Saturday, March 23, 2002

Church paid $100,000 to Bishop Lynch's aide
The Catholic leader denies the man's claims of sexual harassment. His lawyer says the severance pay was not ''hush money.''
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' CHUCK MURPHY and WAVENEY ANN MOORE report: "ST. PETERSBURG -- The Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg paid slightly more than $100,000 to a former employee who claimed he had been harassed by Bishop Robert Lynch. Lynch appeared at a news conference Friday to calmly deny that he had ever made improper advances toward former diocesan spokesman Bill Urbanski. Lynch and his lawyer also insisted that the payment to Urbanski represented severance as Urbanski left his job -- not a settlement or admission of the harassment claims."
---Lynch faces scrutiny himself this time
The St. Petersburg Times' SHARON TUBBS reports: "Robert N. Lynch was a late bloomer, already 37 when he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood. But he quickly made a name for himself, organizing a papal visit to America and serving in a high-profile post as general secretary to the United States Catholic Conference."
---Priests stand behind bishop
The ranks are shocked, but unified in their support for the leader of 372,000 Catholics.
The St. Petersburg Times' ALICIA CALDWELL reports: "ST. PETERSBURG -- Priests who work for Bishop Robert Lynch offered support Friday for their spiritual leader and complained of unfair accusations toward priests and a climate hostile to the Catholic faith."
---Despite anger, Urbanski not shunning religion
The St. Petersburg Times' WAVENEY ANN MOORE reports: "Until he accused the bishop of sexual harassment, Bill Urbanski was close with Robert Lynch. So close that Lynch baptized Urbanski's children and became their godfather."

Scandal notebook:
Round-up of developments
around the nation
FLORIDA: St. Petersburg Times wire services report latest developments in St. Louis, West Palm Beach, and Detroit.

Priest quits teaching job amid furor
St. Petersburg Catholic High is saying little after a student's complaint about a kiss and hug. Students say ''Father Mac'' often was affectionate in public.

FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' KELLY RYAN GILMER and MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN report: "ST. PETERSBURG -- A priest at St. Petersburg Catholic High School has resigned after a female student complained that he greeted her with a hug and a kiss."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/23/2002 05:57:53 PM Anguished: Second family accuses vicar of abuse
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Tom Mashberg, Eric Convey and Robin Washington report: "Even as his parishioners organize to support him, a second family has come forward to accuse Msgr. Frederick J. Ryan of Kingston of molestation in the 1970s. James O'Loughlin, an 18-year Wayland police officer, said yesterday Ryan molested his older brother, Daniel, in 1970, when Daniel was an altar boy in Boston."

Archdiocese responds with the usual apology
MICHIGAN:Detroit Free Press columnist Bill McGraw challenges the handling of abuse cases by the Archdiocese of Detroit: "No one knows if there is an unusual number of sexual predators among Detroit priests. Studies have suggested priests are no more likely to abuse children than other professionals who work with young people in secular institutions. But Until the archdiocese is treated like other large secular institutions, or even like a parent accused of abusing a child, no one will ever know."

Priest-abuse report fuels debate
Ex-ballplayer Paciorek says he spoke out to help others
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press's JIM SCHAEFER AND
PATRICIA MONTEMURRI report: "Tom Paciorek's eyes popped open while it was still dark Friday morning and his mind raced: What will people think? Will something positive come from this? Did I do the right thing? ...A painful part of Paciorek's life was displayed for public view in Friday's Free Press. The former all-star professional baseball player and three of his brothers said for the first time publicly that they were the victims of sexual molestations by a Catholic priest."

TOM PACIOREK BREAKS SILENCE: Ex-baseball star: Priest abused me
'God, is this ever going to end?' he recalls thinking at 16
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' JIM SCHAEFER, PATRICIA MONTEMURRI AND ALEXA CAPELOTO report: "Tom Paciorek has been many things over the years: star athlete at Hamtramck St. Ladislaus, All-Star pro baseball player and, he says now, a victim of sexual abuse by the clergy. In his first public comments about the alleged abuse, Paciorek said he was repeatedly violated bythe Rev. Gerald Shirilla, who was removed this week from St. Mary Catholic Church in Alpena. Shirilla has not been charged with a crime, but the Archdiocese of Detroit determined nine years ago there was credible proof that he had sexually abused teenage boys."

Deal openly with priests who abuse kids
MICHIGAN: Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Ron Dzwonkowski writes: "What happened to the Pacioreks and others who have come forward was bad enough. But anyone familiar with sexual abuse of children knows that there are more victims who did not or will never tell. The church in which they placed their trust has to share responsibility for their anguish. The church has to help them by showing it is more concerned about protecting its children than its priests. Allegations against clergy should be turned over to the proper authorities, not internal 'advisory' boards."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/23/2002 02:21:36 PM

Friday, March 22, 2002

Globe Editorial Urges Bishops to Act
NATIONAL: A Boston Globe editorial urges American bishops to address the clergy abuse scandal with steps that are "tough, fair, and unambiguous and should be adopted throughout the country so that Americans are reassured that every diocese is committed to bringing abusers to justice and preventing more children from being victimized."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 03:38:56 PM Abuse charges brought against former vice chancellor
The Boston Globe's Michael Rezendes reports: "KINGSTON - As a senior at Catholic Memorial High School in 1983, Garry M. Garland seemed to have it all. A popular student and a star athlete in baseball, football, and hockey, Garland was headed to the University of Maine at Orono on a full scholarship. But Garland also harbored a dark secret, according to a lawsuit he filed yesterday: When he was about 14 years old, a vice chancellor of the Boston archdiocese allegedly sexually molested him in his living quarters at the chancery, the Archdiocese of Boston headquarters in Brighton."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 03:21:05 PM Brooklyn's Bishop Daily Says He Regrets Some
Decisions in Handling Of Geoghan Case
NEW YORK/MASSACHUSETTS: The AP reports: "Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily said Friday he regretted some decisions he made in handling accusations of pedophilia against a Boston priest. 'In that situation, I acted in good conscience, with the knowledge gained from consultations, but in hindsight I profoundly regret certain decisions,'Daily said in a seven-page statement released by the Diocese of Brooklyn."

