Saturday, August 31, 2002

VIRGINIA
Rev. Blankenship surrenders
WVEC.com
By WVEC.com
Father John Blankenship surrendered to Prince George authorities Thursday.
A week after being indicted on four criminal sodomy charges, John P. Blankenship surrendered Thursday afternoon.
Prince George County police said the 65-year-old retired priest was with his attorney, Murray J. Janus, when he turned himself in to Circuit Court.
Judge Robert G. O'Hara, Jr. set a secured bond for Blankenship at $40,000. He posted bond after being processed and was scheduled for a hearing on September 17th.
Janus told the court he would talk with his client, who had just come back into town, and did not rule out future dialogue between Blankenship and the police.
Blankenship was indicted last Thursday and went out of town, apparently to avoid publicity. The Prince George Co. police department issued a warrant for his arrest Wednesday, when he hadn't turned himself in.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 11:02:38 AM

BELLEVILLE (IL)
SNAP asks Gregory to stop priest lawsuits
Belleville News-Democrat
By George Pawlaczyk
GPAWLACZYK@BND.COM
BELLEVILLE -- Members of a group representing persons sexually abused by
Catholic clergymen on Friday called on Bishop Wilton Gregory to stop priests
from suing their accusers.
Walking into the Chancery of the Belleville Diocese just before it closed at
noon, David Clohessy, director of the St. Louis-based Survivors Network of
those Abused by Priests, joined other members in leaving letters for Gregory
and for the diocesan review board.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/31/2002 10:38:45 AM DALLAS
Dallas priest granted leave after threats
Cleric received calls after apology for remarks on gay site
Dallas Morning News
08/29/2002
By SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH / The Dallas Morning News
The Catholic Diocese of Dallas has granted a leave of absence to the Rev. Clifford Garner, who left his congregation after receiving two threatening phone calls. The calls followed the priest's public apology for making suggestive remarks on an Internet site for gay priests.
Officials said Father Garner, 36, was taking take time off to discern his future. He had been an associate pastor at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Dallas since his ordination in 1999.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/31/2002 09:35:57 AM

Colo. Dioceses change hiring practices
Denver Post
By Erin Emery
Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau
Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - Two Catholic dioceses in Colorado have adopted new hiring policies to weed out sexual predators or other criminals as part of a movement across the nation to implement standards set forth at a U.S. bishops meeting two months ago in Dallas.
The dioceses of Pueblo and Colorado Springs are both conducting background checks of employees.
By far, the most comprehensive change comes from the Diocese of Pueblo. Starting in late July, it began conducting criminal background checks on every existing employee, every new employee, whether part time or full time - going beyond mandates set forth at the Dallas conference. Pueblo also will screen volunteers who work with children, senior citizens and people with disabilities.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/31/2002 09:27:15 AM

DETROIT (MI)
Jury finds priest innocent of rape
Detroit News
By Associated Press
DETROIT -- A priest accused of sexually assaulting a member of his parish choir was found innocent on Friday, but he will remain suspended pending further review by the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The jury of 10 women and 2 men deliberated for about two hours Friday before finding the Rev. Komlan Dem Houndjame innocent of first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
"Thank God. Thank everybody," Houndjame said. "It was like a nightmare."
Houndjame, a visiting priest at Assumption Grotto Church, was accused of sexually attacking the woman in October.
The jury began deliberations on Thursday.
In closing arguments, Houndjame's attorney said the accuser was just after money.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 09:15:18 AM

DETROIT
Priest acquitted of rape charges
Evidence was too thin, says jury; clergyman remains suspended
Detroit Free Press
BY JIM SCHAEFER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
When he heard the not-guilty verdicts, Father Felicien jumped up and put a bear hug on his lawyer.
Two rows of Assumption Grotto Church members bowed their heads or closed their eyes in prayer, some squeezing rosaries and several weeping after the Catholic priest was acquitted of raping a former parishioner.
The woman's ex-husband jumped angrily from his seat.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/31/2002 09:02:36 AM

ST. PETERSBURG (FL)
'Disfellowshipped' Jehovah's Witnesses speak out against practice
Detroit News
By James Borchuk / St. Petersburg Times
Shirley Jackson was "disfellowshipped," or excommunicated, from the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1995 after being associated with the church for 30 years. Jackson is speaking out against the organization because "I don't want anybody to go through what I went through."
As far as her children and 6 million people around the world are concerned, Shirley Jackson is as good as dead and has been for seven years.
In 1995, Jackson, a home health care worker and a nanny who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., was "disfellowshipped," or excommunicated, from Jehovah's Witnesses. Disfellowshipping is among the Witnesses' highest forms of discipline, reserved for those who disobey religious teachings and will not repent...
In recent months, at least three Witnesses were disfellowshipped after talking to "Dateline NBC" about church leaders' handling of child molestation allegations. The action made national headlines and spurred former Witnesses worldwide to step forward with their stories.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe disfellowshipping is an act of love, intended to inspire sinners to change their ways so they eventually can apply to be readmitted to the faith.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/31/2002 08:58:34 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Judge reinstates 2 Geoghan charges
Question on statute of limitations to be decided by a jury
Boston Globe
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff, 8/31/2002
A judge who reinstated two charges of child rape against defrocked priest John J. Geoghan this week reversed her earlier decision because she believed a jury, not a judge, should decide whether prosecutors waited too long to indict Geoghan.
Judge Margaret Hinkle ruled Wednesday that the charges should be reinstated, but her written decision was not released until yesterday. Hinkle had dismissed the two charges in March, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired.
But in her latest decision, Hinkle said it would be possible for a jury to decide that Geoghan was indicted before the statute of limitations ran out. The technical calculation about the statute hinges on whether the alleged victim was correct when he testified earlier this year that he told officers in 1986 that Geoghan had orally raped him, placing Geoghan's 1999 indictment outside the statute of limitations.
Other witnesses testified, and prosecutors argued, that the alleged victim didn't report the rape until 1989, meaning that Geoghan was indicted before the statute of limitations expired.
Yesterday, the mother of the alleged victim said she was gratified by Hinkle's decision.
''I feel that maybe now my son can finally tell what happened to him by Geoghan and be able to start putting his life back together,'' she said. ''At least now we might be able to get justice.''
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:52:50 AM

NORWICH (CT)
Church scandals blamed for drop in gifts to diocese
Norwich Bulletin
By SHAWN MAWHINEY
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- Donations to the Diocese of Norwich's Annual Bishop's Appeal are down by about $300,000 this year, a decline attributed to the priest scandal that has plagued the Roman Catholic clergy, according to the bishop's chief fund-raiser.
"It would be safe to say that the appeal is down compared to recent years because of the sexual abuse allegations," Richard Costello, executive director of the appeal, said.
So far this year, the appeal has raised $2.8 million in pledges, down from $3.1 million this time last year, Costello said.
The 9.7 percent decline is similar to other dioceses in Hartford and Boston, where priest scandals are mounting. The Norwich diocese has had its own problems, including three lawsuits alleging abuse of children by priests. In recent weeks, Bishop Daniel A. Hart has been accused of not properly handling priest abuse allegations during his tenure in Massachusetts.
The appeal to the 214,000 Catholics living within the Norwich diocese, which covers much of the eastern half of Connecticut, funds programs associated with the diocese's 27 ministries, including soup kitchens, campus ministry initiatives and hospital chaplain programs.
This is the first time since 1978 that appeal donations are down, leaving the Norwich diocese in the unfamiliar position of having to make cuts to its ministries, many of which help poor and disadvantaged members of the community, Costello said. The annual appeal started in 1977.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:46:37 AM

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Lavish ceremonies, harsh criticism await new $200m cathedral in LA
Fanfare amid poverty, church's sex scandal
Boston Globe
By Kathleen Sharp, Globe Correspondent, 8/31/2002
LOS ANGELES - Against a backdrop of criticism for its timing and its guest list, the Los Angeles Archdiocese on Monday will open its new, $200 million downtown landmark, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The opening will be marked by an invitation-only Mass and three-hour blessing ritual, with about 3,000 guests. They include large financial donors, craftsmen, and construction workers who helped erect the cathedral, as well as 500 priests and 600 lay people. An elite group of dignitaries and Catholics will witness the ceremonies, which will feature Nigerian musicians, Scottish drummers, and Vietnamese singers....
The lavish ceremonies for the cathedral also have been criticized because they are scheduled at a time when the Los Angeles Archdiocese is reeling from accusations that some of its clerics have sexually abused minors and that church leaders protected the abusers.
''I think it's a horrible time to be opening such a lavish place,'' said Ruth Green, a school volunteer. ''The Catholic Church should be ashamed of itself.''
The church under Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has tried to contain the scandal, which involves allegations against 33 priests and a deacon. On Aug. 22, a former nun stood in the shadows of the downtown cathedral and announced she was suing a priest for rape, which she said produced a son who is now 18. The accused, the Rev. Ernesto Corral Villaroya, formerly of Los Angeles, was serving in Texas when the former nun made her allegations. He has been placed on leave.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:41:33 AM

