement to pay Paul Babeu an unspecified sum in return for his dropping his court case against it. Babeu, a 34-year-old former Massachusetts county commissioner, says he was 15 when the Rev. George Paulin, most recently a Ludlow pastor before resigning this year, abused him on an overnight visit to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Babeu, now of Arizona, filed his lawsuit against the priest and the diocese last December, only to see church lawyers spend months trying to dismiss or delay it. But after taking initial testimony, the diocese started talking with Babeu's lawyer, Thomas Bixby of Brattleboro. -- Rutland Herald, http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/Story/72293.html , By KEVIN O'CONNOR, September 28, 2003
• Goodman: Whose example to follow? New bishop has a choice. [1991-92] PALM BEACH (FL): The Roman Catholic Church has never been known as the most open of institutions. So maybe we shouldn't be too surprised by new evidence that the Very Rev. James Murtagh was doing some fancy dancing with the truth last year when speaking about the burgeoning scandals involving priests and pedophilia. Murtagh said the diocese never had to investigate or settle cases of priests abusing minors -- though that wasn't true for priests misbehaving with women -- which Murtagh placed in a separate and decidedly less serious category. Then temporary head of the Palm Beach Diocese, Murtagh stepped in after the abrupt resignation in March 2002 of Bishop Anthony O'Connell, the second consecutive bishop to resign in disgrace over past sexual misconduct. A lawsuit, filed Wednesday, contends that Murtagh as caretaker was hardly opening the windows and letting in fresh air. Filed by an unidentified local man who says he was molested as a teenager in 1991 and 1992 by Father Matthew Fitzgerald, then a parish priest in Boca Raton, the suit asserts Murtagh was told about the alleged abuse in 2000. Murtagh allegedly didn't investigate the claims, however. He didn't report what he heard to the State Attorney's Office or to other authorities, the lawsuit states. As for the statements Murtagh gave to reporters, saying he knew of no cases of sexual misconduct against minors: "patently false," according to the lawsuit. Maybe not false, but certainly oily. It was denial couched in qualifiers: "there was no determination" of abuse; there'd been no financial settlements. The diocese declined to comment on the lawsuit. But C. Brooks Ricca, the diocese's attorney, told reporters there were reasons Murtagh didn't investigate. One, Fitzgerald was retired (forcibly so, after years of dodging charges of sexual misconduct in a series of parishes). Two, the victim, now 27, refused to press charges. To some people, these developments aren't news. Ed Ricci, an attorney who has helped raise $895 million for Catholic causes, said he was infuriated when he heard Murtagh deny knowledge of priests molesting kids. At the time, Ricci says, he had been approached by six families who said their children had been fondled by priests in Palm Beach County. One of those was the "John Doe" in the current suit. The others could result in legal action, too, if the statute of limitations permits. "I had that information in confidence and couldn't say anything, which was why I was so offended that a man of the cloth would spin a story," Ricci said. Let's contrast Murtagh with his successor, Bishop Sean P. O'Malley. O'Malley, a Capuchin friar, arrived with a reputation for facing sex-abuse scandals with unusual openness and integrity. He was here only nine months before being sent to Boston, the mother of all scandalized archdioceses. After only five weeks, O'Malley brokered an $85 million settlement with 550 Boston sex-abuse victims -- a deal that eluded his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law, the former Boston archbishop, for more than a year. O'Malley is getting high marks for listening to victims, taking them seriously, and starting a healing that seemed unthinkable just weeks ago. "Without his courage," said Roderick McLeish, a lawyer whose firm represented more than 200 of the victims who approved of the settlement, "none of this would have been possible." Gerald M. Barbarito, Palm Beach County's new bishop, is still an untested quantity. He's had the post only since August. He has two recent role models. There's the lawyerly approach of Murtagh, intent on protecting the institution of the church, no matter if anyone's misled in the process. And the example of O'Malley, who put people in pain ahead of the lawyers and institutional pride. Let's hope, when the next accusation comes, that Bishop Barbarito knows whom to emulate. Howard Goodman's column is published Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. He can be reached at hgoodman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6638. -- Sun-Sentinel, www.sun-sentinel.com , by Howard Goodman, Sep 28 03
