Saturday, April 27, 2002

In Crisis, U.S. Catholics See Turning Point for Church
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Dean E. Murphy reports: "About six years ago, when Brenda Becker's daughter was an infant, the local bishop went to Ms. Becker's parish in Brooklyn to celebrate Mass. Ms. Becker had one thing on her mind: to have him bless her baby. Tucking the girl under one arm, she used the other to push through the crush of parishioners. Ms. Becker not only got the blessing, she also kissed the bishop's ring.'I dig this Catholic stuff,' said Ms. Becker, a lifelong Roman Catholic who lives in Flatbush. 'I dig the orthodoxy. I view myself as a very orthodox, very conservative Catholic. Call me a young fogy at 44...'"

Why the Cardinals Kept Mum
VATICAN/NATIONAL: The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley reports: "N 1963, Cardinal Bernard F. Law was a newly ordained priest in Jackson, Miss., denouncing segregation in the diocesan newspaper. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony was a parish priest in Fresno, Calif., serving mass at dawn to migrant farm workers. Cardinal William H. Keeler was a 32-year-old aide at the Second Vatican Council, helping to usher the Roman Catholic Church into modern times. The aging church leaders now trying to atone for their past handling of sex abuse cases were once bold and forward-thinking. They had entered the priesthood in the golden age of American Catholicism, a time when the church was at its most assimilated and respected. In those days, Catholic teaching on equality and social justice meshed with the conscience of the nation, and they, like many young priests, saw themselves as pioneers in a new age of idealism...'"

A Former Seminarian's Moral Predicament
OPINION: Paul Hendrickson writes in The New York Times: "HAT are some of the sexual tensions and moral predicaments of seminary life? I can only tell you of my own experience, which was a very long time ago. That is all that's valid here. Two decades ago I tried to put some of those tensions and predicaments into a first book, called 'Seminary: A Search...'"

Pope's Words to Cardinals Reach Past U.S.
VATICAN: The New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin reports: "ROME, April 27 — Pope John Paul II's denunciation of clerical sexual abuse of the young as a crime and an appalling sin has put bishops in many parts of the world on notice that they must tighten procedures and be vigilant in applying them, church officials and experts say. A number of European bishops said that they welcomed the pope's statement to American cardinals this week and that they were examining American proposals for an accelerated process of removing abusive priests..."

The Cardinals Who Weren't Called to Rome
VATICAN/INTERNATIONAL: Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole writes in The Washington Post: "DUBLIN-- Victims breaking their silence to talk about abuse at the hands of the priests they trusted. A system of dealing with complaints that hovers between complacency and complicity. Bishops and cardinals disappearing from view as questions rain down on them. Awkward news conferences at which church leaders set out to look humble and contrite, and end up looking arrogant and uncaring. Enraged victims protesting at church ceremonies. The faithful, disillusioned and bewildered..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 09:53:51 PM SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE:

AP: 176 Priests Removed in 28 States
NATIONAL: The AP's Rachel Zoll reports: "At least 176 priests suspected of molesting minors have either resigned or been taken off duty in 28 states and the District of Columbia since the clerical sex scandal erupted in January, a nationwide review of Roman Catholic dioceses by The Associated Press found. The review also showed that in 18 other states, where priests have not been taken off the job, dioceses still have responded to the crisis in a variety of ways. They include turning over allegations to prosecutors, scouring personnel records to see whether old claims were properly handled, and reviewing and publicizing policies for handling complaints..."

A look at the impact of the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal on the states
Summary of developments in all 50 states by the Associated Press
NATIONAL: The AP reports: "What follows is a state-by-state summary of the major developments since January in the clergy sex abuse scandal that has battered the Roman Catholic Church in America. The information is based on AP reporters' interviews with Catholic officials across the country and daily reporting on the crisis..."

New Hampshire priest removed from parish
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Nashua Telegraph's ANDREW WOLFE and the AP's J.M. HIRSCH, report: "A Pelham priest has been relieved of duty at his church because of a pending investigation of sexual misconduct with a minor while he was serving in Merrimack in the 1980s, officials said Friday. Bishop John McCormack announced Friday that the Rev. Edward Richard, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Pelham, has been placed on administrative leave, as has the Rev. George Robichaud, pastor of St. Cecilia’s in Wolfeboro and St. Joan of Arc in Alton..."

New Hampshire Bishop says Law should not step down
MASSACHUSETTS/NEW HAMPSHIRE: The AP's J.M. Hirsch reports: "PELHAM, N.H. -- Bishop John B. McCormack said Saturday that Boston Cardinal Bernard Law should not step down, despite public pressure that he resign for reassigning priests who committed sexual abuse to other parishes. Law has found himself at the heart of the growing sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church. He recently traveled to the Vatican to discuss whether he should step down, but since has said he will not..."

Bishop urges accused priest's parishoners to support him with prayers, letters
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The AP's J.M. Hirsch reports: "PELHAM, N.H. -- Bishop John McCormack urged St. Patrick parishioners to support their priest with letters and prayers Saturday in a speech that made no direct mention of the boy the Rev. Edward Richard is accused of abusing. The Diocese of Manchester placed Richard on leave Monday, the day after learning he was under criminal investigation for the alleged sexual abuse of a boy in the 1980s. Richard has not been charged, but law enforcement officials confirmed the investigation Friday..."

Maine priest accused of abusing teen 25 years ago is removed from post
MAINE: The AP's Ann S. Kim reports: "MAINE -- A parish priest in Ellsworth has been stripped of his post because of an allegation of sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced Saturday. The Rev. Leo James Michaud was removed as pastor of Saint Joseph's parish Thursday. The diocese said it was contacted this week by a man who said Michaud abused him about 25 years ago, when Michaud was a seminarian and the alleged victim was between the ages of 16 and 19..."

Questions of abuse linger for capital priest
CALIFORNIA: The Sacramento Bee's Dorothy Korber reports: "Though it was more than a quarter-century ago, Catherine Hoey said she remembers the incident clearly. Returning from an evening out, she and her husband, John, peeked into their daughters' room. She said they were stunned to find a man in bed with Susan, who was not yet 13. He was the baby sitter, she said, a trusted family friend and priest at a neighboring Roman Catholic parish in Vallejo. His name, said Catherine Hoey, is Vincent Brady..."

More tell church about abuse
MINNESOTA: The Pioneer Press's STEPHEN SCOTT reports: "The surge in media reports of sexual abuse by priests has caused more people to contact the victim advocate of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 'Ten to 15 people' have contacted advocate Phyllis Willerscheidt about 'varying degrees of misconduct' in the past month, she said Friday. "'t's gotten busier. People who perhaps would not have called before realize we are open and respect any complaint that comes forward. There are more men that have come forward...'"

Priests want mental records withheld
OHIO: The Plain Dealer's James F. McCarty reports: "Five priests named in past allegations of child sexual abuse asked a judge yesterday to block the Cleveland Catholic Diocese from turning over potentially sensitive medical documents to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office. The documents contain details of psychological treatment that the priests received following the allegations but that they believe to be privileged and confidential, according to court documents filed in Common Pleas Court..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 09:15:42 PM Dallas priests told not to speak with reporters
Clergy have complained to diocese
TEXAS: The Dallas Morning News' SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH reports: "At a time when many U.S. Catholics are calling for greater openness from church leaders, the Dallas Diocese is restricting priests from talking to reporters without permission from spokesmen for Bishop Charles V. Grahmann..."

Criminal guilt or just bad decisions?
Experts say it would be hard to convict bishops on legal charges
NATIONAL/TEXAS:The Dallas Morning News' Jeffrey Weiss reports: "Grand juries are walking where prosecutors have previously feared to tread: investigating the American hierarchy of the Catholic Church. And that raises the question: Might bishops – or even cardinals – face criminal charges for their roles in the priest sexual-abuse scandals? The answer is less certain than the outrage..."

Accused Largo priest quits ministry
The pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church resigns after a St. Petersburg man tells police the priest fondled him as a youth in the 1970s.
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' MIKE BRASSFIELD, WAVENEY ANN MOORE and CHUCK MURPHY reports: "For the second time in two weeks, an area Catholic priest has abruptly resigned after a complaint surfaced that he molested a youth in the 1970s. The Rev. Richard Allen, pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Largo, left his ministry Friday after learning that a St. Petersburg man reported to police that Allen fondled him 30 years ago."

Altar ego
Saintly, tipsy or handy with his fists, the priest has long been a staple of popular culture. But is his image doomed to perdition?
NATIONAL: The Chicago Tribune's Julia Keller reports: "He can be brooding and heavy-browed and melancholy, like Montgomery Clift in the film "I Confess" (1953). Or gentle and twinkly eyed, like Bing Crosby in "Going My Way" (1944) and Tom Bosley in the TV series "The Father Dowling Mysteries" (1989-91)..."

