Cover story by Joanna McGeary rounding up developments and proposed solutions

Anonymous first person account from a former priest who served prison time for abuse: "I was probably eight years into my priesthood when I had my first abusive contact with a child. Physical touch was often all that I needed or wanted. Just closeness. My arm around him. But the sexual need — or lust, I'm not sure how to explain it — would just kick in, and I would find myself touching and fondling genitals. The boys were junior high age, basically..."

Suggestions for reform from McCourt, Rev. Andrew Greeley, William F. Buckley Jr., others.

The state of the church: a graphic.

Keeping the Faith: Still Doing God's Work by Amanda Ripley:"The Rev. Michael Shanahan is struggling to find the Spanish word for pedophilia. First, he ad libs, referring in Spanish to the "crimes of the priests." Then, seeing the rows of blank faces, he resorts to saying pedophilia with a Spanish accent — which turns out to be right. A white Roman Catholic priest of Irish descent ministering to a mostly Hispanic congregation, Shanahan, along with his flock, is the picture of the Roman Catholic Church's future in the U.S."

A Victim's Story by Alice Jackson Baughn: "'If my name were to be printed in my local newspaper, I would lose my job in law enforcement, and getting that job has been a life-long dream,' he explains. 'Louisiana still revolves around the Catholic Church even today, and there are plenty of people who don't want you saying anything at all against the church, even if one of its priests did molest children.'"

The Molester's Mind-set: Why do they target kids, by Jeffrey Kluger: "The best thing most people can say about pedophiles — whether they're found in the Roman Catholic Church or outside it — is that they're just plain sick. But sick implies the possibility of treatment, and treatment suggests the possibility of cure; and that raises one of the most vexing questions surrounding the dark condition of pedophilia: Can it be fixed?"

TIME Newsfile on Christianity

Chris Farley follow-up column with additional thoughts from author Frank McCourt: "Late last week, too late to make my deadline, I received the following e-mail: 'Chris: Re: your suggestions on how the church should change: Before anything I'd abolish hell.'"
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/30/2002 11:25:19 AM Editorial:
Church ending cover-up
COLORADO: Denver Post Editorial says: "Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - As national attention focuses on a sex-abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic clergy, we note that the Catholic Church is not the only denomination beset with sexual misconduct by ministers or that has failed to deal with the problem effectively. The current scandal's epicenter is Boston, where defrocked priest John J. Geoghan may have violated more than 130 children. Geoghan was convicted of criminal charges in January and sentenced to nine to 10 years in prison. Many victims were altar boys when Geoghan began assaulting them."

Senator weighs clergy-abuse bill
COLORADO: The Denver Post's Julia C. Martinez reports: "Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - A state senator questioned Monday how Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput can be so sure there isn't a problem involving pedophile priests in the local Roman Catholic church. Democratic Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald is considering introducing legislation this session that would add clergy to the list of professions that must report incidents of child abuse to law enforcement."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Laws Against Sexual Abuse Should Apply To The Powerful
CONNECTICUT: Letters to the editor of the Hartford Courant.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/30/2002 05:57:23 AM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mahony Stands 'Apart From Common Sense'
CALIFORNIA: Letters to the editor of the Los Angeles Times

LAPD Already Has the Facts on Dismissed Priests, Mahony Says
Abuse: The cardinal responds to a demand from Police Chief Parks for the names of those involved.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Richard Winton reports: Responding to a written demand from Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks for the names of priests recently dismissed for sexually abusing minors, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony wrote back Thursday that those men already are known to the Police Department. 'Recently dismissed priests who were in the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department have been duly reported,' Mahony wrote. 'They were prosecuted and served probation many years ago. These cases are a matter of public record and known to your detectives.'"

CORRECTION: LOS ANGELES TIMES
CALIFORNIA: Correction: "Priests and marriage--A story in Wednesday's Section A on celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church incorrectly implied that Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said priests in the church's Eastern Rite can marry. Mahony said only that Eastern Rite priests can be married. Although the church will ordain married men as Eastern Rite priests, if a priest is single at the time of his ordination he may not later marry."

Seminaries tackle taboo topics
Scandals force Catholics to confront sexuality
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle's Kevin Fagan reports: "Bob Chorey doesn't need to have sex to know his sexual identity. He's 36 and had girlfriends before deciding to become a celibate Catholic priest several years back, so frankly the mystery's just not there...But with Catholic clergy sex scandals erupting seemingly every week, from Boston to Los Gatos, the seminary that is training these two future servants of Christ is taking no chances."

Round-up: California parishes to address clergy abuse during Easter sermons
CALIFORNIA: The AP's Robert Jablon reports: "LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As 9 million California Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter this Sunday, bishops across the state are struggling to encourage the faithful as the church confronts the scandal of sexual abuse by priests. This week, a priest in Santa Rosa was on trial for rape, authorities in Santa Clara County investigated molestation claims against two priests and the cardinal of the nation's largest archdiocese apologized to victims of sex abuse."

Round-up: Cases of alleged clergy abuse in California
CALIFORNIA: The AP summarizes some of the allegations in about a dozen cases.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/30/2002 05:19:04 AM

Friday, March 29, 2002

Nebraska prelate rebukes Catholics for critical letters to newspaper
NEBRASKA: The National Catholic Reporter's Teresa Malcolm reports: "Archbishop
Elden Curtiss of Omaha, Neb., sent written rebukes to two Catholics who in letters to the local newspaper had criticized his decision to reassign a priest accused of viewing Internet child pornography. To Jeanne Bast, an 80-year-old mother of 11 and a retired teacher at Catholic grade schools, Curtiss wrote: 'I am surprised that a woman your age and with your background would write such a negative letter in the secular press against me without any previous dialogue. You should be ashamed of yourself!' Bast’s letter appeared in the March 13 issue of the Omaha World-Herald. --Additional coverage from March 29 issue of NCR

Bishop Says His Inquiry Into Abuse Should Have Been More Thorough NEW YORK: The New York Times' Daniel J. Wakim reports: "Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, who was a top official in the Boston archdiocese when one of the nation's worst pedophile priests was allowed to keep ministering, acknowledged yesterday that he should have investigated more thoroughly when parishioners complained. At the same time, the bishop defended how he handled complaints against the offending priest, John J. Geoghan. He said that he was never aware of many sexual abuse complaints against the priest, and that he relied on the word of psychiatrists in reassigning him to a parish."

4 try to cast doubt in priest rape case Credibility of 2 alleged victims attacked
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle's Pamela J. Podger reports: "The defense attorney in the rape and child molestation trial of a dynamic Santa Rosa priest strove yesterday to cast doubt on the credibility of the two alleged victims. Chris Andrian placed four witnesses -- including two priests -- on the stand yesterday to try to impeach earlier testimony."

The Catholic Church in Crisis DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Letters to the editor of the Washington Post

Priest's departure leaves swirl of questions at school Students and friends want to know more about why he left St. Petersburg Catholic High School.
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' KELLY RYAN GILMER reports: "ST. PETERSBURG -- The principal at St. Petersburg Catholic High School will miss a role model who inspired him to become a priest...With his resignation, the Rev. Richard McCormick left behind a campus that must face anguishing questions without its spiritual leader.One week ago, the high school and the Diocese of St. Petersburg made public a female student's allegation that McCormick had harassed her by greeting her with a hug and a kiss. With "mutual agreement" from McCormick, the diocese and the Salesian Society religious order to which the priest belongs, McCormick left the school."

Accuser of Florida Bishop Got Payment From '92 Boss
FLORIDA: The Tampa Tribune's BRAD SMITH reports: "TAMPA - William Urbanski - the accuser
in a controversy that enveloped the local Catholic bishop last week - demanded $10,000 from a former employer a decade ago to keep quiet about its financial practices, his old boss alleges. The employer, Tampa Coliseum Inc., was trying to raise money for an arena to attract a National Hockey League team that eventually would be the Tampa Bay Lightning. Urbanski's job was selling seats for the planned complex."

Priest review is trying, but not a trial
ILLINOIS: The Chicago Tribune's Julia Lieblich reports: "Days after accusations of sexual abuse are made against a priest, a small group of people gather in a conference room at the Archdiocese of Chicago to begin poring over paperwork, weighing the allegations...Over two meetings, typically, they will decide if the allegations are substantiated and whether the priest should be placed in a restricted, monitored setting. Last week, this board met to weigh accusations that Rev. Robert Kealy, a prominent priest and former high-ranking archdiocesan official, abused a teenager more than 25 years ago. The board found the claims to be substantiated and Kealy resigned as pastor of his Winnetka parish."

Parishioners puzzled but confident in their church
ILLINOIS: The Chicago Tribune's Crystal Yednak and Matthew Walberg report:"On Easter Sunday, parishioners at Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Church will walk through the church's heavy doors, pass into the marbled lobby and seat themselves in sleek wooden pews, as usual. But their pastor will be missing from the pulpit. Rev. Robert Kealy, who was named to head the Winnetka parish in June, stepped down this week after being accused of inappropriate sexual misconduct with a teenager more than 25 years ago at a southwest suburban parish."