• Police investigate priests for alleged paedophilia in Church institution . [1983-2003]
   The Malta Independent, www.independent. com.mt/daily/ newsview.asp? id=21172 , ~ September 28, 2003
   MALTA: The police are investigating what is alleged to be a long history of paedophilia in a Church home for boys involving at least four priests, some of whom were still in charge of children up to a few weeks ago. The cases of child abuse reported to the police go back to around 1983 and have been allegedly going on with other children up to this year, when all the priests involved were reportedly removed from having contact with children. Confirmed by very high-ranking members of the religious order running the institution, the allegations have been kept under wraps by the Curia, which received reports from ex-residents earlier this year. The Malta Independent on Sunday has taken the decision not to publish the name of the institution so as not to stigmatise children who reside there and the staff who work there. However it will follow closely the developments and investigate the degree of complicity in the alleged cases. The police received the reports from at least four alleged victims late last month. Three men who filed separate reports implicating the same priests are aged 31, 26 and 27, while another one aged 15 still lives at the institute. Seen by The Malta Independent on Sunday, the reports filed in writing to the police record in detail a series of allegations of sexual abuse. All of them mention a particular priest who used to take care of them, and three other priests are also implicated separately. One victim says that a year after he was admitted into the institution aged 11, a priest started abusing him whenever they were taken to swim during the summer holidays when they were living in a summer residence. He claims the priest kept abusing him every summer until he was 13, when he was transferred with older boys to the care of a different priest.
• Author to speak about Catholic policy on clergy. NASHVILLE (TN): A group of lay Catholics hoping to spur discussion on church policies such as the required celibacy of priests and the prohibition of female priests has invited a noted author on such issues to town. Eugene Kennedy, author of 50 books including The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality, will speak in Nashville on Oct. 12, almost two months after more than 160 priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee signed a letter seeking a change in the celibacy policy. Kennedy is a former priest who supports a non-celibate clergy and the ordination of women. He is a professor emeritus of sociology at Loyola University in Chicago. He was invited here by the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful. The first chapter of the group was formed in Boston in response to sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church. -- The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/09/40071399.shtml?Element_ID=40071399 , By BRIAN LEWIS
• Faithful in pope's homeland press church to act on sex abuse. TYLAWA, POLAND: When the allegations of sexual abuse surfaced at her Roman Catholic church, Ewa Orlowska joined dozens of other parishioners in signing a letter of support for their priest of 37 years. Yet the suspicions didn't disappear. Reporters descended on this isolated southern village of 400, publishing accounts of decades of alleged abuse. In July 2001, prosecutors opened an investigation and took a detailed statement from Orlowska. It turned out that she, too, counted herself among the Rev. Michal Moskwa's alleged victims. "I feared him all my life. When I was sitting in church, I was paralyzed by fear of that priest," Orlowska, a 41-year-old mother of nine, said in an interview. "I broke the silence, secret and shame. I did it to protect children." As she later discovered, two of her daughters, now 20 and 21, had also told prosecutors they were molested. Moskwa, 64, faces trial this fall on charges of sexually abusing six girls in Tylawa. He denies the allegations and is still celebrating mass in Tylawa's only Catholic church. -- Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4121619.html
• Musicians offer concert to honor abuse victims. CAMBRIDGE (MA): Five local musicians will present a free concert tonight to honor the victims of clergy sexual abuse. The event "is an effort by several musicians who want to honor the suffering and healing of abuse victims," said David Clohessy, the national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], who will give an opening greeting to concertgoers. "We're hoping it'll be a very moving and healing event." Performers include three chair holders with the Boston Symphony Orchestra -- John Ferrillo, principal oboe; violinist Elita Kang; and flutist Elizabeth Ostling -- as well as Carol Rodland, professor of viola at the New England Conservatory, and Hugh Hinton of the Longy School of Music. Ostling, who Clohessy said has taken a strong interest in helping the organization and the victims of clergy sexual abuse, spearheaded the event. "We're just very touched and grateful that the musicians have put this together," Clohessy said. The concert, which will showcase the works of Bach, Schumann, and Debussy, among others, will take place at 5 p.m. at the Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall in Cambridge. Admission is free, though offerings will be taken to benefit SNAP and a reception will follow the concert. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/271/metro/Musicians_offer_concert_to_honor_abuse_victims+.shtml , By Globe Correspondent, Sep 28 03