Palm Sunday messages planned in wake of pope's response to sex-abuse scandal
NATIONAL: Buffalo News wire services report: "Following Pope John Paul II's example, some of the nation's leading archbishops are coming out with Palm Sunday messages addressing the child-molestation scandal that has rocked the nation's Catholic Church."

INNOCENT CLERICS SHAMED BY COLLAR
NEW YORK: The New York Post's JOHN LEHMANN and BRAD HUNTER report: "March 22, 2002 -- New York priests, humiliated by the child-abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, say they can no longer wear their collars with pride."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 03:01:27 PM No Plans to Stop Giving to Church
NEW YORK: Newsday's Joshua Robin, Merle English and Margaret Ramirez
report: "When Gregory John was a teenage altar boy in a church in his native Grenada, he said a priest visiting from England fondled him. 'I was one of them, too,' he said, speaking of those sexually abused by Catholic priests. 'I could never forget that.' Nevertheless, the security guard from Flatbush isn't thinking about changing his tradition of giving $200 a year to his local church, on top of his son's $4,000 Catholic school tuition."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 01:23:29 PM Jason Berry Recalls Early Coverage
NATIONAL: Newsday columnist Ellis Henican tracks down Berry, a New Orleans journalist who began reporting the clergy abuse story in 1984 and published a book on the subject in 1993.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 01:16:19 PM Boston Archdiocesean Paper Retreats
MASSACHUSETTS: The AP's Justin Pope reports: "BOSTON - The Boston Archdiocese's newspaper denies that it intended to challenge Catholic church policy when it published an editorial recently raising questions about priest celibacy, ordination of women and homosexuality. A new editorial published Thursday in The Pilot, the nation's oldest Catholic newspaper, says the article, "Questions that must be faced," took on "a life of its own" and was misinterpreted." Pope quotes Philip Lawler, editor of The Pilot from 1986-88 and now editor of Catholic World Report, on the Pilot's clarification: "It's baloney."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 10:57:16 AM Coverage Of Priest Scandal Enters New Phase
'Hartford Courant's Use Of Sealed Documents Questioned
NATIONAL: Editor and Publisher's Joe Strupp reports: "NEW YORK -- As new revelations about sexual abuse involving Roman Catholic priests continue to unfold -- largely driven by local newspaper probes -- many journalists foresee a second wave of coverage on the growing scandal. It could eventually even rival Enron as a business story, with the Roman Catholic Church facing billions of dollars in payouts for legal settlements."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 08:39:58 AM Denver Archbishop still working on Sunday statement
COLORADO: The Denver Post's Virginia Culver reports: "An eagerly anticipated statement from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput on the Catholic Church's ongoing sex scandal was not distributed to priests as expected late Thursday. Chaput's office had faxed a letter to all 145 parishes in the archdiocese Wednesday telling them to expect a detailed statement the following day."
---Sexual Misconduct Policy of Archdiocese of Denver

Ex-vicar criticizes publicity on abuse
COLORADO: The Rocky Mountain News' Jean Torkelson reports: "Several sexually abusive priests were shuffled throughout the Denver archdiocese 25 years ago -- but no one realized at the time how flawed the strategy was, the Rev. Edward Madden said Thursday. At the time, Madden was vicar of priests for the late Archbishop James V. Casey. As the archdiocesan official in charge of managing the clergy staff, Madden helped implement a sexual abuse policy, which at the time seemed sensible and compassionate."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:53:13 AM Shockwaves from priest-sex abuse cases reach Indiana parishes
INDIANA: Wire reports in Rocky Mountain News:"As Indiana's Roman Catholics prepare for the holiest week of their religious calendar, the state's priests are struggling with how to address sex abuse cases plaguing the church."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:49:28 AM Church is grappling with abuse scandal
INDIANA: Indianapolis Star editorial says:"Roman Catholics are addressing the biggest scandal to hit the church in modern times."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:47:45 AM Theologian: Pope's Response 'Totally Inadequate'
NATIONAL: Los Angeles' Times Larry. B. Stammer reports: Notre Dame's Rev. Richard McBrien describes statement as "a totally inadequate response. It's some acknowledgment of the crisis. At least it's a fresh start. But if it were to be the only step, it would be totally inadequate. This crisis is far more serious than the pope's advisors in the Vatican think." Stammer also reports: "Another poll released earlier this week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 62% of adult Americans believe that church leaders have "mostly tried to cover up the problem" of clergy sexual abuse. The findings were based on a nationwide survey of 2,002 adults between Feb. 25 and March 10."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:34:54 AM Resources:
U.S. Bishops Conf
Abuse Survivors
Boston Archdiocese
National Catholic Reporter
Catholic Net
Beliefnet
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:28:19 AM Scandal’s cure lies in tackling deeper issues
NATIONAL: National Catholic Reporter editorial tracks history of scandal and says: "...The U.S. Catholic bishops as leaders and as a group appear frozen, immobile, devoid of insights into actions that might restore a rapidly eroding trust and credibility -- and salvage the church’s soul. It did not have to be this way. The warning signs have been there for years. The bishops have had almost two decades to take steps to reach out to families and individuals who complained and to sequester or oust abuser priests."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 07:18:30 AM Cardinal Law Once a Crusading Newspaper Editor
MASSACHUSETTS: Christian Science Monitor's Jane Lampman profiles the church leader at the center of the storm: "This is not the first time Law has been under great pressure. He took up his first parish assignment in Mississippi in 1961 amid the turmoil of the civil rights movement. 'He became a superstar immediately in the Vicksburg parish, and was soon called to Jackson to edit the diocesan newspaper,' says George Evans, a Jackson attorney. Law received death threats for the paper's civil rights stance and his efforts to convene religious leaders of all faiths and races in a 'committee of concern' during a summer of 40 church burnings."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 06:56:54 AM D.C. Priest Accused of Misconduct
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Washington Post's Caryle Murphy and Debbi Wilgoren report: "The Archdiocese of Washington has suspended the pastor of one of the District's most prominent Catholic parishes after receiving allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with two teenage girls more than 20 years ago."

