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Saturday, October 26, 2002
LOUISVILLE (KY)
Sex-abuse policy's author questioned
Louisville Archdiocese's Reynolds said he wasn't told of allegations
The
Courier-Journal
By Andrew Wolfson
awolfson@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The primary author of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville's 1993 policy
on sexual abuse said Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly told him nothing about previous
allegations of abuse by priests when Kelly ordered rules be drawn up for protecting
children.
Brian Reynolds, the archdiocese's chief administrative officer, also conceded
in a deposition this month that when he wrote the policy, he didn't know priests
could be prosecuted for sex abuse decades after the fact because there is no time
limit in Kentucky for prosecuting felonies.
''Do you find it unusual that the archbishop would not share with you . . . his
knowledge of the specific priests against whom allegations had been made?'' Reynolds
was asked by attorney William McMurry, who represents most of the 195 plaintiffs
who have sued the archdiocese since April.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
09:42:50 AM
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Desilets faces 32 assault counts
Woonsocket
(RI) Call
JOSEPH B. NADEAU, Staff Writer October 26, 2002
BELLINGHAM -- The alleged victims of Rev. Paul M. Desilets will have to wait a
while longer before seeing him step into a Massachusetts court, according to local
police.
Desilets, 78, was arraigned in Quebec, Canada, this week on an international extradition
request from the Worcester County District Attorney's Office and released on bail
by Canadian authorities, according to Bellingham Police Detective Richard Perry,
a principal investigator on the case.
"They arrested him, arraigned him, and released him," Perry said.
The arrest in Canada on Monday followed Worcester County grand jury indictments
against the former Assumption Parish priest in April and May.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
09:16:01 AM
MANCHESTER (NH)
Bishops’ charter will
survive Vatican review
The
Union Leader
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
Many provisions of the zero-tolerance clergy sexual abuse charter adopted by U.S.
Catholic bishops in Dallas likely will survive a Vatican review, a national authority
on clergy sexual abuse said yesterday.
“I don’t think they will fundamentally change the principles. There will be some
tweaking,” the Rev. Stephen J. Rossetti told the task force reviewing Manchester
diocesan sexual abuse policy’s compliance with the charter.
The charter’s emphasis on protecting children first and its requirement that all
child sexual abuse be treated as a crime represents a change in the U.S. prelates’
approach to the crisis that has devastated the church nationally, added Rossetti,
who helped draft the Dallas document.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
09:06:46 AM
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Sexual misconduct task force
to hold public sessions
The
Union Leader
Union Leader News
The task force reviewing the sexual misconduct policy of the Catholic Diocese
of Manchester’s will hold four “listening sessions” around the state to get public
comment before making final recommendations to the bishop.
The first “listening session” will be held Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Keene Public
Library, 60 Winter St., Keene.
The others will be held:
Nov. 8, St. Pius X Parish Center, 190 Sarto St., Manchester, 1:30 p.m.
Nov. 14, Family Resource Center, 123 Main St., Gorham, 5:30 p.m., and
Nov. 21, St. James Parish, 2079 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 6 p.m.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
09:05:02 AM SPOKANE
Late bishop had secret
Welsh was accused of trying to strangle prostitute
Spokesman
Review
Carla K. Johnson and Kevin Taylor
Staff writers
A 16-year-old police report reveals that the late Catholic Bishop Lawrence Welsh
-- whom parents turned to when they suspected their children were sexually abused
by priests -- was investigated himself for involvement in an alleged sex crime.
Welsh was never charged with allegations that he choked a male prostitute during
a sex act in a Chicago hotel. One former Spokane detective involved in the case
said Thursday he felt it had been handled in a "hush-hush" manner.
Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse, meanwhile, said the news pointed to
broader problems in the diocese at the time. As bishop from 1978 to 1989, Welsh
oversaw several priests who have recently been accused of sexually abusing minors
during those years.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/26/2002
08:55:03 AM
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Lavigne: Judge lifts impoundment
Springfield
Union-News
The decision to release the documents was based on motions filed by a lawyer representing
an alleged victim and the Union-News and Sunday Republican.
By MARLA A. GOLDBERG and BILL ZAJAC
Staff writers
SPRINGFIELD - Ending a decade of mystery, a judge has agreed with a Greenfield
man and a newspaper that the criminal files of convicted child molester the Rev.
Richard R. Lavigne should be unveiled.
Hundreds of pages sealed in the early 1990s may become public Monday following
an order by Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis, who ruled Thursday that
a long-standing impoundment be lifted. However, the ruling prevents names and
identities of people who said they were victims of sex assaults by Lavigne from
becoming public.
A 22-year-old Greenfield man who is suing Lavigne and the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Springfield, saying he was abused by Lavigne as a minor, sought release of
the documents. The man, suing under the pseudonym John Doe, was joined in the
effort to open files by the Union-News and Sunday Republican.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:54:24 AM
PORTLAND (ME)
Bishop names team as link to church laity
Portland
Press Herald
By L. MERCEDES WESEL, Portland Press Herald Writer
Bishop Joseph Gerry, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, has appointed
a team to provide information and act as a liaison between lay members of the
church and his office.
The group is composed of Barbara Smith, Diocesan Director of Catechetics and Initiation;
John Kerry, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine; Monsignor Michael Henchal, pastor
of St. Bartholomew Parish, Cape Elizabeth, and Sue Bernard, Diocesan Director
of Communications.
"The team will be available to parish groups throughout the diocese to answer
questions and concerns relative to church management, the sexual abuse scandal,
or church doctrine," Bernard said in a news release.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:50:45 AM
NEW JERSEY
Reflections of a Catholic bishop
As he prepares for retirement, Paterson's Rodimer discusses his role in sex scandal
The
Star-Ledger
BY DAVID GIBSON
Star-Ledger Staff
As he marks his 75th birthday today, the longtime bishop of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Paterson will keep the celebrations deliberately low-key.
Bishop Frank Rodimer will go to the office -- the diocesan chancery -- as he has
done nearly every day for 50 years as a priest, almost 25 of them as bishop. He
will celebrate a private Mass in the oratory just before lunch. And then Ro dimer,
an avid opera fan, will treat himself to an evening performance of "Carmen" at
the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
At some point during the day, Rodimer also will mail a letter. It will be addressed
to Pope John Paul II, and it will offer his resignation in keeping with the church
law requiring bishops to retire at 75.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:45:13 AM
NEW JERSEY
Rodimer mails letter of resignation on 75th birthday
NorthJersey.com
By MAYA KREMEN
Herald News
Frank J. Rodimer, the bishop of the Diocese of Paterson, will post a letter to
the Vatican today stating his intention to retire. Bishops are required to submit
their retirement at 75, and it is Rodimer's 75th birthday today. If his request
is approved, it will end almost 25 years of his leadership of the diocese.
Though he is retiring in the midst of a priest sex abuse scandal that has made
the past year one of the most tumultuous periods in the U.S. Catholic Church's
history, Rodimer garnered both praise and criticism from his community. Victims'
advocates said he has not taken a strong enough stand against allegedly abusive
priests, while some local parishioners and priests described him as a visible
leader and a good administrator.
"He had all those good years -- how could something like this happen at the end
of his bishopship?" said Joan Tabor, a lifelong parishioner at Holy Rosary R.C.
Church in Passaic. "I don't know what he knew, I don't know what was happening,
but I think he did what he thought was right."Tabor described Rodimer as approachable
and garrulous - "a people person."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:42:06 AM
Bishops urged to stand up to Vatican
Victims try to keep abuse policy intact
Chicago
Tribune
By Julia Lieblich
Tribune religion reporter
Published October 26, 2002
Victims' advocates urged U.S. Catholic bishops Friday to defend the priest sex
abuse policy they adopted in Dallas in June despite Vatican pressure to change
it.
"Contact Vatican officials and fight tooth and nail to preserve the charter,"
Mark Serrano, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said during
a telephone news conference.
On Sunday, Cardinal Francis George plans to leave for Rome, where he will serve
on an eight-member commission charged with revising the U.S. bishops' policy.
The Vatican had asked the bishops to make its provisions conform to canon law.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:38:12 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Cardinal slated to meet with Birmingham victims
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey
Bernard Cardinal Law will meet Tuesday in an extraordinary session with victims
of the late Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham, leaders of a victims' support group and
an archdiocesan spokeswoman said yesterday.
``We do not expect this to be a feel-good session,'' said Olan Horne, leader of
a group calling itself Survivors of Joseph Birmingham. ``Victims and families
have been harboring a lot of anger and frustration for many years, and the cardinal
needs to experience it firsthand. We are not looking for platitude. We are looking
for solutions.''
From 1962 and 1989, Birmingham served in Sudbury, Salem, Lowell, Brighton, Gloucester
and Lexington.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:33:08 AM
BALTIMORE (MD)
Globe wins for work on abuse by clergy
Boston
Globe
By Associated Press, 10/26/2002
BALTIMORE - The Boston Globe yesterday won the Associated Press Managing Editors'
Freedom of Information award for its exposure of the scope of the problem of abusive
clergy within the Catholic Church.
The Globe's account began with an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse
by a priest in the Boston Archdiocese and ballooned into a major national story.
The award was presented during the APME annual conference here.