Gregory hails pope's response to U.S. scandal: "He gets it"
NATIONAL/MISSOURI: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Patricia Rice reports: "Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville sighed last week when he reflected on the disappointment many American Catholics felt after the two-day Vatican summit concluded without a tough plan to deal with sexual abuse of minors by priests. Gregory believes Pope John Paul II provided the U.S. cardinals with a clear mandate to rid the church of priests who abuse minors. 'He gets it,' Gregory said, in an interview on his flight returning from Rome Thursday..."

Post-Dispatch/KMOV priest scandal poll -- Missouri residents
MISSOURI: Poll results.

Post-Dispatch/KMOV priest scandal poll -- Illinois residents
ILLINOIS: Poll results.

Hartford Archdiocese Gets Complaints
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's MAURICE TIMOTHY REIDY reports: "Since Jan. 1, the Archdiocese of Hartford has received seven complaints against its priests, some of them involving conduct that occurred as long as 40 years ago, an archdiocesan spokesman confirmed Friday. It is not clear how many involve sexual misconduct. None of the complaints have been turned over to prosecutors..."

Diocese gives police 22 abuse allegations
"Immediate steps" have been taken regarding four priests who still serve; review covered 400 files and five decades.
CALIFORNIA:The Los Angeles Times' Joanna Corman reports: "Bishop Gerald Barnes announced Friday that he has turned over 22 allegations of child sex abuse to the police involving 20 priests over the past 50 years. Four of the priests are still active in the Diocese of San Bernardino, which includes Riverside County, said diocese spokesman Father Howard Lincoln..."

Teen accuser told of abuse in e-mail
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Gene Maddaus "FONTANA -- A 17-year-old girl who has accused a priest of fondling her said she tried for more than a year to report the abuse to adults before finally contacting a campus minister at her high school last week, according to police reports made public Friday..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 12:46:26 PM Shameful conduct in Rome
EDITORIAL: The Day of New London, Ct. says: "They just don't get it. The leadership of the Roman Catholic Church met in Rome and failed to hear the pleas and hopes of American Catholics. Instead, the church's hierarchy proved itself to be a shameful bureaucracy that refuses to listen. This is a fall from grace of staggering proportions. It is one that will have long-term, persistent harm on the Catholic Church in America..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 10:36:11 AM Flush Times for Lawyer Vanguard in Church Suits
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Adam Liptak reports: "ST. PAUL, April 25 — Jeffrey R. Anderson has made a lot of money suing the Roman Catholic Church, and he has the hate mail to prove it. A wall of his office here is devoted to the best of the negative letters, which he has mounted and framed. One correspondent wrote, 'My God, lawyers have a horrible reputation for getting rich on human misery, but you carry the profession from the swamp to the cesspool...'"

Bishop Daily to Parents: Talk to Your Kids
NEW YORK: Newsday's Stephanie Saul and Karen Freifeld report: "The Diocese of Brooklyn is sending out an unusual communique to its priests and principals this week, telling them it wants to make sure no children are being sexually abused by clergy -- and urging parents to find out. The memo from Bishop Thomas Daily is dated Thursday and addressed to Roman Catholic priests, administrators and parochial principals throughout the diocese, which covers Brooklyn and Queens..."

TALK BACK: What's your opinion on the policy?
NEW YORK: Newsday.com asks readers: What is your opinion on the new policy on sex abuse adopted by the American cardinals in Rome. Do you think the policy should apply to old cases as well as new? 1. Building that mansion is another SCANDAL, although Bob Brennan and Murphy do have good taste -registered at Macy*s list includes hmmm?!
Submitted by: Deanna Harrington."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 09:05:14 AM Cardinals unite on zero tolerance
Bevilacqua talks of unity after Vatican meetings
PENNSYLVANIA/NATIONAL: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Maria Panaritis, Matthew P. Blanchard and Jacqueline Soteropoulos report: "Using a gathering of U.S. cardinals here to address reports of division within their ranks, Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua said yesterday that all the nation's cardinals favor a 'zero-tolerance' policy that would remove from ministry any priest who has sexually abused a minor. In his comments to the national media at archdiocesan headquarters in Center City, the cardinal also spelled out his archdiocese's policy of screening to keep gays from the priesthood, saying homosexual acts are an 'aberration, a moral evil' in the eyes of the church..."

Cardinal Bevilacqua on 'Zero Tolerance,' Gays in Priesthood
TEXT: Here are some of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua's comments to reporters yesterday: "All of the cardinals are agreed on 'zero tolerance,' and by that I mean that we all are agreed that no priest guilty of even one act of sexual abuse of a minor will function in any ecclesial ministry or any capacity in our dioceses..."

Bevilacqua: Gays can't be priests
At meeting of cardinals, he says homosexuals aren't 'suitable' candidates
PENNSYLVANIA/NATIONAL: The Philadelphia Daily News' Ron Goldwyn reports: "The risk that a homosexual priest would break his vow of celibacy and chastity is 'much higher' than for a heterosexual priest, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua said yesterday..."

Protesters aim their ire at the church
PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Daily News' ERIN EINHORN reports: "In all of her 55 years, Nancy Cunningham, a former Sunday school teacher, has never carried a banner, never marched for a cause, never shouted 'hell no, we won't go.' She's never even been to a protest. But the scandal in the Catholic Church has her so fed up, she said, that yesterday she strapped on a pair of walking shoes, scrawled the words 'Protect our children, Fire the Cardinals' onto a neon green poster and marched herself from Fairmount to the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul at 18th Street and the Parkway..."

Cardinals' proposals already a fact here
PENNSYLVANIA: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ann Rodgers-Melnick and Ernie Hoffman report: "The steps proposed by the U.S. cardinals to rid the Roman Catholic Church of priests who molest minors are already in use in Pittsburgh and Greensburg, diocesan officials said yesterday.' think what I heard was largely an articulation of our present policy,' said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Greensburg Bishop Anthony Bosco said he agreed with a one-strike-and-you're-out policy..."

Law seeks to curb organizing by laity
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson, reports: "Cardinal Bernard F. Law is cracking down on efforts by lay Catholics to organize in Greater Boston, ordering priests not to cooperate with an evolving coalition of parish leaders. In a move that has stunned the most loyal core of church activists, parish council members who are generally more traditional and deferential than members of reform groups, Law instructed his top aide to tell priests that a proposed association of parish councils is ''superfluous and potentially divisive'' and that laypeople must live out their desire for equality ''within the hierarchical structure of the church...''"

CARDINAL'S FATE
Archdiocese rebuts report Law to leave
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Stephen Kurkjian reports: "Even as Cardinal Bernard Law continued to avoid talking directly to the media, his spokeswoman yesterday denied a report that he was likely to leave as head of the Boston Archdiocese to accept a position with the Vatican in Rome. 'Cardinal Law has had no discussions regarding a Vatican post with officials of the Holy See,' spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said in a statement. A report in yesterday's Boston Herald that Law was likely to leave Boston in June to avoid being deposed on a clergy sexual abuse case was ''without substance, groundless and ... pure uncorrobated speculation.'"

Digging in: Cardinal resolved to stay in Hub, testify
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Jack Sullivan, Eric Convey and Maggie Mulvihill report: "Embattled archbishop Bernard Cardinal Law vowed yesterday he won't leave Boston 'any time in the near future' and will answer questions under oath about sexually abusive priests. Law, responding to a Herald report yesterday saying he would be reassigned to a Vatican post by the scheduled June 5 deposition, relayed his statement through the president of Catholic University. Law and other cardinals were in Philadelphia for a fund-raiser for Catholic University last night..."

Law keeps low profile during fund-raising trip
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Eric Convey reports: "PHILADELPHIA - Bernard Cardinal Law continued to avoid the media spotlight yesterday, shielded from the press by a phalanx of security men on his way to celebrate Mass at a downtown basilica..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/27/2002 08:37:32 AM

Friday, April 26, 2002

A daunting task ahead
Changing Catholic culture will be no easy task for the U.S. bishops, but it's a good sign that many have already gone further than the pope has in handling abuse cases.
EDITORIAL: The editorial page of The St. Petersburg Times says: "Many people reasonably expected that America's Roman Catholic leadership would have left the Vatican this week with an unambiguous commitment to remove sexual predators from the priesthood. Instead, the U.S. cardinals, after an extraordinary meeting with Pope John Paul II, sent a mixed message that in its way revealed how a coverup of a clerical sex scandal could have gone on for decades. This lost opportunity now puts the responsibility squarely on the nation's 300 near-autonomous bishops, who meet in Dallas in June..."