WORCESTER (Mass.)
Coonan support called misguided
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said yesterday that Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of the Diocese of Worcester must exercise leadership and put a stop to the movement that supports the Rev. Joseph A. Coonan.
Raymond L. Delisle, diocesan spokesman, said the bishop cannot order the people to do anything. He said the people at St. John's parish need time to adjust to what has happened, and Bishop Reilly is working behind the scenes with the group.
The bishop has met with the leadership of the Coonan support movement and is trying to move them in a positive direction, Mr. Delisle said. He acknowledged that people at St. John Church have had a traumatic time and need time to adjust to what has happened.
Patricia Engdahl, who heads the bishop's prevention and healing office, also has been out meeting with people at St. John parish and is open to more meetings, Mr. Delisle said.
He said he has been told that the supporters of Rev. Coonan will not be walking to City Hall Thursday, but will remain in the church and hold a prayer vigil.
“That's a small step,” Mr. Clohessy said.
Although the support group previously announced the vigil, the Web site at www.FatherCoonan.com said yesterday the vigil would be at the church, 44 Temple St.
A group of people who support the alleged victims plan their own vigil at the same time, but moving in the opposite direction.
Mr. Clohessy said the supporters of Rev. Coonan, through their activities, are intimidating and frightening alleged abuse victims and making it harder for victims of abuse by anyone -- whether it be clergy, a coach or teacher -- to come forward and tell their stories.
The national director said he believes the diocese is violating the new national sexual abuse policy adopted in June by the American bishops, “at least in spirit,” by allowing the supporters of Rev. Coonan to continue their activities. These activities include taunts that Coonan supporters would string green ribbons from Worcester to Oxford, putting up posters and some of the comments made on their Web site.
More than 15 men have made reports to state police alleging that Rev. Coonan abused them in various ways when he was a teacher at Oxford High School. These allegations are that, at various times, he asked teenage boys to urinate, defecate and masturbate in front of him.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:24:29 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Judge: Geoghan rape claims within statute of limitations
Boston Herald
by Marie Szaniszlo and Jack Sullivan
A Suffolk Superior Court judge reinstated two child rape charges against defrocked priest John J. Geoghan, restoring the two most serious criminal counts against the priest whose case touched off the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Judge Margaret Hinkle's highly unusual order reversed her March ruling that prosecutors had waited too long to indict Geoghan on charges of fondling and orally raping a boy two decades ago, when the alleged victim was between 7 and 10 years old.
In a 14-page memo, Hinkle said she reconsidered her decision after prosecutors submitted newly discovered case law involving an Oregon statute similar to Massachusetts' statute of limitations.
``I now conclude that in this case, the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the facts constituting the crime of child rape were reported to law enforcement officials,'' the judge wrote.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:16:51 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Priest abuse scandal a game of `Who do you trust?'
Boston Herald
by Joe Fitzgerald
Paul, who's 61 and has been an ardent Catholic all his life, followed the miserable story of the ongoing scandal with morbid fascination until three days ago, at which point his connection with it intensified because all of a sudden it became personal.
He'd opened this paper that morning to discover Father Paul J. Bolduc, 67, had been placed on administrative leave following an accusation of molestation.
``That man was in my daughter's home two weeks ago with all our family after christening my granddaughter,'' he said, sounding angry and distraught. ``He was the one who officiated at my daughter's wedding. Now I see his name surfacing and can't tell you how betrayed I feel.''
It's interesting to note Paul's profession; he's a private investigator for insurance companies.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/31/2002 08:14:48 AM

BOSTON (MA)
Child Rape Charges Renewed Against Former Boston Priest
Courts: A judge reverses her ruling against John J. Geoghan on lesser counts from a January trial. He is in jail on another conviction.
Los Angeles Times
By ELIZABETH MEHREN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
BOSTON -- A judge here has reinstated child rape charges against former priest John J. Geoghan, whose January trial on lesser charges set off a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.
In restoring charges that date from the early 1980s, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle reversed her ruling of nearly six months ago that prosecutors had waited too long to indict Geoghan on charges of fondling and orally raping a boy who was 7 to 10 years old. Hinkle offered no explanation for her unusual ruling, and prosecutors would not discuss the case.
posted by Jayson Landeza on 8/31/2002 04:22:21 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Bishops Urged to Halt Lawsuits
Abuse Victims Group Complains About Defamation Cases
Washington Post
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 31, 2002
A support group for sexual abuse victims urged the nation's Roman Catholic bishops yesterday to stop priests from filing defamation lawsuits against people who accuse those priests of child molestation.
Calling such lawsuits "brutal," "un-Christian" and "vengeful," leaders of the 4,100-member Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests argued that priests should defend themselves by less intimidating methods.
In a letter to Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the survivors network said the recent spate of lawsuits "directly contradicts what you and so many church leaders have repeatedly stressed: that you want victims to come forward and disclose their abuse."
posted by Jayson Landeza on 8/31/2002 04:13:39 AM

BOSTON (MA)
Doubt Is Cast on Accuser of 2 Priests, Judge Says
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
Hundreds of people who say they were sexually abused by priests have sued the Roman Catholic Church this year, and advocates for victims and lawyers who represent the clergy say that in no case have the accusations been ruled downright false.
But a Boston judge this week expressed doubts about the good faith of a suit there accusing a Boston monsignor of sexual misconduct, and ordered a hearing for Sept. 4 to discuss her concerns.
The judge issued her order a day after the lawyer who filed the suit said he would no longer represent the plaintiff, Paul R. Edwards, 35, of Massachusetts, who has a history of misrepresenting events in his life.
posted by Jayson Landeza on 8/31/2002 03:49:14 AM

Friday, August 30, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Even good priests fear abuse policy
False accusation could haunt for life
San Francisco Chronicle
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
Catholic priests in the Bay Area and across the nation are waking up to the harsh new world of "zero tolerance," fearful that a decades-old allegation of inappropriate touching can ruin a life of service.
"Some priests are scared that Monday morning they will find their names in the paper or get a letter from the bishop," said the Rev. Eugene Tungol, chairman of the Council of Priests of the San Francisco Archdiocese. "We have no peace of mind now. Who will be next? It's scary to us. All it takes is one parishioner from 10 to 15 years ago who hated us, and this can happen."
"This" is being labeled a "child molester," a damning accusation. Priests worry that even if they are ultimately cleared, a cloud of suspicion will haunt them all their days.
posted by Jayson Landeza on 8/30/2002 06:52:31 PM

ARLINGTON (VA)
Judge Rejects Suit Over Priest's Affair
Arlington Diocese Lied, Ex-Husband Alleged
Washington Post
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
An Arlington judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday in which a former parishioner accused the area's largest Roman Catholic parish of deceiving him about a priest's affair with his wife.
Jim A. Lambert, a gourmet food salesman and former member of All Saints Church in Manassas, sought $15 million in damages from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and its bishop, Paul S. Loverde, on grounds of fraud, "breach of fiduciary duty" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" after an affair between his wife, Nancy Lambert, and the All Saints pastor, James A. Verrecchia, broke up the Lamberts' 17-year marriage.
In her ruling, Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Joanne Alpher said that under Virginia law, church officials had no legal duty to tell Lambert what they knew of Verrecchia's involvement with his wife and that the court could not rule on any moral duty, because that would involve matters of church "faith and doctrine" that are outside its jurisdiction. Alpher also accepted defense arguments that a two-year statute of limitations had expired by the time Lambert filed suit in June.
"Clearly, any claims here that require the court to look into whether the church acted properly . . . would require the court to interfere in matters outside its authority," Alpher said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 09:32:30 AM

HARTFORD (CT)
Accusers Of Priest Revile His Hiders
Extradition Of Alleged Abuser In Caribbean Urged
Hartford Courant
By ERIC RICH And ELIZABETH HAMILTON , Courant Staff Writers
Alleged victims of the Rev. Laurence F.X. Brett said Thursday that they felt newly betrayed at the news that, while police and plaintiffs' lawyers searched for the admitted sex-abuser without success, a handful of friends from Brett's days as a Bridgeport priest knew he was secretly living on a Caribbean island.
They and prosecutors signaled renewed interest in pressing criminal charges, and an attorney representing five men Brett allegedly molested in the 1960s said she would ask prosecutors whether the priest could be charged and extradited to Connecticut for prosecution.
"I certainly would love to see this guy in prison," said attorney Jennifer Laviano, reacting to news that The Courant last week found Brett living on St. Maarten.
Laviano also wants an investigation of Bridgeport diocese officials who testified during a 1997 lawsuit brought by former altar boy Frank Martinelli that they had no knowledge of Brett's whereabouts.
"Believe me, if we find out there was any knowledge of where he was, I will see to it there are consequences," said Laviano.
The Courant found that, while on St. Maarten, Brett maintained contact with at least one, and possibly two, Bridgeport diocese priests, as well as laypersons in Baltimore. Bridgeport Bishop William Lori said Wednesday that he is now investigating the two priests - including one who, according to Brett's former neighbors, visited him on the island as recently as January.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 09:26:21 AM

LONG ISLAND (NY)
NO DEATH FOR ‘KILLER' OF PRIEST
New York Post
August 30, 2002 -- Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for Peter Troy, the loner accused of gunning down a Catholic priest and an elderly parishioner during morning Mass in a Long Island church last March.
Nassau DA Denis Dillon said his decision is "consistent with my position that the death penalty should be sought only when it is determined to be the only effective means of protecting the public from a particular defendant."
Dillon has never asked for the death penalty.
Troy, who is 34 and has a long history of psychiatric problems, could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he is convicted of first-degree murder.
He has been held without bail in protective custody since his arrest. No trial date has been set.
Troy is accused of walking into Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Lynbrook with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle hidden under his trench coat as the Rev. Lawrence Penzes was finishing celebrating 9 a.m. Mass.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 09:20:52 AM

NORWICH (CT)
Report: Hart transferred pedophile priest
Norwich Bulletin
By Staff and wire reports
The Most Rev. Daniel A. Hart, Bishop of Norwich, has been accused of transferring a priest from a Quincy, Mass., parish after allegations surfaced that the priest had sexually molested several altar boys there, according to a Boston Globe article.
A longtime parishioner of St. Joseph's, who asked that her name not be used, told the Globe that in February 1979 she and her husband complained to Hart, then a regional bishop for the Archdiocese of Boston, that the Rev. Robert V. Gale had sexually molested the altar boys.
"We told Bishop Hart, 'If he's not moved out of here, we're going to the police. And we want him in a place where he's not involved with children,'" the woman said.
A week later, she said, Gale was removed from the parish, but within six months he visited the parish "with a carload of kids," she said.
Gale was indicted Tuesday by a Middlesex County grand jury and charged with four counts of raping a Waltham altar boy between 1980 and 1984, when the alleged victim was between 10 and 14 years old. Over four years, the boy was molested about twice a month, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 09:01:18 AM

Catholic priests sue accusers in civil court over allegations of sex abuse
Springfield Union-News
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press
Some Roman Catholic priests who say they have been falsely accused of molesting children have turned to civil courts for relief, filing defamation lawsuits against the people claiming to be their victims.
Advocates for abuse survivors say these clergymen are trying to intimidate victims. But the priests argue a lawsuit is one of the few ways they can clear their names in a climate of public anger over offenders who remained in parish work.
"Child sexual abuse -- that's an unconscionable crime and sin. The defamation of character of a good priest, that's a crime as well," said the Rev. Robert Silva, head of the National Federation of Priests' Councils, which claims about half of the 46,000 U.S. priests as members.
Priests in the dioceses of Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis and Orange County, Calif., have recently filed defamation lawsuits. A sixth priest has filed a defamation claim under church law in the Diocese of Trenton, N.J.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:54:16 AM

BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Bishop Looking Into Claims Priests Protected Abuser
The New York Times
By ANTHONY DePALMA
The Roman Catholic bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., is investigating claims that two of his priests kept secret that a priest accused of sexually abusing children was hiding on a Caribbean island.
The priest accused of the abuse, the Rev. Laurence Brett, was found by reporters of The Hartford Courant living in a resort on St. Maarten, a small Dutch territory. He had been in hiding since about 1993, when he was suspended from the priesthood after allegations that he had sexually abused minors.
He refused to answer the reporters' questions about the allegations or say anything about any priests who might have kept his whereabouts from authorities.
The Courant reported that for several years, Father Brett had been in contact with at least one priest in the Bridgeport Diocese, and possibly others. And, the paper reported, he continued to receive payments from the order of Catholic priests he had worked for.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:41:21 AM

LOS ANGELES (CA)
New Los Angeles Cathedral Evokes Survival in Adversity
The New York Times
By JOHN M. BRODER
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 — Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, attended by the other princes of the American Roman Catholic church, will dedicate the city's striking new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Monday in a ceremony evocative of medieval ritual.
The three-hour Mass will evoke a baptism, a transfiguration of mere stone and steel into a sacred space in the heart of an assertively secular city.
Wearing vestments made for the occasion, Cardinal Mahony will lead a procession of 565 cardinals, bishops and priests down the 333-foot-long nave in a moment of triumph for a church that has suffered a year of agony over accusations of sexual abuse by hundreds of its priests.
The austere and angular cathedral, conceived by the modernist Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo, is designed to withstand fire, flood and an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.
It is designed also, Cardinal Mahony said in an interview this week, to survive the moral lapses of its celebrants.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:37:06 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Alleged abuse victim's lawyer asks out of case vs. monsignor
Boston Herald
by Robin Washington
The attorney for a Winchendon man who filed suit last week charging a high-ranking Boston monsignor and a now-deceased priest with sexually abusing him asked to withdraw from the case yesterday.
In a motion filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Eric J. Parker asked to be removed after ``issues arose central to the allegations'' after his filing of the Aug. 14 suit on behalf of Paul Edwards, who claimed he was raped by the late Rev. William J. Cummings and molested by Monsignor Michael Smith Foster in the 1980s.
In response, Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney wrote, ``Because of the motion . . . I have significant concerns regarding the good faith basis for the allegations,'' according to handwritten notes on the motion by Jane M. Mahon, a court clerk. Sweeney scheduled a hearing on Parker's motion for next Wednesday, at which she ordered Edwards to appear.
Parker's motion, dated Aug. 28, was certified yesterday, as was a notice of Edwards' consent to his withdrawal, signed Aug. 27.
Edwards, who has spoken only to WHDH-TV upon first making the complaint, did not return a phone call from the Herald yesterday. Parker also did not return repeated calls.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:32:20 AM

DUBLIN, IRELAND
Latest closing leaves 1 Catholic seminary in Ireland
Boston Globe
By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press, 8/30/2002
DUBLIN - The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, whose network of theological schools once exported priests worldwide, closed another institution yesterday, leaving just one seminary in this predominantly Catholic country.
The directors of St. Patrick's College in Thurles, County Tipperary in southwest Ireland, said that their few remaining seminarians would transfer to the church's principal seminary, Maynooth College near Dublin, which is struggling to educate enough priests for the next generation of Irish Catholics.
The closing of St. Patrick's, along with others, is indicative of a declining observance of the Catholic faith in Ireland and growing public anger at church authorities' response to decades of sexual abuse within the church.
''The decision to suspend seminary work in St. Patrick's College will, understandably, cause disappointment to past students and friends of the college. However, circumstances rendered unavoidable the present painful decision,'' said the institution's president, the Rev. Christy O'Dwyer.
The college will continue to offer theology classes to lay members.
Since 1994, public confidence in the Catholic church in Ireland has steadily eroded as hundreds of cases have been exposed involving church officials' sexual abuse of children dating to the 1950s.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:29:48 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
In reversal, judge reinstates child rape charges against Geoghan
Boston Globe
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff, 8/30/2002
Reversing a decision she made nearly six months ago, a judge yesterday reinstated the two most serious criminal charges against alleged serial pedophile John J. Geoghan, the defrocked priest whose case sparked the nation's clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle handed down her highly unusual order yesterday, reinstating two charges of child rape against Geoghan, who has begun serving a six-year prison sentence for fondling a boy in a public swimming pool a decade ago. A child rape conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Hinkle is scheduled to meet with prosecutors and Geoghan's lawyer next Thursday, when they will probably discuss how to proceed with the reinstated charges. Although Hinkle's decision was posted on a computer docket, her full ruling was not available yesterday.
Prosecutors declined to discuss the rulings. Geoghan's lawyer, Geoffrey Packard, was notified of the ruling yesterday.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:26:52 AM

PATERSON (NJ)
Bishop must stay and help heal those he hurt
Newark Star Ledger
BY MARK VINCENT SERRANO
Bishop Frank Rodimer of the Diocese of Paterson is due to retire when he turns 75 on Oct. 25. No doubt the bishop is anxious to begin the blissful life of a retired Catholic Church leader.
Unfortunately, the bishop must not retire yet. He can't. He has far too much work to do to resolve the cases of clergy sexual abuse that have occurred on his watch.
Many people, including regular Catholics, have had to delay retirement in recent times due to declines in their stock portfolios. Likewise, the bishop's portfolio of credibility has sunk to its lowest level in nearly 25 years as bishop, and he must wait until he sees a rise in that credibility before he can retire from religious service.
I have been described in the media as the "bishop's harshest critic." While I do not revel in this distinction, I have made it very clear that untold tragedies have occurred because of Rodimer's decisions to keep felony sexual offenders in the ministry, looking the other way while he knew children were at risk.

LOS ANGELES
Roger's Big Day
The dedication of L.A.'s lavish Roman Catholic cathedral was to have been Cardinal Mahony's finest hour. Instead, the building's symbolic of the sordid scandal in which he's mired.
New Times
BY RON RUSSELL
This isn't the way it was supposed to be. To be sure, the weeklong celebration marking Labor Day's official opening of the lavish Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral on Bunker Hill downtown will be spectacular. For a moment, at least, Los Angeles -- home to the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, with its 3.6 million adherents -- will claim center stage of the Christian world. It isn't often that cathedrals are built, least of all one as elaborate and expensive as this one, which bears an "official" $193 million price tag that is almost certainly well below its actual cost. As befits such a significant ecclesiastical event, no fewer than five dozen bishops, archbishops and cardinals are to be on hand for the Mass of Dedication slated for September 2.

Catholic panel withholds names
Grand Rapids Press
Saturday, August 24, 2002
By Charles Honey
Press Religion Editor
Two months after U.S. bishops passed a tough new policy on sexual abuse, a team of lay people and clergy is working to make sure policies in the Grand Rapids Diocese carry out the national mandate.
But the diocese has not released the names of those serving on the seven-person committee, even though some say doing so would inspire greater confidence in the diocese's response to abuse.
Leaders have not ruled out disclosing the names of people serving on its abuse assessment team. But they say the fact members of a national abuse advisory board have been named does not mean local dioceses should do the same.

PUEBLO (CO)
Pueblo Catholic Diocese to require background checks on all personnel
The Pueblo Chieftain
By MARVIN READ
The Pueblo Chieftain
All paid employees and volunteers in the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo soon will be subject to background checks.
The rule will include all seminarians, deacon candidates, teachers in schools and any volunteers who work with children, senior citizens and the home-bound.

SPOKANE (WA)
Board investigating ex-priest
Washington psychology licensing panel looking for possible sexual abuse victims
Spokesman-Review
Jonathan Martin
Staff writer
The Washington state psychology licensing board is searching for alleged sexual abuse victims of a former Spokane priest, even as some are breaking decades of silence to report being molested.
The Board of Psychology began an investigation of Patrick G. O'Donnell this week after reading news reports about people contacting the Catholic Diocese of Spokane with abuse allegations.

SACRAMENTO
Investigators will examine whether O'Donnell -- a psychologist during and after his 15-year priesthood -- violated ethics provisions, including one barring "moral turpitude."
Nine more sue diocese, saying priest molested them
Sacramento Bee
By Emily Bazar -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Nine men took the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento to court Wednesday, filing a lawsuit that accuses a former local priest of molesting them when they were children.
The suit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, represents the latest in a string of allegations against the Rev. Mario Blanco.
Blanco, who served in the diocese from October 1969 to April 1973, floated among a handful of Latino parishes until he was ordered out of the diocese.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/30/2002 08:21:04 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Judge voices concerns on suit vs. priests
Boston Globe
By Walter V. Robinson and Matt Carroll, Globe Staff, 8/30/2002
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney yesterday declared that she has ''significant concerns'' about the credibility of sexual abuse allegations against two priests after a lawyer for the accuser, citing his own concerns, asked to withdraw from the case.
In a written order, Sweeney also summoned the alleged victim, Paul R. Edwards, and his lawyer, Eric J. Parker, to appear in court Wednesday, a move one legal expert said suggests that Sweeney wants to determine whether a fraudulent claim was filed.
Parker asked to be relieved as Edwards's lawyer in a motion filed Wednesday, a week after a Globe report raised doubts about Edwards's allegations that he was abused two decades ago by Monsignor Michael Smith Foster, now the archdiocese's chief canon lawyer, and by the late Rev. William J. Cummings.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/30/2002 08:16:55 AM