Pope Relays Concern Over 'Sins' of Clergy
VATICAN: The Washington Post's Sheila H. Pierce and Alan Cooperman report: "VATICAN CITY, March 21 -- After months of silence on the child sexual-abuse cases that are shaking the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II said today that the grievous sins of some priests have cast suspicion "over all the other fine priests" who perform their duties with honesty and heroic self-sacrifice."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/22/2002 06:44:04 AM

Thursday, March 21, 2002

Denver Archbishop Outlines Abuse Policy
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput posts policy on website of Denver Catholic Register.

St. Louis Elementary school counselor resigns
MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tim O'Neil reports: "The St. Louis Public Schools today accepted the resignation of an elementary-school counselor who, as a former priest, had been accused of sexual abuse in lawsuits that cost the St. Louis Archdiocese at least $110,000."

Priest scandal reverberates at seminary
MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bill Smith reports: "Inside the brown brick walls of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary — where men are molded into Roman Catholic priests — the news of child sexual molestation and abuse has come raining down like falling shards of glass. It has been, the students admit, almost beyond their ability to comprehend."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 09:50:46 PM CBS News on Pope's Remarks
VATICAN: CBS's Tom Fenton on what the Pope and his spokesmen said and didn't say Thursday.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 09:16:54 PM Must a priest's celibacy be condition of his work?
Church woes seen opening dialogue
MARYLAND: The Baltimore Sun's John Rivera writes: "The Rev. Robert J. Fagan was a popular, successful and committed priest, recently assigned to a high-profile position as an associate pastor at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Washington when he began to confront an uneasiness gnawing inside of him. 'When I was ordained a priest, I was very committed to being a right-down-the-line, straight-arrow celibate,' he said. 'But I acutely felt the loneliness of rectory life.' Fagan prayed, consulted fellow priests, spent time in a monastery and finally left the celibate priesthood in 1987. He married two years later.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 03:53:40 PM Vatican Focuses On Gay Priests
NATIONAL: Ron Howell reports: "Saying that most reported cases of church sex abuse have involved priests and boys, Catholic officials in Rome have reaffirmed their stand against homosexuality, saying gays should not become priests. The hardline position has delighted some conservative Catholics in the United States. But it has angered gays."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 01:26:49 PM Is Celibacy the issue?
NATIONAL: Today's Matt Lauer interviews Fathers Stephen Rossetti and Richard McBrien about celibacy and the priesthood. (Video: 5 min, 35 sec.)
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 09:02:59 AM Sex abuse scandal draws Vatican concern;
Prelates speak out on misconduct, call for screening
VATICAN:The AP's Victor L. Simpson reports: "VATICAN CITY - While Pope John Paul II has kept a public silence, the sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is starting to stir some Vatican prelates to speak out, condemning wrongdoing and demanding stricter screening of candidates for the priesthood."

Pope May Respond To Scandals
VATICAN: Gerald Renner reports in the Hartford Courant: "As American cardinals and bishops struggle to manage the nationwide explosion of sexual abuse scandals, they haven't been getting much guidance from their boss...Not only has the Vatican offered no direct guidance on the current crisis, the pope has made no major statement on the issue for years. There were hints Wednesday night that that could change."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 07:21:36 AM

Priest banished from New York led Mass in Boca
NEW YORK/FLORIDA: Palm Beach Post's Sonja Isger reports (3/20/2002) "Catholic church officials in New York say this is the case they did right: a Brooklyn priest confessed to molesting a child so they made him leave the parish and told him never to work as a priest again. But five years later, the man was leading Mass and hearing confession at a church in Boca Raton."

Is celibacy rule at heart of priestly abuse?
NATIONAL: Palm Beach Post's Douglas Kalajian reports (3/17/2002) "A spate of lawsuits in Boston and elsewhere reveals years of sexual abuse covered up by church officials. The awful truth seems almost inhuman: How could a priest molest a child? Many of those searching for answers are drawn to the least understandably human of priestly requirements: Celibacy."

In Boston, Daily steered allegations against priests
MASSACHUSETTS/FLORIDA: Palm Beach Post's Noah Bierman reports (3/17/2002) "BOSTON -- Before he left to found the Diocese of Palm Beach in 1984, Bishop Thomas V. Daily held one of the most trusted positions in Boston's powerful Catholic Church. Only Daily and Cardinal Humberto Medeiros had access to "secret files" containing unduplicated personnel documents about priests."

How Did O'Connell End up a Bishop?
FLORIDA: Palm Beach Post's Tom Blackburn asks (3/17/2002): "How did someone with the bishop's baggage get the job in which having that past revealed would be the worst imaginable outcome? The easy answer -- 'they're all alike' -- is wrong. I know too many to buy it. So is the quick and dirty solution of abolishing the celibacy requirement for priests. There may be other reasons to do that, but married people commit child abuse, too."