COMMENTARY
Catholic Lite Won't Heal These Wounds
OPINION: George Weigel writes in The Los Angeles Times: "The pope has flatly condemned clerical sexual abuse. The American cardinals have met in Rome to get strict clergy personnel policies on a fast track to Vatican approval. Every senior leader in the Catholic Church is now focused intensely on the crisis. In this moment of pause between the historic Vatican meetings this week and the U.S. bishops' June meeting in Dallas, could everyone please take a deep breath so that a few essential points can be clarified?"

Seattle Catholics hope Vatican meeting was just a start
WASHINGTON: The Seattle Times' Janet I. Tu reports: "As U.S. Roman Catholic cardinals and top bishops return from a historic meeting with Vatican officials on the sex-abuse scandal rocking the church, some local Catholic activists say what happened in Rome was a meager though promising beginning. They also rallied around the Seattle Archdiocese, citing its more open and candid attitude in dealing with sexual abuse by priests, and praising its full-page paid ad, which explained its policy in handling sex abuse, in Western Washington newspapers this week..."

Greetings, cardinals!
TO: The American cardinals visiting Philadelphia
FROM: Faithful Catholics in Philly
PENNSYLVANIA/NATIONAL: The Philadelphia Daily News' Scott Flander, Mensah Dean, Chris Brennan, Gloria Campisi and Dave Davies report: "YOUR EMINENCES: We welcome you back from your trip to Rome, and hope that you find your time here to be both pleasant and productive. We'd like to offer you some thoughts on your statement this week on the sexual abuse of children by priests..."

Scandal overshadows cardinals' big fund-raiser
PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Daily News' RON GOLDWYN reports: "Jet-lagged, media whipped, scandal-singed and prosecutor-hounded, American cardinals gather in Philadelphia today for what was supposed to be the good stuff. The American Cardinals Dinner agenda, set a year in advance, calls for a sumptuous meal for a worthy cause, preceded by a spiritually refreshing Mass."

Church's stance on abuse stuns victims
U.S. cardinals stopped short of proposing a no-tolerance policy. "They are closing their eyes," said a man abused 40 years ago.
NATIONAL: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Murray Dubin, Jim Remsen and Christopher K. Hepp reports: "Anger and concern were the order of the day as Catholics and church watchers reacted to the results of two days of talks in Rome on sexual abuse of minors by priests. The strongest reaction yesterday came from victims of such abuse, who said they were stunned that America's cardinals had stopped short of proposing a zero-tolerance policy."

Bevilacqua vows zero tolerance
PENNSYLVANIA: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Maria Panaritis, Emilie Lounsberry and Frederick Cusick report: "Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua last night sought to assure his archdiocese's 1.5 million Roman Catholics that he has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to removing any priest who has sexually abused a minor. If there is proof that a priest committed 'just one act,' the cardinal said, holding up an index finger before a roomful of reporters, that priest will 'never function as a priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia...'"

Catholic military chaplains punished
NATIONAL: The AP's MATT KELLEY reports: "WASHINGTON - The Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal has touched the military, where a handful of priests serving as chaplains have been punished after molesting children or making sexual advances toward adults. In one case, the Dallas Roman Catholic diocese ordered a priest who was accused of molesting boys to join the Army, where he later confessed to molesting a boy, according to evidence in a lawsuit..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/26/2002 08:12:39 PM Pope reported set to give Law Vatican posting
MASSACHUSETTS/VATICAN: The Boston Herald's Jack Sullivan and Eric Convey report: "PHILADELPHIA - Embattled Boston archbishop Bernard Cardinal Law, under siege from the epic sex scandal threatening his 18-year legacy, will likely be replaced and sent to the Vatican by the beginning of June, according to sources. Law, who arrived in Newark, N.J., yesterday after the historic two-day conclave of American cardinals at the Vatican, will be reassigned by Pope John Paul II to an as-yet determined position prior to a scheduled deposition of Law in a legal suit against the archdiocese, according to church officials."

Archdiocese calls reports of possible transfer for Law 'groundless'
MASSACHUSETTS/VATICAN: The Boston Globe's Boston.com and The AP report: "The Archdiocese of Boston today dismissed as "groundless" a published report that Cardinal Bernard Law might be transferred soon from his post as Archbishop of Boston to a new assignment in the Vatican. Donna Morrissey, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, made the comment concerning the story published in this morning's edition of the Boston Herald."

Gay priests, supporters seen as target of report
Some Catholics say homosexuality at root of proposed policy; others call it an attack
NATIONAL: The Dallas Morning News' Jeffrey Weiss reports: "Gay Catholic priests and groups that support them were primary targets of a report issued Wednesday by American Catholic leaders in Rome, say some of those on both sides of the issue. American Cardinals and top bishops were called to the Vatican this week because of scandals involving cases of sexually predatory priests and the response of American bishops to those cases."

ANALYSIS: Church strains on new issue: Gay clergymen
VATICAN/MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' Patricia Montemurri reports: "VATICAN CITY -- Like many of his brethren, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida has struggled to come to terms with the issues surrounding the sex abuse scandal that has splintered the Catholic church. The difficulty showed in words and actions this week as Maida and other U.S. cardinals discussed their views on sexual orientation versus the issue of sexual predators, while seeking to forge a new policy on dealing with priests who are guilty of abuses."

Cardinal George: Abuse comments misunderstood
VATICAN/ILLINOIS: The AP reports: "Chicago Cardinal Francis George said women's advocates misunderstood his comments about priest sex abuse when they called for his resignation. While at the Vatican meeting of American cardinals to discuss the abuse scandal this week, George said there is a difference between serial pedophiles and those who have sex with an adolescent girl of 16 or 17. The remarks drew an angry response from both the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and the National Organization for Women."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/26/2002 05:56:57 PM Bishop to seek out 5 who claim abuse
DIOCESE LEADER OFFERS APOLOGY TO MEN WHO SAY PRIEST FONDLED THEM
CALIFORNIA: The San Jose Mercury News' Richard Scheinen and Brandon Bailey report: The spiritual leader of 400,000 Roman Catholics would like to apologize to five men who say they were sexually abused as boys by their San Jose parish priest during the 1970s. 'I'm going to try and get in contact with them and invite them to come in,'' Bishop Patrick J. McGrath said Thursday. `I want to talk to them...'"
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/26/2002 11:30:47 AM Top U.S. Bishop Cites a Split on How to Handle Past Abuse
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein and Sam Dillon report: "Amid mounting criticism over the results of the Vatican meeting this week on sexual abuse by priests, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said yesterday that top American church officials remained deeply divided over whether they should end the career of any priest who has been accused of abusing a child years before..."

NEWS ANALYSIS
Damage-Control Mode
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Adam Liptak reports: "The statement issued by the American cardinals at the end of their meeting this week in Rome is, when stripped of its theological language, the sort of document that any institution in crisis might issue as an exercise in damage control. It has the qualities of classic public relations and litigation-avoidance statements, the passive voice, the action plans, the factual quibbling and the distinctly conditional acceptance of responsibility..."

THE TREATMENT PROGRAM
Abusive Priests Are Varied, but Treatable, Center Found
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Erica Goode reports: "...The public debate over the Roman Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse by its clergy members has focused on men like John J. Geoghan of Boston, calculating predators who appear beyond the reach of treatment. But the history of the program at Jemez Springs, which in its 19 years of operation treated more than 500 priests and monks for sexual problems, suggests a more complex view..."

Bishops at Vatican reportedly discussing the future of Law
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Charles M. Sennott reports: "VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's Congregation of Bishops has begun an examination of how it will determine whether Cardinal Bernard F. Law has lost his capacity to govern the Archdiocese of Boston, according to two Vatican sources. "

Nuns' group to seek greater voice in Rome
NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Mary Leonard reports: "WASHINGTON - A US delegation of Roman Catholic nuns travels to Rome today prepared to deliver Vatican officials a frank letter denouncing the church's handling of sexual abuse cases and calling for power-sharing with religious women and an open dialogue on human sexuality..."

Files show Shanley tried blackmail
Letter threatened Medeiros with 'shocking' revelations; late cardinal spurned effort
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Michael Rezendes and Thomas Farragher report: "The Rev. Paul R. Shanley, the priest who approved of sex between men and boys, tried to blackmail former Cardinal Humberto S. Medeiros into reversing his decision to end Shanley's 1970s-era street ministry, according to documents released yesterday by church lawyers acting under a court order..."

Metro Atlanta Catholics bear up in crisis
GEORGIA: The Atlanta Journal Constitution's GAYLE WHITE, DON O'BRIANT and JOHN BLAKE report: "During the siege of Atlanta by Union troops in 1864, the story goes, a Catholic priest at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception asked Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman to spare Atlanta's churches when he burned the city. Five downtown churches were left standing, and the Rev. Thomas O'Reilly became a local hero. On Thursday, as a small band of downtown workers from various parishes gathered at the Shrine, some sensed that their church is again under siege in the wake of the scandal of sex and cover-up..."