• Rabbi loses first round in fight to stop church sale. BROOKLINE (MA): Pray it ain't so. That's one of Rabbi Mendy Uminer's dwindling options after he lost a bid last week to move his makeshift shul into sprawling surplus church property in the Putterham section of South Brookline. Uminer was hoping to relocate his Chabad Lubavitch Center's Jewish worshipers from cramped office space on the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury to larger digs that were available after the Infant Jesus Parish on West Roxbury Parkway in South Brookline was closed and merged with St. Lawrence Parish. However, a Suffolk Superior Court judge last week denied Chabad's request that he issue an injunction to stop the Archdiocese of Boston from selling the property for $3.75 million to Robert Basile, a real-estate developer and Brookline Town Meeting member. ... The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said that with the Catholic Church squeezed financially, including now also facing the prospect of paying millions to victims of sexual abuse by priests, the sale process was set up to reward the highest bidder. In this case, he said, the proceeds of the sale will go to St. Lawrence parish. "If you change the rules," he said, "the other party will sue." -- Boston Globe, www.boston.com , By Ric Kahn, Globe Staff, Sep 28 03
• Church's therapy guidelines questioned. BOSTON (MA): As promises go, the pledge by the Archdiocese of Boston to offer free therapy for life to victims of clergy sexual abuse was magnanimous, striking just the right tone for a church struggling for reconciliation amid the worst scandal in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. Yet just weeks later, it appears the archdiocese may be struggling to provide the promised support while living with the administrative and financial ramifications of its pledge. Even as the church posted the guidelines for the free therapy program on its website this week, some victims and their advocates said officials at the archdiocese's Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach appear to be taking a harder line on rationing the church's financial support, including limiting the amount of therapy that victims receive. "People who were seeing a therapist twice a week have been told that they can only go once a week," said Ann Hagan Webb, New England cocoordinator of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. "Things also seem more structured now, and it is becoming more difficult to jump through the hoops you need to jump through to get an individual victim what they need." Under the new guidelines, the church will pay for one one-hour therapy session per victim per week and consider other requests to reimburse additional therapy, inpatient care, and psychiatric drugs on a "case-by-case basis," the website states. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/271/metro/Church_s_therapy_guidelines_questioned+.shtml , By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, Sep 28 03
• Springfield misconduct lawsuits may be headed to mediation with Boston firm. SPRINGFIELD (MA): Most of the outstanding sexual misconduct cases against the Diocese of Springfield may be heading to mediation, say attorneys for the diocese and 19 plaintiffs. But the lawyers were not yet willing to agree on the exact role that Paul A. Finn, a mediator involved in the recent settlement of up to 552 cases against the Archdiocese of Boston, would have in resolving Springfield's cases. The diocese has suggested the use of Finn's Commonwealth Mediation Service to attorney John Stobierski, an attorney representing alleged victims of Father Richard Lavigne and the late Father Karl Huller, the attorneys both confirmed at Sept. 19 press conferences. "We'd be very comfortable with the cases going to mediation. Paul Finn was our mediator in the early 1990s, when we settled an earlier round of lawsuits concerning Father Lavigne," said diocesan attorney Edward McDonough Jr. -- The Catholic Observer, http://www.iobserve.org/rn916a.html , By Father Bill Pomerleau, Observer staff, Saturday, September 27, 2003
