References cont. (5) — Clergy Child Molesters

CATHOLICS LOSE U.S. INSURANCE COVER BECAUSE BISHOPS KNEW CLERGY WERE RE-OFFENDING
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT TO MAKE SCHOOLS RESPONSIBLE TO REPORT
N.S.W. UNSMOTHERING ANGLICAN ABUSE OF 50 YEARS AGO
• Priest Paul Shanley denies 1979-1989 Massachusetts child rapes. BOSTON: (Victim Gregory Ford involved); adjourned to Nov 5; insurance premiums skyrocket, companies after six years court battle win approval (from a 1990 award) not to pay $1m because Minnesota R.C. officials knew that the priest there had a 15-year offence history; 250 priests removed; The West Australian, Fri July 12 02, p 27
• German Priest Accused Of Sexual Abuse.
   Deutsche Welle Radio, www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_592491,00.html , July 15, 2002
   GERMANY: German Cardinal Karl Lehmann has promised to take the necessary steps to remove paedophile priests from the church.
   The worldwide debate on paedophile priests in the Catholic Church hits Germany, as a priest is suspended over charges of sexual abuse.
   The Archdiocese of Mainz has suspended a priest for allegedly repeatedly abusing a 14-year-old boy in the late 1980s.
   According to a report in the newsweekly Der Spiegel, the Catholic priest sexually abused altar boys over a period of several years. One victim has now stepped forward and formally accused the clergyman.
   The Archbishop of Mainz and head of the German Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, said the church would investigate the allegations "quickly and intensively". In an official statement issued in response to the magazine article, Lehmann said the church would "not refrain from taking the required consequences if necessary".
   The worldwide debate on paedophile priests was sparked by the sex scandal engulfing the U.S. Catholic Church. It has since ended the careers of four bishops and some 250 priests in the U.S. over similar alleged incidents.
Still working on a standard procedure
   According to Lehmann, the Bishops' Conference was "thoroughly discussing" measures to prevent and deal with cases of "paedophile abnormalities" among church employees. These would be adopted at the Conference's annual meeting in September.
   "We have to ask ourselves, though, whether we need to proceed even more consistently," Lehmann said. However, it was often difficult to clarify a case quickly and reliably.
   He said adequate evidence would lead to the immediate suspension of the accused cleric, a procedure consistent with the demands of the Pope and guidelines set up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
   "The church is in a learning process about this serious problem, as is society," Lehmann said.
More needs to be done
   But religious groups say the church is not doing enough. The German grassroots organization "We are Church" has accused the Bishop's Conference of playing down the question of sexual abuse from priests.
   It isn't sufficient to only set up criteria to deal with paedophile cases in the church, group spokesman Christian Weisner said. It is demanding a central ombudsman for victims to turn to. This office would work independently from the archdioceses, in order to ensure trustworthy help, he said.
   Weisner said his group welcomed Cardinal Lehmann's change of position regarding paedophile priests. In April, Lehmann had not seen any necessity to look closer at possible cases in the German ranks following the US scandal. "It's good that Lehmann now sees the need to act – I hope, he will also do something," Weisner said.
   IGGSM, an initiative against violence and sexual abuse of children and youth, also sharply criticized the Bishop's Conference. It said the bishops need to agree quickly on a common procedure. #[July 15, 02]

• The Record brief items:

• "Right perception" p 12: BALTIMORE: Baltimore Police Department's Lieutenant Frederick Roussey said that with the media attention on sexual abuse by priests, the public perception might be that they were the main perpetrators. "That is not so," he said.
• "Philippine bishops develop sex abuse response" p 12: MANILLA: The bishops seem to be split between punishment for the offender, or redemption and conversion.
• "A Program for Women Sexually Abused in Childhood," p 15: PERTH: Two experienced facilitators, Celia Joyce and Elena Teleko, will lead 14 two-hour sessions, commencing August 1 in Perth. Contact the Fullness of Life Centre, 9389 8550 [37 Hampden Rd, Nedlands, WA 6009].