Walter Robinson, editor of the Globe's Spotlight team, which has handled the coverage,
told 300 newspaper editors and other journalists that as hard as it is to obtain
certain records from government, it was even more difficult to get information
and records from the church.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:29:34 AM
BRAZIL
In a first in Brazil, damages sought in clergy sex-abuse case
Boston
Globe
By Kevin G. Hall, Knight Ridder, 10/26/2002
RIO DE JANEIRO - The family of a 9-year-old boy who accused a priest of sexual
abuse is seeking punitive damages from the clergyman and the former head of the
National Conference of Brazilian Bishops, apparently the first such lawsuit in
the country that has more Roman Catholics than any other nation.
Lawyers involved in the suit said publicity about the case probably would result
in many similar cases coming to light in a country that so far has been relatively
shielded from the sex scandals that have embarrassed the Catholic Church in the
United States and elsewhere. In Brazil, there are only a few open criminal probes
of priests accused of pedophilia.
Judge Soraya Hassan Baz this week ordered subpoenas to be delivered to the Rev.
Bonifacio Buzzi, 42, and Dom Luciano Mendes de Almeida, the archbishop of Mariana
in Minas Gerais State. The family of the boy seeks punitive damages of $131,000
in the case against Buzzi, who has a prior pedophilia conviction.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:27:20 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Holy Cross speech by church critic is canceled
Boston
Globe
By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 10/26/2002
Women's studies professors at the College of the Holy Cross have canceled a speech
by a prominent feminist critic of the Roman Catholic Church after the Worcester
college's Jesuit president denounced her as ''manipulative'' and forbade the use
of college funds for her $500 speaking fee.
Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, an abortion rights
group that often challenges Vatican policy, had been invited to speak Nov. 7.
Kissling said she had planned to talk about ''abuse of power in the church'' and
her recent meeting with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child,
where she criticized the Vatican's response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/26/2002
08:22:11 AM
Friday, October 25, 2002
GREENBAY (WI)
Bishop Banks Up For Retirement In February
Lawsuits Accuse Banks Of Reassigning Abusive Priests
thebostonchannel.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Bishop Robert Banks, who formerly served as an auxiliary bishop
in Boston and was named as a defendant in a lawsuit there, will reach retirement
age in February.
Banks, who has been bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay since 1990, turns
75 on Feb. 26.
On that day, in accordance with church law, he will send a letter "offering resignation"
to the pope.
"It can take a day or a year or more," Banks said. "I don't have any trouble with
it. If they required it at 80, I'd stay until 80. I'll stay active. I'll stay
in the diocese. I'm not going to retire into an armchair."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
07:38:29 PM
WORCESTER (MA)
Vatican response ‘necessary’
The Catholic Free Press
By Kevin Luperchio
A Vatican letter calling for a mixed commission to modify parts of the U.S. bishops’
sex abuse policy is an important first step in a long process, according to several
diocesan sources.
The two-page letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Vatican’s
Congregation for Bishops, voiced strong support for the bishops’ “Charter for
the Protection of Children and Young People,” but said the Vatican saw possible
areas of confusion and questions of interpretation in the norms.
It called for a commission made up of four U.S. bishops and four Vatican officials
to examine certain problematic areas, including the definition of terms such as
“sexual abuse,” the role of diocesan review boards and the canonical procedures
for dealing with priests who have abused minors. The commission was named Wednesday.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
06:31:53 PM
Letter to the Editor
The Vatican on 'Zero Tolerance'
The
New York Times
To the Editor:
According to "The Vatican Objects" (editorial, Oct. 24), regarding the Vatican's
response to the American bishops' Dallas agreement on zero tolerance for sexually
abusive priests, the Vatican is worried that the agreement might "cede too much
influence and discretion to the laity."
Maybe American Catholics should still use some discretion and close their checkbooks
until this mess is straightened out.
WILLIAM HOPPER
Prescott, Ariz., Oct. 24, 2002
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
02:37:25 PM
IRELAND
New Irish Police Squad to Investigate All Clerical Abuse Cases
The
New York Times
By BRIAN LAVERY
DUBLIN, Oct. 24 — In response to mounting public anger over new revelations of
child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Dublin, the Irish police today
set up a special team of detectives that will investigate every case of such abuse
ever reported in the country.
The decision comes one week after a television documentary catapulted the issue
back into the national spotlight with allegations that church officials, including
Cardinal Desmond Connell, the archbishop of Dublin, repeatedly failed to report
child abusers to the police.
In a statement, Cardinal Connell said his diocese would cooperate fully with any
inquiry "set up by an appropriate authority." But he also said an existing investigation,
which was set up by the church last spring and is under the supervision of a judge,
could adequately assess how the church in Ireland had handled allegations of abuse.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
02:34:11 PM
IRELAND
Irish Cardinal promises cooperation with Government probe
Catholic News
Cardinal Desmond Connell of Dublin (pictured) has promised that Church authorities
will "cooperate fully" as government officials expanded their investigation of
clerical sex-abuse charges.
Micheal McDowell, the government minister for health and children, has announced
that law-enforcement officials will conduct an aggressive probe of sex-abuse charges,
with an eye to filing criminal charges. He warned that investigators would not
be allow Church officials to invoke the Code of Canon Law as a reason to withhold
evidence.
In a combative public statement, McDowell said that under the laws of Ireland,
canon law carries no more significance than the bylaws of a golf club. And he
insisted that he was not worried about provoking the hostility of the Catholic
hierarchy.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
08:40:47 AM
UNITED KINGDOM
British Cardinal calls for Church 'honesty'
Catholic News
The Church should not be afraid to acknowledge mistakes and willing to remedy
them, according to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales was addressing an audience
earlier this month on the subject of the authority of the Church.
Referring directly to the recent child abuse scandals which have rocked the Church,
the Cardinal told those gathered at St Mary's College, Twickenham that it is absolutely
imperative for the Church to address such issues, and if necessary to follow the
Pope's example and offer formal and sincere apologies.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
08:39:16 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Church stonewalling frustrates Reilly
Boston
Herald
by Thomas Keane Jr.
Tom Reilly is grim, angry and frustrated.
It shouldn't be this way. Tanned and trim, the state's attorney general is at
the top of his game. Election Day is less than two weeks away and he has no opponent.
Even better, no one challenged him in the primary.
Moreover, he's had a good four years since first winning election. He tackled
the rigged sale of the Boston Red Sox, getting more money into the hands of a
reformed Yawkey Foundation. He helped save Harvard Pilgrim Health Care when the
HMO almost went belly-up. He pushed to block a new regionwide energy market he
thinks will save New Yorkers money while increasing costs for those in New England.
He went after Verizon, Kmart and Household Finance Corp., winning consumer protections
and financial concessions. People talk about him as a rising star.
For a politician, this should be heaven. But Reilly is not happy. He has spent
his entire professional life in law enforcement - prosecutor, Middlesex County
district attorney and, now, attorney general. Unlike so many who seem to arrive
at some political station in life for reasons that have little to do with their
qualifications, Reilly is eminently suited for his job. More importantly, his
normally modulated demeanor notwithstanding, he is passionate about justice, passionate
about the rights of victims.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/25/2002
07:53:27 AM
VATICAN
Cultural divide between Vatican and America shows up in sex abuse policy debate
VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer
San
Francisco Chronicle
October 24, 2002
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- As they crafted a sex abuse policy for disciplining errant
priests, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops may have been hampered by an unseen handicap:
They were too American.
The Vatican refused last week to put its stamp of approval on the U.S. plan. It
declared the provisions were confusing, ambiguous, "difficult to reconcile" with
church law and left open procedural questions that needed to be resolved.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/25/2002
07:34:50 AM
Thursday, October 24, 2002
NEW JERSEY
Rodimer will ask to retire as bishop
Bergen
Record
By JOHN CHADWICK
Staff Writer
Paterson Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, capping one of the most difficult years of his
career, said Wednesday he will submit his retirement letter this week to Pope
John Paul II.
Rodimer turns 75 Friday, a milestone requiring him to seek permission from the
pontiff to retire. The pope could decide to keep him on, but Rodimer said he is
ready to step down and live a more relaxed life.
"The Scripture talks about there being a time and a place for everything under
heaven," Rodimer said in a meeting with reporters at a Paterson restaurant. "I
think the time has come for me to continue being a priest, but without the heavy
schedule."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
05:03:39 PM
FALL RIVER (MA)
Coleman named temporary administrator of Fall River Diocese
Boston.com
By Associated Press
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) Monsignor George Coleman, vicar general and moderator of
the curia for the Fall River Diocese, has been elected to serve as diocese administrator
until a new bishop is installed.
Coleman, 63, a native of Fall River, was elected by his peers on the College of
Consultors, The Herald News of Fall River reported.
He'll serve until a new bishop is chosen to replace Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, who
served in Fall River for 10 years before taking over at the Palm Beach Diocese
in Florida on Oct. 19.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
05:00:32 PM TAMPA,FL
Your Holiness? Is This The Legacy You Want To Leave?