• Lone priest with destruction story also withholding dues because of payments to accused priest. SPRINGFIELD (MA): All but two of the priests who attended a March 2002 meeting of the presbyteral council have denied that they were told that the late Springfield Bishop Christopher J. Weldon had destroyed church documents concerning Father Richard Lavigne. In a front page article in the Sept. 17 edition of The Republican newspaper, Father James Scahill, said that Bishop Thomas L. Dupré had "announced that fortunately for the church of Springfield, upon his retirement, he (Bishop Weldon) destroyed many personal and personnel files." Father Scahill, a member of the advisory board, told the newspaper that Bishop Dupré made the comment "with glee in his voice and gleam in his eye." Bishop Dupré told The Catholic Observer that except for Father Paul Manship, whom diocesan officials had not been able to contact by press time, all the other members of the advisory group deny hearing his alleged statements. . . . Father Scahill, pastor of St. Michael Parish in East Longmeadow, has been withholding his parish's cathedraticum tax payments to the diocese to protest diocesan maintenance support for Father Lavigne, whose laicization is now being considered by the Vatican. Father Scahill has also accused the diocese of never apologizing to sexual abuse victims, and of using a permission form for religious education field trips used in some parishes as a means of absolving the diocese of legal responsibility for abuse by its employees. The diocese has denied both of these allegations. -- The Catholic Observer, "Priests support bishop's denial of statement," http://www.iobserve.org/rn919a.html , By Father Bill Pomerleau
• Pius XII and the sexual-abuse crisis. UNITED STATES: The cover of the Sept. 1 issue of America, the Jesuit weekly magazine, portrays the late Pope Pius XII at prayer, with the caption, "The Vatican and Nazism." The issue contains two articles relevant to the topic: one by Charles Gallagher, a Jesuit seminarian with a Ph.D. in American Catholic history, regarding a 1938 letter he discovered which is indicative of the personal anti-Nazi sentiments of then-Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (elected pope the following year), and another by Robert Krieg, a colleague and friend in the Theology department at the University of Notre Dame, on the Vatican Concordat which the Holy See, represented by Cardinal Pacelli, had signed with the German Reich in 1933. On the Sunday after this issue of America appeared, The New York Times published a lengthy article on the Gallagher piece under the headline, "New Look at Pius XII's View of Nazis," with a photo of Mr. Gallagher in clerical shirt and collar. The reporter, Laurie Goodstein, is not to be faulted for her otherwise informative and even-handed story. She and The Times are to be faulted, however, for ignoring Robert Krieg's article in the same issue. It provides the underlying reason why Cardinal Pacelli and the Vatican generally treated the Hitler regime with such care in public, despite their sometimes scathing comments about it in private, exemplified by the confidential memorandum written by Pacelli to Joseph Kennedy, then-U.S. ambassador to England. Indeed, the Krieg article suggests a connection between the motive behind the Vatican's dealings with the Nazis in the run-up to the Second World War and its subsequent handling of the sexual-abuse crisis that erupted in full force last year in the United States and elsewhere. -- The Tidings, http://www.the-tidings.com/2003/0926/essays.htm , By Rev. Richard P. McBrien, Sep 26 03
• After Geoghan Murder, Are Media Treating Homosexuality Issue Differently? SHIRLEY (Mass.) USA: John Geoghan, a defrocked priest accused of being a serial sexual predator, was murdered on Aug. 23 in the medium-security prison where he was incarcerated in Shirley, Mass. His killer was an alleged neo-Nazi who is serving a life term for murdering a homosexual man 15 years ago. Besides the criminal-justice questions about why these two men were in the same section, or even the same prison, the media and law-enforcement coverage of Geoghan's death is jarring: From the New York Times and the Boston Globe to law-enforcement officials, suddenly the words "gay" and "homosexual" are being used in reference to a priest involved in scandal. It was an "anti-gay," "gay-bashing" murder, a "hate crime," motivated by "homophobia." "How Mr. Geoghan and Mr. Druce, who has strong homophobic views, ended up in the same unit is a focus of investigations by the state police, the Correction Department and the Worcester County district attorney's office," a New York Times reporter wrote. ABC's Charlie Gibson reported, "Prison officials are investigating how a convicted killer known to hate homosexuals was able to get at Geoghan." The coverage has left some wondering: Since when is it okay to talk about the "homosexual factor" in the Church scandals? -- National Catholic Register, http://www.ncregister.com/ , by KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ, Register Correspondent