• "Through Kansas parishes, a trail of suicide, families blame deaths on ex-priest:" CONWAY SPRINGS, Kansas. - They were bright-eyed boys raised in this fertile land of wheat fields, train whistles, and the modest steeples of small country churches. Their parents smiled from wooden pews filled with neighbors and friends when they helped their parish priest consecrate bread and wine on Sunday mornings. It was, they believed, an honor. There were five of them, hand-picked by the Rev. Robert K. Larson, a charismatic and demanding priest, ... (2836 words) -- Boston Globe, by Thomas Farragher, July 18, 2002
• "Second Geoghan trial is set for October:" BOSTON: John J. Geoghan, the defrocked priest whose alleged crimes against scores of children ignited the Catholic Church's ongoing sex abuse scandal, will face his second criminal trial beginning Oct. 15. Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle set the trial date yesterday, at a hearing in which prosecutors asked her to allow 22 other alleged victims of Geoghan to testify. Assistant District Attorney David Deakin argued that the other accusers will show jurors that Geoghan followed a pattern. (500 words) Boston Globe by Kathleen Burge, July 19 2002
• U.S. lay Catholics issue call to transform their Church - RCC.
   BOSTON: Some 4,000 Roman Catholics from across the United States gathered in Boston yesterday and vowed to transform a church that failed to protect children from sexual abuse.
   The members of Voice of the Faithful, a lay reform group born in a church basement in Wellesley just five months ago, unanimously approved a petition to Pope John Paul II demanding that he hold accountable any bishop who reassigned an abusive priest or concealed such crimes.
   They collected money for church ministries, saying they will help finance local charitable missions hurt because many Catholics are unwilling to give money to funds controlled by Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who has been criticized for failing to remove abusive priests from ministry.
   They offered prayers and standing ovations for victims, saying their church's spiritual leaders have too often failed to believe or support them.
   And they gave an award to a whistle-blowing priest, Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, a Dominican.
   The group's founder, Nobel Peace Prize-winning cardiologist James E. Muller, declared the need for a lay power structure. "The core of the problem is centralized power," he said. -- The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com , July 21 2002
• "Action plan for school sex abuse": CANBERRA: Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson said that all Australian schools will soon have mandatory reporting regimes for sexual abuse, and will have to submit abuse action plans. He announced this after a meeting of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs in Auckland (which is in New Zealand!). An amendment bill had been passed in the Senate in March, after Anglican Dr Hollingworth had been accused of not investigating child-abuse allegations in Church schools while he was archbishop; The Weekend Australian July 20-21 02 p9
• G-G Hollingworth may face police probe, SYDNEY: (Anglicans): NSW law change lets woman renew 1950s sex abuse complaint, Anglican Bishop Shearman's 'affair' with 14-y-o, allegation re 10-y-o; The West Australian, p 7, Jul 22 02
• Police plan to extradite priest [1980s Alan Woodcock (Marists did nothing about 1985 and 1994 complaints)] RCC. Boys.
   NZZoom, "Police plan to extradite priest," http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,118314-1-7,00.html , Jul 22, 2002
   NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand police said they would try to extradite a former Upper Hutt Marist priest and teacher . . . Alan Woodcock [who] was accused of abusing teenage boys at St Patrick's College in Silverstream in the 1980s.
   Detective Sergeant Murray Porter of the Upper Hutt CIB said they are working closely with overseas law enforcement agencies via Interpol to confirm Woodcock's location.
   Police are not prepared to comment on where they believe Woodcock is.  ..
   An abuse counsellor ... Brent Cherry ... says it may take a court case to extradite Woodcock and he understands that a successful extradition could take up to two years.
   He says a victim came forward in 1985 and three complaints were laid with police in 1994, but that the Marist order did nothing. (found on Internet 26 Jan 2004)
Jul 22, 2002
• In rift with Cardinal Law, agency to accept lay group's funds: BOSTON: USA's Voice of the Faithful offer, laypeople in both camps resist dictat; The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com , July 24 02
• Author Gary Wills reflects on Catholic crisis ; BOSTON: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com , July 24 02
• BOSTON: Lawyer for alleged victims says settlement talks with Boston archdiocese are over, also, Judge says archdiocese may have to pay up to $30m for defrocked priest John Geoghan's abuse. -- The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com , July 25 2002
• Background checks for all R.C. employees in U.S. Paterson diocese. UNITED STATES: -- The Record, Perth, July 25 02, p 12
!!!: Internet gay priests! VATICAN CITY and SOUTH AFRICA: South African Bishop Cawcutt resigns amid scandal over writing to homosexual priests' newsgroup; (see also http://allafrica.com/stories/200207190010.html & http://allafrica.com/stories/200207180060.html & http://allafrica.com/stories/200207250555.html ) -- The Record, July 25 02, p 12
• Vancouver schools pay $19 million to end Mount Cashel dispute. TORONTO, Canada: Two Roman Catholic schools in Vancouver reached an out-of-court settlement Thursday that will see them pay $19 million to compensate abuse victims at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland and Labrador. If the court approves the settlement, it will mean the two schools will not have to close in order to compensate those who were abused by clerics at the orphanage in the 1970s and '80s. The schools, Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate, and the orphanage were all owned by the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada. -- CBC News, as quoted on Ross Institute webpage http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy96.html (sighted 27 Jul 03), July 25, 2002
• Furore at Pell's view that child abuse is less serious than abortion. AUSTRALIA: -- The West Australian, July 30 02, p 6

STILL ABUSING IN NORTH AMERICA AFTER ROME AND DALLAS PANTOMIMES; 2 CROSS BORDER FOR YOUNG BOYS!