Church officials don't get it: A child molester
is a child molester, regardless of victim's gender
COLUMN: Columnist Jay Croft writes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "I wanted to avoid commenting on the child-molesting scandal that's gripping the U.S. Catholic Church. But then Cardinal Francis George of Chicago -- among American church leaders meeting the pope in Rome this week -- pulled me in with this statement. 'There is a difference between a moral monster' accused of abusing a large number of boys over a period of 30 years,' and an individual who, perhaps under the influence of alcohol,' engages in inappropriate behavior with 'a 16- or 17-year-old young woman who returns his affections...'"

The Vatican's Muddle
COLUMN: Columnist E. J. Dionne writes in The Washington Post: "...The cardinals have to hope that God is both good and merciful after the muddle produced by this week's meeting in Rome called to address the anger and disquiet of loyal Catholics over the church's handling of this miserable scandal..."

Mixed Reviews Are Likely As U.S. Cardinals Return
Critics Say Prelates Avoided Responsibility in Priests' Abuse
NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Edward Walsh and Steve Twomey report: "The leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church who headed home from Rome yesterday after two days of meetings with Pope John Paul II can expect a mixed reception to the communiqué they issued on the problem of sexual abuse by priests, according to interviews with a range of church experts. American Catholics should be reassured that measures will be taken against sexual abuse by priests, some said, but several noted that the meetings did nothing to satisfy widespread demands that the American hierarchy take responsibility for the sexual abuse scandal. Most agreed the prelates will need to move decisively to adopt a more clear-cut policy at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas in June..."

Egan Kept A Low Profile In Rome
Views Differ On Embattled Cardinal's Behavior During Talks At Vatican
NEW YORK/CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's EDMUND H. MAHONY reports: "As American cardinals returned from an uncomfortable discussion in Rome of clerical sexual abuse, one of the points observers agreed on Thursday was the near invisibility of Cardinal Edward Egan. Egan casts a long shadow over American Catholicism as the leader of the populous archdiocese of New York. Before that, he was bishop of Bridgeport. But over two days of extraordinary discussion of the moral and legal crisis that is sapping the church's credibility, Egan locked himself away from public view in Vatican meeting rooms or at his hotel, the five-star Crowne Plaza Rome-Minerva..."

Vatican summit confounds, angers
NATIONAL: USA Today's Cathy Lynn Grossman reports: "Results of this week's Vatican summit on the sex abuse scandal in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church have angered victims, saddened lay leaders and confused many Catholics. 'It was a waste of time,' says Patrick McSorley, victim of one of the most egregious pedophile cases involving a priest in Boston. 'They didn't say much about the victims. It's just the same as before. They don't get it...'"
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/26/2002 06:39:30 AM

Thursday, April 25, 2002

Quote of The Day
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, said the various statements on homosexuality coming out of Rome this week contradict existing church policy.
"All homosexual persons have a right to be welcomed into the community, to hear the word of God, and to receive pastoral care," the U.S. bishops conference wrote in a 1997 pastoral message to the parents of homosexual children.
"I don't know how we could tell parents to accept their children and then we won't accept them," said Gumbleton, who said he has many gay priest friends in Metro Detroit.
"There are gay bishops, for heaven's sakes," Gumbleton said. "Are we going to throw them all out? It sounds like somebody's getting ready for a witch hunt and I don't like it."
--from The Detroit News

Priests-to-Be Want Open Discussion
Theological Students in Rome Emphasize Responsibility of Church Leaders
VATICAN: The Washington Post's Daniel Williams reports: "ROME, April 24 -- Just a coin toss from Trevi Fountain, earnest young theological students at the Pontifical Gregorian University march resolutely to and from class, books under arm and confusion on the mind. Many are future Roman Catholic priests, nuns, bishops and cardinals. There may even be a pope among them. They have closely followed the talks in the Vatican about the child sex abuse scandals involving American priests. And even as American cardinals agreed today on strong guidelines aimed at wiping out pedophilia from clerical ranks, some of the students said they felt somewhat unsure so far about the nature of the problem and its eventual solution. But on a few things they seemed to agree: The issue is important, it is not just an American phenomenon, and it has to be discussed in the open..."

U.S. Catholics Critical of Church Hoped for More From Cardinals
NATIONAL: The Washington Post's Caryle Murphy reports: "American Catholics strongly critical of the church's past handling of sex abuse in the priesthood expressed disappointment yesterday that U.S. cardinals did not issue bolder recommendations at the close of their two-day conclave in Rome with Pope John Paul II..."

From Rome, A 'Limited Hangout'
COLUMN: Mary McGrory writes in The Washington Post: "The age-old formula for a sinner seeking absolution in a Catholic confessional -- 'Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned' -- has been revised during the current scandal. On the eve of the 12 U.S. cardinals' summit in Rome, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York issued a letter to the faithful in which he changed the formulation to 'Forgive me, Father, I may have sinned...'"

Bishop's words anger gays, abuse victims
NATIONAL: The Chicago Tribune's Darlene Gavron Stevens and Don Terry report: "Activists representing gay Catholics and priests' abuse victims on Wednesday said homosexuality is not responsible for the church's sex abuse crisis and that officials raising the issue are merely trying to avoid blame. Reacting to comments this week from the cardinals' meeting at the Vatican, experts on sexual disorders also expressed concern, saying there is no evidence that gay men are any more likely to molest minors..."

Experts say summit missed opportunity
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Jack Sullivan reports: "The proposals offered by American cardinals following their historic two-day summit at the Vatican disappointed civil and theological experts who said the princes of the church missed a golden opportunity to address the exploding sex abuse scandal..."

Detroit archdiocese will share sexual misconduct allegations with local prosecutors
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' Jim Schaefer reports: "The Archdiocese of Detroit and prosecutors from six counties signed an agreement Thursday to turn over what was called an unprecedented amount of information regarding sexual misconduct allegations against priests over the last 15 years..."

Maida blames priests, not gays
MICHIGAN: The Detroit News' John Bebow reports: "Seeking to clarify earlier remarks that outraged gays, Cardinal Adam Maida said Wednesday he blames errant priests, not homosexuality, for the Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis..."

Firing priests will become easier
MISSOURI: The St. Louis Post Dispatch's PATRICIA RICE reports: "ROME - After two days of extraordinary meetings sparked by sex abuse scandals in the United States, American Roman Catholic leaders agreed Wednesday to make it easier to remove from the priesthood those who are "notorious and . . . guilty of the serious, predatory sexual abuse of minors." However, they stopped short of a zero-tolerance policy on which it appeared they had reached consensus..."

KC diocese spent thousands after two allegations of abuse
MISSOURI: The Kansas City Star's JUDY L. THOMAS and MATT STEARNS report: "Sexual abuse allegations against a Catholic bishop led the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to spend thousands of dollars on two families in the 1990s. The money went toward counseling sessions and a new pickup truck. Bishop Joseph Hart of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyo., spent two decades as a parish priest in Kansas City from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, when the alleged abuse took place. Hart was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Wyoming diocese in 1976, and in 1978 became head of the diocese, where he served until his retirement last September."

N.J. Catholics fear church isn't doing enough on abuse
NEW JERSEY: The Newark Star-Ledger's GABRIEL H. GLUCK reports: "While leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church expressed regret yesterday for failing to prevent the sex abuse scandals now enveloping the church, many New Jersey Catholics, including some priests, questioned whether the church was going far enough..."

Diocese puts Wendell priest on suspension
Ex-seminarian alleges seductive intent
NORTH CAROLINA: The Raleigh News and Observer's YONAT SHIMRON report: "Roman Catholic Bishop F. Joseph Gossman has temporarily removed a priest from a Wendell church after receiving allegations of sexual misconduct involving a seminary student 26 years ago and inappropriate contact with three other adults since then..."

Cleveland Bishop stays decision on whether to adopt no tolerance' policy
OHIO: The Cleveland Plain Dealer's David Briggs and James F. McCarty report: "Cleveland Catholic Bishop Anthony Pilla said yesterday that he is holding off on deciding whether priests who have abused minors can be returned to ministry, but some alleged victims want church leaders to take immediate action..."

Local students profess faith that's unshaken
`If you love your church, minister to it,' priest says
OHIO: The Akron Beacon Journal's Jim Carney reports: "Eric Knight took a stand for his faith in front of his peers at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. 'My faith has not been shaken at all,'' the 10th-grader said yesterday during a question-and-answer session with the Rev. Salvatore Ruggeri about the current sexual abuse scandal within the Catholic Church..."

Allegations vs. ex-priest involve '70s Stark posts
OHIO: The Akron Beacon Journal's Colette M. Jenkins reports: "In the last three weeks, officials at the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown have received reports that former priest Robert M. Burns, who spent three years in prison in the 1990s for sexually abusing children in New Hampshire, molested boys at St. Paul's Catholic Church in North Canton and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Louisville..."