• When Deviant Behavior Gets Respectable. SAN DIEGO, (California): Last Aug. 6 marked the 10th anniversary of John Paul II's encyclical on themes related to moral theology, "Veritatis Splendor." In the introduction the Pope observed: "No one can escape from the fundamental questions: What must I do? How do I distinguish good from evil?" It was a timely encyclical, given the worrying tendency under way to redefine harmful behaviors and break down traditional moral boundaries. And that trend has continued unabated, if Anne Hendershott's 2002 book "The Politics of Deviance" is any indication. In her book the sociology professor at the University of San Diego argues: "The reluctance of sociologists to acknowledge that there are moral judgments to be made when discussing a subject like deviance shows how far this discipline has strayed from its origins." ... Turning to the subject of pedophilia, Hendershott comments that at the same time Catholic priests were being vilified for their abuses, academic groups were busily engaged in promoting what is termed "intergenerational intimacy." A 1991 collection of essays, "Male Intergenerational Intimacy: Historical, Socio-Psychological and Legal Perspectives," was penned by an international group of scholars, many in important teaching positions. In works such as these, pedophiles are no longer seen as deviants, but as "border crossers." Many of the essays seek to normalize underage sexual practices by proposing a neutral terminology that seeks to eliminate "the bias against pedophilia." In 1994 the American Psychiatric Association revised its "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" so that neither pedophilia nor child molestation would in itself necessarily be indicative of psychological disorder. To qualify as disordered the molesters must feel "anxious" about their acts or be "impaired" in their work or social relationships. Then in 1998 a study released by the American Psychological Association argued that sexual abuse of children does not cause emotional disorders or unusual psychological problems in adulthood. -- Zenit, http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=41639 , Sep. 27, 2003
• Speculations grows that pope will soon name new cardinals. VATICAN: Pope John Paul II is due to name new cardinals to fill up the worldwide group that eventually will elect his successor, and there were reports Friday an announcement could come soon. State-run RAI and other Italian media said the pontiff might act Sunday, after the traditional noon blessing from his apartment window above St. Peter's Square. The installation ceremony, called a consistory, would then take place around Oct. 22. The College of Cardinals is already mainly made up of like-minded conservatives reflecting John Paul's choices during his 25-year-papacy. A new batch will further strengthen the ailing pope's influence on the choice of his successor. ... Among possible candidates for red hats among U.S. prelates are Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis, who next month will take over the Philadelphia archdiocese -- with some 1.5 million Catholics, the nation's seventh-largest archdiocese -- headed by Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. "Obviously, it's in the realm of speculation at this point, so there's really nothing to say about it," said Tony Huenneke, a spokesman for the St. Louis archdiocese, which Rigali, 68, has headed since 1994. Other prospects for cardinal status include Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who was sent by the pope to Boston to clean up from the sex abuse scandal under Cardinal Bernard Law. -- NEPA News, www.nepanews.com
• Judge considers ruling on liability of church. SPRINGFIELD (MA): Lawyers for the Roman Catholic church and alleged sexual abuse victims squared off in court yesterday over whether charitable immunity laws protected the church from five lawsuits. Whether or not the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is protected from liability in incidents of clergy sexual abuse before September 1971 could be decided next week by Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney. But the judge, whose decisions opened the floodgate on thousands of church documents in the Boston Archdiocese sexual abuse scandal, could also postpone a decision until the completion of all evidence gathering in related clergy sexual abuse cases. Sweeney, a Cathedral High School graduate who was Springfield's first female city solicitor, presided over an hourlong hearing in which the diocese argued that five clergy sexual abuse suits should be dismissed because the alleged abuse took place before September 1971. Up until that time churches and other charitable institutions were shielded from liability through a state law. -- Republican, http://www.masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1064475128167332.xml , By BILL ZAJAC wzajac@repub.com