Parishioners recall 'cool' priest
ILLINOIS: The Chicago Sun-Times' CHRIS FUSCO AND JANET RAUSA FULLER report: "Fresh out of seminary, the Rev. Robert Kealy was "the cool priest" at St. Germaine parish in Oak Lawn. He drove a sports car. The kids trusted him enough to do their
confessions face to face."

Prosecutors investigating about 50 separate complaints of child sexual abuse
MISSOURI: The AP's DAVID SCOTT reports in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce is investigating about 50 separate complaints of child sexual abuse received in the last week, including allegations against ``multiple'' Roman Catholic priests. While she declined to comment specifically on all but one of those under investigation, Joyce said she believes all of the complaints received since she made a public appeal last Tuesday are 'credible.'"

Authorities charge former priest Beine with new cases of sexual misconduct
MISSOURI: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tim O'Neil reports: "A St. Louis school counselor who recently resigned over allegations that he sexually abused boys while he was a Catholic priest 30 years ago was arrested today on new charges of sexual misconduct. James A. Beine, also known as Mar James, was arrested at about 4 a.m. at a residence in Highland, Ill., authorities said. Police had to get a search warrant because Beine refused to come out of the house and surrender."

St. Louis Priest Resigns After New Accusation
MISSOURI: The New York Times' LAURIE GOODSTEIN reports: "or the last three weeks, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis stood by its decision to keep the Rev. LeRoy A. Valentine working in a parish and adjoining parochial school despite public accusations that he abused three young brothers in their house 20 years ago. 'After in-depth investigation, it was decided the allegations were unsubstantiated,' Terry Edelmann, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said earlier this month. 'The case is closed.' But yesterday, Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis announced that Father Valentine had resigned as associate pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle after the archdiocese told him it had received another accusation against him."

For Priests, Days of Hope in Time of Trouble
NATIONAL: The New York Times' DANIEL J. WAKIN reports:"They hurried into St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan through a side door, their white robes flapping in the cold, misting wind, to gather for a Mass in their honor. More than 300 mostly middle-aged and elderly men proceeded down the aisles, shyly waving at friends or mouthing greetings, and then listened to their archbishop, Cardinal Edward M. Egan."

For the Faithful, Trying to Reconcile Morality and Scandal
NATIONAL: The New York Times' PATRICIA COHEN reports: "As awful as the news of priests forcing sex on altar boys is, to many of the faithful who sit in a pew each Sunday, the reaction of Roman Catholic Church leaders is even more shocking.
After all, individual instances of sexual depravity are not unfamiliar to the church. "All around me resounded the cauldron of dissolute loves," said St. Augustine, who fathered a child with his mistress before converting. But to learn now that bishops and cardinals — the embodiment of moral authority — covered up repeated cases of sexual abuse and reassigned predatory priests to other parishes with other children seems inconceivable. Theologians, moral philosophers and experts in religion agree that there is no way to stretch Christian ethics to cover the church's response. "It's morally irresponsible by any standard," Francis Schussler Fiorenza, a Catholic theologian at Harvard Divinity School, said."

Cardinal calls for "day of atonement" for priests
PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Inquirer's David O'Reilly reports: "Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua today used Holy Thursday Mass to call his priests to a "day of atonement" for the sexual abuse of children, but predicted the scandals engulfing the Roman Catholic Church will soon give way to its 'glorious resurrection.'"

Settlement of sex-abuse suits against Diocese of Providence in works
RHODE ISLAND: The Providence Journal's ProJo online staff reports: "PROVIDENCE / 2:20 p.m. -- The Diocese of Providence today confirmed it is involved in discussions to settle lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by a dozen priests dating back to the 1960s. In a brief statement, the diocese said lawyers for the 38 plaintiffs and the diocese met this week with the judge presiding over the case 'to discuss a manner to resolve the pending lawsuits. There will be further meetings among the lawyers and the judge.'"

Thursday, March 28, 2002

Acting bishop: No cases of sexual abuse involving children in Palm Beach
FLORIDA: The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Nicole Sterghos Brochu and Marian Dozier reports: "While the Diocese of Palm Beach has never had to investigate or settle claims of priests abusing minors, it has confronted allegations and paid settlements over the years to adult women accusing priests of sexual misconduct, the Very Rev. James Murtagh said on Wednesday. In a 30-minute interview with the Sun-Sentinel, Murtagh in his role as acting bishop sought to dispel misconceptions and reassure the public that the beleaguered diocese is doing what it can to keep out of its ranks priests who prey on children and adolescents."

Let us move toward healing for all the faithful
FLORIDA: The Very Reverend James Murtagh, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Palm Beach, writes in the Sun-Sentinel: "I appreciate the invitation to write a guest column on our situation in the Catholic Church. We receive many requests from the media, but rarely are given the opportunity to tell our story and are often faulted for not being forthcoming. For instance, we are being asked by another newspaper to turn over "records of any and all agreements made by the diocese to settle claims of sexual abuse, harassment or inappropriate behavior by any member of the clergy or other employee of the Diocese since inception." They want "the names and ages of the claimants, names of the accused, dates and nature of the allegations, amounts of payments, if any, and terms of settlement or other outcome of the claims."

Atlanta archbishop praises metro priests
GEORGIA: Atlanta Journal Constitution's Gayle White reports: "With the nation's Roman Catholic clergy coming under increasing scrutiny for incidents of child molestation, Atlanta Archbishop John Donoghue praised metro priests Tuesday and said he expects the church's commitment to a celibate priesthood to continue. At the annual chrism Mass, during which sacramental oil is consecrated for the coming year and priests renew their ordination vows, Donoghue reiterated a pledge he has made to handle any accusations of sexual abuse in the diocese "as quickly as we can" and to offer support to victims."

Scandal about sins of men, not their beliefs
MARYLAND: Baltimore Sun columnist Michael Olesker
writes: "IN MY YOUTH, my parents shipped me off to Hebrew school three times a week. They wanted me to discover faith and tradition, and some notion of God. In my restlessness, I would gaze outside the windows of the Liberty Jewish Center and discover what looked like Greater America. Out there, I saw gentile friends playing the great American game of football. In Mr. Aaron's Hebrew school classroom, we wore yarmulkes on our heads; out there in Greater America, they wore football helmets. In class, we each wore a gentle tallit around our shoulders; out there, they wore rugged shoulder pads."

Hanover man who says he was abused arrested after going to priest's home
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Ken Maguire reports: "CHELSEA -- A man who sued a former vice chancellor of the Boston archdiocese for sexual abuse was arrested Thursday after going to the priest's Chelsea home to possibly "injure the priest" and himself, police said. Garry M. Garland, 38, of Hanover, tried to confront Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan in the home where he has been staying since he was removed from his Kingston parish, police said."

Law offers apology, decries 'betrayal of trust' in open letter to parishoners
MASSACHUSETTS: The AP's Greg Sukiennik reports: "BOSTON -- In a Good Friday letter to parishioners, Cardinal Bernard Law repeats his apologies to victims of sex abuse and calls on Catholics to think of Christ's sacrifice as they endure the scandal that has engulfed the Boston archdiocese. 'Betrayal hangs like a heavy cloud over the Church today,' Law wrote in a letter dated Friday and published in Thursday's edition of The Pilot, the archdiocese's newspaper. 'While we do not presume to judge anyone's relationship with God, there is no doubt that a betrayal of trust is at the heart of the evil of sexual abuse of children by clergy.'"

Confessed child molester Porter waives parole hearing
MASSACHUSETTS: The AP reports: "BOSTON -- A former Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting 28 children has waived his right to a parole hearing this year. Under a new state law, the Rev. James Porter's victims would have been able to testify at the hearing, said James Borghesani, a spokesman for acting Gov. Jane Swift."

Alleged clergy abuse victim caught with knife near priest's home
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Eric Convey and Tom Mashberg report: "Garry M. Garland, the Hanover man who has accused a high-ranking priest and a former cardinal of sex abuse, was arrested at 4:30 today with a knife in his car near the Chelsea home of Msgr. Frederick J. Ryan, the cleric he alleges molested him in 1979. Garland was charged with failure to stop for a police officer after pulling up in front of Ryan's Revere Beach Parkway house, then pulling away after spotting Chelsea police protecting Ryan's residence."

Encounter with her minister broke trust, but not faith
MICHIGAN: Detroit Free Press columnist Desiree Cooper writes: "When Donna Scott filed a lawsuit alleging her clergyman had sexually abused her, she wasn't a child, but a wife and mother. And the alleged attacker was not a Catholic priest, but a Protestant minister...The current focus on Catholic priests who have abused children is important, said Scott, but it obscures a larger issue: The violation of worshipers of all religions by members of the clergy."