Hypocrisy rings from the pulpit
COLUMN: Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. writes in The Miami Herald: "So have you been following the sex scandal in the Catholic Church? Been wondering how it happened and whom to blame? You silly person. Isn't it obvious? Blame the homosex- uals."

Letters | Church, the scandal and the anti-gay policy
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Archdiocese: Forget Old Secrecy Pacts
NEW YORK: Newsday's Stephanie Saul reports: "The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to throw out secrecy agreements that bar victims of sexual abuse by priests from discussing their cases, a decision church officials said would help prosecutors who are reviewing allegations of pedophilia..."

TALK BACK: What's your opinion on the policy?
ONLINE FORUM: Newsday.com invites reader response: "What is your opinion on the new policy on sex abuse adopted by the American cardinals in Rome. Do you think the policy should apply to old cases as well as new?"

Weakland to hold public sessions
WISCONSIN: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's TOM HEINEN reports "After meeting with the people on Catholicism's front lines - about 300 priests and lay parish directors - Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland said Wednesday he would hold public listening sessions throughout the 10-county archdiocese on sexual abuse of minors by priests..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/25/2002 07:51:12 PM Culture clash between Holy See, press
Fee for credentials, media center closing early, shortage of transcripts among problems
VATICAN: The San Francisco Chronicle's John Henderson reports: "Vatican City -- For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has nurtured a culture of contemplation, a haven from the cacophony of modern life where the most celebrated communications are silent wisps of white smoke. Not this week. Satellite trucks choked St. Peter's Square, broadcasters jockeyed for position atop makeshift platforms, and nuns, priests and throngs of tourists maneuvered around the miles of TV cables that encircled the Vatican like a noose..."

Ex-students at S.J. Catholic school say priest molested them in '70s
MEN SAY LATE ST. MARTIN PASTOR FONDLED THEM
CALIFORNIA: The San Jose Mercury News' Brandon Bailey reports: "For 25 years, former students at a prestigious San Jose Catholic grade school have kept a secret: They say they were molested in the 1970s by the man who was the parish's popular and respected priest. But over the last week, 10 men who attended the St. Martin of Tours parish school have told the Mercury News that former pastor Joseph T. Pritchard repeatedly fondled them and other young boys in his living quarters, while their parents thought they were safely playing cards and watching television after school..."

Portrait emerges of priest who sought victims in three nations,
left poor Venezuelan parishes divided
VENEZUELA: The AP's Mark Stevenson reports: "While Pope John Paul II proclaimed there's no place in the church "for those who would harm the young," priests along Venezuela's impoverished Caribbean coast are still trying to heal wounds caused by a charismatic and beloved prelate who stands accused of child molestation in three countries..."

Church will change, but slowly
OPINION: NCR Publisher Thomas C. Fox writes in USA Today: "Catholics who expected significant change to come out of the meeting between U.S. cardinals and Pope John Paul II in Rome were certain to be seriously disappointed by the tepid announcements made as it ended Wednesday. A two-day meeting at the Vatican could barely touch the much deeper concerns of a growing number of Catholics. Still, despite appearances to the contrary, this week marks an important turning point for the church — a major step toward change, though it may take longer than many would prefer..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/25/2002 10:44:28 AM Newspapers Move to Unseal Documents on Abuse Lawsuits
CONNECTICUT/NEW YORK: The New York Times' DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports: "WATERBURY, Conn., April 24 — Lawyers for The New York Times and The Hartford Courant urged a judge today to officially unseal confidential court records related to more than two dozen lawsuits involving Connecticut priests who were accused of sexually abusing children..."

THE MEDIA
At cross-purposes?
In covering the sex abuse crisis, the Catholic press must reconcile Church and fourth estate
NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Mark Jurkowitz reports: "...These are wrenching days for many members of the Catholic press, a number of whom are torn between journalistic impulses and faith and allegiance as they try to make sense of a rapidly developing story that strikes at the core of the institution they cover, which in many cases subsidizes and sustains them..."

Dismissals for 'Serial' Cases but Leeway Is Possible in Others
VATICAN: The New York Times' Melinda Henneberger reports: "ROME, Thursday, April 25 — At the end of two days of meetings with Pope John Paul II and other top Vatican officials on how to prevent clerical sexual abuse, American cardinals on Wednesday night issued a set of proposals intended to help remove priests who abuse minors. But the recommendations were far murkier than the zero-tolerance policy that had been promised by some cardinals just hours earlier..."

NEWS ANALYSIS
1-Strike Plan Splits Group
VATICAN: The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein reports: "OME, Thursday, April 25 — Nine years ago at a meeting in New Orleans, Roman Catholic bishops in the United States met to discuss a national policy to stop priests from sexually abusing children.'It should be that once a priest is found guilty he is out,' Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia said. On Wednesday, after an emergency two-day meeting in the Vatican intended to show the world that the church is moving decisively to prevent sexual abuse by clergymen, Cardinal Bevilacqua and other top church leaders said they still did not agree on whether to impose such unconditional punishment on all priests who have molested minors..."

NEWS ANALYSIS
Results leave some disappointed
NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson reports: "They expressed their concern for children. They promised to crack down on abusive priests. They smiled for Connie Chung and Matt Lauer. And in the end, the Roman Catholic Church's top American leaders wrapped up their two-day meeting at the Vatican having done exactly what they said they would do: They began discussions about a national policy on child protection to be finalized in June."

What celibacy's got to do with it
COLUMN: Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman reports: "EVER SINCE the scandal broke over Boston, I've had a refrain running through my head: ''What's celibacy got to do with it?'''

A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL
Vatican's muffled voice
EDITORIAL: The Boston Globe says: "THE STATEMENTS issued yesterday at the Vatican provided incomplete advice to US bishops as they devise a policy regarding sexually abusive priests. These were very much documents written within the clerical culture, and they failed to address the crisis of confidence among the laity that is most acutely expressed in the Boston Archdiocese..."

Vatican Deliberations
EDITORIAL: The New York Times says: "With guidance from Pope John Paul II, the American cardinals who gathered at the Vatican this week began the work of rescuing the Roman Catholic Church from the debilitating clerical sex scandals that have so shaken the church in the United States. Much of what was done in Rome was constructive, particularly the pope's strong condemnation of the predatory sexual practices of priests and his acknowledgment that the molestation of children is a crime. Yet even as the cardinals moved to confront the problem and deal more openly and forcefully with abusive priests, they failed to embrace the kind of disciplinary reforms that would decisively break with past mistakes..."

LAITY REACT
Lay leaders express caution, optimism
Congregations feel church's actions must match words
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Corey Dade and Matt Carroll report: "The summit between American Catholic leaders and Vatican officials struck many of the church's lay leaders in the Boston area yesterday as an encouraging sign that could help spur reforms, including a much tougher policy for priests who sexually abuse minors. ..."

THE NEW YORK CARDINAL
Egan Breaks His Silence, and Emphasizes Children
VATICAN: The New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin reports: "ROME, April 24 — For days, most of the American cardinals who met in the Vatican to discuss sexual abuse by priests spoke regularly to reporters and appeared before cameras. Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York had not been among them. But today Cardinal Egan broke his silence in a brief interview as he headed to the Vatican for the cardinals' closing session. He described grueling talks with the pope and other Vatican officials and repeated what cardinals have been saying — their overriding concern is the safety of children..."

McCarrick Is Public Voice of U.S. Group
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin reports: "ROME, April 24 — As American Roman Catholic leaders announced tonight what measures they had taken to address the church's sexual abuse scandal, it had been expected that many if not all of the 12 cardinals who had met with the pope would be on hand. But in the end only one American cardinal who heads an archdiocese, Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, was at the podium..."

THE LOS ANGELES CARDINAL
50 Years Later, a Navigator on Rough Terrain
CALIFORNIA: The New York Times' Rick Lyman reports: "LOS ANGELES, April 24 — Msgr. Peter Nugent remembers the night, nearly 50 years ago, when he and the future Archbishop William J. Levada of San Francisco were stranded in a broken-down jalopy on a remote road in southern Mexico with another young seminarian, the future Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles..."

Bishops targeting 'notorious' clergy
Plan to ease removal of sex abusers stops short of zero tolerance
VATICAN: The AP's Victor L. Simpson reports: "VATICAN CITY – After an extraordinary meeting sparked by a sex-abuse scandal, American Roman Catholic leaders agreed Wednesday to make it easier to remove priests guilty of sexually abusing minors – but they stopped short of a zero-tolerance policy to dismiss all abusive clerics."