The Tampa Tribune
DANIEL RUTH
Published: Oct 23, 2002
If the pope truly wants to restore the faith of many Catholics, it's going to
come from giving devout, but betrayed, congregants a reason to trust the spiritual
leader of their parishes again, not by fiddling around with a long-revered prayer
rite or canonizing a polarizing figure.
posted by Ann Brentwood on 10/24/2002
04:58:29 PM
SAN FRANSICO
S.F. Prelate to join abuse plan review
U.S.-Vatican panel will pursue compromise on 'zero tolerance'
San
Francisco Chronicle
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
San Francisco Archbishop William Levada was one of four U.S. church leaders named
Wednesday to serve on a U.S.-Vatican commission formed to resolve differences
over how to respond to the sex abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.
Four top Vatican officials will also serve on the panel, which was created to
address Rome's recent objections to the American bishops' proposed "zero tolerance"
policy toward priests who molest children and teenagers.
posted by Ann Brentwood on 10/24/2002
02:27:06 PM
Opinion
The Vatican Objects
The
New York Times
Shortly after the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a zero-tolerance
policy on sexually abusive priests in Dallas last June, someone asked Bishop Wilton
Gregory, the conference president, whether he expected Vatican approval. Said
the bishop: "I would never go to the Holy See assuming I have a slam-dunk."
His caution was not misplaced. Last week, in a one-page letter to the American
bishops, the Vatican insisted on major revisions. This means tough negotiations
in the weeks ahead between the bishops and Rome. The policy can use some fine-tuning.
It was written in haste and under great public pressure. There seems to be considerable
agreement, for example, that the definition of what constitutes sexual abuse may
be too broad. But there are two matters on which the American bishops must hold
their ground if they hope to achieve their basic objective of cleansing the church
of abusive priests and thus repairing the shattered confidence of their parishioners.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
10:03:13 AM
MILWAUKEE (WI)
At Forum, Victims of Clergy Plead and Vent
The
New York Times
By JODI WILGOREN
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 23 — After being raped by a priest on Easter Sunday at age 13,
having his lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church thrown out and fighting a
$4,000 lien on his house over court costs, Joseph Cerniglia admits that his expectations
have dwindled over time. All he really wants now is a phone call.
His mother, Karen, even gave his number to Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop
of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, four years ago at Mass.
"You promised me you would call him," Mrs. Cerniglia, holding Joseph's seventh-grade
photo, reminded Bishop Sklba on Tuesday night in an extraordinary confrontation
here between victims of clergy sexual abuse and church officials. "You never called
my son. Is this a compassionate way to treat people who have suffered so much?"
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
10:00:53 AM
VATICAN
Americans and Vatican Officials to Revise Policy on Abuse
The
New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
The Vatican yesterday announced the names of the four American bishops and four
Vatican officials responsible for revising the American prelates' zero-tolerance
policy on sexual abuse.
The eight-member commission faces the delicate task of shaping a compromise that
will be acceptable in Rome and in the United States, where bishops had sought
to reassure Roman Catholics that the priesthood would be cleansed of sexual predators.
The Americans on the joint commission include Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago,
who recently returned from Rome predicting that the policy would be preserved
largely intact; and Bishop E. William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., who helped draft
the policy as a member of the bishops' ad hoc committee on sexual abuse.
The other Americans are Bishop Thomas G. Doran of Rockford, Ill., a canon lawyer
who serves on the Vatican's highest court; and Archbishop William J. Levada of
San Francisco, who was sent in the late 1990's to clean up a sexual abuse and
financial scandal in the neighboring Santa Rosa Diocese.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:57:50 AM
IRELAND
Editorial
State is right to move slowly in dealing with the Church
Irish
Independent
THE Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, mixed determination with caution in
his statement to the Dail yesterday. Understandably he took the side of the State's
laws against those of the Roman Catholic Church.
But he recognised the enormity of the challenge facing the Government in addressing
a problem from which previous governments have all too readily turned aside.
He also recognised that, despite its powerful message to the people, the Prime
Time programme had much in it that was known to us already, both in terms of abuse
and in terms of the Church's comprehensive efforts to cover-up.
In this second aspect of the story, we are faced with both compelling and extensive
evidence that suggests a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The justice
being perverted is, of course, the State's justice and it is based on the State's
system of laws. And the powerful alternative force of justice that is being used
to achieve this perversion is that of Canon Law.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:51:56 AM
IRELAND
Letters to the Editor
Why we need more sex education
Irish
Independent
Sir Paedophilia has been a poison in sectors of our society for a very long time.
The abuse is far from being confined to the clerical world. It takes place in
family life to a far greater extent than has been revealed or dealt with.
If there was a Prime Time programme on the family situation there would be national
horror. But the paedophile in the family is protected by the fact that the disgrace
of the situation could make it too difficult for the victim to report to gardai
or anyone else.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:49:22 AM
IRELAND
Ferns inquiry to begin next year
Irish
Independent
THE non-statutory inquiry into the handling of clerical sex abuse in the Diocese
of Ferns is expected to begin its work in January of next year.
It will take the three-panel inquiry, which will be chaired by former Supreme
Court Judge Frank Murphy, between six months to a year to meet with the numerous
victims, family members and clergy.
As part of their work, the panel will also have to examine clerical documents
in relation to sex abuse in the diocese.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:44:47 AM
IRELAND
Defrocked priest in job 'with access to children'
Irish Independent
A FULL investigation is being demanded into the circumstances surrounding the
appointment of a convicted paedophile priest to a position where it is claimed
he has unlimited access to young people.
Members of the board of directors of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo
were shocked to learn that the man who has been working in the restaurant of the
gallery for the past two years has served a five year sentence for sex offences.
Joseph Summerville (47) was sentenced in 1996 to four years for the sexual abuse
of a male student at the west of Ireland college where he was a chaplain.
In October 1998 he was sentenced to a further 12 months for the indecent assault
of a 15-year-old school boy in the bedroom of a parochial house.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:42:52 AM
IRELAND
Convict 'helping out' in office
Irish
Independent
A CONVICTED paedophile priest was "helping out" under supervision in Cardinal
Desmond Connell's communications office but was not an employee, the office said
yesterday.
Fr Frank McCarthy received a suspended six-month prison sentence in 1997 after
pleading guilty at Newbridge District Court to indecently assaulting two young
boys.
Last week 'Prime Time' claimed Fr McCarthy was one of seven paedophile priests
who were shielded by the Dublin archdiocese.
The communications office in Drumcondra confirmed yesterday that for the past
three years the priest had been helping out in the office on the production of
a diocesan magazine, Link Up.
A spokeswoman said Fr McCarthy was supervised but insisted he was not employed
by the office and only helped out.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:40:49 AM
IRELAND
Young priests 'demoralised and frightened' by scandals
Irish
Independent
YOUNGER members of the clergy are the latest to express hurt at the recent revelations
of clerical sex abuse.
One priest of the Archdiocese of Tuam yesterday expressed "shock and devastation"
and claimed it was quite clear "cover-ups" were made in the Dublin diocese.
Fr Declan Carroll, a curate in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo said he could not understand
why priests and bishops in positions of authority in Dublin were unable to admit
to serious mistakes they had made.
"Then they could reach out a hand of support to the victims who have suffered,
silently, bravely and traumatically over the past number of years," he said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:38:29 AM
IRELAND
Canon law has same status as golf rules
Irish
Independent
JUSTICE Minister McDowell bluntly told the Catholic Church yesterday that its
canon law had the same status as that of a golf club and did not have superior
rights to the civil law of the land.
In a strongly worded comment setting out the Government's stance on the issue
of which law takes precedence, the minister said there was only one law to which
all of us were subject.
The State's civil law viewed the Catholic Church's own canon law as equivalent
to the laws of the Presbyterian Church or the internal rules of a sporting organisation,
he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern reaffirmed to the Dail that the law of the land applied
to everybody "no matter who or what one is or what a person's status is or what
they think it is".
Mr Ahern appealed to anyone with information regarding any issues of sexual abuse
to give it to the gardai where it would be dealt with under the criminal justice
system without fear or favour.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:34:46 AM
IRELAND
Victims demand probe into church's handling of cases
Irish
Independent
VICTIMS of clerical sex abuse yesterday called for a commissioner with statutory
powers to be appointed to investigate how the Catholic Church dealt with child
abuse by priests on a nationwide basis.
At a meeting with Justice Minister Michael McDowell, Colm O'Gorman, director of
One In Four child abuse charity group and Andrew Madden, a victim of paedophile
priest Fr Ivan Payne, discussed proposals for the establishment of a commissioner's
office whose powers could be used to institute inquiries similar to those in company
law.
Mr O'Gorman said the kind of inquiry they were looking for was not to find out
whether Catholic priests had raped and abused children. He said he hoped everyone
had now accepted this as a fact.
But he said they wanted to see a "distinct inquiry" into the way the church handled
abuse cases as an institution or structure, and he said Cardinal Desmond Connell
and others were directly responsible for their actions. "We need to develop a
new and innovative form on inquiry," said Mr O'Gorman.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:32:37 AM
IRELAND
Cardinal pledges his co-operation in finding truth
Irish
Independent
CARDINAL Desmond Connell last night promised to co-operate fully with any inquiry
into clerical sex abuse "set up by an appropriate authority".
But the cardinal said he remained convinced that the Hussey Commission was the
best way to deal with the issue.