Sex abuse scandals cast shadow over all priests
Many say tough job has gotten a lot tougher
MICHIGAN: Detroit News' Gregg Krupa, John Bebow and David Shepardson reports: "GROSSE POINTE PARK -- Three weeks ago, the Rev. Joseph McCormick felt it essential to speak directly to the problem. And he made it personal. I got up and told my parishioners: 'I am not a pedophile. I was not abused as a child. I do not have any attraction to children or to teens. I have never abused anyone,' ' said McCormick, pastor of St. Clare of Montefulco."

Senator urges review of abuse law
It may be time to include clergy, Mich. lawmaker says
MICHIGAN: The Detroit News' Gary Heinlein reports: "LANSING -- Lawmakers should consider whether to extend child abuse reporting requirements to include the clergy in Michigan, the chairman of the state Senate's Judiciary Committee said."

Dioceses keep independence
NATIONAL: Detroit News' Ronald J. Hansen reports: "As the Roman Catholic Church reels under the weight of pedophilia scandals, its dioceses remains splintered in how they deal with allegations of abuse...Differences remain because each of the nation's 194 dioceses is considered a separate legal entity, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. Also, many of those who complained in the past wanted confidentiality, and disclosure laws vary from state to state."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 10:41:10 PM Cardinal Mahony Should Name Abusers
CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Times letters to the editor write: "Re "Mahony Won't Name Abusers," March 26: Since when did being a member of the clergy entitle you to diplomatic immunity? Correct me if I'm wrong, but when our founding fathers established a "separation of church and state" it was to prevent the church from interfering in the business of government. Never did they intend it to mean that clergymen were above the law of the land."

Church of the People, Not of the Priests
NATIONAL: Edward L. Beck, a New York City priest, is the author of "God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest," writes in The Los Angeles Times: "While the Roman Catholic Church gathers to celebrate the holiest week of its year, it isn't looking too holy. As a priest, I have read the news of sexual scandals involving priests and bishops with sadness and dismay. I don't recognize the church depicted in the media as the one in which I minister or one I even know."

Far From the Turbulence of Scandal, but Tied Into It
IOWA: In one small parish, few dwell on the stories of pedophile priests. But like many Catholics in the U.S., they're appalled.
IOWA: The Los Angeles Times' Ralph Frammolino reports: "MONTICELLO, Iowa -- If a crisis exists in the Roman Catholic Church, you wouldn't know it at Sacred Heart, a sturdy red-brick edifice three blocks off Main Street. The cavernous sanctuary is filled with worshipers on weekends, the parish fish fry was a smashing success, and so many youngsters have signed up to be altar servers that some have to wait three months."

The Papal Translator
NATIONAL: Cartoonist Mark Fiore's interactive satire in the SF Gate of the San Francisco Chronicle.

A church under siege
CALIFORNIA: San Francisco Chronicle editorial says: "THIS IS a Holy Week like no other for American Catholics. Amid the rituals of reflection and rebirth lies a devastating scandal of clerical sex abuse and official coverup. A string of disturbing anecdotes that has ruined lives across the country is unsettling enough. But the overall scandal shows another dimension: church leaders dodging their duties to investigate serious charges and discipline predatory priests."

Archbishop asks forgiveness for clerics
Levada says Catholic leaders must get tougher on errant priests
CALIFORNIA: San Francisco Chronicle's Don Lattin reports: "In a Holy Week sermon on an unholy topic, San Francisco Archbishop William Levada asked his flock to forgive him and his fellow bishops for letting the church's child abuse scandal spin out of control, and he called for tougher action against errant prelates. At a national bishops meeting this June, Levada will propose that the American church fathers review how they deal with the misconduct of bishops and present their recommendations to Vatican officials and Pope John Paul II."

Defense questions recollections of Santa Rosa priest's accusers
Attorney asks why no one recalled dog, dozing Christ photo
CALIFORNIA: San Francisco Chronicle's Pamela J. Podger reports: "Holding up a joke picture of Jesus Christ snoozing during a sermon, the defense team opened its case yesterday in the child molestation trial of a Santa Rosa priest. Defense lawyer Chris Andrian wanted to know why one of the alleged victims - - who testified she had visited Donald Wren Kimball at St. John's rectory in Healdsburg at least 15 to 20 times and claims she was molested in the bedroom where the picture hung -- failed to mention it when asked if there was anything unusual about the priest's quarters."

In the midst of turmoil, converts find new home in Roman Catholic Church
NATIONAL: The AP's JAY LINDSAY reports:"Megan Denell's search for a spiritual home brought her to the doors of the Roman Catholic Church, where she found a strength of community like nothing she had experienced. It wasn't long before she learned her new fellowship came with pain as well as joy."

Clergy In Crisis: Priest twice called abuser
The cleric, who denied the allegations, again works in the diocese.
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Jennifer Garza reports: "A Catholic priest who was accused of sexually assaulting two young men in the 1970s and 1980s is working again in the Sacramento Diocese, and one of his accusers is asking that he be removed from duty. The Rev. Michael Walsh was accused of getting the two young men drunk and assaulting them after they sought him out for advice. The incidents allegedly occurred about a dozen years apart, one in Oroville and one in Sacramento. Both cases were settled out of court, one after a $5 million lawsuit was filed against Walsh and the Sacramento Diocese."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 10:05:13 PM Former Editor Defends Coverage of Clergy Abuse: Fulfilling Moral Obligation
NATIONAL: Paul Janensch writes in The Hartford Courant:
"Q: Professor News, why are the news media picking on the Catholic Church?
A: They aren't. Led by newspapers such as The Courant and The Boston Globe, many news organizations are rendering a public service by exposing allegations of sexual misconduct by priests and coverups by their bishops."

What's the Standard?
In light of the priest sex abuse scandal, should diocesan newspapers start to do some tough reporting?
NATIONAL: Philadelphia Weekly's JONATHAN VALANIA reports: "Now that the pope has publicly addressed the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal--nearly three months after the story blew up following the trial of defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan--a long enough time has passed to take a look at how the Catholic press has covered these developments. PW thought it was especially important since many devout Catholics consider negative reporting about the Church in the secular media a symptom of religious bigotry. Across the country each archdiocese publishes its own newspaper."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 08:35:23 AM Polish Archbishop Resigns
POLAND: The AP's ANDRZEJ STYLINSKI reports: "WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An archbishop in Pope John Paul II's homeland said Thursday that he has resigned following a Vatican probe and newspaper allegations that he made homosexual advances on young clerics. Juliusz Paetz, the 67-year-old Archbishop of Poznan, has steadfastly dismissed the accusations in the biggest scandal that has shaken the church in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 07:53:01 AM Suburban NY Bishop to Name Priests to DAs
Diocese will turn over all reports
NEW YORK: Newsday's Steve Wick and Carol Eisenberg report: "In a dramatic turnaround, the bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre yesterday said the names of all priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors would be turned over to the district attorneys of both Nassau and Suffolk counties, along with details 'about the nature and timing of the allegations.' The statement by Bishop William Murphy came one day after Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota subpoenaed sexual abuse complaints made against priests going back 25 years, sources said yesterday. That subpoena was sent out a week after the Rev. Michael Hands, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to sodomy charges involving a teenage boy, agreed to cooperate with Spota's office in an inquiry of the handling of sex abuse allegations by diocesan officials, the sources said."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 07:46:59 AM Prospects for Catholic reform lie within the church community
NATIONAL: David O'Brien, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross, writes in 3/26/02 Worcester Telegram and Gazette: "Everyone who comments on the spreading crisis in the Catholic church in Worcester as well as Boston and beyond, agrees that more than cosmetic changes are needed. Improved procedures for protecting children and teen-agers and identifying sexual predators among clergy and church workers are readily available and should have been put in place years ago. Committees which include parents and victims, law enforcement and child welfare professionals and ordinary Catholics can help priests and bishops carry out these needed reforms."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/28/2002 07:36:08 AM

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Hannibal seminary faces uncertain future after sexual abuse revelations
MISSOURI: The AP's Jim Suhr reports: "A Roman Catholic seminary troubled by allegations that some pastors sexually abused students there years ago could close if the revelations mean drops in enrollment and recruiting, the Jefferson City Diocese said Wednesday."

Three police complaints filed against Long Island priest
NEW YORK: The AP's DIEGO IBARGUEN
reports: "The Rockville Centre diocese has removed from active duty a Long Island priest who is named in three police complaints. The complaints filed with the Nassau County Police Department involve allegations against the Rev. Eugene Vollmer, Sgt. Richard Zito said Wednesday. The complaints are being investigated by the department's special victims unit, which handles complaints of sexual abuse."

Letters | Priests, scandal and the Catholic Church
PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia Inquirer letters to the editor.

Bishop alludes to pain of scandals
TEXAS: The Dallas Morning News' SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH reports: "In a special Holy Week service Tuesday, Dallas Bishop Charles V. Grahmann spoke out about pedophile priest scandals across the country. We know only too well the enormous damage caused by pedophile priests,' he said. 'It casts a dark shadow of suspicion over all the fine priests who perform their ministry with integrity.'