Credibility of diocese rests on priest check
FLORIDA: Palm Beach Post editorial (3/17/2002): "The next bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach has three bad acts to follow and a restless audience. He will have to earn the credibility that the appointment usually guarantees."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 07:17:38 AM Faith in Catholicism endures abuse scandals
NATIONAL: Catholic News Service columnist Therese J. Borchard writes in the Baltimore Sun: "I ALMOST wiped off the black smudge from my forehead immediately following the Ash Wednesday service several weeks ago. Almost. I had just read about the Boston priest scandal and my stomach sank with disgust. Like most new moms I know, I immediately thought about my little prince, my 8-month-old son, and about how outraged I would be upon learning that a trusted priest, a family friend, had abused him in any way."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 06:48:46 AM Letters to the Editor Respond to The New York Times Editorial
NEW YORK: Writers also respond to Maureen Dowd column (Links for editorial and column.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 06:45:55 AM Priests' Victims Feel Vindicated;
Molestation: For years they were dismissed and disdained. But now the world and the church are listening.
NATIONAL: The Los Angeles' Times' William Lobdell reports: "After years of being disdained, dismissed or simply ignored, longtime crusaders against sexual abuse by priests suddenly have entered a kind of promised land. It's an unfamiliar place where Catholic bishops apologize, prosecutors and politicians listen, and a friendly media army helps fight their battles. And, perhaps most soothing to the victims' scarred souls, people finally believe them."

Bishop delayed disciplining priest
Santa Rosa cleric acted 3 years after learning girls were molested
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Fimrite reports: "The former bishop of the Santa Rosa Diocese testified yesterday that he had waited three years after priest Donald Kimball admitted to him that he had molested teenage girls before taking any action against him."

Defrocked S.F. priest released from jail
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle reports: "Defrocked Roman Catholic priest Patrick O'Shea has been released on $70, 000 bail after a San Francisco judge dismissed charges that he molested nine youths in the 1960s and '70s."

Former elder in Evangelical Church charged with sexual assault on girl
CALIFORNIA: The Orange County Register's Greg Hardesty reports: "A former elder at a Fullerton church who admitted 10 years ago to molesting young girls was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting one of the alleged victims, a 7-year-old when the abuse is alleged to have begun in 1978."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 06:40:08 AM Catholics critical of church's response
NATIONAL: USA Today's Cathy Lynn Grossman reports: "One in 11 American Catholics say they have "personal knowledge" of child sexual abuse by a priest, according to the first national survey of Catholic opinion since revelations of abuse cases began sweeping the country this winter. The scandal has damaged the credibility of American bishops."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 06:33:00 AM DA Seeks Tougher Sex Abuse Law
NEW YORK:
Newsday's Joshua Robin, Carol Eisenberg and Pete Bowles report: "Clergy members who failed to report the sexual abuse of children would be charged with a crime under legislation Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he is proposing."

Philadelphia Archdiocese Refusing to Turn Over Names
Brief Updates from Camden, Allentown
PENNSYLVANIA: Inserted in AP story, Philadelphia Inquirer's David O'Reilly reports: "The Philadelphia Archdiocese has so far refused to turn over to civil authorities the names of the priests it dismissed, saying that most of the incidents were beyond the statute of limitations for criminal offenses in Pennsylvania or that the victims or their parents did not want the incidents reported...The Diocese of Camden has so far declined to say whether it has tallied the number of priests accused of sexual abuse, or to say whether it has recently dismissed any clergy for such crimes....Last month the Diocese of Allentown announced it had dismissed four priests for past sexual abuse of minors. The Diocese of Wilmington last week announced it knew of 15 incidents of child sex abuse by diocesan priests."

Metuchen Bishop ready to tackle abuse
NEW JERSEY: The Express-Times' John A. Zukowski reports:
"EDISON, N.J. - Against the backdrop of a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church, Paul Bootkoski was installed Tuesday as bishop of the Metuchen Diocese before a crowd of about 3,000 people...In an interview after the ceremony, Bootkoski said he would respond to the scandals."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 06:04:51 AM Connecticut Bishop says publicity poses bigger crisis for church than abuse itself
CONNECTICUT: The (New London) Day's Kenton Robinson reports: "Norwich –– The sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests is evil but not so widespread as to pose a crisis for the church, says Bishop Daniel A. Hart of Norwich."

Memoirs Of A Survivor
Raped by a priest, he makes the long climb back
CONNECTICUT: The Day's Kenton Robinson also reports (3/17/2002): "When unrepentant sinners die, good Catholics believe, they spend eternity in hell. For John Waddington, hell began on a late fall afternoon in 1978, and, though he has often flirted with death, he is still alive."

Norwich diocese seeks dismissal from sex-abuse lawsuit
Priest accused of abuse was not within 'scope of his employment,' says lawyer for church officials
CONNECTICUT: The Day's Robinson also reports (3/12/2002): "If a priest rapes a child, should the bishop and the diocese that employ him be held responsible? Joseph Sweeney, a lawyer representing the Diocese of Norwich, argues that they should not."

Facing The Parish
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's Maurice Timothy Reidy reports: "The relationship between the clergy and the faithful has been under great strain in the past month as prominent Catholic church leaders have been accused of mishandling reports of sex abuse. The scandals have shocked and angered many. Some parish priests say they feel betrayed by their wayward colleagues. Now, hoping to mend some of the wounds, priests are taking to the pulpit to express their outrage and offer their own mea culpas."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 05:47:12 AM Police chaplain ousted after alleged abuse
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Tom Mashberg and Robin Washington report: "A chaplain of the state police was removed from his Oxford parish yesterday and has been relieved of his police duties after admitting in a letter that he molested an altar boy more than two decades ago."

Popular Fall River priest quits after sex allegation
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Jessica Heslam reports:"In yet another sex allegation, a popular Fall River priest resigned last week after a woman claimed he molested her when she was underage in the mid-1960s."

Providence bishop ignored son's abuse report, mother says
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Matt Carroll reports: "PROVIDENCE - The mother of an alleged sexual abuse victim of a Rhode Island priest angrily complained in 1993 to the Providence bishop that he had failed to act on her son's report and remove the priest from having contact with other children, giving him more chances to molest."