In a statement which suggested a willingness to co-operate with any future State
inquiry, Cardinal Connell said: "What is needed, once and for all, is a thorough,
independent and fully professional investigation of what has happened."
The cardinal accepted that doubt had been cast on the Hussey Commission, largely
because it had been established by church authorities.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:30:27 AM
IRELAND
No hiding place for child abuse clerics
Irish
Independent
A SPECIAL Garda investigation team was set up last night to track down anyone
responsible for covering up clerical child sex abuse.
The move follows talks between Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Deputy Garda
Commissioner Noel Conroy in the wake of RTE's Prime Time programme.
But the Government will take time to establish what other steps should be taken
to unravel the full extent of the clerical scandal and avoid knee-jerk reactions.
The minister underlined that this was not a recipe for inaction but marked a determination
to ensure whatever measures were adopted, including a State inquiry, would be
effective. Mr McDowell said the Prime Time programme highlighted something rotten
at the heart of society and could not be ignored. He declared he was not afraid
of the bang of a crozier and was prepared to do anything to pursue those guilty
of child abuse.
He said last night it would be helpful if Cardinal Desmond Connell indicated that
he supported the view expressed yesterday by Bishop Willie Walsh that he would
obey civil law if it came to a conflict with canon law.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:26:36 AM
LOUISVILLE (KY)
9 more suits filed against archdiocese
New claims of abuse raise total to 195
The
Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nine more plaintiffs filed lawsuits yesterday against the Archdiocese of Louisville,
alleging they were sexually abused by priests, a Franciscan brother and a volunteer
football coach.
The latest lawsuits raise to 195 the total filed against the Roman Catholic archdiocese
since April in Jefferson Circuit Court. The plaintiffs allege sexual abuse by
31 people connected with the church, including 26 priests.
One of the new lawsuits accuses a priest not previously named -- the Rev. Henry
G. Vessels, who died in 1980 at age 55. The plaintiff, Roger D. Kelty, alleges
that Vessels molested him when he was about 12 years old in 1969 and 1970, when
Vessels was pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church in Mount Washington.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:09:07 AM
CHICAGO (IL)
George to help revise bishops' abuse policy
Chicago
Tribune
By Julia Lieblich
Tribune religion reporter
Cardinal Francis George, named Wednesday to a commission charged with revising
the U.S. bishops' policy on sex abuse, said the panel will focus on the process
of determining an accused priest's guilt or innocence.
George plans to leave for Rome as early as Sunday to join three other American
bishops and four Vatican officials in working to bring the policy in line with
church law in time for a bishops' conference less than 3 weeks away.
The U.S. bishops had approved the policy at their June meeting in Dallas, only
to have the Vatican send it back last week for review. Vatican officials expressed
concern that the procedures did not allow priests due process as guaranteed by
canon law.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:05:26 AM
CHICAGO (IL)
Cardinal will help revise abuse policy
Chicago
Sun-Times
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND ANA MENDIETA STAFF REPORTERS
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George was named Wednesday one of four American bishops
on a special commission charged with hammering out a clergy sex abuse policy for
the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.
Last week, Vatican officials asked American church leaders to revamp a policy
adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June that called for all
allegations of sexual abuse by a priest or deacon to be reported to civil authorities
and for any priest who abuses even once to be barred from public ministry for
life.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops,
said the policy adopted by the U.S. bishops contained language that was unclear,
and he also expressed reservations about the policy's provision for ensuring priests
due process.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
09:02:53 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Judge rules lawyer in Rueger suit can be deposed
Telegram
& Gazette
By Richard Nangle
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- A motion to stop tomorrow's scheduled deposition of lawyer James J.
Gribouski in connection with a lawsuit against the Catholic diocese and Auxiliary
Bishop George E. Rueger was denied yesterday by Superior Court Judge Daniel Toomey.
Daniel J. Shea, the lawyer for Sime Braio of Shrewsbury, who says that as a teenager
he was sodomized by Bishop Rueger, had tried to block an effort by the Catholic
Diocese of Worcester to take the deposition of Mr. Gribouski, Mr. Braio's former
lawyer.
Mr. Gribouski will be deposed at the offices of diocesan lawyer James G. Reardon.
Mr. Shea told Judge Toomey that he believed the deposition of Mr. Gribouski would
violate the lawyer-client privilege.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:48:06 AM
CHARLTON (MA)
Canon law basis for summoning Rev. Kerrigan
Telegram
& Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
CHARLTON-- Robert and Elizabeth Blozie said yesterday that they summoned the Rev.
David Kerrigan under Roman Catholic canon law to celebrate Mass this coming Sunday
because they felt they could no longer attend a Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Blozie, of 171 Oxford Road, said the last straw for him was the current sexual
abuse scandal in the church. “The bishops allowed the rape of children,” he said
yesterday in an interview.
Mrs. Blozie, a lifelong Catholic, said she was concerned that so many of her friends
for a variety of reasons felt they could not go to Mass in a Roman Catholic church.
Rev. Kerrigan, who said he was fired as a priest of the Worcester diocese in 1985
by the late Bishop Timothy J. Harrington for being a “free spirit,” answered the
call by the Blozies and agreed to celebrate Mass. The Mass, which is not under
authority of Bishop Daniel P. Reilly, will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Ramada
Inn, Route 12, Auburn.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:41:24 AM
VATICAN
Vatican panelists named, examined
2 have advised bishops not to report abusers; some fear a stacked deck
Dallas
Morning News
By REESE DUNKLIN and BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
The new panel that will rework the U.S. Catholic Church's sexual-abuse policy
includes two Vatican officials who have urged bishops not to tell police about
priests who admit misconduct and a third who suggested the scandal has been blown
out of proportion.
The Vatican on Wednesday also named to the eight-man commission four U.S. bishops
who have been accused of previously keeping priests on duty despite allegations
of sexual misconduct.
The key appointments came five days after the Vatican ordered changes to the charter
passed by U.S. bishops at their historic Dallas meeting in June. The Vatican raised
concerns over some elements of the document, calling it "difficult to reconcile
with the universal law of the church." It announced it would create a panel to
develop revisions.
Victim advocate groups said that, based on past public statements by some of the
Vatican appointees, they fear that the revised policy will be substantially weaker.
Some church observers acknowledged that the U.S. church could have a tough time
getting support for key provisions of the charter.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:33:17 AM
PATERSON (NJ)
Rodimer to submit resignation to pope
Daily
Record
By Abbott Koloff, Daily Record
PATERSON -- After 51 years as a priest and nearly 25 as bishop of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Paterson, Frank J. Rodimer said Wednesday that he's sending his resignation
to Rome on Friday, on his 75th birthday, as required by church rules.
Rodimer said he decided not to ask for additional time as head of the diocese,
as he might have -- not even enough time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of
his ordination as bishop on Feb. 28.
If he were asked to stay on, he said he would see it as an opportunity to see
a national crisis in the church involving the sexual abuse of children by priests
through.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:29:44 AM
PATERSON (NJ)
Age and a Difficult Year, Paterson Bishop Says He'll Retire
The New York
Times
By RICHARD LEZIN JONES
PATERSON, N.J., Oct. 23 — Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the leader of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Paterson, announced today that he was submitting his resignation to
the pope, citing the church's mandatory retirement age for bishops and a taxing
year for his diocese.
The move had been anticipated in advance of the bishop's 75th birthday this Friday.
Under the rules of the Roman Catholic church, bishops are expected to step down
when they turn 75.
The church has, however, been known to offer exemptions to some bishops who have
sought them.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:26:56 AM
The Vatican's day of shame
Washington
Times
Paul Steidler and Mark Serrano
In its Oct. 18 official rejection of the U.S. Bishops' proposals pertaining to
sexual abuse, Vatican bureaucrats sent a disturbing message to Catholics everywhere:
Child sexual abuse is no big deal. By obfuscating and minimizing the rape and
sodomy of Catholic school children and other faithful, the Vatican now seeks to
delay, and ultimately kill, any meaningful reforms that would protect American
children.
The decision by the Vatican is akin to calling 911 when your house has been set
on fire and being told by the fire department: "While we stand by you after this
horrible crime, we must form a commission to further review the case before we
come to extinguish the blaze."
In June, by a near-unanimous vote, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops took
tepid steps toward bringing about reforms in the church. Most notably, the "Dallas
Charter" required allegations of abuse to be reported to secular law-enforcement
authorities and it instituted a so-called one-strike and you're out policy against
felonious, child-molesting priests.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:23:05 AM
ARLINGTON (MA)
Law assures priests their rights will be protected
Boston
Herald
by Tom Mashberg and Eric Convey
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Bernard Cardinal Law promised scores of skeptical priests yesterday that the Archdiocese
of Boston would emphasize the due-process rights of clergy when it formally implements
its new policies on the handling of sex-abuse allegations.
At a two-hour session in Arlington attended by 400 of the archdiocese's 900 priests,
Law heard two dozen pastors speak forcefully about the molestation crisis of the
past year and its impact on their morale and Law's stewardship.