Thursday, August 29, 2002

BALTIMORE (MD)
Criminal checks for archdiocese staff planned
Tighter church policy aimed at child abuse; Many volunteers also affected; Loopholes closed after U.S. bishops meeting
Baltimore Sun
By John Rivera
Sun Staff
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Baltimore will unveil a revised sexual abuse policy today at a mandatory meeting for parish and school leaders that will require criminal background checks for every church employee, as well as for many volunteers.
The new policy follows by two months U.S. bishops' approval of a get-tough approach to the sexual abuse of minors at their June meeting in Dallas. It also follows the removal last month of a Federal Hill pastor who had knowingly hired a church organist convicted of child sexual abuse.
Previously, only church personnel who had unsupervised access to children were required to submit to criminal background checks, including the 3,000 lay teachers who teach in the Catholic schools.
Now, the inquiries will be required of all church employees, and also of the thousands of volunteers who work alone with children, such as youth ministers and religious education teachers.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 09:40:44 AM

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Kelly names abuse review board
Archbishop's choices include priests and medical, legal experts
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Louisville Archbishop Thomas Kelly yesterday appointed legal and medical professionals, two priests and his top administrator to a nine-member board that will review allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
Kelly appointed the Sexual Abuse Review Board as required of all dioceses under national policies adopted in June by Catholic bishops, who were responding to allegations of some bishops covering up for abusers.
The Louisville board's first task is to recommend revisions to the archdiocese's 9-year-old policy on sexual abuse, bringing it in line with the bishops' national policy, said Brian Reynolds, chancellor and chief administrative officer for the archdiocese and a member of the board.
The board also will review all pending allegations against priests, determining whether they are credible and recommending to Kelly whether accused priests should stay in ministry. Kelly will continue to have the final say, though the bishops' policy calls for abusers to be permanently removed if found to have committed even a single offense.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 09:32:07 AM

HARTFORD (Conn.)
Abusive Priest Found In Caribbean Hideaway
Trail Of Accusations Goes Back 30 Years For Clergyman Who Worked Under Auspices Of Bridgeport Diocese
Hartford Courant
By ERIC RICH, And ELIZABETH HAMILTON Courant Staff Writers
The Rev. Laurence F.X. Brett vanished abruptly almost a decade ago, leaving clothes still hanging in his closet and a trail of accusers stretching across four states and back 30 years.
Now, a Hartford Courant investigation has found the onetime fugitive - whose flight took him beyond the reach of police and plaintiffs' attorneys investigating accusations that Brett sexually abused teenage boys - living a secretive but comfortable life on the tropical island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean.
In hiding, and with the support of friends from his days as a priest, Brett has concealed his past as a clergyman and avoided any public connection to the church. He has identified himself to acquaintances on the island as a writer, a businessman or, at times, a CIA agent.
The Courant found the disgraced Bridgeport priest living in a walled complex of villas at the end of a cul-de-sac by the edge of a lagoon. There, late one afternoon last week, he walked his dog, Joy, and tugged on a cigarette.
"I don't think I remember you," he replied to a reporter who called out his name.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 09:15:05 AM

Ex-priest's past is not going away
With 4 men charged, more claims emerge
Detroit Free Press
BY ALEXA CAPELOTO AND PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Somewhere in Albuquerque, N.M., Jason Sigler has spent years trying to leave behind the many sex-abuse allegations he faced while he was a Catholic priest.
This week, the past caught up with him again.
When a coworker of Sigler heard a news report Tuesday that Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan was charging the ex-priest with criminal sexual conduct for allegedly assaulting a River Rouge boy in the 1960s, the coworker called Albuquerque police.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 09:10:09 AM

ROANOKE (VA)
Allegations against priest surprise him
Ex-student remembers Rule kindly
He understands when people protest the removal of a popular priest, especially before allegations have been proved.
The Roanoke Times
By CODY LOWE
THE ROANOKE TIMES
James Kronzer remembers the Rev. Steven "Randy" Rule as a fresh-faced, newly ordained priest teaching at St. John Vianney School in Goochland County.
Kronzer arrived as a freshman in 1976, a year after Rule began teaching history and government at the all-male school, whose goal was to prepare young men for college seminary and the priesthood.
"He had a very young spirit," Kronzer said in an interview this week. Rule was active in sports, "very genial, outgoing, lots of fun."
"I have nothing but positive memories of him."
So, "in one respect I am a little surprised that Father Rule's name was mentioned" in connection with alleged sexual misconduct at the school.
On the other hand, Kronzer knows sexual abuse did happen there.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 09:08:20 AM

WORCESTER (Mass.)
Sides are drawn over Coonan
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Richard Nangle and Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- With dueling candlelight walks on the horizon and a redesigned Web site up and running, the debate about Rev. Joseph A. Coonan's removal from St. John Church over allegations of sexual abuse is becoming more intense.
In an apparent response to a planned Sept. 5 nighttime candlelight vigil organized by Rev. Coonan's supporters, his alleged victims are countering with their own walk on the same day and at the same time -- 7 p.m.
Rev. Coonan's supporters are leaving from St. John Church, 44 Temple St., with their destination being City Hall. Alleged victims will leave from City Hall and head to St. John Church, according to Cheryl Moriarty of Oxford, whose 17-year-old daughter, Caitlin, is organizing the walk.
Supporters are planning a service of prayers, poems and music back at the church after the walk.
They will be wearing green ribbons in honor of Rev. Coonan, an Irish-American priest who is fond of the music of the Grateful Dead. The alleged victims and their supporters are being asked to wear a black shirt as a testimony to victims of clergy sexual abuse and white ribbons “to show hope that justice will be served.”

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:59:43 AM

WORCESTER (Mass.)
Accused priest's court appearance continued
Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise
By Fred Hurlbrink Jr. fhurlbrink@sentinelandenterprise.com
WORCESTER -- Suspended Catholic priest Robert E. Kelley will return to Worcester Superior Court Oct. 9 after his scheduled pretrial conference Tuesday was continued, according to a spokesman at District Attorney John Conte's office.
Kelley, 60, a convicted rapist, has been indicted on six charges of unnatural rape of a child. The charges were filed on behalf of two alleged victims from his time as an associate pastor at St. Cecilia's Parish on Mechanic Street in Leominster. He is free on $10,000 bail after his second Superior Court arraignment in July.
The former Lunenburg and Gardner priest was not indicted on any further charges by the August sitting of the grand jury, according to DA spokesman Elizabeth A. Stammo.
Kelley, who spent more than five years in state prison after a 1990 conviction involving sexual abuse of a young girl at Sacred Heart Parish in Gardner, has pleaded not guilty to all pending charges.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:49:56 AM

Means Found to Prosecute Decades-Old Abuse Cases
The New York Times
By SAM DILLON
Prosecutors in several states are overcoming the principal obstacle to charging priests with sexual abuse that occurred decades ago by finding an important loophole in the statutes of limitations.
When the revelations of widespread sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests first erupted earlier this year, many district attorneys said that cases were so old that they could no longer file charges.
But this week, using legal provisions that "stop the clock" on criminal statutes of limitations when suspects move out of state, prosecutors in Detroit and Boston charged five priests with crimes that include sexual assault and child rape.
It was not the first time this year that prosecutors pursuing accused priests have skirted the statute of limitations, but the indictments lodged on Tuesday represented the broadest application of the legal tactic so far, defense lawyers and prosecutors said.
The priests charged on Tuesday included Jason E. Sigler, one of several former priests on whose behalf the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M., paid damages to about 40 plaintiffs in a mid-1990's lawsuit, said Stephen Tinkler, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:44:54 AM

FRANKFORT (KY)
Diocese seeks censure of newspaper
Contempt finding urged for disclosure of lawsuit details
Boston Globe
By Associated Press, 8/29/2002
FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington wants The Courier-Journal newspaper held in contempt of court for publishing parts of a lawsuit that the diocese wants to keep sealed.
In a motion filed with the Kentucky Supreme Court, the diocese also asked that the newspaper be ordered not to publish anything further about the sealed portions of the lawsuit until the issue is resolved in court.
The sealed sections in dispute are part of a lawsuit filed by Lexington lawyer Robert Treadway on behalf of five people who say they were sexually abused as children by priests in the Lexington diocese or its predecessor, the Covington diocese.
The lawsuit, which names the diocese as defendant, alleges that church officials engaged in a pattern of covering up or failing to deal with allegations of sexual misconduct by priests.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:37:25 AM

DETROIT (MI)
Charges lodged in Detroit vs. 4 priests
Prosecutors say abuse cases date back to the '60s
Boston Globe
By Alexandra R. Moses, Associated Press, and Pat Bigold, Globe Correspondent, 8/29/2002
DETROIT - Four Roman Catholic priests who formerly worked in the Archdiocese of Detroit have been charged with sexually abusing boys in cases that date back to the 1960s.
The priests - who now live in Hawaii, New Mexico, Virginia, and Florida - face counts of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving boys 14 and younger.
''This is serious and sobering news for the priests and people of the Archdiocese of Detroit,'' Cardinal Adam Maida said Tuesday.
Though authorities nationwide have so far found only a few priest abuse cases that fall within each state's statute of limitations, Michigan prosecutors were able to take advantage of their state's law.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:34:28 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
The Catholic faithful have to speak out
Boston Globe
By Thomas Doyle, 8/29/2002
IN MY undergraduate days I recall reading two books that stuck in my mind: ''Animal Farm'' and ''1984.'' A major part of each plot was mind control. What's particularly scary is that the same obsession with mind control now besets my own church. It is a staple that feeds the arrogance of clericalism.
I was ordained a priest in 1970. I became the canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy in Washington in 1981. I believed in the good of the church in 1984, when two colleagues - a priest-psychiatrist and a civil attorney - collaborated with me on a 100-page document advising the bishops on steps to take to halt the damage caused by pedophile priests. Our report was ignored.
Most of my early confidence in the hierarchical system has been shattered by my experiences with sexual abuse victims. Why, many ask, do you stay? Fundamental to my motivation is a belief that the church really is the body of Christ and not a string of fiefdoms belonging to bishops. I believe that in Christ's view, the most important people are the disenfranchised and rejected, not bishops and cardinals. I learned about faith, courage, and persistence from the victims-turned-survivors. The awareness spurred on by the survivors has awakened the laity. The most visible show of concern is an organization known as Voice of the Faithful.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:31:50 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Advocacy group for kids wants Law to quit
Boston Herald
by Eric Convey
A Massachusetts children's advocacy group repeated its call for Bernard Cardinal Law's resignation yesterday, charging the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has done too little to deal with the clergy molestation scandal.
``The abuse claims continue to be made and it's business as usual within the archdiocese,'' the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children alleges in a news release.
``It's time to make changes, and they must be made now,'' added William F. Achtmeyer, chairman of the group's board of directors. The archdiocese needs ``new leadership with new viewpoints and new standards,'' he said.
A spokeswoman for the archdiocese declined to comment. But a review of recent actions suggests there have been some changes within the archdiocese in response to the scandal.
Some 22 priests have been removed from parish assignments in response to allegations. A commission established by Law is prepared to release a final report calling for greater accountability.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:27:05 AM BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville Diocese says it lacks on-the-record allegation
Suburban Journals
By Mike Myers
Of the Suburban Journals
08/28/2002 06:00 AM
The Belleville Diocese is in the peculiar position of wanting a man to put his allegation against one of its priests on the record.
"It's gets so convoluted it's hard to keep track of all the loose ends," Msgr. James Margason, vicar general of the diocese, said in response to recent reports indicating the diocese failed to properly pursue a report of abuse by a priest.
"Maybe it's a matter of interpretation, but — contrary to what some news stories reported — as of now we don't have an allegation and therefore cannot convene a Review Board to investigate."