THE SHANLEY CASE
Archdiocese discovers more documents
Church expresses embarrassment; to turn over papers
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Michael Rezendes and Stephen Kurkjian report: "The Boston Archdiocese said yesterday that it was embarrassed to disclose it has discovered additional records in the case of the Rev. Paul R. Shanley showing that church officials knew Shanley had advocated sex between men and boys yet allowed him to continue working as a parish priest..."

L.I. Diocese Adding Laypeople to Panel on Priestly Abuse
NEW YORK: The New York Times' Elissa Gootman reports: "UNIONDALE, N.Y., April 24 — The bishop of the Rockville Centre Roman Catholic Diocese announced today that non-Catholics and law enforcement experts, including a former Nassau County police commissioner, would help handle future allegations of sexual abuse by priests..."

More ex-Jesuit staffers accused of abuse
Ex-maintenance official at school denies charge; 2 teachers also named
TEXAS: The Dallas Morning News' BROOKS EGERTON reports: "Three more former employees of Dallas' Jesuit College Preparatory School have been accused of sexual abuse, widening a scandal that was already plaguing the prestigious Catholic order elsewhere in the nation. There were these developments Tuesday in Florida, Louisiana and Texas..."

Bishop subpoenaed; hearing canceled
MASSACHUSETTS: The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Richard Nangle and Kathleen A. Shaw report: "Hours after Bishop Daniel P. Reilly was subpoenaed to a state Department of Social Services hearing where he would have faced questions about sexual abuse by priests, the DSS canceled the hearing and dropped a yearlong inquiry into child neglect charges against a Leominster family..."

'Our vote is our money'
COLUMN: Worcester Telegram and Gazette columnist Dianne Williamson writes: "The time has passed for apologies, according to the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It's time to act. Many lay Catholics have reached the same conclusion as they struggle to craft an appropriate response to feelings of outrage and betrayal at the shielding of abusive priests by the church hierarchy..."

Priest scandal rattles church
ONLINE FORUM: The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's web site invites comments: "What began as a shocking confirmation of sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese has rapidly expanded to include revelations and allegations of years of similar abuse by clergy around the globe Is it time for reform within the Catholic Church?"

Accused Priest Blames Cultural Differences
Crime: The Pomona clergyman alleged to have molested two girls acknowledges wrestling with them but says such contact is common among Filipinos.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' Larry B Stammer reports: "A Pomona priest in jail on suspicion of molesting two girls said Wednesday that the allegations stem from a cultural misunderstanding."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/25/2002 06:40:16 AM

Wednesday, April 24, 2002

State lawmakers agree on clergy reporting bill
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Yvonne Abraham reports: "Breaking a deadlock, House and Senate negtiators agreed yesterday to pass a bill that would require clergy members to report suspicions of child abuse to legal authorities, saying church officials can never again sweep the issue of abuse under the rug. Child advocates have fought to pass the law since the 1980s, but their cause took on new urgency this year after revelations that Catholic Church officials knew of abuse allegations against priests but failed to report them..."

Victims seek more than words
MASSACHUSETTS:The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Kathleen A. Shaw reports: "WORCESTER-- Area victims of sexual abuse by clergy had mixed reactions yesterday to a speech by Pope John Paul II at the beginning of a two-day meeting with American cardinals to discuss the scandal in the church. Those interviewed said they were glad that the pope finally spoke out publicly on the issue, calling sexual abuse of young people by priests a crime. They want tough policies for the entire church and believe much more still must be done to help the victims heal."

For church, a false issue
COLUMN: Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara writes: "That members of the Catholic hierarchy equate criminal sexual misconduct with sexual orientation says more about the need for sex education in seminaries than it does about the scandal of child molestation now unfolding across the world. That the cardinals are talking about purging gay men instead of confronting the need for systemic change suggests a profound misunderstanding of the crisis at hand..."

AROUND THE NATION
Catholics feel pain, disagree on how to cure it
NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Tatsha Robertson reports: "ST. LOUIS - Peter Hodgson, 42, loves the Roman Catholic Church and will never turn his back on it, but thinks there have to be institutional changes to deal with the sex abuse scandals involving priests. That is why the businessman visiting this Midwestern city from Washington, D.C., yesterday was so encouraged to hear Pope John Paul II say there is no place in the priesthood for anyone who harms children. 'I am happy to see the leadership in the church address the issue and deal with it. Maybe it's a good wake-up call,'' Hodgson said as he left the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis after noon Mass..."

Local prosecutors support
pope's statement
NEW YORK: The Journal News' KRISTOFFER A. GARIN reports: "Local prosecutors yesterday welcomed Pope John Paul II's statement that there is no room in the priesthood for those who sexually abuse children and voiced cautious hopes it would improve cooperation between law enforcement and the American Roman Catholic hierarchy."

Church problems include insurance
Scandal may mean higher rates
NATIONAL: The San Francisco Chronicle's David Lazarus reports: "As American cardinals conclude their talks at the Vatican today over the Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal, a new problem is emerging with potentially severe implications for religious institutions. Insurance. Church officials and industry experts say liability-insurance premiums will skyrocket as a result of the scandal, much as the cost of terrorism insurance surged after the Sept. 11 attacks..."

Church's code makes it hard to defrock
Pope's message of zero tolerance may require change in canon law
VATICAN: The San Francisco Chronicle's John Henderson reports: "Rome -- If the Roman Catholic Church has appeared slow in disciplining pedophile priests, the unique laws that govern it are partly to blame, experts say. Underlying the debate this week at the Vatican is the Code of Canon Law, the system of internal controls first established by the Catholic Church in 1917..."

Birth Control Challenge To Church Admonitions On Sex
ITALY: The Hartford Courant's Rinker Buck reports: "Over the past 25 years, Italian women - in a country where more than 90 percent of the people are at least nominally Catholic - have just said "no" to more babies, and most of them are either forgoing motherhood entirely or insisting that their family planning stop at just one child..."

Bridgeport Diocese Quietly Settled Lawsuits
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's DAVE ALTIMARI reports: "In contrast to its recent public displays of action against sexual misconduct by clergy, the Bridgeport diocese in February quietly paid undisclosed sums to two abuse victims, rather than face more lawsuits, several people familiar with the cases said. No announcement accompanied the settlements, and the victims are prohibited from discussing the terms, including the amount of money they received. However, they are not prevented from talking about the incidents that they said led them to press claims against the diocese."

Jimmy Breslin Video Gallery
COLUMN: Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin recorded some of his views of the story.

Audio Gallery: Report From Vatican City
VATICAN: Newsday correspondent Carol Eisenberg reports.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/24/2002 07:10:15 AM

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

Audio: The Times's Melinda Henneberger
VATICAN: The New York Times' Rome Bureau Chief, Melinda Henneberger, is interviewed by Bernard Gwertzman, editor of The New York Times on the Web.

THE STRUGGLE
Catholic Teachings Are Among Obstacles to Resolving Crisis
VATICAN: The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein reports: "ROME, April 23 — It started as a terrible secret, behind the doors of a rectory, or in a dark sacristy, or in a classroom after everyone else had left: a child was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest. Now satellite television trucks are parked outside St. Peter's Square covering a groundbreaking Vatican meeting in which Pope John Paul II told American cardinals and other top advisers that sexual abuse by the church's priests required 'a purification of the entire Catholic community.'"

Pope's message: Abuse is a sin and a crime
VATICAN: The Detroit Free Press' Patricia Montemurri reports: "VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II sent a message Tuesday to U.S. Catholics disheartened and disgusted by reports of priests who molested minors and superiors who protected them. Such abuse ``is rightly considered a crime by society . . . an appalling sin in the eyes of God,'' the pontiff told 12 American cardinals, including Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida and former Detroit Cardinal Edmund Szoka, now a top Vatican administrator..."

Pope: Abusers have no place in priesthood
VATICAN: USA Today's Marco R. della Cava reports: "ROME — Pope John Paul II told the highest clerics in the USA and the Vatican on Tuesday that 'there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young.' And for the first time, he called sexual abuse by clergy a crime as well as 'an appalling sin in the eyes of God...'"

Text of Pope's Speech to Cardinals
VATICAN: The text of Pope John Paul II speech today to U.S. cardinals gathered at the Vatican: "Dear Brothers, Let me assure you first of all that I greatly appreciate the effort you are making to keep the Holy See, and me personally, informed regarding the complex and difficult situation which has arisen in your country in recent months..."

U.S. Catholics and Vatican Face a Cultural Chasm in Coping With Sex Scandal
VATICAN: The Los Angeles Times' RICHARD BOUDREAUX and LARRY B. STAMMER report: "VATICAN CITY -- A month ago, long after clerical sex scandals had mushroomed in the United States, the Colombian cardinal overseeing the worldwide Roman Catholic priesthood fielded a barrage of questions from reporters here over how the Vatican would respond. Defensive and irritated, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos portrayed the scandals as the product of an American "culture of pansexuality and sexual licentiousness" and noted sourly that most of the questions were in English. 'This by itself is an X-ray of the problem,' he said."