Many feared draft recommendations from the Cardinal's Commission for the Protection
of Children rode roughshod over priests' rights in cases where the clerics are
accused of sex abuse.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:20:46 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Letter to the Editor
'Good Catholics' and 'bad Catholics'
Boston
Globe
WHEN IT COMES to assessing the Roman Catholic Church, James Carroll always gets
it right (''Redefining the bad Catholic,'' op ed, Oct. 22). All ''good'' Catholics
must stop excusing the criminal behavior of bad priests and bishops and hold them
accountable for their crimes against children.
They should understand that opposing flawed leadership and moral corruption in
the church will not make them ''bad'' Catholics. Instead, cleansing these disguised
devils from our church will make them good and worthy of a high place in heaven
for abandoning the cowardice of their silence.
TED O'NEILL
Weston
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:18:09 AM
ARLINGTON (MA)
Law said to soften stance toward group
Cardinal eyes meeting with Voice of Faithful
Boston
Globe
By Matthew Carroll, Globe Staff, 10/24/2002
ARLINGTON - In a further softening of his position, Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday
told about 400 priests that he hoped to sit down with leaders of Voice of the
Faithful, the lay group that has arisen out of the church's sexual abuse crisis
and with which he has feuded, said priests who attended a meeting with the cardinal.
Law made the remarks at St. Camillus Church in a wide-ranging session that covered
topics ranging from his decision not to resign in the midst of the crisis to the
rights of priests accused of sexual misconduct. The meeting, which was his second
in two days with archdiocesan priests, was closed to the media. But in remarks
afterward, the cardinal said the assembled priests who spoke had kind words for
the Voice of the Faithful.
''I would say the basic thrust of the comments was to encourage on my part a more
open and positive approach,'' said Law. At the earlier meeting on Tuesday, most
priests spoke positively about the organization, while a few voiced negative comments.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:15:46 AM
VATICAN
Skeptics sit on panel for clergy abuse policy
Boston
Globe
By Sacha Pfeiffer and Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff, 10/24/2002
Five days after voicing reservations about the US bishops' policy to address clergy
sexual abuse, the Vatican yesterday named the four US prelates and four Vatican
officials assigned to swiftly bring the plan into accord with canon law.
The four Americans have generally avoided strong or controversial statements on
the clergy abuse scandal.
But three of the four Vatican appointees have expressed views at odds with the
public position of US bishops on the abuse issue. Two of those have said that
Roman Catholic officials in the United States should not inform law enforcement
about priests who molest children.
In addition, the senior Vatican official among the four, Cardinal Dario Castrillon
Hoyos, has yet to rule on a 1997 request from the bishop of the Tucson diocese
that the Vatican suspend a monsignor accused of multiple acts of molesting minors,
according to sealed court records obtained by the Globe.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/24/2002
08:13:12 AM SPOKANE (WA)
Spokane's bishop names priests accused of abuse
Seattle
Times
By Nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
SPOKANE — In apparent defiance of Vatican wishes, Roman Catholic Bishop William
Skylstad yesterday released the names of five priests in the Spokane Diocese who
have been accused of the sexual abuse of children.
Skylstad, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was
releasing the names under guidelines established in June by U.S. bishops dealing
with a sexual-abuse crisis in the church.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/24/2002
06:17:35 AM
Catholic Panel Named To Revise Abuse Policy
Church Moves Quickly
Washington Post
By Alan Cooperman and Daniel Williams
Washington Post Staff Writers
The Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday named an eight-member
commission to revise the American church's zero-tolerance policy toward sexual
abuse by priests, which the Vatican refused last week to approve without changes.
In naming the commission with unusual speed, church officials signaled their desire
to avoid an extended period of confusion over the rules for disciplining priests.
If the commission finishes its work in time, the U.S. bishops could adopt the
changes at a previously scheduled mid-November meeting in Washington.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/24/2002
06:13:12 AM
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
ARLINGTON (MA)
Cardinal Law tells priests' meeting he considered resigning
Boston.com
By Associated Press, 10/23/02
ARLINGTON, Mass. -- Cardinal Bernard Law said Wednesday that he considered resigning
because of the Roman Catholic church's sexual abuse scandal.
Law, who has come under intense criticism since the scandal erupted in Boston
in January for allegedly failing to remove sexually abusive priests, has said
repeatedly that he felt it was his duty to stay on and he would not "walk away"
from the controversy.
Law, meeting with hundreds of Boston Archdiocese priests for the second consecutive
day Wednesday, was asked to consider resignation, said the Rev. Robert Bullock,
pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sharon, and head of a priests group that has
been critical of Law's leadership.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
10:06:33 PM
ARLINGTON (MA)
Law Says He Considered Resigning Because Of Scandal
Cardinal Meets With Priests For Second Day
thebostonchannel.com
ARLINGTON, Mass. -- Boston-area priests gathered for a second day Wednesday to
share their concerns about the sex abuse scandal with Cardinal Bernard Law, who
said that he once considered resigning.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that Law said he met with advisers
to discuss resigning, but he decided to remain to help right the wrongs done against
victims of sexual abuse.
"It would not take a rocket scientist to realize that that is an option that someone
in my circumstances over the past 10 months would need to have considered, and
I did consider that," Law said. "The proper thing for me to do is to continue
fulfilling my responsibility as archbishop."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
09:38:53 PM
Q + A on the Vatican Response to the Dallas Policy
Catholic World News
Q: Why did the Vatican reject the US bishops' proposal?
Vatican officials explained that some aspects of the "Dallas policy," approved
by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in June, could not be reconciled
with the Code of Canon Law: the universal rules that govern the Catholic Church.
The Vatican applauded the USCCB for making a concerted effort to address the sex-abuse
problem, and suggested that a joint commission of American and Vatican officials
could work together to propose a new set of policies, in accordance with canon
law.
Q: So was this really a rejection? Or does the Vatican just want to "fine-tune"
the American proposal?
A:It is really is a rejection. The USCCB asked the Vatican to approve certain
changes in the Code of Canon Law; the Vatican declined to give that approval.
This is, essentially, a legislative process. The US bishops voted in favor of
a proposal, and sent it to Rome for approval. The Vatican turned it down.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/23/2002
01:21:31 PM
VATICAN
Members named to American-Vatican commission to revise US sex abuse policy
Boston.com
By Associated Press, 10/23/02
VATICAN CITY -- Five days after rejecting the U.S. bishops' sweeping zero tolerance
policy against clerical sex abuse, the Vatican announced the names Wednesday of
the joint American-Vatican commission that will revise the plan.
American members of the commission are Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, Archbishop
William Levada of San Francisco, Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., and Bishop
William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.
The Vatican will be represented by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who heads
the Congregation for Clergy; Monsignor Julian Herranz, who heads the Council for
Legislative Texts; Monsignor Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, and Monsignor Francesco Monterisi, secretary of the
Congregation for Bishops.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
12:53:20 PM
DUBLIN, IRELAND
TV Program Raises New Assertions of Abuse by Priests in Ireland
The
New York Times
By BRIAN LAVERY
DUBLIN, Oct. 22 — Fresh assertions about priests sexually abusing children are
again infuriating people in this strongly Catholic country.
The source this time is a television documentary broadcast last week by the state
network RTE, which focused on routine abuse of young boys by a number of priests
in the Dublin diocese. The program asserted that bishops, including the current
archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, knew the abuse was taking place
but did not tell the police or parents, even in cases when the offender had been
defrocked. In several instances, according to the program, the prelates transferred
the abusers to other areas and jurisdictions, among them a rehabilitation hospital
that had a children's ward.
Public anger reached a similar fever pitch last spring, after a BBC documentary
revealed that church authorities knew about longstanding allegations against one
of Ireland's most notorious pedophile priests, the Rev. Sean Fortune, and failed
to act. The ensuing furor forced the resignation of Father Fortune's superior,
Bishop Brendan Comiskey. (Father Fortune committed suicide in 1999 while awaiting
trial.)
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
09:49:44 AM
VIRGINIA
Puerto Rico Expels Paroled Va. Molester
Washington
Post
By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Officials in Puerto Rico have decided to expel a Virginia tent-revival preacher
who moved to the island last week after spending 11 years in federal prison for
running a child prostitution ring.
Mario "Tony" Leyva, 55, was released from the Brunswick Correctional Center in
Lawrenceville, Va., in April after serving more than half of a 20-year prison
sentence. In 1988, the self-ordained evangelist admitted to having had sex with
as many as 100 boys, and pleaded guilty to charges that he used his traveling
ministry to recruit youths and transport them across state lines as part of a
prostitution ring.
On Oct. 14, Leyva arrived in Puerto Rico to join his wife, whom he married in
the 1990s while behind bars, and stepson. But officials with the Caribbean island's
Department of Correction and Rehabilitation said yesterday they would not agree
to oversee Leyva's parole. They ordered him back into the supervision of Virginia
officials and gave him 72 hours to leave.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
09:21:27 AM
MEDWAY (MA)
Law and Boston priests meet to discuss scandal
Telegram
& Gazette
By Robert O'Neill
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEDWAY-- Cardinal Bernard F. Law reached out to hundreds of priests yesterday
to offer his support and to listen to their concerns about the ongoing sexual
abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston.
After the gathering, the first such major meeting between Law and the priests
in over six months, Law said that the meeting was “an opportunity for me to be
with my brother priests.”