!!!: US priests William Giblin and Eugene Heyndricks caught [2002]. WASHINGTON: Soliciting boys in CANADA during pope's World Youth Toronto forums, and "Victims claim priests still abusing," [Emphasis added] The West Australian, p 23, Wednesday July 31 02
• "Who has the greater sin?" AUSTRALIA: A moral dilemma, in the wake of George Pell's recent address to Catholic youth in Toronto: which is worse, clerical sexual abuse or abortion? Stephen Crittenden: Comments of Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop, George Pell at World Youth Day in Canada have sparked controversy this week. The Archbishop gave a speech in which he said the scandal of abortion was worse than the scandal over clerical sexual abuse in the church -- comments all the more surprising for having been made at a forum for young people, attended by the ailing Pope, a forum where the number of participants was dramatically down on original expectations: just 200,000 instead of the expected 700,000.
  Well, we thought it might be interesting to seek the views of a woman, who is not a Catholic, Anglican theologian Dr Muriel Porter, of Melbourne. Muriel is currently writing a book about the clerical sex abuse scandal. Does she think the Archbishop’s comments are dramatically out of step with community opinion, like the Governor-General’s comments were on the "Australian Story" program recently, or not?
  Muriel Porter: I think the comparison’s a fair one, at the level that it does indicate that George Pell seems still not to understand what the issue is about: why people are concerned about clergy involvement in sex abuse of children, boys, girls and women – and even more importantly, the cover-up that the church hierarchy has obviously been engaged in, not just in America, but in Australia, for quite some decades.
  Muriel Porter: Yes, there are suicides, which makes it a form of murder. But also, my investigations to date indicate that any of this sort of abuse on a young person, certainly pre-puberty, it destroys forever their possibility of building a wholesome life, without having to struggle all the time to understand the boundaries, to develop a genuine self-esteem by which they can live freely and openly, as they should be able to do. This is a sin of the very highest order. -- Australian Broadcasting Corporation, "The Religion Report," Wednesday July 31 02, p 23
• Catholic lay panel to choose enforcement unit's director. WASHINGTON (DC): A national board reviewing sex abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church yesterday adopted a charter that forbids bishops from settling complaints secretly and began a search for a tough director for an office of enforcement. . . . "We happen to think most dioceses are doing a good job after Dallas," said Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, chairman of the board, which was appointed by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. bishops. He and Bishop Gregory, speaking at a Washington D.C. press conference with all 12 board members, said no one but the pope can remove bishops over disputes on handling sexual-abuse cases. But, said Bishop Gregory, "No bishop wants to add his name to that list" the review board will keep of dioceses that defy the charter. The board heard remarks from the advocacy group Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and will hear from more abuse victims when they next convene in Oklahoma on Sept. 16. -- The Washington Times, "Catholic lay panel to choose enforcement unit's director," by Larry Witham, Jul 31 02
   [COMMENT: Mr Keating, by March 2003 leader of the national board, was stunned by the defiance of at least two bishops, according to a report of Mar 14 03. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Outrageous remark by Dr George Pell and Peter Hollingworth. PERTH: Letter: As a psychiatrist I am outraged. As a mother I am frightened and as a Christian I am ashamed. First we have Peter Hollingworth indirectly apportioning blame to the victim rather than the perpetrator and now we have George Pell trivialising child sexual abuse by priests. God save our children -- letter, Megan Henderson, Peppermint Grove.