Maida: Church needs time to fix sex scandal
VATICAN/MICHIGAN: The Detroit News' David Howes reports: "VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II's meetings with 12 American cardinals are not likely to produce "specific mandates" for dealing with priestly sexual abuse, Cardinal Adam Maida said Monday. In an interview with The Detroit News, Maida instead said the 10-hour meetings at the Vatican today and Wednesday are likely to help shape an agenda for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to craft its own national policy governing sexual abuse by priests."

Scandal divides clergy
Maida defends Boston prelate on eve of Vatican discussion of abuse
VATICAN/MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' Patricia Montemurri reports: "VATICAN CITY -- Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida and other leading U.S. prelates spoke out Monday in defense of Bernard Law, the besieged leader of the Boston Archdiocese. Law, facing continuing demands that he resign for his response to sex-abuse allegations against priests, will be the first U.S. cardinal to speak today as the pope and top Catholic leaders open an extraordinary two-day meeting on the deepening scandal..."

Stories of broken victims lie behind Catholic summit
MICHIGAN: The Detroit Free Press' JIM SCHAEFER AND ALEXA CAPELOTO report: "They are men now, no longer boys growing up in the Catholic parishes of Michigan. One cheated on his wife and has been separated from her for 11 years. Another turned to the bottle and struggled through two failed marriages."

Lay group eyes fund to avoid paying for legal costs
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Herald's Ed Hayward reports: "Leaders of a burgeoning Bay State Catholic reform movement, sparked by the clergy sex abuse scandal, last night proposed an endowment or non-profit fund for angry parishioners who plan to boycott Bernard Cardinal Law's annual fund-raising drive. With the Cardinal's Appeal kickoff weeks away, Voices of the Faithful organizers last night voiced concern about budget shortfalls in the Boston archdiocese and Catholic Charities, at a time when many Catholics say they are reluctant to give the church money."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/23/2002 10:41:39 PM Reporters flock to the Vatican story
NATIONAL: USA Today's Peter Johnson reports: "Jimmy Breslin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist, is in Rome as American cardinals gather at the Vatican to discuss the sex abuse scandal. The New York Newsday columnist has a book in the works. Connie Chung is there, too, taking on this high-profile story as CNN readies her newscast for June. And along with Time and Newsweek — magazines that have taken the lead on this story — and reporters from the networks, major newspapers and wire services, there is Dave McNamara from CBS affiliate WWL-TV in New Orleans..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/23/2002 08:41:56 AM Pope: Sex Abuse 'Rightly Considered a Crime'
VATICAN: The AP reports: "Pope John Paul II bluntly said sex abuse by priests in the United States 'was rightly considered a crime by society,' telling American cardinals on Tuesday that there was no place in religious life for abusers. The pope’s comments came as American cardinals opened an extraordinary meeting with top Vatican officials to discuss a sex abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church in the United States..."

In Rome, cardinals say they know of no effort to oust Law
VATICAN: The AP's Victor L. Simpson reports: "VATICAN CITY -- Even before formal talks begin Tuesday, American prelates are already at odds on how to deal with the sex abuse scandal. A main source of division appears to be the question of whether Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law should resign..."

Law's future on minds at summit
Resignation talk spurs media flurry
VATICAN: The Boston Globe's Charles M. Sennott reports: "VATICAN CITY - The American Catholic leadership gathered here for an unprecedented summit starting today on the priest sexual abuse scandals that have shaken the church's hierarchy, with the spotlight glaring on Cardinal Bernard F. Law and pressure growing on him to resign as head of the Boston Archdiocese. As soon as he landed at Rome's international airport early yesterday, Law was hounded by a pack of reporters shouting questions about whether he would step down. Looking pale and haggard after an overnight flight and stunned at the hostile media onslaught, the 70-year-old cleric tried to downplay expectations for the meeting and dodge questions about his own fate..."

Cardinal Law Seen as an Issue in Rome
VATICAN: The New York Times' Melinda Henneberger and Daniel J. Wakin report: "ROME, April 22 — As American cardinals arrived here for meetings at the Vatican on sexual abuse by priests, church officials acknowledged today that the future of Cardinal Bernard F. Law would be an underlying issue in their discussions.The meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday will focus primarily on how to protect children from predatory priests, the officials said. The American bishops are looking for guidance and Vatican support as they prepare to draft national protocols to prevent abuse. The bishops hope to adopt such guidelines at their national meeting this June in Dallas..."

THE CHURCH'S SEX-ABUSE CRISIS
What's old, what's new, what's needed—and why
OPINION: Peter Steinfels writes in Commonweal: "There are scandals and then there are scandals. Most are ugly, absorbing, and quickly forgotten. A few change history. The current flood of revelations about Catholic priests sexually preying on minors and the failure of Catholic officials to expose these outrages is taking on the dimensions of a history-changing scandal..."

Weakland calls priests to meet
Wednesday's session to discuss sexual abuse scandal
WISCONSIN:The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's TOM KERTSCHER reports:
"Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland on Monday summoned all of the 10-county diocese's priests and parish directors for a special meeting Wednesday on priest sexual abuse."

Pain of Abused Lost in Wisps Of Vatican Fog
COLUMN: Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin writes: "ROME - I was walking down the hallway to get on the plane to Rome on Sunday night and some people were talking about the day's news and now in the plane's doorway a man in a black suit turned around. He was - Avery Dulles, a cardinal."

Leaving a Trail of Accusations
At least 7 priests were moved from Long Island
NEW YORK: Newsday's Eden Laikin reports: "In the mid-1980s, the Rev. Matthew Fitzgerald was accused of sexually molesting a teenager at St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church in Westbury. Soon afterward, he was packed off to a diocese in Florida that was told only that Fitzgerald needed to move south because of his 'allergies.' But the problems didn't end there..."

Victims Not Optimistic
NEW YORK: Newsday's Stephanie Saul reports: "Victims of sexual abuse by priests say they don't expect dramatic reforms from this week's Vatican meeting, expressing doubt that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church can quickly remedy the crisis it confronts. Instead victims and their advocates say they view the meeting as a first step in a long process that they hope results in reforms and an awareness that the rights of parishioners should come before priests."

COMMUNITY
Mattapan pastor calls for cardinal to resign
MASSACUSETTS: David Abel reports in The Boston Globe: "In a continuing erosion of support for Cardinal Bernard Law, the Rev. William Joy, a respected community leader and pastor of St. Angela's in Mattapan, has publicly called on the embattled prelate to resign, saying Law finds himself in an ''untenable position'' and only his departure can bring ''healing and a new vision.'''

FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
Bush adviser optimistic that scandal can be overcome
NATIONAL: The Boston Globe's Mary Leonard reports: "WASHINGTON - Jim Towey, President Bush's adviser on faith-based issues, said yesterday that the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church can weather the current crisis by continuing to acknowledge the gravity of sexual abuse by priests, show sorrow for causing families grief, and take steps to prevent it from happening again..."

VOICES
Doubt Tempers Catholics' Hopes
NATIONAL: The New York Times' Sara Rimer and Anthony DePalma report: "PHILADELPHIA, April 22 — Don Polce, 60, an accountant, says he has felt discouraged and angry about the way the Roman Catholic Church in America has handled revelations of sexual abuse by priests. But today Mr. Polce said he was looking toward this week's meeting of the American cardinals with the pope in Rome as a first step toward resolving a painful episode..."

John Paul II and His Cardinals
OPINION: NCR Vatican Correspondent John L. Allen Jr. writes on the op-ed page of The New York Times: "hen an institution has a 2,000-year history, very little it does is unprecedented. Yet this week's summit meeting of the American cardinals, the pope and senior Vatican officials comes close. American cardinals have been called to Rome before, but never on such short notice, and never with so much at stake: not just the credibility of the American church, but to some extent the legacy of Pope John Paul II..."

A Delicate Week for the Church
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Notre Dame theology professor Richard P. McBrien writes to The New York Times: "John L. Allen Jr. characterizes obligatory celibacy for Roman Catholic priests as a matter of "church doctrine." In fact, it is a matter of changeable church discipline only."

Cardinals Walk Alone
VATICAN: Public Comments By Clergy Not Those Of Pope
VATICAN: The Hartford Courant's Rinker Buck reports: "ROME -- Even before today's remarkable papal conclave began, there were clear signs the fallout from a growing sex abuse scandal was not only aggravating rifts within the church's U.S. hierarchy, but also causing new problems in the historically uncomfortable relationship between the Vatican and its American prelates..."