Diocese says guidelines will help stop abuse
TEXAS: JEFF BRADY / WFAA-TV Dallas reports: "It has been almost five years since the Rudy Kos case rocked the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. Tuesday, the diocese released guidelines that it said can help stop sexual abuse by clergy before it can start. But, some say it's too little, too late."

In the Northwest: Catholic laity can shine the light of redemption
WASHINGTON: Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly writes: "During intercessions at a recent Sunday Mass in Seattle University's Chapel of St. Ignatius, a worshipper prayed in strong voice for victims of pedophile priests. 'There was vocal agreement,' reported a friend who was on hand. Was it an act of defiance against a church enveloped in scandal? Not really. Laypeople in the chapel are the church."

Boston cardinal should resign
WASHINGTON: Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial says: "Cardinal Bernard Law, head of the Boston Archdiocese, has dismissed the notion that he step down from the post, even though he has admitted that for years he moved a man he knew was a child-molesting priest from parish to parish. Boston's now-defrocked priest John Geoghan has been sentenced to prison for fondling a boy in a swimming pool. In all, Geoghan has been accused of molesting more than 130 children over 30 years. There is little question that Law's moving Geoghan from church to church put more children at risk."

Weakland gives priests abuse data
In letter, he reveals number of accusations, cost to archdiocese
WISCONSIN: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's MARIE ROHDE reports: "Milwaukee's Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland has written to local priests about the number of child sexual abuse accusations against area priests, and how much those accusations have cost the archdiocese. Weakland has refused to make such information public in the past, and he did not indicate that it would be available to anyone other than the priests. He has declined to discuss the issue with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/27/2002 04:49:26 PM Worcester Bishop places Inzerillo on leave
MASSACHUSETTS: The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Rich Nangle reports: "WORCESTER-- The Rev. Peter Inzerillo, who was named in a sexual abuse lawsuit settled three years ago for $300,000, has been placed on administrative leave from his assignment as associate pastor of St. Leo Church in Leominster. The decision was made jointly by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and Rev. Inzerillo, according to Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester."

Man accuses teacher-priest of molestation
MASSACHUSETTS: The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Kathleen Shaw reports: "Jim Kane, 34, of Derry, N.H., said yesterday he was sexually molested by the Rev. Robert A. Shauris when he was a student at St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School in Fitchburg. Rev. Shauris, who has been on leave from the Diocese of Worcester for several years, was a music teacher at the school. He lives in Worcester where he is listed on the faculty roster of Curry College's Worcester campus. 'I really have nothing to say,' Rev. Shauris said yesterday in response to the allegation."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/27/2002 11:56:30 AM Catholics ponder worth of celibacy
The church's inability to deal with priests accused of pedophilia may be at fault.
IOWA: The Des Moines Register's JOANNE BOECKMAN reports: "A long-simmering question about whether celibacy should continue as a requirement for Roman Catholic priests is roiling as Catholic church officials across the country release the names of priests accused of sexual misconduct. Several days ago, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston published an editorial saying the church must face the question of whether to continue requiring celibacy of priests."

Blind Faith
MAINE: Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz writes:
The case file, well over a foot thick, contains thousands of pieces of paper. But for Anthony Matthews, one will always stand out. 'There it is," he said last week, staring at the documented fallout from his years-long battle with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. "How could they say that? How could they say those words about a kid?'"

Maine Bishop Gerry: Victims' pain 'heavy burden'
MAINE: Portland Press Herald's JOSIE HUANG reports: "Using the pulpit for the first time to address allegations of priest sexual abuse, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland expressed sorrow Tuesday for victims who had suffered at the hands of 'past clerical misconduct.'"

Anger at sexual abuse justified, Keeler says
During Mass homily, issue addressed briefly
MARYLAND: The Baltimore Sun's John Rivera reports:
"Acknowledging that 'these are difficult times to be Catholic,' Cardinal William H. Keeler told a gathering of priests and lay people last night that they are justified in being angry about the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and lay church workers."

Former priest: Renew the church
MARYLAND: Former priest Stephen J. Stahley writes in The Baltimore Sun: "BY THE time I resigned from the Catholic priesthood to marry in 1988, most of the straight priests I knew had already married. The gay priests I knew were exemplary men -- hardworking, dedicated and talented. Yet as I watched more and more friends depart to marry, my sense of isolation became acute. The priesthood I left felt very different from the one I entered."

New charge: Second man claims Ryan abused him
MASSACHUSETTS/RHODE ISLAND: The Boston Herald's Robin Washington and Tom Mashberg report: "PROVIDENCE - A second former Catholic Memorial High School sports star stepped forward yesterday to accuse Msgr. Frederick J. Ryan, the one-time vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston, of child sex abuse - acts he said occurred across state lines when he was a teenager. Between emotional outbursts, a sobbing David Carney told a media throng assembled in the rain on the State House lawn here that the priest sexually abused him when he was underage."

Geoghan deal edges closer: Lawyers: Parties must sign off
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Tom Mashberg
reports: "Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and 86 alleged abuse victims of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan have finalized their settlement language and are busy obtaining signatures from the plaintiffs and defendants, a process expected to last three weeks, people familiar with the case say."

Cardinal praises silent majority of good priests
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Marie Szaniszlo
reports: "Boston's embattled Roman Catholic archbishop praised his brother priests yesterday for weathering the church's continuing sexual abuse scandal. At a morning Mass that drew hundreds of clergy to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Bernard Cardinal Law said ``perhaps never before in the history of this archdiocese'' have its priests risen so well to such a challenge."

Boston College Theology Chairman:
Priestly celibacy is nearing its end
MASSACHUSETTS: B.C. Theology Department Chair Stephen J. Pope writes in The Boston Herald: "The recent crisis in the Roman Catholic Church has led some people to claim the whole problem is caused by the priestly vow of celibacy. They reason that priests who are sexually repressed act out by engaging in pedophilia. This view is sometimes joined to the claim that it is the admission of a disproportionately high number of gay men to seminaries that leads to pedophilia. Both of these claims ignore the fact that pedophilia can be exhibited by straight as well as gay men and by married as well as celibate men."

Abuse scandal angers conservative Catholics
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson reports: "The Catholic Church's most reliable supporters, conservatives who have traditionally leapt to defend the institutional hierarchy whenever its practices have been questioned, are increasingly irate over the church's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Commentators William J. Bennett, William F. Buckley Jr., and Patrick J. Buchanan have harshly criticized Cardinal Bernard F. Law. Self-described orthodox Catholics are denouncing the church's bishops."

Accusers of Ryan say there are others
MASSACHUSETTS/RHODE ISLAND: The Boston Globe's Michael Rezendes reports: "PROVIDENCE - Garry M. Garland and attorney Daniel J. Shea yesterday tried to buttress their allegations that Garland was sexually abused by a Massachusetts priest and a deceased cardinal. Their effort only raised more questions about their claims."

Detroit priest leaves parishes after sexual accusation
Archdiocese receives call, will investigate complaint
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' CECIL ANGEL reports: "A Catholic priest agreed to leave his Detroit parishes Tuesday after the Archdiocese of Detroit received a complaint against him on its telephone line established for reporting complaints of sexual misconduct by clergy. The archdiocese issued this statement: 'An accusation of misconduct was brought against Father Dennis Duggan, pastor of St. Suzanne and administrator of Our Lady Gate of Heaven parishes in Detroit.'

Poll: State should require that church report abuse cases
Catholic policies vary according to diocese
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
AND ALEXA CAPELOTO report: "More than 80 percent of Michiganders surveyed for a new poll say state law should be changed to require Catholic authorities to report suspected sexual abuse of children to law enforcement."

Three More Accuse Priest
Nassau police get reports of sex abuse
NEW YORK: Newsday's Steve Wick reports: Three more men came forward yesterday to tell police they were sexually abused by the Rev. Eugene Vollmer, including one who said he was abused at a parish in Floral Park in 1991. The new allegations came in the wake of a Newsday story that detailed charges by two brothers, both former altar boys, that Vollmer had sexually abused them in the late 1970s and early 1980s in parishes in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. One of the two said Vollmer had sodomized him at least 50 times."

Preaching to Priests
Cardinal denounces abuse at chrism Mass
NEW YORK: Newsday's Ron Howell reports: "As hundreds of priests gathered to celebrate the founding of the priesthood more than 2,000 years ago, Cardinal Edward Egan said the abuse of minors by some priests has been a 'scandal and an outrage.'"

Diocese Reels After Losing 2 Tainted Bishops
FLORIDA: The New York Times: Anthony DePalma reports: "WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 23 — The Bishop's Cup annual charity golf tournament, with its local celebrities and big-money buzz, is one of the brightest events on the Palm Beach social calendar. But this year, after Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell admitted to sexually abusing a seminarian in Missouri 25 years ago and then resigned in disgrace, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach thought it wise to give the April 5 fund-raiser a new name, calling it simply the Catholic Charities golf tournament."