• Majority rejects 'sampling' in child-abuse complaints. IRELAND: A clear majority of voters believes the child abuse commission should investigate each of the 1,700 complaints of abuse made to it rather than just a sample of these cases, as proposed by the Government, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent. The Government is also blamed more than anyone else for the delays in the work of the commission, which led to the controversial resignation of its chairwoman, Ms Justice Laffoy, earlier this month. According to the Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll, 60 per cent believe the child abuse commission should investigate each of the complaints; 33 per cent that it should investigate a sample of the cases and draw conclusions from them; while 7 per cent have no opinion. The poll results come after the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, told abuse survivor groups this week that the "sampling" proposal, whereby the commission would investigate only a small number of abuse allegations and draw general conclusions from this, was not now on the table. -- Irish Times, http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2003/0927/610724650HM1POLLFINAL.html ,
• Another former student added to 'Brother Vic' suit.[1992-93] MOBILE (AL): A Mobile law firm this week added the name of a second former McGill-Toolen High School student to a civil suit filed against former teacher and advisor Nicholas Brother Vic Bendillo, the Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile and New Orleans-based Brothers of the Sacred Heart. As in the original filing in August, the addition put forth by the law firm of Moore & Wolfe on Thursday alleges that while a student at the Catholic school, their client was sexually abused by Bendillo. Further, the suit alleges, the two institutions serving as Bendillo's co-defendants knew or should have known of his alleged fixations. According to the amended claims, Gregory Goodwin, 24, now of San Diego County, Calif., was abused by Bendillo while Goodwin was a freshman at McGill-Toolen, between September 1992 and May 1993. -- Mobile Register, http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/106465427071290.xml , By GARY McELROY and STEVE MYERS
• Retired priest changes story in sexual abuse testimony. CANADA: After earlier denying that nude body painting with children occurred in his rooms at St. Peter's Seminary in London, a retired Catholic priest changed his story yesterday and said it did. Rev. Barry Glendinning, the retired priest at the centre of a $7-million sexual abuse lawsuit, also changed his story about performing oral sex on the three brothers suing him and the Roman Catholic diocese of London. Asked during cross-examination if acts of fellatio, nude massage and body painting had occurred in his seminary rooms, Glendinning agreed they had. A day earlier, he denied having oral sex with John, Ed or Guy Swales. The Swales brothers and their family are suing Glendinning and the diocese for damages they say resulted from sexual abuse by the priest between 1969 and 1974 when he taught liturgy at the seminary. The diocese has counter-sued John Swales, claiming he was partly responsible for damage inflicted on his family when he sexually abused his siblings. London lawyer Gordon Cudmore, representing Swales in the counter-suit, suggested Glendinning had taught young boys, including John Swales, to engage in sexual activity. -- London Free Press, http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/09/27/210390.html , Sep 27 03
• Bishop backs diocese report. ERLANGER (Kentucky) USA: In an open letter to Northern Kentucky Catholics on Friday, Bishop Roger Foys said the Diocese of Covington stands by its Aug. 29 report on the history of sexual abuse of minors in the diocese. The letter in Friday's edition of The Messenger, the official diocesan newspaper, said that church officials "stand by the accuracy, honesty and integrity of (their) report." "The report reveals the extent of sexual abuse of minors in our diocese in the course of the last 50 years as known to us," Foys wrote. "We are doing all we can to ensure that sexual abuse of minors by priests and employees of the diocese does not occur again." The 16-page report sent last month to Catholic households in the 14-county Diocese of Covington said the diocese has received 158 credible allegations against 30 of 372 priests during the past 50 years. -- The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/09/27/loc_kyletter27.html , By Cindy Schroeder, Sep 27 03
• Linkup center will aid victims of clergy abuse. KENTUCKY: In a quiet Oldham County farm property bordered by trees and serenaded by birds, advocates for victims of sexual abuse by the clergy broke ground yesterday for a retreat center for such victims. Members of The Linkup, a national advocacy group based in Louisville, plan to build a barn-style center where victims can meet, attend lectures and take part in therapeutic activities ranging from art to gardening. A memorial for victims of abuse in the Archdiocese of Louisville also is planned. The goal is "to build a place where survivors can call home," Linkup President Susan Archibald said. She noted that in the past, priests who sexually abused children were sent to therapy centers by the Catholic Church, but "there's been no place where the victims are sent for healing and recovering." -- The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/09/27ky/met-front-link09270-5907.html , By PETER SMITH psmith@courier-journal.com , Sep 27 03