   To compare abortion and child abuse in the church clergy is incommensurable and nauseous -- Lone Fathers' Association (Dennis Chance, Victoria Park); The West Australian, Thursday August 1 02, p 16
   And two more letters on Aug 5 02
• "The good news about... Confession;" TORONTO, Canada: Cardinal Francis Arinze, preaching about "Reconciliation" to the youngsters at the Toronto World Youth Day forum, said that young people should take full responsibility for their sins, and resolve not to commit them again. He spoke on the importance of making peace with others. -- The Record, (??)August 1 02, p 7
• Time to move on, say youth at papal ceremonies in CANADA: Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (S.N.A.P.) runs alternative to Catholic World Youth Day; Young pilgrims say they've had enough of the media frenzy on sex scandals and want to focus on the positive aspects of the Church; The Record, August 1 02, p 11
• BOSTON: 4000 meet to give laity a voice, (about the July 20 Boston conference of the Voice of the Faithful with the slogan "Keep the Faith, Change the Church." Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle received Voice of the Faithful's Priest of Integrity Award. Doyle was a canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy when he co-authored a 1985 report on the impending crisis, urging the U.S. bishops to form a national policy (NCR, May 17). Accepting the award, Doyle suggested that some of the hierarchy suffer from "unbridled addiction to power." The National Catholic Reporter, On-line www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives/080202/080202a.htm Aug 2 02
• "Pell's Bells;" AUSTRALIA: Dr Pell in 1999 refused communion to 20 people wearing the rainbow sashes of active homosexuality. On the Melbourne cathedral steps he said that "homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking." In March 2001 Dr Pell was appointed Archbishop of Sydney. (In 1999 Janiene Wilson psychotherapist working in a Sydney seminary, told journalist David Marr that anecdotal evidence indicated that American studies showed 50% of both homosexually- and heterosexually- oriented priests were sexually active, and that many estimates put the proportion of homosexually-oriented men in the priesthood as greater than in the population in general. Another source said that Pell had been close to a group of closet homosexual seminarians known as the "Spice Girls". In Sydney on 19 May 2002 Pell turned away 20 parishioners wearing rainbow sashes from communion. He regretted that such people would mount an ideological demonstration during Mass. On 2 June on "60 Minutes" Pell spoke about the alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of young boys of a priest who had been a colleague of his a decade prior. There are calls for a royal commission into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. -- The Pelican (University of Western Australia student newspaper), "Pell's Bells," by Margaret Stevenson, August 2, 2002, pp 20-21
• Sex abuse evil as well: Pell; AUSTRALIA: -- The West Australian, Saturday August 3 02, p 13

• Pell in defence of abuse remarks; BRISBANE: Brisbane Anglicans re-making rules while holding inquiry. -- The Weekend Australian Aug 3-4 02, p 9
• A disgrace (R.C.). PERTH: Dr Pell's assertion about sex abuse and abortion is a disgrace -- International Association of Former Child Migrants and their Families, N.Johnston, Rivervale AND, Have you, Dr Pell, been abused or had an abortion? How do you know how it feels? -- Veronica Cressey, Beechboro; The West Australian, Monday August 5 02, p 14
• "Lowlights" on Clergy Child Molesters -- Overview, WORLDWIDE: Mini-List of References mainly since 1947; Aug 8 02
• [Wesley principal quits after accusations of 'improper' Internet use -- 2002]. Uniting Church.
   PERTH, Western Australia: The headmaster of one of Perth's most exclusive schools has resigned after being accused of accessing "inappropriate" Websites at the school.
   Chairman of the Wesley College council, Craig Readhead, confirmed the school had accepted John Bednall's resignation last Friday.
   Mr Readhead said the matter had been referred to the police.
   Police would not comment on the matter, saying no charges had been laid.
   The exclusive Wesley College, in leafy South Perth, has educated sporting luminaries such as AFL star Ben Cousins and cricketing brothers Adam Hollioake and his late brother Ben.
   Mr Readhead issued a statement. He said, "The Council has taken the most appropriate action in seeking Mr Bednall's immediate resignation." -- Sydney Morning Herald, "Headmaster quits after accusations of 'improper' Net use," www.smh.com.au/ articles/ 2002/08/09/ 1028158006504. html , August 9, 2002.