Polish Priests Press Vatican on Case Against Bishop
POLAND: The New York Times' John Tagliabue reports: "POZNAN, Poland, March 21 — Here in western Poland, in what residents boast is the oldest diocese of a fervently Roman Catholic country, it was the priests who reported the many whispers of homosexual advances by the local archbishop — and the priests who got the Vatican to take some action.
In the United States, action against priests accused of sexual molestation has been a result of lawsuits by parents, family members or the victims themselves. In Europe, and particularly in countries as conservative as Poland, such scandals have been handled more discreetly."

Rome Fiddles, We Burn
NATIONAL: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes: "WASHINGTON — First, a confession: For years I have been avoiding the Masses in my parish, Blessed Sacrament, celebrated by the associate pastor, the Rev. Percival D'Silva, because his homilies — forgive me, father — are on the soporific side. Not last Sunday's."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/27/2002 08:25:29 AM Swiss priest held in custody on child sex abuse charges
SWITZERLAND: The AP reports: "WALENSTADT, Switzerland - A 63-year-old Roman Catholic priest is in custody on suspicion that he sexually abused children, the head of the local church council said. Herbert Hobi said he told the congregation in the small eastern town of Walenstadt of the arrest of 63-year-old Alois Fritschi after their Palm Sunday service."

Scandal Puts New Focus on Celibacy
Catholics: Cardinal Mahony's remarks add to growing debate on marriage and priesthood.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times Larry B. Stammer reports: "Celibacy, a cornerstone of the Roman Catholic priesthood for a thousand years and a symbol of ordained holiness, is being questioned with a new urgency as the church's sexual abuse scandal sweeps across the nation. In a sharp departure from Pope John Paul II's insistence that the celibacy issue is closed, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Monday became the first American cardinal to declare that discussion of a married priesthood remains open."

Flock standing by priest after allegation told
The diocese and the accuser have reached a settlement.
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Matthew Barrows reports: "Palm Sunday worshippers in Lincoln rallied around their pastor Sunday, a day after he revealed that a sexual misconduct accusation had been made against him three years ago. As he had during Saturday evening Masses, the Rev. Vincent Brady, 59, told churchgoers at St. Joseph Parish on Sunday that he denied the allegation by Susann Hoey Lees, a 39-year-old landscape architect now living in Washington."

News of priest's 1998 conviction saddens church
SAN JOSE CONGREGATION WASN'T TOLD OF OFFENSE
CALIFORNIA: The San Jose Mercury News' Jessie Mangaliman
reports: "More than anger or accusations, sorrow has swept East San Jose's Most Holy Trinity Church this week as parishioners begin to deal with the painful reality that a former popular priest is a convicted sex offender. Revelations that former pastor Angel Crisostomo Mariano, 46, is one of six Jesuits caught up in the Roman Catholic Church's latest sexual abuse scandal has prompted new questions about Mariano's sudden and unexplained departure from the church almost four years ago."

Chaput again discusses scandal
Catholics are facing 'contempt,' he says
COLORADO: The Denver Post's Virginia Culver reports: "Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - Catholics are feeling the "contempt" of other people today because of the church's national sex-abuse scandal, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput said Tuesday. Noting that some of Jesus' apostles avoided him before the crucifixion, Chaput said: 'It's really not much of a surprise when we hear about people who are afraid to admit they're Catholics, or priests who feel embarrassed to wear their Roman collars in public.'"

Church Leader Offers Apology
Cronin Also Appeals To Priests' Pride
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR reports: "Hartford Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin used the occasion of the annual Mass of Chrism on Tuesday to apologize for the suffering caused by sexually abusive Catholic priests and to remind others in the priesthood that they are needed 'now more than ever.' Cronin's homily repeated some remarks he made last weekend, his first public comments since news reports critical of how New York Archbishop Edward Egan handled sex-abuse allegations against priests in the Bridgeport diocese when he was bishop there."

CU Forum Confronts Sex-Abuse Scandal
Students Express Concern and Anger, Call for Law's Resignation From Board
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Washington Post's Alan Cooperman reports: "About 50 students gathered at Catholic University last night to voice concern, anger and frustration over the school's silence on the recent sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church. Some students at the forum called for Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, who is chairman of the university's 50-member board of trustees, to step down from that position or at least apologize to the university. The largest sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church erupted in Law's archdiocese two months ago."

Supreme Court Won't Hear Va. Sex Abuse Case
NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Emily Wax reports: "The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an Alexandria case that would outline when school boards can be held responsible for employees who are found to be child molesters...The justices' decision comes as the Roman Catholic Church struggles with a scandal and lawsuits involving decades of alleged molestation by priests."

Chicago priest is accused of abuse
Case turned over to state's attorney
ILLINOIS: The Chicago Tribune's Julia Lieblich and Matthew Walberg report: "The Archdiocese of Chicago said Tuesday it reported a 20- to 25-year-old case of sexual abuse by a priest to the Cook County state's attorney's office and the accused priest has resigned from his parish. The archdiocese would not release the priest's name, the age of the victim or victims, or whether any prior complaints have been made against the priest."

Priest resigns amid sex abuse charges
ILLINOIS: The Chicago Sun-Times' CATHLEEN FALSANI, CARLOS SADOVI AND FRANK MAIN report: Cook County prosecutors are investigating new allegations of sexual abuse against a Roman Catholic priest, in the first case of alleged abuse to surface publicly in the Chicago archdiocese since a national scandal broke earlier this year. Accused is a longtime priest in a north suburban parish. The priest, whom officials would not name, resigned Tuesday, Cardinal Francis George said."

Archbishop calls for healing
In annual rededication Mass, Buechlein defends priests serving the church, decries attacks on celibacy.
INDIANA: The Indianapolis Star's Judith Cebula reports: "Calling the abuse of children disturbing, embarrassing and evil, Indianapolis Catholic Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein on Tuesday defended the thousands of priests who continue to serve the church with fidelity, goodness and self-sacrifice. Preaching to 1,000 priests and lay people gathered for Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, he spoke publicly for the first time about the scandal of clergy sexual abuse that has gripped the Roman Catholic Church in the United States since January."

Indiana Catholics in dark over scandals
Parishioners say they want to know about priests who sexually abuse youths, but 5 bishops remain mum.
INDIANA: The Indianapolis Star's Judith Cebula reports: "As the Catholic Church reels in the wake of the latest round of clergy sexual abuse scandals in the United States, bishops in Indiana say they take clergy abuse of children seriously. But they're saying little else. Parishioners say they expect more accountability from bishops who have historically answered to no one but the pope. They want to know the extent of the clergy abuse problem in Indiana and to trust that church leaders are dealing with it appropriately."

Editorial: Clergy should report abuse
Doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. are "mandatory reporters." Members of the clergy should be, too.
IOWA: The Des Moines Register says in an editorial: "Victims are telling their stories. One man claims his childhood Catholic priest convinced him performing oral sex was analogous to a special Holy Communion. Other clergy took advantage of single mothers by offering to spend time with their sons. Then they raped the young boys. Pedophiles, protected by their reputations as men of God, used their position to molest children. It's the ultimate betrayal. It's a crime."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/27/2002 07:49:50 AM

Tuesday, March 26, 2002

Cleveland Bishop Pilla asks commission to review policies on sexual abuse
OHIO: WKYC TV reports: Bishop hires former safety director to head commission evaluating church procedures. (Real Player required to view video.)
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/26/2002 05:33:56 PM Mahony Won't Name Abusers
Catholics: He says to do so would traumatize victims further, but they can break confidentiality agreements if they wish.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Larry B. Stammer and Richard Winton report: "At an extraordinary 'Mass of reparations,' Cardinal Roger M. Mahony told about 300 Catholic priests Monday night that he would support victims of long-ago sexual abuse who want to break confidentiality agreements and talk, but would not release the names of their abusers. 'I couldn't care less about confidentiality agreements,' Mahony told reporters after the Mass in Long Beach.

ORANGE COUNTY
Bishop Moves to Reassure Catholics
Religion: Orange County prelate, speaking to parishioners and clergy, says the church is acting to prevent sexual abuse of children.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' David Haldane reports: "Bishop Tod D. Brown assured parishioners and clergy in Orange County on Monday that the Roman Catholic Church is 'taking every possible step' to prevent sexual abuse of children by priests in scandals like those revealed in recent weeks.

Clerics Take 2 Approaches to Clergy Scandal
Religion: Orange County's Bishop Brown tackles the molestation issue from the pulpit. L.A.'s Cardinal Mahony makes no statement.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' CHRISTINE HANLEY and RICHARD WINTON report: "In a candid Palm Sunday sermon, Bishop of Orange Tod D. Brown said it is especially important during Easter week for the Catholic Church to accept responsibility for "terrible, terrible crimes" committed by priests against children and to seek forgiveness for wayward clergymen. While Brown's remarks at an Orange County church struck a chord that was resonating at Catholic churches across the country, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony chose not to tackle the issue during a Mass in Ventura County and afterward was confronted by banner-waving protesters who told him he had ignored the problem for too long and had not been forthcoming enough."