“They are exercising their ministry under a very heavy burden, and that burden
is the effect of the terrible crime and sin of the sexual abuse of children,”
he said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
09:15:54 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Desilets arraigned in Canada
Telegram
& Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- The Rev. Paul M. Desilets, who allegedly molested several boys in
Bellingham, was arraigned yesterday in Canada, and the case was continued to Nov.
22.
District Attorney John J. Conte began the extradition process for Rev. Desilets
in August after Worcester County grand jury indictments in April and May.
Mr. Conte said he expects the Nov. 22 hearing in Canada to be a review of whether
Rev. Desilets, 78, should be extradited to Worcester to face the charges. Rev.
Desilets was arrested in Joliet, Quebec, on Monday by Canadian police. He was
released by the court in Montreal yesterday pending next month's hearing.
The alleged incidents happened between 1978 and 1984 when the priest, a member
of the Clerics of St. Viator, was assigned to Assumption Parish in Bellingham.
The parish is in the Boston archdiocese but is under Mr. Conte's jurisdiction.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
09:11:13 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
A priest returns for the flock
Telegram
& Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- The Rev. David Kerrigan, who said he was dismissed as a priest of
the Worcester Diocese in 1985 by the late Bishop Timothy J. Harrington for being
a “free spirit,” intends to start celebrating Mass again, but without approval
of Bishop Daniel P. Reilly.
He will celebrate his first Mass under the name Catholics For Christ at 10 a.m.
Sunday at the Ramada Inn, Route 12, Auburn. Locations may vary from week to week.
Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the Worcester diocese, said those who choose
to attend the Sunday Mass “should ask themselves why they are there.” Mr. Delisle
said Rev. Kerrigan has been suspended “and has been told that he may not celebrate
the Eucharist publicly or privately.”
“If he chooses to hold a service, he is acting in direct defiance of the bishop
and not in communion with the Catholic Church,” Mr. Delisle said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
08:54:07 AM
NORTHAMPTON (MA)
Priest sees redemption in change
The priest is a strong supporter of Voice of the Faithful.
Springfield
Union-News
By BILL ZAJAC
Staff writer
NORTHAMPTON - If the Roman Catholic Church is to reap anything from the current
sex abuse crisis, it will be an institution renewed and strengthened by change,
an outspoken priest from Newton said last night.
"When you think about the pain that has been suffered by children and their families,
a renewal of the church is the only redemption. Otherwise, their pain has been
in vain," the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin told more than 120 people at a Voice of the
Faithful meeting at St. Mary's Parish last night.
Cuenin, pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton, is a strong supporter
of the Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization formed in the wake of the sex
abuse scandal.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
08:50:24 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Reilly says archdiocese is still holding out
Boston
Herald
by Eric Convey and Robin Washington
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
The Archdiocese of Boston is continuing to thwart efforts by prosecutors investigating
the clergy molestation scandal, Attorney General Tom Reilly said yesterday.
``We fight for everything we get, basically,'' Reilly said.
The church has produced some information, he told Herald reporters and editors,
but ``none of this has happened voluntarily.''
Reilly said the archdiocese has avoided prosecution because the state did not
have adequate child endangerment laws until this year. Furthermore, he said, ``we
don't have a statewide grand jury. That would have been helpful here.''
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
08:43:59 AM
MEDWAY (MA)
Law, priests meet to discuss crisis
Boston
Globe
By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff, 10/23/2002
MEDWAY - Cardinal Bernard F. Law, in a gathering described as cordial and serious,
met with about 300 priests yesterday to discuss a variety of issues related to
the sexual abuse crisis roiling the church.
Law sought advice from the clerics about how to deal with Voice of the Faithful,
a group born out of the crisis, which has criticized the way church leaders treated
predatory priests.
Most priests offered positive reviews of the group, founded in Wellesley. The
meeting was private, but details were provided by several priests inside St. Joseph's
Church, which hosted the gathering.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/23/2002
08:41:39 AM
The Vatican Should Honor Thy Laity
Newsday
Opinion By Dick Ryan
October 22, 2002
Rome has spoken, but is anyone listening?
On Friday, when the Vatican issued a terse, seven-paragraph letter to the U.S.
bishops regarding their proposed charter on sexually abusive priests - which they
had drafted in Dallas in June - it was greeted with reactions ranging from delight
to head-shaking despair. Many priests welcomed the Vatican's call for due process.
But some lay people viewed the letter as one more paternal stroke to protect its
priests under a legal system that is as secretive as it is rigidly separate from
the American system. Still others saw it as a withering sign that the abuse of
children is nothing more troubling to Rome than an embarrassing nuisance.
Dick Ryan is a freelance writer living in West Islip.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/23/2002
08:23:00 AM
Rebuked by Rome
Washington
Post
Column By E. J. Dionne Jr.
October 22, 2002
Just when America's Catholic bishops thought they had the makings of a policy
for dealing with the church's pedophilia scandal, along comes Rome to send them
back to -- well, to where exactly?
If you talk to returning American bishops, last week's rejection by the Vatican
of their Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was not a rejection
at all. Everything will work out, they say, after a little bit of "tweaking" and
some "refinement."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/23/2002
08:02:25 AM
LOS ANGELES
EDITORIAL: Putting Itself Above the Law
Los
Angeles Times
Civil authorities and victims of child abuse in the United States should have
zero tolerance for the Vatican's latest reluctance to take the crisis in the Catholic
Church seriously.
Before news of Catholic priests sexually abusing children became public, the church
hierarchy showed little respect for the children whom priests had abused. Church
officials simply moved a priest accused of sexual abuse in one parish to another.
Often, no one bothered to notify civil authorities that a child had claimed he
or she was molested. It's called sweeping the dirt under the rug, and in the long
run it always makes things worse.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/23/2002
07:56:37 AM
VATICAN
Members named to American-Vatican commission to revise U.S. sex abuse policy
San
Francisco Chronicle
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Five days after rejecting the U.S. bishops' sweeping zero
tolerance policy against clerical sex abuse, the Vatican announced the names Wednesday
of the joint American-Vatican commission that will revise the plan.
American members of the commission are Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, Archbishop
William Levada of San Francisco, Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., and Bishop
William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/23/2002
07:52:08 AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
MEDWAY (MA)
Law Meets With Priests Over Sex Abuse Crisis
Priests Say Church Engaging In Constructive Dialogue
thebostonchannel.com
MEDWAY, Mass. -- For the first time in more than six months, Cardinal Bernard
Law Tuesday held a formal meeting with hundreds of area priests to address the
sex abuse crisis.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that priests were allowed to express
their concerns to Law about the church's handling of the crisis. While the meeting
was behind closed doors, priests who attended it said that the conversation was
frank, with some priests thanking Law for his leadership and at least one saying
it might be time for Law to step down.
"We are in the process of preparing a revised policy and procedures for this whole
area of protection of children -- how cases, how allegations are handled from
A to Z," Law said.
Those who attended the meeting said that the discussion was valuable as civil
and criminal cases continue to move forward against priests accused of sexually
abusing minors.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:39:39 PM
MEDWAY (MA)
Cardinal Law meets with priests to discuss policy on abuse allegations
Boston.com
By Robert O'Neill, Associated Press, 10/22/02
MEDWAY, Mass. -- Cardinal Bernard Law reached out to hundreds of priests on Tuesday
to offer his support and to listen to their concerns about the ongoing sexual
abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston.
After the gathering, the first such major meeting between Law and the priests
in over six months, Law said that the meeting was "an opportunity for me to be
with my brother priests."
"They are exercising their ministry under a very heavy burden, and that burden
is the effect of the terrible crime and sin of the sexual abuse of children,"
he said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:34:29 PM
LAWRENCE (KS)
Former priest sentenced to 32 months
Abuse: Victim's letter to judge says 'sadness, anger and resentment consume me'
The Capital-Journal
Last Modified:
By Steve Fry
The Capital-Journal LAWRENCE -- A former Catholic priest convicted of sexually
assaulting a 15-year-old boy was sentenced Friday in Douglas County District Court
to 32 months in prison.
Dennis Edward Schmitz, 41, asked for probation so he could undergo treatment in
St. Louis, but District Judge Michael Malone told him he could get the treatment
after his release from prison.
After he was sentenced, Schmitz spoke briefly with his attorneys, then with his
father and other family members before two sheriff's deputies took him into custody.
The deputies escorted him out of the courtroom, down a hallway and through a doorway
leading to a holding cell and a sally port. If Schmitz earns all of the good time
available, he could be released from prison after 27 months.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
04:14:32 PM
ATLANTIC CITY (NJ)
Victims: Church violates privacy
PressofAtlanticCity.com
By PETE McALEER Statehouse Bureau, (609)-292-4935
Gary Mulford entered his lawsuit against the Camden Diocese as "John Doe."
Then he learned private investigators working for the diocese showed up at the
Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City to interview his bosses and co-workers.
The investigators wanted to know if Mulford ever talked about being molested by
a priest.
With his story out, Mulford, 43, now is emerging as the leading voice for a group
of men who refuse to give up on their class-action lawsuit against the diocese
despite several legal defeats.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
10:35:41 AM CAMDEN (NJ)
Local group banned from meeting at churches
Courier-Post
By KAREN KENNEDY-HALL
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN
The Camden Diocese has banned from meeting on church properties local members
of a national Catholic lay organization that wants to help change the way the
church responds to sex-abuse complaints.