MILWAUKEE
'Be not afraid,' Dolan tells flock
New archbishop asks area Catholics to join him on adventure in faith
Journal Sentinel
By TOM HEINEN
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Timothy M. Dolan used his first minutes as Milwaukee's new archbishop Wednesday to face both the church's scandals and its opportunities by challenging Catholics to embark on "an exciting adventure in fidelity" that requires courage and faith in Jesus.
In a homily that ranged from proclaiming the Gospel to poking fun at the Milwaukee Brewers, Dolan repeatedly urged the more than 900 faithful in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to "Be not afraid."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 08:25:44 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Church sells facility worth $1.65M to Dorchester tenant
Boston Herald
by Eric Convey
Just days before the Herald reported the Boston archdiocese owned millions in excess property and leased unused buildings to secular organizations, church officials sold a $1.65 million facility in Dorchester to its corporate tenant.
Tyott Co. of Wayland, whose officers own Dirigo Spice, purchased the property on Aug. 21, according to Suffolk County Registry of Deeds records. Dirigo Spice runs its shipping operations from the archdiocese's former central laundry on Dorchester Avenue.
The sale occurred the day after a Herald photographer snapped pictures of the building for the story that ran on Aug. 26.
The Herald reported the archdiocese, which claims it may go bankrupt if forced to go through with a $15 million to $30 million settlement with sexual abuse victims, has numerous former schools and churches as well as vacant and undeveloped land sitting empty or being rented to non-church organizations. One of the properties identified by the Herald was the Dirigo Spice shipping facility that overlooks the Southeast Expressway.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:24:55 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Experts: Canon law second in church property cases
Boston Herald
by Jack Sullivan
Leading canon law experts said yesterday that civil statute and not the church's code is the deciding factor in property ownership, an opinion that could open the door for the Boston archdiocese to sell off property to pay victims of clergy sexual abuse.
Archdiocese officials said a Herald report that found nearly $160 million in excess property was misleading. While the officials acknowledged that the records list the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston as owner, canon law recognizes local parishes as the property owners.
But experts said yesterday that interpretation is inaccurate.
``Canon law defers to civil laws in this instance,'' said the Rev. John Coughlin, a civil and canon law professor at St. John's University in New York. ``In most instances what (dioceses) do is they don't incorporate the parishes separately. (The archbishop) owns them all. Unless they're separate corporations, (property) belongs to the archdiocese. That's totally consistent with the code of canon law.''
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:22:51 AM

CAMBRIDGE (Mass.)
Priest's lawyers says child rape charges may be too late
Boston Globe
By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, 8/29/2002
CAMBRIDGE - A defense lawyer for a Catholic priest charged with repeatedly raping a Waltham altar boy in the early 1980s said the case against his client was filed too late and is vulnerable to a challenge on statute-of-limitations grounds.
The Rev. Robert V. Gale pleaded not guilty yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court to four counts of child rape, charges prosecutors say stem from a four-year period - 1980 to 1984 - when Gale allegedly had sex with the boy in his car, in the basement of St. Jude's Church in Waltham, and in the associate pastor's suite in the church rectory. Dressed in a conservative blue blazer, white shirt and a blue striped tie, the 61-year-old priest had only a ''no comment'' for reporters at his arraignment.
His lawyer, Arthur Tourkantonis of Woburn, said Gale ''obviously denies the charges.''
''And notwithstanding the allegations, right off the bat there is a problem with the statute of limitations,'' Tourkantonis said.
Under laws governing crimes against children, child rape charges must be filed within 15 years of the alleged victim's 16th birthday. The clock on the statute of limitations can be stopped in certain circumstances, however, including if the suspect becomes a fugitive or moves out of state.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:19:04 AM

MIDDLETON (NH)
Priest arrested in Middleton for alleged sexual assault of boy in Mass.
Foster's Democrat
By JOHN QUINN
Democrat Staff Writer
MIDDLETON — Local police apprehended a 61-year-old Lakeshore Drive Roman Catholic priest who was charged with the alleged sexual assault of a Waltham, Mass., boy, who was between the age of 10 and 14, in the 1980s.
The Rev. Robert V. Gale of 100 Lakeshore Drive was charged by Middleton police with being a fugitive from justice after a Middlesex County grand jury returned indictments Tuesday on four counts of rape of a child.
He was released on $100,000 personal recognizance with the conditions that Gale have no contact with minors and that he turn himself in to the Middlesex County Superior Courthouse in Cambridge, Mass., by 9 a.m. today.
Gale is scheduled to be arraigned on the child rape charges today.
The Middleton Police Department has assisted Waltham police for more than a month with several aspects of the investigation, according to Acting Middleton Police Chief Randy Sobel. Once the indictments were handed up, local police arrested him since Gale was wanted in another state, Sobel said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/29/2002 08:14:11 AM

SAN FRANCISCO
S.F. Archdiocese quietly removing accused priests
San Francisco Chronicle
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco's Roman Catholic Archdiocese has started implementing the church's new get-tough policy against child sexual abuse, quietly sending several priests packing even as allegations against them are under investigation.
In some of the cases, priests are leaving -- either suspended with pay, placed on personal leave or retiring -- as a result of complaints lodged about supposed conduct that occurred long ago. None of the priests has been charged criminally.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 07:58:56 AM

ST. LOUIS
Nuns call for reform in wake of abuse crisis
Post-Dispatch
Aug. 25, 2002
By Patricia Rice
Post-Dispatch Religion Writer
The board of the nation's largest network of Catholic sisters is calling for systemic change in the church in the wake of the clergy abuse crisis, particularly in the exercise of the power of Roman Catholic bishops.
In a seven-point statement, issued Saturday, the board also calls for inviting Catholic laity, clergy and religious brothers and sisters to work with bishops in forming policies and in making decisions. Such collaboration would renew the church, they said.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 07:47:56 AM

California parish didn't know of priest's past
Lenczycki accused of abusing children while undergoing therapy
Daily Southtown
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
By Allison Hantschel
Staff writer
An accused molester priest sent by the Joliet Diocese to California for counseling now is under investigation for abusing children while he underwent therapy.
The Rev. Fred Lenczycki's West Coast parish was devastated to learn through news stories circulating on the Internet that beloved "Father Fred" had been accused of sexual misconduct with nine altar boys nearly 20 years ago in Illinois.
No one — not the Joliet diocese where he was ordained, nor the Archdiocese of San Francisco that accepted him into its ranks, nor the priest himself — told parishioners at St. Peter Catholic Church in Pacifica, Calif., about "the full extent" of Lenczycki's past during his five-year stay at the church, according to the pastor.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 07:41:51 AM

ALLENTOWN (PA)
DA, diocese stalled priest case
Lower Macungie woman reports abuse by Allentown clergyman in 1960s. Lehigh prosecutor and Catholic diocese to meet Thursday. Priest now in parish post.
The Morning Call
By Christine Schiavo
Of The Morning Call
Juliann Bortz tried for more than 35 years to forget that her first kiss was with a priest.
But as stories of abuse and scandal topped the TV news and dominated newspaper headlines last winter, the memory kept surfacing.
''I'm going to take you to paradise,'' she remembered the young priest telling her when she was 14. ''Call me by my first name,'' he said as he pulled off his clerical collar and slipped on a regular shirt.
It took months for her to muster the courage to call Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin in April. It was May before Bortz gave Martin the name of the priest she says fondled her breasts and grabbed at her body while she was a student and he a teacher at Central Catholic High School in Allentown in the 1960s.
It wasn't until a Morning Call reporter questioned Martin on Friday that he gave diocesan officials the information they needed to investigate the case.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/29/2002 07:35:39 AM

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

ROANOKE (VA)
St. Andrew's priest under investigation by Richmond diocese
Parish decries allegations against priest
The Rev. Steven "Randy" Rule, 53, has been accused of sexual misconduct with a student at an all-male school.
The Roanoke Times
By CODY LOWE
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Karen Mabry will be the first to tell you that her priest "is not a perfect human being."
"He has his stubborn streak. He has his moods now and then."
On the other hand, "He's not a pious, holier-than-thou kind of person. ... He believes ministry is being with people. That's what keeps him going.
"When people need him, he's there."
For Mabry, as for many other members of the 1,400 families that make up St. Andrew 's Catholic Church, there's just no way they can correlate the Rev. Steven "Randy" Rule they know with anyone who could have been accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.
"I don't believe it, and I feel so badly for him," Mabry said Tuesday. "I just know that if you were around him at all, you'd know that he would never intentionally harm anybody, especially a child."
Rule, 53, has been placed on administrative leave after being accused of sexual misconduct with a student at the all-male St. John Vianney high school in Goochland County. Rule was a teacher at the now-defunct school from 1975 to 1978.
No details of the allegation have been released, but Rule is suspended from any public priestly ministry pending an investigation by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 03:30:57 PM

ROANOKE (VA)
Rule's accuser is former male student
The Roanoke Times
By CODY LOWE
THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond confirmed Tuesday that an accusation of sexual misconduct against the Rev. Steven "Randy" Rule came from a former student at an all-male high school in Goochland County.
From 1975 to 1978, Rule taught government and history at St. John Vianney Seminary, a now-closed prep school for young men interested in the priesthood.
Rule, 53, was placed on administrative leave late Sunday. The priest was in the final week of a nine-year pastorate at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Roanoke when he was suspended by Bishop Walter Sullivan.
A six-member panel will review the accusation - which the diocese continues to refuse to detail - and make a recommendation to the bishop, who has the final say in deciding whether Rule is restored to active duty as a priest.
The diocese initially refused to say where the alleged incident took place or whether the accuser was a male or female. It released the additional information Tuesday, "for the sake of diocesan parishes that have been wrongly identified with the allegation."