• O'Malley helps church walk the walk. BOSTON (MA): He recently announced "settlement" between the Archdiocese of Boston and victims of clergy abuse (240 of whom I represent) will bring no closure or peace for those who lost their innocence at the hands of child molesters masquerading as clerics. There is nothing that could properly compensate most of the victims and countless others who will never come forward. It really is not a settlement at all. Fundamentally, it simply provides victims of abuse with the option of "opting out" of the court system and having their cases decided within certain parameters by an arbitrator. There are those who will not accept its restrictions and some may take their cases to trial. So what does this agreement mean and why should Catholics and non-Catholics alike support the archbishop who made it possible? Over the past 20 months, a group of attorneys and their clients have spent an enormous amount of time uncovering horrific stories of atrocities committed upon children for decades. Equally appalling was the coverup by high church officials and their incomprehensible decision to put these monsters back into settings where they could commit the same crimes again. At our law office, we have more than 400 square feet of space dedicated to more than 50,000 pages of records and deposition transcripts that document these assaults; records of 143 priests, most of them still alive and all but three or four immune from prosecution because of inadequate laws on child protection. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/270/oped/O_Malley_helps_church_walk_the_walk+.shtml , By RODERICK MACLEISH JR. Sep 27 03
• Geoghan ruling sparks anger. BOSTON (MA): The state Appeals Court has erased the single conviction of John J. Geoghan for fondling a boy in a public swimming pool, and while the procedure is routine for criminal defendants who die during their appeals, alleged victims of one of the clergy sexual abuse scandal's central figures reacted angrily. Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for many of Geoghan's accusers, said he is researching the case law that allows some convictions of deceased defendants, like Geoghan, to be dismissed. Garabedian said he will ask the Legislature to change the law "so this never happens again." Geoghan was killed Aug. 23 in his cell at the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Another inmate, Joseph L. Druce, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the defrocked priest. For alleged victims of Geoghan, his 2002 conviction was a symbol that the legal system was finally holding him accountable for his actions. Yesterday, some said the decision to invalidate that conviction was an insult. "It's not acknowledging the pain that the victims have incurred," said William Clarke of Concord. "It's just ignoring it and saying it doesn't matter." Geoghan's death, he said, didn't seem reason enough to redeem the defrocked priest's record in the eyes of the law. "It seems to create a way for people to get away with it," said Clarke, who said he was abused in the 1960s. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/270/metro/Geoghan_ruling_sparks_anger+.shtml , By Kathleen Burge, Sep 27 03
• O'Malley pick for charity chief is hailed. BOSTON (MA): Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, demonstrating the high priority he places on services to the poor, yesterday named a priest who is a national leader in Catholic social services and the former dean of Harvard Divinity School to oversee Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston. O'Malley's choice of the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir as president of the largest private social services agency in the state places an outspoken and highly regarded intellectual in the inner circle of the church's hard-pressed local administration. Hehir, who will now be a member of O'Malley's cabinet, has spoken widely about the sexual abuse crisis in the church, and has been critical of the hierarchy, declaring just last week at Boston College that "we've got to treat adults as adults in the church." He succeeds current Catholic Charities president Joseph Doolin, who had announced plans to retire. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/270/metro/O_Malley_pick_for_charity_chief_is_hailed+.shtml , By Michael Paulson, (Posted 9:51:36 AM by Poynteronline, Kathy Shaw), Sep 27 03,
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