Tom Economus, 46; Critic of Church
NATIONAL: The Los Angeles Times Elaine Woo reports: "The Rev. Tom Economus, a former altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest and became a fierce critic of the Roman Catholic Church and an advocate for other victims, died of cancer at his Chicago home Saturday. He was 46. Economus founded the Chicago-based Survivors of Clergy Abuse Linkup 12 years ago to help victims confront the facts of their abuse and find counseling as well as legal help if desired."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/26/2002 05:21:08 PM USA TODAY Live Chat with former Vatican Ambassador Ray Flynn transcript posted here.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/26/2002 12:16:23 PM Boston Cardinal Defends Predecessor
NATONAL: The AP reports in The New York Times (free registration required) "BOSTON (AP) -- Cardinal Bernard Law defended his predecessor from accusations that he groped a boy more than two decades ago, the latest sex-abuse allegation to rock the Roman Catholic church. In a statement released Monday, Law said he was 'deeply saddened' by the allegation against former Cardinal Humberto Medeiros." Includes round-up of abuse-related developments around the country.

Bishop Caught Up in Scandal Is Called an Unlikely Abuser
MISSOURI/FLORIDA: The New York Times' Sam Dillon reports (free registration required) "To many of the students at the Roman Catholic seminary he headed in Missouri, the Rev. Anthony J. O'Connell was a role model and a tireless salesman for religion, the priesthood and life itself. So successful was he at running St. Thomas Seminary that he was chosen bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., in 1988 and, a decade later, bishop of Palm Beach, Fla. But in the last several weeks, three former seminarians have publicly stepped forward to say he also played a secret and sinister role there."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/26/2002 08:16:13 AM Santa Fe archdiocese learned lessons
NATIONAL: USA TODAY's Marco R. della Cava reports: "SANTA FE — A decade ago, a cloud as dark as the meanest desert thunderhead settled over the faithful in this fiercely Catholic state. It hovered for three years of public horrors and private humiliation — and nearly bankrupted the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Beginning in the 1960s, New Mexico's parishes served as a national dumping ground for pedophile priests. After doing time in a rural rehab center geared toward alcoholics, they slipped into sunbaked, Hispanic hamlets and set about their unholy work."

Church's actions disappoint Catholics
NATIONAL: USA TODAY's Robert Davis reports: "Most Catholics say their church has done a poor job handling the problem of sexual abuse by priests, and almost a third say they are less likely now to give money to the church, according to two new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Polls. 'They pretend to be so pious and mighty, and you turn around and see all of their doing," says Mary Taylor, 58, of Malverne, N.Y. "You saw things were always covered up.'"

USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll results:
U.S. Catholics Say Church Has Handled Crisis Badly
NATIONAL: Poll Results: Nearly three in four Catholics say the Catholic Church "has done a bad job in dealing with the problem of sexual abuse committed by its priests."

USA TODAY CHAT
Crisis in the Catholic church: Ray Flynn
Tuesday, March 26, noon ET
NATIONAL: Former Vatican Ambassador Ray Flynn chats with readers.

COMMENTARY
The Catholic Church's Culture Clash
NATIONAL: Pennsylvania State University Professor PHILIP JENKINS argues: "As the volume of abuse charges against Catholic clergy has risen steeply over recent weeks, a common theme in media reporting has been befuddlement about why the church hierarchy fails to take the obvious steps to cure the ongoing crisis. Are the bishops really that stupid, that obdurate? Yet as the nostrums and instant solutions surface on every talk show, it becomes increasingly obvious that most observers have very little sense of what the actual issues are. Most are using the current cases to promote their pet agendas, which may or may not have any relationship to the abuse problem." (Subscription may be required.)

Sex predator: the priest who got away
AUSTRALIA: Gary Hughes and Larry Schwartz of The Age in Australia report (3/24/02): A Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused young boys in Melbourne for more than 20 years is unlikely to ever face prosecution after fleeing to Britain. The Catholic Church has so far paid out more than $50,000 in compensation, provided counselling and made formal apologies to victims whose lives were shattered by Father Ronald Dennis Pickering."

Online discussion of clergy abuse in Australia
AUSTRALIA: Catholic Telecommunictions Discussion board discusses stories published in The Age.

Australian Bishop discusses charges against priest
AUSTRALIA: Australia's Catholic Telecommunications reports: "Bishop Gerard Holohan of the rural Western Australian diocese of Bunbury has spoken to congregations in two parishes after their former priest had been charged with sexual offences."
---Earlier: Australian priest beaten by relatives of victim.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/26/2002 07:24:45 AM

Monday, March 25, 2002

Archbishop speaks out about scandal
Denver parishioners praise Chaput for statement of apology
COLORADO: The Denver Post's Virginia Culver
reports: "Monday, March 25, 2002 - Denver-area Catholics praised their archbishop Sunday night for issuing a statement apologizing for sexual misconduct of priests. The statement, which Archbishop Charles Chaput read at the Palm Sunday Mass, was the same one he told all 145 pastors to read at their own churches Sunday in the place of their homilies..."

Denver DA will review abuse policy
Ritter plans to meet with Catholic officials
COLORADO: The Denver Post's Virginia Culver reports: "Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter said Tuesday he will meet with officials of the Denver Archdiocese to seek assurances that they are enforcing their sexual-abuse policy at a time when Catholic churches around the country are facing pedophilia accusations. But Ritter stopped short of saying he would ask for the names of clergy who are suspected pedophiles, a step that some prosecutors have taken in other cities..."

SPOTLIGHT FOLLOW-UP
State action on priest fell short, DYS team says
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Matt Carroll reports: "he passage of time is likely to make it difficult to prosecute many priests who allegedly molested children - even the Rev. Bernard J. Lane, who allegedly raped teenage boys at Alpha Omega, a Littleton facility for troubled youths that he ran under state contract in the 1970s..."

Alleged victim charges abuse by Cardinal Medeiros
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Robin Washington and Tom Mashberg reports: "In a stunning amendment to his child molestation lawsuit against Boston Archdiocese Vice Chancellor Frederick Ryan, former school sports star Garry Garland said yesterday the late Humberto Cardinal Medeiros also molested him in a late-night visit to the chancery more than two decades ago. Garland, of Hanover, a Catholic Memorial sports star whose suit filed Thursday has rocked the archdiocese, disclosed the added details of abuse at the highest levels of the church after a weekend of personal trauma and efforts to reach out to help other alleged victims amongst his peers."

In Seminaries, New Ways for a New Generation
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein reports: "UNDELEIN, Ill., March 22 — In the next three months, 43 men who have trained here at the nation's largest Roman Catholic seminary are to be ordained as priests. They include a former soybean farmer, an astronomer, a former minor league baseball player and a Vietnamese-American who feels a debt to the church that saved his refugee family. his class of seminarians has been selected and shaped in radically different ways than the generations before it. The seminarians have been subjected to Rorschach tests and criminal background checks, and interviewed about their dating history and sexual orientation."

In Palm Sunday Homily, Cardinal Egan Says Evil of Sex Abuse 'Will Be Stamped Out'
NEW YORK: The New York Times' DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ELISSA GOOTMAN reports: "n an extraordinary homily from the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Cardinal Edward M. Egan yesterday confronted the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests, which has shaken the Roman Catholic Church, telling Palm Sunday worshipers, 'It is a time of great suffering for the church.' Wearing red vestments symbolic of the Lord's Passion and a large pectoral cross, Cardinal Egan told the filled cathedral: 'Acts have been committed against our children by those who were chosen and ordained to care for all with total self-sacrifice and the utmost of respect. The cry that comes from all of our hearts is that we never want to even think again that such a horror may be visited upon any of our young people, their parents, their loved ones, through the body of Jesus Christ, his church.'"

Remarks From Pulpits on Abuse by Priests
NATIONAL: The New York Times reports excerpts from homilies delivered yesterday at Roman Catholic churches across the nation concerning sexual abuse by priests: "We know that some of our brothers in the Lord have violated the sacred trust put in them. We know that others have tried to handle a situation as best they could, but their well-intentioned efforts were sorely misguided. We know that these matters are now in the courts, and that punitive financial damages are common..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/25/2002 07:09:42 AM

Sunday, March 24, 2002

Editorial: Mea maxima culpa / Owning up to a Catholic crisis
MINNESOTA: Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial says: "This is an especially sad Lent for the American Catholic community. The plague of priestly pedophilia that Catholics thought ended years ago has exploded again. From Boston to Florida to California, priests are being accused of sexually abusing young people who put their trust, their faith in their churchly fathers' hands. The pain and sadness -- of the victims, of the many upstanding and dedicated priests and of the general Catholics laity -- is severe."