Marriage of faith
These Catholic priests are honoring vows to God and family
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Bella English reports: "The altar holds a candle, a basket of pita bread, a glass of wine - and a remote control clicker. Ron Ingalls is celebrating Mass in his Ashland living room. In Terry McDonough's Duxbury home, his wedding album sits next to his ordination album. On his IRS forms, he lists 'priest' as his occupation. When he and his wife, Susan, attend church with their children, McDonough feels a painful stirring. 'I'd love to be up there offering Mass instead of sitting in the pew,'' he says."

Geoghan dismissal to be appealed
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Kathleen Burge reports: "Hoping to revive the most serious sex abuse charges against former priest John Geoghan, Suffolk County prosecutors plan to appeal a judge's decision two weeks ago to throw out the case."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/21/2002 05:19:35 AM

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Published Wednesday March 20, 2002

Lawyer questions woman on priest rape allegation
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle's Pamela J. Podger reports: "A defense lawyer for an inactive Roman Catholic priest hammered at the credibility of a 38-year-old woman who said he raped her behind the altar of a Santa Rosa church when she was 14. In particular, defense attorney Chris Andrian questioned the alleged victim about an incident that she related in public yesterday for the first time -- that during a picnic with Donald Wren Kimball, the defendant, she submitted to sex with him and a second man."

Priest abuse cases too old to prosecute
Statute of limitations has expired in most instances
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The AP reports: "MANCHESTER - Prosecutors in the state's two largest counties say it is too late to prosecute all but one of the Roman Catholic priests reported to them as possible child molesters."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 02:56:52 PM Abuse Allegation Offers a View of Issues in Scandal
NEW YORK: The New York Times' Dean E. Murphy reports: "On an August afternoon in 1996, Luis Guzman, then 22 years old, made a surprise visit to the Rev. Henry Mills at the rectory of St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church on West 125th Street in Harlem. It was a very awkward meeting. By Mr. Guzman's account, he had finally mustered the courage to confront a priest who had sexually molested him for more than three years, starting when he was 17. According to Father Mills's version, he was stunned at being falsely accused by someone he had long tried to help, both spiritually and financially."

A Tragic Crisis for the Church
NATIONAL: The New York Times writes in an editorial: "The accounts that have come out of the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal could hardly be more horrific — altar boys lured into bed by priests; children entrusted to the church's care forced to perform oral sex. No fewer than 55 priests nationwide have been removed from their assignments since January, and one priest, John J. Geoghan, is accused of molesting more than 130 children in Boston. The scandal has given the lie to the hierarchy's longstanding insistence that priest pedophilia amounts to just a few isolated incidents." (Free registration to nytimes.com required for all New York Times articles.)

Father Knows Worst
NATIONAL: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes: "WASHINGTON — Here's a nice story about a priest: Once, in grade school, I was late, and afraid to go in and face the wrath of Sister Hiltruda. The charming Father Montgomery found me crying in the schoolyard and offered to bring me in. As I entered the classroom, holding his hand, I smiled triumphantly at a glowering Sister Hiltruda. She would not be able to utter a cross word to me, or raise a ruler."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 02:35:15 PM Treatment center for priest called site of abuse
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Sacha Pfeiffer reports: "MILTON - When Rev. Ronald H. Paquin was removed from a Haverhill parish in 1990 for molesting children, the Archdiocese of Boston sent him here to Our Lady's Hall, where the church sequestered priests with similar problems - all of them ostensibly supervised and with potential victims out of reach."

N.Y. priest placed on leave in 1997 assigned to parish
MASSACHUSETTS: The AP's Stephanie Gaskell reports: "NEW YORK - A priest placed on leave after allegedly molesting a boy at a parish in 1997 is working at another church - a disclosure yesterday that came amid calls for New York's Catholic leaders to report abuse involving clerics."

Panel ponders future of church
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Douglas Belkin reports: "CAMBRIDGE - A panel of high-profile Catholics weighed in last night on how the Boston Archdiocese and the Roman Catholic Church should emerge after the pedophile priest scandal."

Reilly gets victims' names
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen reports:
"The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday gave state prosecutors four boxes of files containing information about the victims of about 90 priests accused of sexually abusing children over the last 50 years."

Suspended priest was accused earlier
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Matt Carroll reports: "PROVIDENCE - After Father Daniel Azzarone was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Cranston boy in November, he was suspended as a priest by Bishop Robert E. Mulvee, whose spokesman cited the treatment as a good example of the bishop's ''zero tolerance'' policy towards abusers."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 01:44:27 PM Archdiocese hands over files on abuse cases
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen reports: "The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday gave state prosecutors four boxes of files containing information about the victims of about 90 priests accused of sexually abusing children over the last 50 years."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 11:18:30 AM Bill McClellan : Homosexuality is separate issue from abuse, priests say
MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan writes (3/8/2002) "I visited with a couple of priests this week. This is not an easy time for thoughtful men who wear the Roman collar. The stories about priests and sexual abuse have been terrible. The church has been far less than honest, and the press, which once seemed to accept this dishonesty with a wink and a nod, now seems frightfully zealous."

Kevin Horrigan : A '50s priesthood lost in a new century
MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Kevin Horrigan writes (3/10/2002)"A long time ago in a galaxy far away, it occurred to me to become a priest. I was 14 years old, an altar boy of dubious piety, but I admired the priests who worked in our parish, so when the seminary recruiter came, I enlisted. I spent the next six years a thousand miles from home, most of them in a monastery on a bluff above the Niagara River, oblivious to the world around me, being prepared for a world that would soon cease to exist."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 09:56:12 AM

Connecticut to Ask Diocese for Files

Published Tuesday March 19, 2002

Hiding in plain sight
Treatment center for priests secretive, yet visible
PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Daily News' RON GOLDWYN reports: "St. John Vianney Center, where the Archdiocese of Philadelphia treats its religious professionals for sexual abuse and other problems, sits mysterious and in plain sight, both isolated and hemmed by sprawl."