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 03:15:28 PM

PORTSMOUTH (VA)
Catholic laity must push for church reform, speaker says
The Virginian-Pilot
By RICHARD S. KOONCE, The Virginian-Pilot
PORTSMOUTH -- Reports of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have prompted laity throughout the nation to form groups calling for sweeping reform and the reinvention of the relationship between leadership and parishioners.
Voice of the Faithful, founded in Wellesley, Mass., has led the charge to support survivors of abuse and to implement structural change within the church. The group has more than 13,000 members.
On Sunday, a Virginia Beach Catholic who attended the national organization's first convention last month spoke to the Church of the Resurrection, which is hoping to build membership for a local chapter of VOTF.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 02:42:16 PM RICHMOND (VA)
Indicted priest's whereabouts a mystery to church and state
Hampton Roads Daily Press
By MICHAEL BUETTNER
Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. -- More than a week after he was indicted on four counts of sodomizing a teenage boy 20 years ago, the Rev. John P. Blankenship remains at large, and neither church officials nor law enforcement authorities know where he is.
Blankenship, 65, is a former pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the tiny community of New Bohemia in Prince George County. A former county resident has come forward and alleged that Blankenship molested him there in the early 1980s.
Prince George authorities began investigating the case when the victim, now 34, contacted the county prosecutor on July 12.
Commonwealth's Attorney H. Martin Robertson called the county grand jury back into session last week to hear the evidence, and the grand jury issued the four indictments--just two weeks after the Catholic Diocese of Richmond forced Blankenship to retire from active priesthood because of sexual misconduct. County law enforcement officials held a news conference to announce Blankenship's indictment.
Authorities sought him last week at his home in Richmond and were told that he was visiting friends at an unknown location.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 02:38:09 PM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Barkeeps boycott Boston Beer Co.
Boston Herald
by Donna Goodison
Massachusetts bar owners are revolting against the makers of Sam Adams beer.
The barkeeps are refusing to sell Boston Beer Co. products, protesting company founder Jim Koch for ``kicking the Catholic Church when it's down.''
The owners object to Koch's appearance on a New York radio show that broadcast a couple allegedly having live sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
``The Catholic Church is going through enough, they don't need another kick in the teeth,'' said Jeremiah Foley, owner of two J.J. Foley's bars in Boston.
Foley and a host of other bar owners say they'll continue their boycott until Koch publishes an apology in Boston and New York daily newspapers.
``We called the company and asked them to take back all the products,'' said Jim McGettrick, who owns the Beachcomber in Quincy. ``I just think it's unbelievable. Whatever his religion is, I would never go and desecrate his place of worship. The Catholic Church has enough problems without all of this from outsiders.''

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 02:23:57 PM

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Court asked to find C-J in contempt
Paper reported on sealed portion of sex-abuse suit
The Courier-Journal
By Deborah Yetter
dyetter@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington has asked the Kentucky Supreme Court to find The Courier-Journal in contempt of court for reporting Saturday on the contents of the sealed portion of a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by diocesan priests.
The diocese also asked the court to order the newspaper not to publish anything further about the sealed material until the dispute over whether it should be unsealed is resolved in court.
''The Courier-Journal was well aware that the allegations were sealed but printed them anyway,'' the diocese says in a motion filed Monday. The diocese asks that the newspaper, as a sanction, be forced to pay the diocese's costs of its legal fight to keep portions of the lawsuit sealed.
Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for The Courier-Journal, yesterday called the diocese's motion ''highly inappropriate.''
''There is nothing in any court order prohibiting publication of any of the information,'' he said.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 08:44:24 AM

BELLEVILLE (IL)
Some abuse charges still sealed by diocese
Evidence lacking to remove priests
Belleville News-Democrat
By George Pawlaczyk
BELLEVILLE -- Several investigations of sexual abuse allegations involving priests in the Belleville Catholic Diocese never have been revealed to the public, Monsignor James Margason said Tuesday.
In each of these cases, the diocesan review board did not find adequate cause to remove a priest, said Margason, the diocese's vicar general. Because church rules prohibit revealing cases where no action is taken, they have remained secret.
That could again be the case if the board doesn't find enough evidence to support current allegations against a priest. The review board was meeting secretly Tuesday night and believed to be discussing the allegation by a man who is himself being investigated for child abuse.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/28/2002 08:28:54 AM

MANCHESTER (N.H.)
Catholic Charities
fund drive lagging
The Union Leader
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
With donations flagging in the pews, New Hampshire Catholic Charities is turning to businesses to bolster its fundraising campaign.
Catholic Charities is about $400,000 behind where it was this time last year in its annual fund drive to raise $3.3 million by Jan. 31, the agency’s director of planning and development, Susan E. Howland, said yesterday.
She acknowledged that a laity reluctant to donate in the face of a Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal might explain why a “small number of people have held back donations” this year.
But that is just one piece of it, she added.
“I’ve talked to other non-profits, and they are having difficulty in losing some gifts because people are having difficulty with the stock market and people are losing their jobs,” Howland said.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 08:22:52 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Alleged priest abuse victims rip church over excess land
Boston Herald
by Jack Sullivan and Eric Convey
Clergy sex-abuse victims and their lawyers lambasted the Archdiocese of Boston yesterday after learning officials are sitting on at least $160 million in excess property while backing out of a settlement agreement, claiming it would cripple the church.
The backlash followed a Herald report yesterday detailing closed schools and churches in the archdiocese that either lay empty or are rented out to secular organizations and hundreds of acres of undeveloped land held by the church in its 144 cities and towns.
John Sacco of Saugus, a victim of former priest John J. Geoghan who reached an out-of-court settlement, said yesterday the Herald story provided proof to suspicions he's held since he began mediating sessions years ago after filing his claim.
``We were told they were broke,'' said Sacco. ``A lot of this property could easily be turned over for housing for the homeless. Or how about a retreat center for the victims of clergy abuse?''
After a three-month review of state, county and local land records, the Herald tallied archdiocese-owned properties and found $159,393,996 in shuttered schools, closed churches, prime real estate as well as other buildings rented out to non-church entities.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:59:22 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Ex-Hub priest, caretaker nabbed on sex charges
Boston Herald
by Robin Washington
In separate incidents, police arrested an inactive Boston priest and a church caretaker on child sex charges yesterday, while the Archdiocese of Boston placed two additional clergymen on administrative leave due to molestation accusations.
The Rev. Robert V. Gale was arrested by police at his home in Middleton, N.H., on four counts of child rape in Waltham dating from 1980 to 1984, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said. Earlier, Bridgewater police arrested Reed Haviland, 50, a caretaker at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, on 20 child sex counts involving one victim, occurring between June and this month.
Also, the Revs. Paul J. Bolduc, who was in residence at Readville's St. Anne's Parish, and William L. Butler, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in Revere, were placed on leave following abuse allegations more than 30 years old, archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrissey said.
The arrest of Gale, who is not in active ministry and was listed in the 1994 Catholic directory as ``awaiting assignment,'' comes after multiple accusers reported him to Bay State and New Hampshire authorities, said Jeffrey Newman, the alleged victims' attorney.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:57:50 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Lack of outrage over desecration a sign of times
Boston Herald
by Joe Fitzgerald
Dick Burchell spoke for many when he admitted, ``My senses have been dulled.''
A longtime reader, the 58-year-old New Hampshire Realtor called here yesterday to vent, acknowledging, ``I am not enamored by most of your columns on the Catholic Church.''
``You're not alone,'' he was assured.
The timing of his call was significant, coming in the throes of the vilest affront yet to Catholicism, that sexual tryst in the middle of a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, promoted by radio renegades and eagerly sponsored by Boston Beer baron Jim Koch.
We'll get to Burchell's reaction in a moment.
But what about Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders? What are their reactions? What's keeping them so tight-lipped?
Not that an extra dimension was needed to underscore the depravity of what took place, but it surely wasn't coincidental that it happened on Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption, one of six holy days of obligation in the Catholic Church, assuring the sacrilege would be witnessed by a maximum number of parishioners.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:54:39 AM

BRIDGEWATER (Mass.)
Church custodian charged in sex case involving boy
Boston Globe
By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 8/28/2002
A 50-year-old church custodian in Bridgewater was charged yesterday with 20 counts of unnatural sexual contact with a 14-year-old boy.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said the youth, who was helping to take care of the grounds at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish for the summer, watched Reed Haviland perform sexual acts on himself three or four times between mid-June and Aug. 21.
''It's a very serious and disturbing allegation and something that we need to look at to make sure that the children in that neighborhood are safe,'' Cruz said yesterday.
Haviland was arrested yesterday in Brockton Hospital, where he was recovering from pneumonia. He appeared in Brockton District Court yesterday in a hospital gown, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was ordered held on $35,000 bail.
His lawyer, Joseph Krowski, said Haviland denied the allegations and planned to seek lower bail. He said Haviland was a community member in good standing who has held his job for 30 years.
''They're just allegations. There's a lot of motivation here for someone to make up allegations against my client,'' Krowski said. ''He adamantly denies all charges.''