Lou Gelfand: A lack of information, not an anti-Catholic bias, made story incomplete
MINNESOTA: Minneapolis Star Tribune Ombudsman Lou Gelfand writes: "An Associated Press (AP) account Tuesday of an FBI press conference in Washington announcing the shutdown of an Internet-based child-pornography ring said that among those sought or arrested were 'two Catholic priests, six other clergy members . . . .' Hap Corbett, Staples, Minn., and Catherine Walker had the obvious question: What is the religion of the 'six other clergy?'"

Priests' victims face legal hurdles in Missouri
MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Eric Stern
reports: "When Narron and Marianne Gibson confronted Roman Catholic Church officials in Kansas City about a priest who they said fondled their teen-age son in 1990, the diocese dismissed the incident as "an innocent pat on the butt" and asked them to "forgive and forget," according to court records. The Gibsons didn't. And when they sued, the church didn't forgive and forget, either. The diocese fought back..."

Priests Defending Their Honor
RHODE ISLAND: The Providence Journal's JENNIFER LEVITZ reports: "This Thursday, Holy Thursday, is the day when Catholics believe Jesus founded the priesthood. It is the day on which believers honor their priests. Instead, across Rhode Island, this holy season, it is the priests who are defending their honor..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 10:55:46 PM Chicago Cardinal: Abuse victims' stories 'cry to heaven for vengeance'
ILLINOIS: The AP reports: "As the Archdiocese of Chicago investigates new allegations of sex abuse, Cardinal Francis George assured parishioners at Palm Sunday services that their church is vigilant in investigating and stopping problem priests..."

Child abuse and cover-ups
ILLINOIS: Chicago Tribune editorial says: "Palm Sunday, one of the most sacrosanct days on the Christian calendar and the beginning of Holy Week, this year finds the Roman Catholic Church in the United States reeling from a tragic series of revelations concerning sexual abuse of children by priests..."

Catholic Church Addresses Scandal
NATIONAL: The AP's Jennifer Peter reports: " BOSTON (AP) — As Catholics gathered Sunday for the beginning of Holy Week, priests across the country addressed a sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the church and tainted some of its top leaders..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 10:44:23 PM The scourge of celibacy
By endowing priests with an aura of discipline and trust, celibacy fosters pedophilia and facilitates coverups
NATIONAL: Garry Wills writes in The Boston Globe Magazine: "The revelations about Boston's pedophile priests had many dismaying aspects beyond their worst aspect, the victimization of the young. One disturbing thing was the way these revelations were greeted by some - as news that was new. There were, of course, new details; but everything disclosed in news reports, including the scale of the offenses, has been discovered before, elsewhere in America or Canada, Ireland or Australia. But after each dismaying explosion of information, people are lulled back into forgetfulness. They are assured that these things, however awful, are mostly in the past, some of them unverified, some exaggerated, and that church officials have already adopted measures to prevent the recurrence of such scandals..."

SPOTLIGHT REPORT
Suit names archdiocese, N.H. bishop
Says church failed to halt abuse by priest
NEW HAMPSHIRE/MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Sacha Pfeiffer and Thomas Farragher report: "former Salem man who alleges he was sexually molested hundreds of times by a parish priest in the 1960s said that Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, N.H., who was assigned to the same Salem parish at the time, saw the priest taking him to his rectory bedroom and did nothing to stop it. McCormack, who was an auxiliary bishop in Boston under Cardinal Bernard F. Law, said through a spokesman the allegation by James Hogan is false. But in response to Globe inquiries, he acknowledged that he was warned more than 30 years ago that the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham was molesting children at St. James parish in Salem..."

A faith survives a church in crisis
Conversions to Catholicism hold steady
NATIONAL: Boston Globe correspondent Rich Barlow reports: "The call, when it came to Joel Teeven, didn't resound with booming organ music or loud prayers, but came as a whisper in a funeral Mass for an Irish Catholic friend four years ago. Teeven, a one-time Unitarian - a faith as flexible as the Catholic church is doctrinaire - was awed by rituals like the receiving of communion, and he began exploring Catholicism..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 10:29:17 PM For Catholic Church's Future, Tradition vs. Radical Change
Two Camps Advocate Vastly Different Courses
NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Alan Cooperman reports: "The Rev. C. John McCloskey thinks he knows where the Roman Catholic Church is headed. His 10-page account of what life will be like for American Catholics in 2030, while playful in parts, is meant seriously. He imagines a church that has reemphasized its traditional teachings. Helped -- not hurt -- by sexual abuse scandals, it has restored a truly celibate priesthood. Pope John Paul II has become Saint John Paul for leading this renewal. But the church has shed a third of its U.S. members..."

Casualties in the Pursuit of Holiness
NATIONAL: Former Priest Eugene Kennedy writes in The Washington Post: "The Catholic Church of the 1950s, in which so many of us were altar boys andthen young priests together, seems as distant as Camelot. Those of us who left the priesthood -- some to marry -- gaze back on old comrades, many of whom are now bishops. They are wrestling, as did Jacob with the angel, with how to face and tell the truth about the explosion of pedophilia among priests over the past two decades. The latest troubling accusations are in Washington."

Woman Says Priest Was 'Boyfriend'
Accuser Recalls Hours Spent Alone With Pastor
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The Washington Post's Caryle Murphy reports: "A woman who has accused a prominent Roman Catholic priest of sexually abusing her as a teenager said yesterday that they often spent hours at a time alone together and that 'he pretty much was my boyfriend for four years...'

In This Diocese, the Policy Has Long Been Clear
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Priest and Attorney Peter Daly
writes in The Washington Post: "This Holy Week the Catholic priesthood in the United States, and indeed here in Washington, is going through an agony of its own making. It has been two decades since pedophilia and the priesthood first made headlines in this country, but some bishops and dioceses, most notably Boston, seem not to have learned anything from the avalanche of scandal. Yet others, including the Archdiocese of Washington, have long since gotten the message..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 10:19:51 PM Turn in Bad Priests, Catholics Demand
Poll finds most differ with Egan stance
NEW YORK: New York Daily News' ROBERT INGRASSIA
reports: "Nine out of 10 New York City Catholics believe all allegations of child sex abuse by priests should be reported to secular authorities, an exclusive Daily News/NY1 poll shows. The poll's finding is a stinging rebuke to Edward Cardinal Egan's policy that church leaders will report abuse claims only if the church believes them to be true and victims give their consent."

Good Reasons for Church
To Give Up Celibacy
NATIONAL: New York Daily News columnist Michael Kramer writes: "'If celibacy were optional, would there be fewer [sex abuse] scandals in the priesthood?' That question was posed recently not by a lay expert or an inquisitive journalist but by The Pilot, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Boston, where Bernard Cardinal Law is under increasing pressure to resign for mishandling the allegations of sex abuse by his priests."

U.S. Catholics, Sad and Angry, Still Keeping Faith
NATIONAL: The New York Times' DAN BARRY and ROBIN TONER report: "Bob Dugan, Roman Catholic, says he is no fan of his local diocesan leadership or, for that matter, of Pope John Paul II. He dreams of a Catholic Church in which priests can marry and have children, women can be ordained as priests, and homosexuals can feel welcome without question. He is also beside himself with anger and sorrow over the recent revelations of sexual abuse that have so rocked the church he loves. That is right: Mr. Dugan may be a dissident, but he loves his church, and would never dream of leaving his faith. Doing so, he says, would be like denying that he is of Irish-Slovak heritage, or that he lives in Liverpool, N.Y., just outside Syracuse. His faith, he said, is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, and not what he calls the man-made rules of the church's political hierarchy. He will continue to serve as a lector at St. Joseph the Worker parish, he said, while working for change through Call to Action, a progressive Catholic organization."

Egan Letter Defends Record on Sex Abuse
NEW YORK/CONNECTICUT: The New York Times' DANIEL J. WAKIN reports: "In a letter delivered to parishioners on Palm Sunday weekend, Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York defended himself yesterday against charges he mishandled cases of sexual abuse of children by priests while the bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. The cardinal said he relied on psychiatric evaluations and diocesan officials before deciding whether to let an accused priest continue to serve. And he remarked that the cases he was criticized for involved adults who had sued the diocese and were seeking money in settlements. Because they had lawyers, he said, direct contact with them was 'precluded.'

Little Solace for Family in Lawsuit Against Priest
NEW YORK: The New York Times' ALISON LEIGH COWAN reports: "By June of 2000, a lawsuit by the Nauheimer family against a Westchester County priest, the Rev. Gennaro Gentile, was down to a single claim of assault and battery. Other alleged encounters between the priest and the family's two sons had been thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired. The Archdiocese of New York, which had been a defendant when the suit was filed in August 1997, had also been dropped from the case. But even then, the family's lawyer, Robert J. Hilpert, was sharply limited by the courts in what he could ask the priest in a formal deposition, about what had happened with the Nauheimer boys and what the priest might have done with other boys."