Healing scarred lives
FLORIDA: Letter-writers to the Orlando Sentinel address the clergy abuse scandal.

Church investigation widens to summer camp
County attorney receiving reports of sexual molestation
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Concord Monitor's MARIAN MORTON reports: "LACONIA - A Roman Catholic boys' summer camp run by the Diocese of Manchester has become the newest focus of a widening investigation into reports of sexual misconduct by priests."

Cardinal fights calls to resign
MASSACHUSETTS: Chicago Tribune news services report: "BOSTON -- With the Boston archdiocese engulfed in a sex scandal, Cardinal Bernard Law is resisting growing demands for his resignation, reflecting what some experts say is his sense of duty as well as the church's desire to preserve its hierarchy."

Church and Children
NATIONAL: Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen writes: "The prescribed way to begin a column about the Catholic Church and its problems with sexual abuse is to refer to one's Catholic education, or maybe set the scene in one's church. I can do neither since I am not Catholic, but I do have one credential to admit me to this debate: I was once a boy."

Broward priest proclaims innocence of sexual assault
FLORIDA: The AP's Ken Thomas reports: "MIAMI -- A Roman Catholic priest proclaimed his innocence Tuesday of allegations that he sexually assaulted two women and said he looked forward to defending himself in court."

Second ex-seminarian sues former Palm Beach bishop for sexual abuse
FLORIDA: The Sun Sentinel's Peter Franceschina
and Nicole Sterghos Brochu report: "A second former Missouri seminary student is accusing Bishop Anthony O'Connell of causing years of depression and anger by using his role as a counselor and spiritual adviser to exploit him sexually as a troubled teenager."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/20/2002 12:02:15 AM

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Text of Egan Statement

Finally, We Hear From Egan
NEW YORK: Newsday columnist Eric Henican writes: "Finally, the archbishop speaks. It wasn’t that Edward Egan said so much last night. In fact, his carefully crafted comments, after so many long days of silence, contained no groundbreaking revelations, no surprising apologies, no overdue admissions of responsibility or guilt."

Bronx Parish Deals With Abuse
NEW YORK: Newsday's Stephanie Saul and Bobby Cuza report: "The Rev. Richard Gorman arrived last year at St. Benedict’s Church in the Bronx to find a parish in turmoil. Well before the Catholic Church’s handling of sex-abuse cases erupted into a nationwide scandal, parishioners learned their interim priest, the Rev. Gennaro Gentile, had been accused of inappropriately caressing altar boys in Westchester County."


posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 11:43:06 PM Dallas Diocese Recovered by Reaching Out
TEXAS: Boston Globe's Taisha Robertson reports:"DALLAS - Every recent Wednesday and Thursday night, a rush of children has packed the choir loft at All Saints Catholic Church here to rehearse for an upcoming Easter program."

89 Charged in Online Child Porn Network
NATIONAL: The Los Angeles Times' P.J. Huffstutter and Karen Kaplan report: "Marking the most aggressive and widespread government crackdown over online obscenity, federal investigators on Monday charged more than 89 people--including Little League coaches, eight clergy members, a school bus driver and at least one police officer--with belonging to a 20-state child pornography ring that met and swapped explicit images through Yahoo Inc."

Catholic priest accused in 1997 abuse lawsuit still working at New York church
NEW YORK: The AP reports: "A priest placed on leave after allegedly molesting a boy at a parish in 1997 is working at another church -- a disclosure Tuesday that came amid calls for New York's Catholic leaders to report abuse involving clerics."

Las Vegas diocese insists it acted fast on priest abuse claim
NEVADA: The AP reports: "Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas officials say they quickly suspended a priest in suburban Henderson after learning he was accused of sexually abusing teen-age boys in his parish."

Report All Abuse,
DA Urges Church
Wants law to apply to clergy & others
NEW YORK: The New York Daily News' BARBARA ROSS and ROBERT INGRASSIA report: "Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau stepped into the Catholic Church's priest sex abuse scandal yesterday by publicly urging the Archdiocese of New York to report all child molestation cases to his office."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 11:30:21 PM

Published Monday March 18, 2002

Archbishop's letter denies harassment
INTERNATIONAL: Chicago Tribune wire services report: "WARSAW, POLAND -- The Archbishop of Poznan, Juliusz Paetz, denied sexual harassment allegations in a letter he ordered read Sunday in churches in his jurisdiction."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 11:16:22 PM Esteemed Priest Calls for Accountability
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Teresa Watanabe reports: "In a searingly blunt sermon that led to a standing ovation, one of the Southland's most prominent priests exhorted the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday to summon the 'raw courage' to openly address the problem of clergy sex abuse."

Priestly sex abuse perplexes faithful
Catholic clergy not alone in having problems, but data not readily available
NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Alan Cooperman reports (as published in the SF Chronicle): "In Maryland, a former Episcopal priest was convicted last month of molesting a 14-year-old boy. In New Jersey, an Orthodox rabbi is about to go on trial on charges of groping two teenage girls. In South Carolina, a Baptist minister has begun a 60-year prison sentence for sexually abusing 23 children."

Laity must help resolve crisis
FLORIDA: Catholic parishioner writes in Sun-Sentinel:"The resignation of Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell is a painful embarrassment for Catholics in the Palm Beach Diocese."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 11:12:03 PM Critics attack handling of abuse charges
MASSACHUSETTS: (Earlier - March 16) The AP's Rachel Zoll reports: "Roman Catholics bishops reviewing personnel records since a sex abuse scandal hit the Boston Archdiocese have found credible allegations against dozens of priests. Yet many of the clergy will never go before a judge."