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:50:56 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
2 more priests suspended after abuse allegations
Boston Globe
By Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff, 8/28/2002
The Archdiocese of Boston suspended two priests yesterday, including the longtime pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Revere, after new allegations that each had sexually abused a minor more than 30 years ago.
The Rev. William L. Butler, 67, of Revere, and the Rev. Paul J. Bolduc, 67, who was on health leave but living at St. Anne Parish in Readville, were placed on paid administrative leave.
Reached last night at his home on Cape Cod, Butler strenuously denied the allegation, saying, ''I have never heard such a total prevarication of the truth.''
Butler said that the archdiocese had notified him Monday afternoon that an accusation had been made against him, and that he met yesterday with officials at the chancery, where he learned details of the allegation.
According to Butler, the complaint involves an allegation involving a purported incident in the summer of 1966, when he was assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hull. Butler said he had been accused of taking a 13-year-old male parishioner to his family's home on Prince Edward Island in Canada, where he was alleged to have molested the boy.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:48:25 AM

4 ex-priests charged; 15 elude prosecution
Maida calls sex abuse allegations serious, sobering
Detroit News
By Ronald J. Hansen and Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Four former Metro Detroit priests now living outside the state were charged Tuesday in Wayne County with sex crimes, concluding for now an investigation involving the conduct of 19 priests over the past 30 years.
Another 15 priests would have faced criminal sexual misconduct felony charges as well if their cases were not barred by the state's statute of limitations, Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan said. Officials uncovered 200 potential victims in all.
The charges against the four priests, who range in age from 60 to 82 and live in Virginia, Florida, New Mexico and Hawaii, involve sexual abuse of underage boys.

Victim says his testimony brings justice for everyone
Ex-Flushing altar boy alleged he was abused in the '70s
Detroit News
By Mike Wowk / The Detroit News
MACOMB TOWNSHIP -- Former altar boy Tony Otero said he's looking forward to testifying in court against Jason Sigler, one of four former Catholic priests charged Tuesday with criminal sexual conduct.
"Not only for myself, but for all the other people who have not yet come forward and are looking for some justice," said Otero, 40, now a General Motors Corp. engineer.

Ex-priest says it was '2-way thing'
Former Metro cleric, 82, said he had relationships with boys for years.
Detroit News
By Hawke Fracassa / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- A former Metro Detroit priest said Tuesday that he had sexual encounters with "maybe a dozen or two" young boys during his career, but they were always consensual.
"The boy likes the priest because he's friendly and kind," said Robert Burkholder, 82, who lives in Honolulu.
Burkholder was charged Tuesday morning in Detroit with two counts of criminal sexual conduct for an incident in 1986 involving a 13-year-old boy from Redford Township.
The retired priest said in a telephone interview he had relationships over several years with boys who were "11, 12 and 13" and that he kept it a secret.
"You don't communicate with anybody else about it," he said. "(But) it takes two to tango. It was always a two-way thing.
"The boys work in the rectory with the priest and you just get friendly. You sit down in the rectory and have a Coke. It's a mutual deal ... an affectionate thing and a friendly thing."
Burkholder said the acts, which he repeatedly referred to as "affection," mostly involved the fondling of boys.
He said he had occasional oral sex with boys.
"But not often," Burkholder said. "It's a friendship between two people that has been made into something horrible, rotten. People are trying by hook or by crook to make me look bad. Some of the accusations are true, but so what? I was a priest -- a good priest -- who had a weakness."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/28/2002 07:46:33 AM

DETROIT
4 face charges in clergy sex scandal
Ex-metro priest, 83, says it's 'ancient history'
Detroit Free Press
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI, JIM SCHAEFER AND ALEXA CAPELOTO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Branded as "one of the worst pedophiles we have ever had in this state," the Rev. Robert Burkholder reacted with defiance.
"Ancient history," the Catholic priest and Detroit native said Tuesday by telephone from his home in Hawaii.
"Wickedness," he said.
But then there was this: "What I did was wrong. But it was a sickness, and I was treated for months and years and now all these years later . . ." said Burkholder. "This is ridiculous."
This is justice, said Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan, as he announced criminal charges against Burkholder and three other current or former priests who allegedly molested children in metro Detroit.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/28/2002 07:44:49 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Priest faces charges of raping altar boy
Boston Globe
By Walter V. Robinson and Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, 8/28/2002
It was 23 years ago when parents at St. Joseph's Church in Quincy complained that the Rev. Robert V. Gale had sexually molested some of the parish altar boys. So, the Archdiocese of Boston reassigned Gale to St. Jude's in Waltham - where he was placed in charge of the altar boys.
Yesterday, Gale was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury, charged with four counts of raping one of those Waltham altar boys between 1980 and 1984, when the alleged victim was between 10 and 14 years old. Over four years, the boy was molested about twice a month, according to Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.
Gale is the eighth priest this year to be criminally charged with molesting children within the Boston Archdiocese.
Gale is now on administrative leave from the Archdiocese of Boston and is restricted from practicing any public ministry, according to an archdiocese spokeswoman.
Months after revelations that the archdiocese knowingly moved pedophile priest John J. Geoghan from parish to parish, the Gale indictment highlights yet another case in which an alleged multiple offender was shuffled around with the knowledge of church officials.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/28/2002 07:44:44 AM

Web site thanking faithful priests draws thousands of visitors
Catholicnews.com
By Glenn Rutherford
Catholic News Service
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CNS) -- Joe Lilly and Rick Redman were having coffee one recent morning when their conversation turned to the sexual abuse crisis plaguing the Catholic Church.
It is a depressing and disheartening subject, especially when the two friends began discussing the harm that the controversy has caused to those in the church completely innocent of any wrongdoing.
"We decided we wanted to do something to help uplift the people who've been true to their vows and who have also been taking a beating in this thing," said Redman, a member of St. Albert the Great Church in Louisville. "We really wanted to do something to help these good priests who have lived Christlike lives and who've done what they vowed to do."
Redman thought perhaps an event, a night of appreciation, might be the ticket.
"But then Joe said, 'What about a Web site?'" Redman recalled. And an idea was born.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/28/2002 07:41:09 AM

Tuesday, August 27, 2002

Decatur (IL)
Allegations against ex-Bishop Ryan deserve a thorough investigation
Herald-Review
EDITORIAL: DOUBTS AND SADNESS, no doubt mixed with anger for some, are lingering among members of the Roman Catholic Church in the wake of published allegations of sexual misconduct against retired Bishop Daniel J. Ryan of the Springfield Diocese.
Accusations Ryan solicited sex from a 15-year-old boy in Springfield in 1984 were included in court papers filed last month in connection with a lawsuit that appears not to be directly related to Ryan. The retired bishop, through a diocesan spokeswoman, has declined comment, as has current Bishop George Lucas.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/27/2002 08:10:47 PM

RICHMOND (VA)
THE LATEST: Rev. Blankenship Has Wednesday Deadline to Surrender
WVEC.com
By Craig Civale, 13News
Rev. John Blankenship is now a wanted man.
Prince George County authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest and put his name in the National Crime Information Center, a computerized register of information that's by law enforcement across the country.
"Any police office in the country that comes across him through a traffic stop or whatever, he'll come back wanted by Prince George and they'll hold him and we'll pick him up wherever that may be," Lt. Bill King said Tuesday.
Father John Blankenship's name is listed in the NCIC register.
The recently-retired Catholic priest was indicted last Thursday on four criminal charges of sodomy. At that time, county authorities said they were understood he was out of state and was making arrangements for his surrender.
But five days later, Blankenship, 65, has yet to surface.
Neighbors told 13News Blankenship hasn't been seen or heard from since being forced to retire on August 9. "I was talking to my next door neighbors and everybody's concerned. I mean, where is he?" wondered Nancy Lester.
Police in Prince George County are asking the same question.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 07:03:10 PM AUSTRALIA
Bishop attacks celibacy
The Courier-Mail
Ben Dorries and Steven Wardill
A PROMINENT Australian Catholic bishop has defied the Pope in a controversial call for the vow of celibacy to be made optional in an effort to reduce sexual abuse by clergymenCanberra Bishop Pat Power, the Catholic Church's spokesman on sexual abuse matters, has urged the church to review its celibacy rules in the wake of a raft of sexual allegations against clergy in Australia and the US.
Bishop Power's call comes days after Sydney Archbishop George Pell stood aside while claims he molested a 12-year-old boy at a Catholic holiday camp in Victoria in 1961 are investigated.
Last night, Bishop Power said that sexual abuse in the church was "very worrying" and non-celibate clergy were far less likely to commit sexual offences.
"The priest living within the safety and the security and the happiness of the family life would be less likely, I think, to be tempted in that way," he said.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 06:51:50 PM ST. LOUIS
Getting out the word
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Linda Tucci
08/27/2002
Getting out the word: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops tapped the Vandiver Group to help convey the substance of its Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People to its flock. The charter was developed by the conference's ad hoc committee on sexual abuse and approved by the full body at its June meeting in Dallas.
Vandiver's Mack Bradley and Chris Horner helped prepare educational materials to disseminate to parishes. Horner's master's degree in theology proved useful, he said.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Vandiver Group is among a number of high-powered communicators hired by the Catholic Church in recent months. "The bottom line is that it's a sad day when church officials have to turn to (public relations) firms to help mitigate the damage that could have been prevented by simply being Christian and ethical," he said.
Pat Ryan Garcia, a director with the bishops conference, declined to disclose how much Vandiver was paid.

posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/27/2002 06:50:22 PM

BRIDGEWATER (Mass.)
Church caretaker charged with 20 counts of abuse
Boston.com
By Associated Press, 8/27/2002
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) A non-clergy employee of a Roman Catholic Church was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexually abusing a child.
Reed Haviland, 50, a property caretaker at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, pleaded innocent at his arraignment in Brockton District Court to 20 counts of having unnatural acts with a child under age 16. He was released on $35,000 cash bail and certain conditions, including avoiding contact with the 14-year-old alleged victim.
His attorney, Joseph Krowski, said Haviland denied the allegations and that he planned to appeal the bail, saying Haviland was a member of good standing in the community who has held his job for 30 years.
''They're just allegations and the allegations are completely inconsistent with the man that Reed Haviland is,'' Krowski said. ''He adamantly denies all charges.''
Bridgewater police said they were recently made aware of the allegations and recovered several items of evidence during a search of the grounds.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 06:40:25 PM