Priests As `John Doe'
BRIDGEPORT: Seven Clerics, Aided By Church, Shielded Their Files
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's Edmund H. Mahony reports: "Four priests whose departures for sexual misconduct were announced Sunday by Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori were allowed to actively serve for years despite complaints about them, raising more questions about the diocese's past practice of recording and investigating complaints. The four were among seven "John Doe" priests referred to, but never publicly identified, during years of litigation against the diocese by victims of another half-dozen priests. The remaining three priests in the group of John Does were not suspended by Lori Sunday and remain active..."

posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/23/2002 06:27:57 AM

Monday, April 22, 2002

Alleged Victims Picket Church
Catholics: Emotional standoff in Azusa continues for hours as parishioners on their way to Mass react with anger. One is arrested and later released.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Times' TINA DIRMANN reports: "Carrying picket signs that read "House of Rape" and "Stop Crucifying the Children," a group of protesters marched outside a Roman Catholic church in Azusa on Sunday, prompting an emotional response from parishioners who yelled obscenities and blocked outsiders from entering the church. 'Go home,' shouted one parishioner at St. Frances of Rome church. 'This is a place of worship. You have no place here.' Other parishioners yelled out obscenities and insults."

Law offers steps against abuse
Outlines changes for diocese, vows to consult pontiff
MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson reports: "Calling the clergy sexual abuse crisis ''a wake-up call for the church,'' Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday departed for Rome vowing to tell Pope John Paul II how seriously the issue is roiling Catholicism. Law, longtime archbishop of Boston, endorsed several proposals the church has long resisted in combating clergy sexual abuse, including an expedited process for defrocking abusive priests and a scientific study of priest sexual abuse..."

Go to police first, St. Petersburg bishop urges
Bishop Robert N. Lynch says the church will investigate abuse claims, too, but it's time for it to stop hiding from scrutiny.
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' Matthew Waite reports: "HUDSON -- Bishop Robert N. Lynch, departing from his stance and entering a debate within the Catholic Church, said Sunday that parishioners who think they have been abused by priests should take their allegations to the police first, then the church. Lynch, saying he has changed his mind in the past week, emphasized that the church no longer can hide from scrutiny."

Message at church: Keep the faith
Parishioners respond to the resignation of Robert Schaeufele with disillusionment but say they are still devoted.
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' CHRISTINA HEADRICK reports: "Even before morning Mass began, the pews at Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Petersburg were full of hushed conversations. Some parishioners thumbed through church bulletins, hoping to find more about allegations of sexual misconduct that prompted their former pastor, Robert Schaeufele, to resign from the priesthood last week."

ROME: American Scandal As Seen From A Distance
VATICAN: The Hartford Courant's Rinker Buck reports: "ROME -- A long stroll into Vatican City Sunday along the banks of the Tiber River, where fishermen plied the waters for carp, and schoolboys kicked soccer balls in the broad piazzas, revealed a city almost blissfully unaware of the furor in American Catholicism and determined to enjoy the traditional rites of spring. As U.S. cardinals began to gather here for an unprecedented "snap conclave" with Pope John Paul II this week, and the archbishops of Boston and New York once again addressed the American church's crisis, there were few overt signs of trouble here."

Two State Priests Lose Their Jobs; One Quits
CONNECTICUT: The Hartford Courant's ROBERT A. FRAHM reports:"BRIDGEPORT -- Two priests have been ousted from their parish jobs and a third has resigned from a Catholic university after admissions of sexual misconduct, the Diocese of Bridgeport announced Sunday. The cases came to light as Bishop William E. Lori and a newly formed review board examined allegations of misconduct in a growing scandal that has touched Roman Catholic churches in Connecticut and across the United States."

NEWS ANALYSIS
Vatican's Influence Is in Vision, Not Details
VATICAN: The New York Times' Melinda Henneberger reports: "ROME, April 21 — The widely held American view of the Vatican — as the headquarters of Catholicism Inc., employing a vast army of doctrinal foot soldiers who monitor every word of Father Joe's Sunday homilies in the service of a micromanaging pope — is largely mistaken. This view has certainly contributed to the bewilderment of Catholics in the United States who have found it hard to understand why Pope John Paul II did not respond sooner to the crisis over clerical sex scandals, which he will address this Tuesday and Wednesday in an extraordinary meeting with American cardinals at the Vatican."

Collected New York Times Coverage.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/22/2002 07:20:39 AM

Sunday, April 21, 2002

Parish talks of priest abuse
MASSACHUSETTS: Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Kathleen A. Shaw reports: "WORCESTER-- The spring sun filtered softly through the stained-glass windows of Christ the King parish on Pleasant Street yesterday afternoon as hundreds of Catholics gathered to celebrate the weekend vigil Mass. The Rev. John J. Foley, their pastor, closed the Mass with an invitation that comes at a time when Catholics throughout the Worcester Diocese and the world are grappling with the troubling issue of those priests among them who have abused children and teen-agers, some for years at a time..."

St. Petersburg Archdiocese: Riches Of The Kingdom
FLORIDA:The Tampa Tribune's Brad Smith reports: "TAMPA - A Nikon camera, a Bose radio, Nordstrom designer shirts, shoes, watches, sportswear: Bill Urbanski says Bishop Robert Lynch showered him with personal gifts during their unusual 4 1/2-year relationship. 'I looked at my wife once and said, `What am I wearing that the bishop didn't buy me?'' Urbanski recalls today."

Bay area priest accused, resigns
Robert Schaeufele, who has served at nine local churches, is accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in the 1970s.
FLORIDA: The St. Petersburg Times' Mike Brassfield reports: "ST. PETERSBURG -- A Catholic priest who has been ministering in the Tampa Bay area for nearly 27 years abruptly resigned last week after being accused of sexual misconduct with a minor during the 1970s. Robert Schaeufele, who has been a priest at nine area churches, has left the priesthood, church officials said Saturday."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/21/2002 11:25:01 AM Cardinal by Cardinal Analysis of Where Abuse has Happened
NATIONAL: The New York Times on the Web reports: "Click on the (pictured) cardinals above to learn how they or their archdioceses have been affected by the scandal." (Free registration required.)

PRIESTS AND SEX
Europe Has Problems, But Not Like America's. Maybe.
EUROPE: The New York Times' John Tagliabue reports: "PARIS -- WHEN seminarians in Poznan told the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza late last year that the local archbishop regularly made homosexual advances toward them, the paper's editors did nothing. It was an explosive story in an intensely Catholic land. The archbishop, Juliusz Paetz, was an associate of Pope John Paul II, and one Gazeta reporter said the editors were afraid of offending advertisers. Whatever the reason, not until the Warsaw daily Rzeczpospolita broke the news two months ago did Gazeta publish its own detailed account. In the uproar that followed, Monseignor Paetz resigned."

After the Scandal, a Grim Thought: Can It Be Fixed?
VATICAN: The New York Times' Melinda Henneberger reports: "ROME -- A FRIEND of Pope John Paul II recently described him as an old man with the innocence of a child — someone who literally found it difficult to believe the accusations of pedophilia and sex abuse against his fellow priests."

Pontiff reaffirms rules on celibacy
As US cardinals gather for crisis session, pope rejects radical changes
VATICAN: The Boston Globe's Charles M. Sennott reports: ROME - Pope John Paul II delivered strong remarks yesterday affirming priestly celibacy and the responsibility of bishops to report scandalous violations, just three days before US cardinals meet here to address the widening crisis of clerical sexual abuse."

Cardinal Egan: 'I Am Deeply Sorry'
Prelate cites his mistakes in handling sex abuse cases
NEW YORK: Newsday's Margaret Ramirez reports: "As Cardinal Edward Egan prepares to journey to Rome for a meeting with Pope John Paul II to discuss the sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, he issued an apology yesterday saying he is “deeply sorry” if any mistakes were made in handling cases of abuse by priests in either the Archdiocese of New York or the Diocese of Bridgeport."

-- Cardinal Egan's Letter to Parishes

A Complete Loss Of Faith In Egan
Abuse Victim's Mother Tells Of Misplaced Trust
CONNECTICUT/NEW YORK: The Hartford Courant's Elizabeth Hamilton reports: "In many ways, Carole Surran was the ideal parishioner - a devout Catholic who attended Mass daily and allowed nothing to interfere with her faith or devotion to the church. It was that devotion, in part, that led the Wilton mother to seek a meeting in August 1989 with Bridgeport's new bishop, Edward Egan, to discuss a problem she feared would harm her church: The recent assignment to a diocesan high school of a priest who had tried to molest her son seven years earlier..."

Moves affect parishes
St. Thomas transfer brings change; churches rush to comply with sex-abuse policy
TEXAS: The Dallas Morning News' SUSAN HOGAN ALBACH reports: "The decision by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to reassign a second priest for failing to implement its sex-abuse policy rippled across three parishes Saturday..."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 4/21/2002 07:24:56 AM