Former Altar Boy Describes Years of Abuse, Then Years of Silence
NEW JERSEY: The New York Times' Richard Lezin Jones reports: "MENDHAM, N.J., March 17 — Mark Vincent Serrano. He has reclaimed his name, at least. Trust. Peace of mind. Those may come later. But Mr. Serrano, who was paid in a 1987 court settlement by the local suburban diocese to live in silence and anonymity, believes that now — especially now — he can no longer do either."

Connecticut Report Revisits Egan's Role in Settling Abuse Cases
NEW YORK/CONNECTICUT: The New York Times' Dean E. Murphy reports: "For more than half of his 12 years as bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese in Bridgeport, Conn., Edward M. Egan was beset by a series of very public lawsuits charging some of his priests with child sexual abuse. The suits accused him and his predecessor of covering up the abuse and allowing the priests to continue to work."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 11:02:43 PM Egan Mum on Conn. Reports
Doesn't address handling
of abuse by priests
NEW YORK: New York Daily News' Emily Gest reports: "Edward Cardinal Egan remained silent yesterday about a report that he mishandled sex abuse accusations against priests while he was bishop of Bridgeport, Conn."

Church Silence Now Deafening
NEW YORK: New York Daily News columnist Pete Hamil writes: "The odor of the scandal seemed to drift over the parade on Saturday, and for the first time in many years, the aching sounds of musical lament seemed absolutely fitting."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 10:50:41 PM

Brothers Say Priest Molested Them

NATIONAL/CONNECTICUT/NEW YORK: The Hartford Courant publishes previously secret court documents showing that New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan, holder of the most visible post in the U.S. Church, "allowed several priests facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse to continue working for years."
---The Courant also reports Sunday: Excerpts from a 1999 deposition of Egan show a "defensive, dismissive tone" in discussing his handling of sexual abuse cases.
---Additional excerpts from the 1999 Egan depsition, as well as another from 1997.
---Excerpts from deposition of former Bishop Walter Curtis regarding his destruction of complaints against priests, among other issues.
--- Timeline of the handling by Bishop Egan of the case of an abused priest.

NATIONAL: The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein and Alessandra Stanley report that "the sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church, far from being nearly over, has only begun." Also: "Since January, at least 55 priests in 17 dioceses have been removed, suspended, put on administrative leave or forced to resign or retire." The 3,400-word story also reports that some dioceses are having trouble buying liability insurance. (Free subscription required.)
---NYT Week in Review: Terry Golway, author of a biography of John Cardinal O'Connor, says "revolution is not too strong a word" for what's brewing among the nation's 66 million Catholics. (Free subscription required.)

NATIONAL: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jon Sawyer and Patricia Rice report that the president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops describes as "a travesty" the failure of a Missouri archdiocese to report allegations of sexual abuse by Rev. Anthony J. O'Connell, who was later named bishop of Palm Beach, Fl.

NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson and Thomas Farragher report that the vast majority of priests who sexually abuse minors choose adolescent boys as opposed to young children, rendering the current scandal more a matter of ephebophila or hebophilia than of pedophilia.

NATIONAL: The San Francisco Chronicle's Don Lattin explores the roots of priestly sexual behavior.
---Comments from a Chronicle: Why has the Church covered up the scandal?

NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Alan Cooperman and Pamela Ferdinand report that Catholics are responding in sometimes paradoxical ways to a crisis of trust in the church: "They are reaching out to supprt the clergymen they know and admire, while expressing an excruciating feeling of betrayal by the church's more distant and opaque leadership."
---Text of Msgr. Thomas Kane’s homily, delivered March 10 at St. Patrick’s Church in Rockville, Md.
---Washington Post editorial: "Sexual abuse of minors by pedophilic clergy is no longer just a scandal in the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic Church."

CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez continues to get no comment from L.A. Archdiocese when he asks if the Church has reported abusing priests to police. In response to readers critical of his columns about the scandal, he concludes: "Without apology, I fully intend to keep banging on the door. Blame it on the nuns. They said you should always ask yourself: What would Jesus do?"
---March 15 Lopez column: Fed-Up faithful seek some real reform.
---March 13 Lopez column: Simple suggestions for Cardinal Mahony.
---Letters to the Editor: Comments about removal of Rev. Michael Pecharich from an Orange County parish.

CALIFORNIA: The Boston Herald's Meggie Mulvihill reports that the retired California bishop who suspended a former Boston priest for sexual abuse said Saturday he received no information from Boston that the priest had been accused of molesting a Massachusetts boy.

FLORIDA: Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas: Parishioners must take the church back.

FLORIDA: St. Petersburg Times staff writers Alicia Caldwell and Waveney Ann Moore sum up the framework of Tampa Bay-area Catholics: "Deal with the problem. Support the victims. Stay with the church."

MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Tom Mashberg and Robin Washington report: "With reams of Archdiocese of Boston records on problem priests due to law-enforcement officials by Tuesday, attorneys and experts on abusive clerics are debating whether Roman Catholic higher-ups should face criminal charges for their roles in the molestation cover-up lacerating the church.
---Also in Sunday's Herald: Eric Convey reports that Cardinal Law's financial advisers have told him that selling the Brighton seminary is not an option to raise money for legal settlements.
---Convey also reports that Cardinal Law's task force investigating the scandal includes victims of clergy sexual abuse.
---AP's Jennifer Peter reports that the task force pledged to make its report public.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Worcester Telegram's Richard Nangle and Kathleen A. Shaw report that Bishop Daniel P. Reilly has been named in more than 30 suits alleging sexual misconduct by priests under his charge in Providence, R.I., Norwich, Ct. and Worcester, Ma.
---The Telegram's Nangle and Shaw report that Reilly characterizes his handling of the scandal is "pretty good": “We're following the law, we're dealing with the authorities. We're trying to help the victims. We have very good outreach to the alleged victims and dealing with the perpetrators.
--Telegram columnist Dianne Williamson says telling on a priest is not easy.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Foster's Sunday Citizen's Sean Murphy reports that Diocese of Manchester officials have added a former Portsmouth priest to a list of 14 clergymen accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