DETROIT (MI)
Four priests charged with sex crimes in Detroit dating back to 1960s
Boston.com
By Alexandra R. Moses, Associated Press, 08/27/02
DETROIT -- Four Roman Catholic priests who formerly worked in the Archdiocese of Detroit have been charged with criminal sexual conduct in cases that date from the 1960s to the 1980s, the Wayne County prosecutor said Tuesday.
The charges are unusual because the alleged crimes occurred so long ago, but prosecutor Mike Duggan said the priests can be tried because they left Michigan before the statute of limitations ran out.
The charges include multiple counts of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving boys 14 and younger. The most recent case involves a 13-year-old allegedly molested in the mid-1980s at St. Robert's in Redford Township.
The priests are Harry Benjamin, 60, of Virginia; Robert Burkholder, 82, of Hawaii; Edward Oleszewski, 67, of Florida; and Jason E. Sigler, 64, of New Mexico.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 06:38:18 PM

CAMBRIDGE (Mass.)
Priest indicted for child rape; arrested in N.H.
Boston.com
By Associated Press, 08/27/02
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A Roman Catholic priest was indicted Tuesday for the alleged sexual assault of a Waltham boy in the 1980s.
The Rev. Robert Gale, 61, was arrested in New Hampshire after a Middlesex County grand jury returned indictments on four counts of rape of a child.
Authorities allege that Gale raped the boy in the rectory of St. Jude's Parish in Waltham, where Gale was assigned, between 1980 and 1984. Prosecutors said the rapes occurred when the boy was between the ages of 10 and 14.
Gale, who now lives in Middleton, N.H., served at St. Jude's until 1987 and was later assigned to The Infant Jesus Parish in Brookline and St. Monica's Parish in South Boston. He is not currently assigned to a parish.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 06:35:23 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C.
2 D.C. Priests Accused of Abuse Dismissed
Cardinal McCarrick Acts Under Catholic Bishops' New Zero-Tolerance Policy
Washington Post
By Martin Weil and Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 27, 2002; Page A01
Two prominent Roman Catholic priests from Washington who were accused of sexual abuse have been dismissed from the ministry by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick under a policy approved in June by the nation's bishops, a spokeswoman for the Washington Archdiocese said last night.
McCarrick revoked the clerical powers of the Rev. Paul E. Lavin, who was pastor of a well-known Capitol Hill parish, and Monsignor Russell L. Dillard, pastor of the historic St. Augustine Church in Northwest. Both had been on suspension since allegations were made against them earlier this year.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/27/2002 10:00:57 AM

ROANOKE (VA)
Roanoke priest accused of misconduct He is accused of sexual misconduct
Area priest put on leave
The Rev. Steven Rule has led St. Andrew' s Catholic Church congregation in Roanoke since 1993.
THE ROANOKE TIMES
By MICHAEL SLUSS and CODY LOWE
THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Rev. Steven "Randy" Rule, pastor of Roanoke's oldest Roman Catholic parish, was placed on administrative leave late Sunday after an allegation of sexual misconduct was made to his bishop.
Rule, 53, has led the 1,400-family St. Andrew' s Catholic Church congregation since 1993.
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced the suspension Monday, but offered few details of the allegation against the priest.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 8/27/2002 10:00:04 AM

WORCESTER (Mass.)
Another man accuses Rev. Coonan
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- Members of St. John Church continued their support yesterday of the Rev. Joseph A. Coonan even as another person made allegations against the priest.
Nicolas O. Ledu, who said Rev. Coonan asked him to masturbate in front of him during a counseling session 28 years ago, said he believes there are many more victims who have not contacted state police.
At least 15 people have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Rev. Coonan. Mr. Ledu said he has filed a report with the state police.
Rev. Coonan's lawyer, Joseph D. Early Jr., last night said that he was unaware of Mr. Ledu's allegations, and that Rev. Coonan has denied the previous allegations. He pointed out that there have been no allegations of abuse occurring since his client was ordained.
The parishioners and other supporters of Rev. Coonan announced a candlelight vigil and walk at 7 p.m. Sept. 5. The group will start from the front of the church, 44 Temple St., and proceed to City Hall. All participants are to carry candles and green ribbons as a show of support.
Rev. Coonan was removed from his pastorship of St. John Church on Aug. 1 by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly after what the Catholic Diocese of Worcester called “credible” allegations of sexual abuse. The supporters believe that Rev. Coonan acknowledged being a sinner before he became a priest and that the allegations involve actions that happened before ordination.
A short service of prayers, poems and favorite music of Rev. Coonan will be conducted at the church after the procession. Refreshments will be provided at the conclusion in the church hall.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 08:24:46 AM

WORCESTER (Mass.)
Scandals require scrutiny
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Dianne Williamson
Telegram & Gazette Columnist
A friend informed me over the weekend that she no longer wishes to read about the sex abuse scandal plaguing the Catholic Church.
“Why does the media keep writing about it?” she asked. “Everyone knows by now about the problem. Why do we have to read about it every time another priest is accused? It's not news anymore.”
It was hard to argue with my friend, because clergy-scandal fatigue has clearly set in, even within the media. The stories have become sickeningly familiar, with new names and details attached to the same old accusations of abuse.
But while my friend's fatigue is understandable, so, too, should be the need for continued attention to a community in crisis. At what point do we draw the line and say, “Enough.” While interest wanes, new events continue to unfold and new allegations are made. To ignore them because people have grown weary would be a disservice to alleged victims and the obstacles they've overcome to make themselves heard.
And, perhaps of equal importance, each new incident challenges us to form myriad judgments -- about the accused and the accusers, certainly, but also about the strength of our community's leaders, both religious and lay.
St. John Church in Worcester is the latest parish to be rocked by sex abuse accusations. The accusations are against its popular and charismatic priest, the Rev. Joseph Coonan. Earlier this month, he was placed on administrative leave after more than one alleged victim came forward with claims of abuse dating back to the 1970s, before Rev. Coonan became a priest.
Since then, at least 15 alleged victims have come forward and are being interviewed by state police and the district attorney's office. While the charges are distasteful, the stories appear remarkably consistent and credible, with alleged victims claiming that Rev. Coonan urged them to urinate or defecate in his presence when they were teenagers. Rev. Coonan has adamantly denied the charges, saying that priests are “extremely vulnerable” to false accusations.
Rev. Coonan's many supporters quickly mobilized. They formed committees and publicly denounced the charges. They scheduled a candlelight vigil and developed a rather tasteless Web site that invites viewers to “mello out” to Jerry Garcia songs as they support the beleaguered priest, whose suffering has been likened to that of Jesus Christ. Angry letters have been written and green ribbons are springing up, along with plans to form a “green ribbon road” from Worcester to Oxford, where many of the alleged victims live.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 08:22:25 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Investigative report documentation
Boston Herald
Trail of Abuse
In compiling this report, the Herald spent nearly three months reviewing assessor and tax records in each of the 144 cities and towns in the Archdiocese of Boston as well as deeds, titles and other records at the Registry of Deeds in the five counties within the archdiocese boundaries.
Only those properties listing the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston as owner were counted. Local churches and schools that are incorporated and own their own property were not included in the review nor were properties owned by other church affiliates such as Catholic Charities and the Planning Office of Urban Affairs, which acts as the archdiocese's housing development office.
Because religious organizations are exempt from property taxes, some communities had only sketchy records, requiring a site review of some properties.
The list of the nearly 2,000 properties owned by the archdiocese was then culled by cross-checking state databases from the Department of Education and the Division of Local Services at the Department of Revenue as well as the archdiocese's parish records.
Only those buildings and land that are not active churches, schools, cemeteries or hospitals were tallied for the report. Only listed assessed value - not market value - was included in the total figure.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 07:54:28 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Timing key to investments: Catholic cash flowed into low market
Boston Herald
by Eric Convey and Jack Sullivan
Some 150 years ago, the Catholic Church in Greater Boston was a simple, poor organization.
But today, as the lawyers for sexual molestation victims circle, the church finds itself sitting on holdings that far surpass $1 billion.
How the church came so far economically from its humble days as a bastion for poor immigrants is a story of hard work and very good timing.
Labor and real estate trends partly explain how the archdiocese amassed land and buildings worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But the success also testifies to the devotion of everyday men and women who barely scraped out a living for themselves in an often hostile land.
``It's been a slow, gradual, steady upward development in which in many ways the wealth of the church was sort of reflective of the growing wealth and position of the Catholic population,'' said Thomas O'Connor, university historian at Boston College. In some places, wealthy Protestants backed new Catholic churches so house staff would have a place to worship.
Following the construction of a Catholic church near an area of estates in what is now Manchester by the Sea in the late 1800s, the parish priest is reported to have quipped: ``It's the nicest Catholic church ever built with Protestant money.''

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 07:51:48 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
Archdiocese has many sites with excess acreage: Parishes see shrinking populations
Boston Herald
by Jack Sullivan and Eric Convey
While the Herald tallied only those properties no longer used by active churches, schools, hospitals or cemeteries, there are scores of parcels that abut church land that could be sold or used for other purposes.
The Herald did not count these properties in the total but found hundreds of acres of land surrounding churches and rectories as well as towns that have multiple parishes for dwindling populations.
In some communities, Catholic churches are set on large parcels that there is no separate value for but for which there is a precedent for the archdiocese slicing off pieces of the land and selling it.
In Bedford, for instance, the archdiocese carved 5 acres from the Concord Street parcel where St. Michael's is situated and sold it to the town for $1.89 million earlier this year.
In Waltham, city officials are negotiating for a 25-acre parcel behind Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted on Trapelo Road. The city has offered $2.5 million for the land, which the archdiocese received as a donation from Middlesex County decades ago. In the past four years, the Boston archdiocese has closed or consolidated 26 parishes in its 144 cities and towns, but a number of communities still hold services in multiple churches within their borders.
In the five counties comprising the archdiocese, there are roughly 2.1 million Catholics out of the 3.6 million total population. Urban areas, such as Boston and Lowell, are heavily Catholic, while the smaller suburbs have, on average, a lower percentage of Catholics.

posted by Kathy Shaw on 8/27/2002 07:48:59 AM

BOSTON (Mass.)
LAND RICH: Archdiocese owns millions in unused property