In a letter to Kevin Gemmell, South Jersey coordinator of the Voice of the Faithful,
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Camden indicated that in his view, the organization's
goal of structural changes in the church is unclear and "outside of the Magisterium
of the Church."
The group, which has about 70 local members, aims to support victims of sexual
abuse by the clergy, support priests of integrity, continue to practice and believe
in the church's teachings and actively help in restructuring the church, Gemmell
said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
10:32:13 AM
BELLEVILLE (MD)
Pastor is removed for alleged abuse
Review board finds evidence credible
Belleville News-Democrat
By George Pawlaczyk
GPAWLACZYK@BND.COM
BELLEVILLE -- The Rev. William F. Rensing, pastor of a parish in Sparta, is the
latest Belleville Diocese priest to be officially accused of sexual abuse of a
minor and removed from active ministry.
On Monday, Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville announced the ``administrative''
removal of Rensing, 72, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. The so-called ``stage
one'' removal means that while Rensing will not be allowed to say Mass or perform
other priestly duties, he will still get paid.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/22/2002
10:21:33 AM
Rejecting the Bishops
The
New York Times
By MARGARET O'BRIEN STEINFELS
It is no surprise that Vatican officials have put the United States Catholic bishops'
zero-tolerance policy on hold. Many Catholics may be surprised to learn, however,
that the Vatican's concern focuses on due process for priests accused of child
sexual abuse. Due process has not been a hallmark of Vatican decision making.
Why raise it now?
The Vatican has raised it as a way to protect church authority. Although various
curial congregations promise to work with the American bishops in clarifying their
policy on clerical sex abuse, it is more likely that the policy will be changed
not so much to protect accused priests or their victims as to protect the Vatican's
power — including its power to control bishops.
It is true that the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the American bishops in Dallas
last June needs fine-tuning. The rights of accused priests have not been observed
in the current climate. Cases decades old can have an ex-post-facto quality that
begs for clarification — as does the definition of abuse itself and the standard
for establishing a credible allegation.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
09:58:35 AM
HAGERSTOWN (MD)
Catholics talk about child abuse
by LAURA ERNDE
Herald-Mail
Under the bright fluorescent lights of a St. Ann Catholic Church meeting room
on Monday, Cardinal William H. Keeler discussed the painful topic of child sexual
abuse by priests.
"We want to shine a purifying light and healing light where darkness has allowed
abuse to exist and to continue," Keeler told a group of about 30 people who attended
the "listening session." It was the eighth of nine sessions the archdiocese is
holding across the state.
Keeler said the archdiocese will not tolerate abuse and is committed to helping
victims.
Keeler sat next to Mark Serrano, 37, who told the group that he was sexually abused
by his priest in Mendham, N.J., starting at age 10. Serrano wore a photo of himself
at that age around his neck.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/22/2002
09:57:30 AM
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Desilets arrested
Woonsocket
(RI) Call
JOSEPH B. NADEAU, Staff Writer October 22, 2002
BELLINGHAM -- Alleged victims of former Assumption Parish priest Paul M. Desilets
say they feel a step closer to healing after his arrest yesterday in Canada on
charges of indecent assault and battery on a child.
In a move taking both victims and local police working on the case by surprise,
Worcester County District Attorney John J. Conte announced in a late afternoon
press release that Desilets, now a priest associated with the Clerics of Saint
Viator, had been arrested in Joliet, Quebec, Canada, as a result of an "international
extradition" request made by his office in August.
He is to be arraigned by Canadian authorities today, Conte said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:27:04 AM
NASHUA (NH)
Their voices are being heard
Church reform group making inroads
Concord
Monitor
NASHUA - A group of laypersons hoping to reform the Roman Catholic Church said
they are getting a better reception in New Hampshire than Massachusetts, where
the recent clergy abuse scandal began.
Peter Flood, a New Hampshire-based organizer for the Voice of the Faithful, said
the church can learn from the scandal and become stronger for it.
"God works in strange ways. This may be like being in Alcoholics Anonymous: You
have to hit rock bottom before you join, but then you come back up again," Flood
said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:20:11 AM
CONCORD (NH)
N.H. following church abuse leads in and out of U.S.
Foster's
Daily Democrat
By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI
Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Prosecutors are interviewing witnesses in and out of the
country as they investigate whether the Catholic church in New Hampshire, or its
leaders, violated state child endangerment laws by transferring priests suspected
of molesting children from parish to parish.
"We have not ruled out the issue of individual culpability," Assistant Attorney
General William Delker said Monday. He does not expect a decision on whether to
file charges until December at the earliest.
"We are looking at 40 years of cases," he said. "That’s literally what’s going
on. It’s an immense amount of time to cover and a lot of witnesses to cover."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:17:24 AM
CONCORD (NH)
Five men sue estate of dead priest
Allege that Karl Dowd abused them at churches in Salem and Manchester and at a
summer camp in Gilmanton
Foster's
Daily Democrat
By STEPHEN FROTHINGHAM
Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Five men are suing the estate of a Roman Catholic priest
who died last winter, saying the priest abused them at churches in Salem and Manchester
and at a summer camp in Gilmanton.
The suit against Rev. Karl Dowd names one plaintiff, 36-year-old Jerel Davis of
Salem, and identifies four as "John Doe."
The suit claims Dowd abused Davis between 1978 and 1980 while Dowd was pastor
of the St. Joseph parish in Salem and Davis was a minor.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:15:47 AM
MANCHESTER (NH)
In New Hampshire, Abuse Cases Undermine a Catholic Bishop
The
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
MANCHESTER, N.H., Oct. 18 — A priest was dead in circumstances that suggested
a tawdry sexual liaison, and an ecclesiastical cleanup crew was dispatched to
his rectory here to scour for anything that might further embarrass the church.
Searching through clothing, furniture and closets, priests found artificial genitalia,
leather thongs, sex-enhancing drugs and scores of pornographic videos, which the
monsignor leading the operation ordered removed and destroyed.
The church kept these 1999 events secret until a priest made them public earlier
this year in an unusual lawsuit he is pursuing against the bishop of Manchester,
John B. McCormack. Those events and other revelations have led New Hampshire newspapers
and many Roman Catholics to demand Bishop McCormack's resignation. On Oct. 6,
parishioners in one church where the bishop said Mass urged him noisily to step
down and accused him of lying about a pastor he assigned to their parish without
disclosing the priest's affair with a teenage boy.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
08:12:25 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Voice of Faithful to meet tonight
Telegram
& Gazette
WORCESTER-- The Worcester Diocese Voice of the Faithful group will meet at 7 tonight
in the Saxe Room of the Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square. Parking is in
the metered lot across from the library main entrance.
Susan Renehan of Southbridge, who said she was sexually abused and then stalked
by a priest while living in another state, will speak on her experiences and show
a video containing footage of the June 23 Solidarity March from Boston Common
to Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston. Numerous survivors of clergy sexual abuse and
their parents spoke at that march.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:59:45 AM
ATLANTA (GA)
Pastor mocks order to stop public whippings
Telegram
& Gazette
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA-- A pastor used his last sermon before heading to jail to encourage his
flock to continue whipping disobedient children.
The Rev. Arthur Allen Jr., convicted of cruelty to children, took off his belt
and waved it behind a 14-year-old boy as part of a mock whipping at the House
of Prayer.
Allen, 70, and four church members were found guilty Thursday of aggravated assault
and cruelty to children for whipping two boys in front of the congregation in
February 2001.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:57:03 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Desilets arrested in Canada
Telegram
& Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- The Rev. Paul M. Desilets, 78, accused of molesting several boys in
Bellingham before heading to Canada, was arrested yesterday by Canadian police
in Joliette, Quebec.
He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Canada.
District Attorney John J. Conte, who began the extradition process several months
ago, said the arrest resulted from an international extradition request he made
in August.
Rev. Desilets is a priest with the Clerics of St. Viator, a French order with
branches in many countries, including the United States.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:53:46 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Former Boston Bruins hockey player says priest acknowledged abuse of three
boys
Springfield
Union-News
By KEN MAGUIRE
The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) -- When three of Chris Nilan's friends said they had been molested
by the same trusted Roman Catholic priest who had performed Nilan's wedding, the
former professional hockey star wanted to know the truth.
So Nilan confronted the priest, Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan, and asked if the
allegations were true. That discussion was recounted in sworn testimony filed
Monday as part of a lawsuit against a Ryan and the archdiocese.
"I needed some answers for my own sanity," said Nilan. "Having done confession
with him before, I had to hold him to supposedly what his morals and values of
the church were."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:51:12 AM
WORCESTER (MA)
Ex-Bellingham priest accused of sex abuse held in Canada
Boston
Herald
by Tom Mashberg
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
A former Bellingham priest indicted in Worcester County on 32 counts of child
molestation was arrested in Canada yesterday after a complex international prosecution
effort initiated by the Worcester County District Attorney's office.
The Rev. Paul M. Desilets, 78, was seized in Joliet, Quebec, and is scheduled
to be arraigned there today, according to Worcester DA John J. Conte. There was
no word on when he might be extradited.