NEW YORK: (See also Hartford Courant stories above about Cardinal Egan.) Newsday's Ron Howell, Merle English and Sheila McKenna collect reactions of Catholics to the sex charges.
---Newsday columnist Ellis Henican says it's time for Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily to address charges that, during his time in Massachusetts, he failed to do stop sexual abuse by the recently convicted former priest John Geoghan. ""We're listening, Bishop Daily," Henican writes. "It's time to come out of the hide-it camp."
---Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin says he boycotted the St. Patrick Day's Parade in protest to Cardinal Egan's "betrayal of the Church and the Irish."
---Earlier (3/14/02) Breslin: Celbacy doesn't stand a prayer."
--Earlier (3/13/02) Breslin: "A crime scene like no other."

NEW YORK: New York Post's Andrea Peyser reports one priest's story of abuse by another priest.
---New York Post editorial: Egan's lack of candor endangering integrity of Church.

PENNSYLVANIA: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ann Rodgers-Melnick reports that judging credibility in abuse cases is a tough call for dioceses.

PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia Inquirer's Nancy Phillips reports that a Philadelphia case set a high bar in sex-abuse suits.

RHODE ISLAND: Providence Journal's Jonathan D. Rockoff reports that the Providence diocese has rejected a proposed sex-abuse settlement.

WISCONSIN: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Heinen reports that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is refusing to say whether priests who have faced credible allegations of abuse in the past are assigned to parishes there.

Published Saturday, March 16, 2002

NATIONAL: St. Louis Post-Dispatch:Some question Catholic requirement of celibacy.

MICHIGAN: Detroit Free Press's Alexa Capeleto and Jim Schaefer report that the Archdiocese of Detroit is reassessing its policies as well as past allegations of abuse.

MICHIGAN: Detroit News columnist Marney Rich Keenan addresses clergy abusers' targeting of teenage boys.

TENNESSEE: The Tennessean: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville has in recent years added an internal ''response team'' of church officials and a mental health expert that is called into action to examine complaints of sexual abuse brought against priests.

VERMONT: Burlington Free Press:: State's Roman Catholic Diocese facing staffing problems.

IOWA: The Des Moines Register: Flock troubled by story of abuse by priest.

CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times: Innocent priests also suffer in sex scandals.
---Also: The Los Angeles Times: L.A. priests anguished, angry over sex scandals.
---Also: The Los Angeles Times: Boston's official Catholic newspaper questions celibacy policy for priests.

FLORIDA: The Sun-Sentinel: Catholic Church faces `painful purification'.

FLORIDA: The Palm Beach Post: Priest, lawyer tell of two more O'Connell victims.

FLORIDA: The Sun-Sentinel Tell children the truth, parents urged.

The Sun-Sentinel: Lawyers settle 86 sex abuse suits involving priest.

RHODE ISLAND: Matt Carroll reports from Providence in Saturday's Boston Globe: While the Archdiocese of Boston this week agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle 84 lawsuits and end a sordid chapter in the local church's history, Catholic officials in Providence have taken a far different course.

Published Friday, March 15, 2002:

OHIO: Cincinnati Post says Archbishop Pliarczyk assures local Catholics: Our priests pose no risk to kids

The AP reports in nytimes.com Friday night: "Criminal charges will not be pursued against a Boston-area Roman Catholic priest accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a boy because the 1971 allegation is too old, a prosecutor said Friday."

Daniel J. Wakin reports in Friday's New York Times: When three nuns came forward in 1996 with reports that three priests had sexually abused adolescent boys in a Fort Greene parish 20 years before, the Diocese of Brooklyn, led by Bishop Thomas V. Daily, assured the nuns that it would act aggressively.

Wakin also reports in Friday's Times: The New York Times reports: When a New Jersey priest went to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn with a detailed claim that one of its pastors had sexually abused him years ago, it came down to the word of one against the other. And Bishop Thomas V. Daily sided with his own, saying the charges were unfounded.

William Glaberson reports in Friday's New York Times: When Investigating Cases of Sex Abuse, Church Is Often Judge, Jury and Prosecutor.

AP in the Chicago Tribune reports: Catholic leaders to take up sex scandal

AP in the San Francisco Chronicle reports: Over 200 sex-abuse charges against defrocked California priest dismissed.

Boston Herald reports: N.H. bishop was silent on accused priest.

A Special Issue of Boston's archdiocesean paper, The Pilot, focuses on clergy abuse.

The Boston Globe assesses The Pilot's special issue, which includes some shots at the Globe as well as an unusual (for a diocesean paper) discussion of celibacy.

LA Times (March 13) on the growing national scandal.

Boston Cardinal Law's Feb. 10 statement: Video of his refusal to resign, reiteration of his mistakes, description of plans for perpetrators and victims.

In the March 15 National Catholic Reporter, Chuck Colbert rounds up the mounting pressure over abuse cases.

Also from Colbert in the NCR: Catholics of all stripes, ordained and nonordained, faithful and lapsed, recovering and “ex,” are struggling to make sense and come to terms with the daily barrage of news coverage about clerical sexual abuse here in the nation’s fourth-largest archdiocese.

Jesuit Raymond Schroth provides NCR analysis: Failed lives, lost faith and aching hearts.

NCR's Arthur Jones reports: Sex abuse scandal hits Los Angeles.

John L. Allen Jr. reports from NCR's Rome bureau: While the sexual abuse crisis in the American church continues to widen, a less heralded case in Poland threatens to lay questions about the oversight of potential abusers directly at the feet of John Paul II himself. Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, 67, of Poznan, Poland, has been accused of sexually molesting seminarians at his diocesan seminary.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/19/2002 06:37:15 AM