A Case That Grew in Shadows
NEW YORK: The New York Times' ADAM LIPTAK reports: "THIS year alone, Jeffrey A. Newman, a Massachusetts lawyer, has filed lawsuits on behalf of 38 people who say they were the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a dozen priests in the Archdiocese of Boston. He will soon be filing 29 more. He is, he says, 'in the clergy suit business wholesale.' He has learned some hard lessons building that business. In three earlier lawsuits against priests, including two involving John J. Geoghan, his clients agreed to keep quiet about their charges in exchange for settlement money."

Scandal Highlights Old Debate
Church teachings on homosexuality at issue
NATIONAL: Newsday's Paul Moses
reports: "When the Vatican issued a document in 1986 aimed at reinforcing its teaching that homosexuality is wrong, it also acknowledged a Catholic tradition that the 'particular inclination' is not a sin. The two-sided nature of the church's moral theology -- hate for the act but understanding for the individual -- has often stirred anger and confusion when Catholic teaching on homosexuality becomes a topic of public debate."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 10:03:59 PM Going Public With Secret Documents
CONNECTICUT: Hartford Courant Reader Representative Karen Hunter writes: "Secrets. Secret settlements. Secret documents. Secret sources. When someone who is privy to the secrets decides to break the circle and confidential records end up in the newspaper, is it legal? Is it ethical? Is it moral? Those were some of the questions posed to The Courant last Monday, the day after the newspaper first offered a glimpse at court documents and testimony from civil suits against six priests in the Bridgeport diocese accused of sexual abuse. The suits resulted in the diocese, under the leadership of then-Bishop Edward Egan, paying millions in settlements last year. But the details of the suits were kept secret until last week."

Doctors: Church Used Us
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's ERIC RICH And ELIZABETH HAMILTON report: "A nationally renowned psychiatric hospital that for years has treated clergy accused of sexual misconduct now says it was deceived by the Roman Catholic Church into providing reports that the church used to keep abusive priests in the ministry. The church sometimes concealed information about past complaints against clergy sent for treatment, and disregarded warnings that the hospital's evaluations should not determine a priest's fitness for parish work, doctors at Hartford's Institute of Living said in interviews."

Due Process For Priests
CONNECTICUT: Attorney WALTER R. HAMPTON JR. writes in The Hartford Courant: "There is a forgotten side to this Enron-style meltdown within the Roman Catholic Church: the employees - the priests - themselves. The church has gone from hiding them to booting them. Neither is the right answer. Not that there is an easy answer. This sex scandal is of monumental proportions. I know: I was a seminarian once. The moral authority of the church has been damaged, perhaps irreparably. But this crisis is not solved by indiscriminately disseminating the names and addresses of those accused or by sending names in bulk to states' attorneys. There is not a pedophile in every rectory."

The Church Must Change
CONNECTICUT: Teacher SUSAN FROETSCHEL writes in The Hartford Courant: "Quitting the Roman Catholic Church was one of the hardest decisions of my life. But it was also one of my best decisions. I was raised in a devout Catholic family in Pittsburgh. As children, we attended parochial school. In high school, my brother and I volunteered to work with the priest in a county nursing home, wheeling patients to Mass several times a week, assisting at the altar and giving readings. Father McCormley at Kane Hospital was one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, tolerant and kind to all. When he did not comfort the elderly, he listened to a group of awkward teenagers. We trusted and admired him completely - and he never took advantage of that trust."

Why Would The Cardinal Answer To The Courant?
CONNECTICUT: Letters to the Editor of The Hartford Courant:"'A Catholic Cardinal In Denial' [(editorial, March 19) is evidence of The Courant's naivete.We are informed in the second paragraph that New York Cardinal Edward Egan was chosen by Pope John Paul II to head the New York archdiocese."

Institute treats priests for sexual desire disorders
CONNECTICUT: The AP reports: "HARTFORD, Conn. -- In the 19th century, clinicians at The Institute of Living treated Christian missionaries who were having trouble returning to life in the United States after years abroad. More than 100 years later, the center still treats missionaries, as well as another, more visible religious group: Roman Catholic priests who have sexually abused children."

Scandal Is Front-Page News In Catholic Press, Too
NATIONAL: The Hartford Courant's FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR reports: "Pedophile priest scandals from Boston to New York have forced the explosive issues of sexual abuse and accusations of coverups to the front pages of even the most conservative Catholic newspapers. The Rev. Christopher M. Tiano, editor of the Hartford Archdiocese newspaper, said the stories pose a challenge."

Cardinal Edward Egan's Letter On Sexual Abuse Of Children
CONNECTICUT/NEW YORK: The AP reports: "NEW YORK -- Cardinal Edward Egan's March 23 letter on sexual abuse of children: My Dear Friends in the Lord, There can be no doubt: sexual abuse of children is an abomination. It is both immoral and illegal and I will not tolerate it. Be assured, that I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the safety and security of every child in this Archdiocese. Should any priest sexually abuse a child, he will be removed from pastoral ministry. My heart goes out to any and all victims and their families."

A Catholic Cardinal In Denial
CONNECTICUT: Hartford Courant editorial (also linked above) says: "New York Cardinal Edward Egan continues to act with maddening detachment regarding the deluge of complaints about sexual abuse of children and teenagers by priests when he was bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport. The cardinal, who was chosen to head the New York archdiocese by Pope John Paul II in May 2000, was loath to believe such allegations when they were first raised during the late 1980s and 1990s. And now that details of the abuse, taken from court and church documents, have been published in The Courant, he turns a deaf ear."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 07:38:59 PM LEGAL AFFAIRS
Confidentiality of Clergy
Priest sex scandal shakes church's veil of secrecy
NATIONAL: The San Francisco Chronicle's Harriet Chiang reports: "With the Roman Catholic Church rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals, many dioceses, unaccustomed to the media glare, are voluntarily turning over their records to prosecutors. Legal experts say that by opening up its files, the church is acting like any other corporation trying to take responsibility for past wrongdoing."

Sex scandals taint Catholic Holy Week
CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco Chronicle's Janine DeFao and Jim Herron Zamora report: "As Catholics enter Holy Week, which ends on Easter Sunday, Bay Area pastors are grappling with how to address the escalating child molestation scandal that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church from coast to coast. Many priests are tackling the difficult topic in sermons, letters and prayer gatherings -- saying secrecy and coverups by some high-ranking church officials are among the most disturbing aspects of the recent revelations."

Clergy in Crisis: Catholics struggle with scandal over priest child abuse reports
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Dorothy Korber reports: "Garbed in his Franciscan habit, Anthony Garibaldi was walking across K Street in downtown Sacramento recently when an uncomfortable notion struck him. 'I saw people watching me, and I wondered what they thought of me, what kind of person they thought I was,' the Catholic priest said. 'I looked like, you know, Friar Tuck. Priests are already stereotyped because we don't marry. But now -- with all the coverage of priests and child abuse -- I dread to think what people are thinking.'

Area priests gather to discuss scandal
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Dorothy Korber and Jennifer Garza report: "When Sacramento Diocese priests gathered for the annual blessing of holy oil this week, the focus of the convocation before high Mass was the painful topic of clergy sexual abuse. The speaker was Melvin Blanchette, a priest and a licensed psychologist. The speech and the service were closed to laypeople, but priests who attended said Blanchette talked about the sexual scandals rocking their church these days."

Clergy in Crisis: Lincoln priest denies sexual misconduct
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Jennifer Garza reports: "A Catholic priest in Lincoln told his parishioners at Mass Saturday evening that he had been accused of sexual misconduct in July 1999. He denied the allegations. The Rev. Vincent Brady, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln, told about 150 churchgoers at the 5 p.m. Mass that the accusations had been made three years ago."

L.A. priest removed as boys school president; '70s sex abuse alleged
CALIFORNIA: The AP reports: "LOS ANGELES – A Roman Catholic priest was ousted as president of a boys parochial school after allegations surfaced that he molested boys in the 1970s. The Rev. Dominic Savino, 63, was fired Friday as president of Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino and barred from acting as a priest by the Order of Carmelites, the religious order that operates the school."

Detective forwards case on priest to Boston
Richard Coughlin, 78, was removed from the Orange County Diocese in 1993 after accusations of sexual abuse.
CALIFORNIA/MASSACHUSETTS: The Orange County Register's VALERIA GODINES
reports: "An Orange County police detective is forwarding to Boston authorities her case against a priest accused of sexually abusing several children locally, in hopes of getting Massachusetts law enforcement officials to prosecute him. Placentia Police Detective Corinne Loomis investigated Richard Coughlin, founder of the world-renowned All- 0American Boys Chorus, in the late 1990s, but the Orange County District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, in part because of statute of limitation concerns."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 07:19:01 PM Lawsuit Ends Silence on Abuse at Jesuit Retreat
Courts: Relative files claim on behalf of two mentally disabled men after one of accused clergymen is convicted, serves time and is freed.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Glenn Bunting reports: "LOS GATOS, Calif. -- Two mentally disabled men who live and work at a Jesuit retreat were sexually abused by members of the clergy for at least five years, according to court records and interviews."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 3/24/2002 07:29:25 AM