Desilets allegedly abused 18 altar boys between 1978 and 1984 while serving at
Bellingham's Our Lady of Assumption Parish, which is in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Desilets is a Springfield native who moved to Canada in 1963 and was ordained
as a priest with the Clerics of St. Viator, a Catholic order.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:43:47 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Ex-Bruin says cleric and teen had longtime sexual relationship
Boston
Herald
by Robin Washington, Tom Mashberg and Eric Convey
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The highest-ranking cleric in the Archdiocese of Boston to be accused of child
abuse engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenage boy in the 1980s that continued
until three years ago, according to a deposition released yesterday.
As reported in the Boston Sunday Herald, former Boston Bruins defenseman Chris
``Knuckles'' Nilan testified under oath in July that Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan
admitted molesting three teenagers: former Catholic Memorial High School hockey
players Garry M. Garland and David E. Carney, and a third youth whose name has
been withheld.
Ryan, a former vice chancellor under Humberto Cardinal Medeiros in the early 1980s,
was pastor of St. Joseph's in Kingston and head of the Plymouth Vicariate, overseeing
16 southern parishes, at the time of his suspension in April.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:41:08 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Redefining the 'bad Catholic'
Boston
Globe
By James Carroll, 10/22/2002
''THE NOVEL is a Protestant art form, requiring the free play of the mind,'' George
Orwell wrote. ''There are few Catholic novelists who are any good, and most of
them are bad Catholics.'' Orwell did not know the work of Walker Percy or Flannery
O'Connor. I'll leave assessments of my own novels to others, but in truth I can't
read that phrase ''bad Catholic'' without a shudder. What is a bad Catholic anyway?
Once it was clear. Orwell probably had Graham Greene in mind, or perhaps Evelyn
Waugh - famously unbridled Catholics. Late in life, writers Eugene O'Neill and
Allan Tate were haunted by their status as bad Catholics. Because of an early
alienation from the church, even as exalted a figure as financier and first secretary
of defense James Forrestal rebuked himself as a bad Catholic not long before his
suicide in 1949. Both O'Neill and Forrestal asked to see a priest at the end,
although neither did. Bad Catholics were in ''bad marriages,'' or they were openly
gay, or they had had abortions, or they practiced ''artificial birth control.''
They were condemned by their own heart-rending personal choices.
It is different now. Members of reform groups like ''Voice of the Faithful'' or
''Call to Action'' are labeled as bad Catholics by some. So are priests who organize
without permission of the bishop and lay people who want women ordained. Governor
Frank Keating of Oklahoma would seem to be a good Catholic, since the US bishops
appointed him head of their National Review Board on Clergy Sexual Abuse. Yet
Keating has presided over dozens of death row executions, while Pope John Paul
II, in his encyclical ''Evangelium Vitae,'' said justification for the death penalty
is ''rare, if not virtually nonexistent.''
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/22/2002
07:39:00 AM
Faith in priest tested by sex abuse allegations
Admirers grapple with case of cleric who 'did the most for the church'
Dallas
Morning News
10/21/2002
By STEVE McGONIGLE and BRENDA RODRIGUEZ / The Dallas Morning News
Being assigned to run three dirt-poor Catholic churches scattered across 25 miles
of the remote Texas Panhandle was a welcome second chance for the Rev. Ed Graff,
and he made the most of it.
During a decade of work in Silverton, Quitaque and Turkey, Father Graff, 73, established
a reputation for kindness and generosity that made him a beloved figure to his
predominantly Hispanic congregants.
Maria Garcia of Silverton keeps a photograph of Father Graff on a makeshift altar
in her living room and prays for him daily. "Of all the priests we've had," she
said, "he did the most for the church."
Ms. Garcia and other admirers have had their faith in Father Graff put to the
test since Oct. 4, when the retired priest was arrested and charged with molesting
a 15-year-old boy in his former residence in Silverton.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/22/2002
07:27:59 AM
What Signal Is the Vatican Sending?
Leading Catholic commentators consider what changes the Vatican has in mind for
the U.S. bishops' sex abuse policy.
Beliefnet
On Friday, the Vatican officially reacted to the American bishops’ plan for dealing
with pedophile priests. But much debate ensued over what message the Holy See
was trying to send, not only about sex abuse but also the role of laity in the
church and the authority of bishops.
To sort it out, Beliefnet talked to a number of the leading Catholic analyists
and thinkers, including:
-George Weigel, biographer of Pope John Paul II
-John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter
-The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of America magazine
-The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things magazine
-Mike Emerto, spokesperson for Voice of the Faithful, a grass-roots lay group
-The Rev. Daniel Ward, a canon lawyer, and director of the Legal Resources Center
for Religious in Washington
-James Hitchcock, professor of history at St. Louis University.
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/22/2002
07:25:55 AM
Monday, October 21, 2002
BOSTON (MA)
Monsignor admitted to molesting three boys, according to deposition
Boston.com
By Ken Maguire, Associated Press, 10/21/02
BOSTON -- The highest-ranking Boston Archdiocese official implicated in the clergy
sex abuse crisis admitted to molesting three boys more than 20 years ago, a friend
of the priest's alleged in sworn testimony filed Monday.
Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan, who was vice chancellor under Cardinal Humberto Medeiros,
admitted to molesting three boys when confronted by his friend, former Boston
Bruin Chris Nilan, according to Nilan's sworn testimony filed in Suffolk Superior
Court.
Ryan allegedly sexually abused Garry Garland, David Carney and a third unnamed
man, and maintained a sexual relationship with the unnamed man up until three
years ago, Nilan said when questioned under oath in a lawsuit brought by Carney
against Ryan and the archdiocese.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
03:11:16 PM
CHICAGO (IL)
A Catholic Church Rallies Behind Suspended Pastor
The New York
Times
By JODI WILGOREN
CHICAGO, Oct. 20 — During the Prayer of the Faithful this morning at Holy Angels
Church, tucked beside the standard petitions on behalf of Cardinal Francis George
and President Bush, was a personal plea for a fallen shepherd.
"For our pastor, Father John Calicott, that the Holy Spirit sustain him in his
present darkness," Tony Vales, a parishioner, intoned from the altar. "And that
his return to ministry will be much sooner than is currently envisioned."
"Lord," responded the congregation, "hear our prayer."
The members of Holy Angels have been repeating this request every Sunday since
June, when their pastor, who long ago admitted sexual misconduct with two 15-year-old
boys in 1976, was removed from the parish as part of the American bishops' new
zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse. But the prayer took on new urgency at this
morning's Mass, two days after the Vatican announced the policy would have to
be reworked to protect the rights of accused priests.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
09:18:00 AM
ATLANTA (GA)
As jail time looms, pastor wields belt
Sermon includes mock whipping
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
By JILL YOUNG MILLER
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Even as he is about to go to jail, convicted of cruelty to children, the Rev.
Arthur Allen Jr. encouraged House of Prayer members Sunday to continue whipping
disobedient children.
He even took off his belt during church and gave a demonstration on a teenage
boy.
The cooperative boy wasn't lashed; Allen waved the belt in the air behind him,
administering a mock punishment. Allen had two men hold the boy's arms after Allen
had shown how easily the boy could escape if Allen alone tried to hand-spank him.
"See if he's going to stand up there and let you hit him with a belt and you don't
hold him," Allen said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:51:08 AM
ST. LOUIS (MO)
Gregory: Vatican didn't reject plan
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
By Matthew Franck and Michele Munz
Of the Post-Dispatch
Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said
Sunday that the Vatican and the U.S. Roman Catholic Church were not locking horns
over a policy of zero tolerance toward sexual abuse by priests.
Gregory, who also heads the Belleville Diocese, returned to St. Louis Sunday from
Rome, where Vatican officials issued a letter Friday stating that some aspects
of the sex abuse policy conflicted with church law.
Some have interpreted the letter as a rejection of the tough policy that Gregory
helped to formulate in Dallas this June. But Gregory dismissed that assessment.
"The term 'rejected' is not accurate," he said at a news conference at Lambert
Field.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:44:16 AM
ST. LOUIS (MO)
Group Urges Bishops to Stand Up
St.
Petersburg Times
By CHERYL WITTENAUER
Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Stung by the Vatican's criticism of a clergy sex abuse reform
policy, a leading victims' advocacy group is urging American Roman Catholic prelates
to stand up to Rome.
Outside Catholic churches in more than a dozen U.S. cities Sunday, members of
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests handed out leaflets calling on worshippers
to demand the removal of abusers "regardless of what officials in Rome say."
"Virtually every bishop has come under fire for protecting molesters," said David
Clohessy, national director of SNAP. "Maybe it's time to come under fire for protecting
kids."
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:31:03 AM
WASHINGTON (DC)
In Search of Clarity, and Fairness
Vatican Worries That U.S. Sex Abuse Policy Abandons 'Due Process'
Washington Post
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 21, 2002; Page A02
Four months ago, when the nation's Roman Catholic bishops enacted a get-tough
policy toward child sexual abuse, few commentators thought they had gotten it
just right. Victims' groups said the bishops had not gone far enough. Groups devoted
to priests' rights said they had gone too far.
But from the point of view of church leaders seeking to halt an avalanche of scandal
that was burying diocese after diocese in lawsuits, the policy had at least one
major advantage: clarity. The heart of it was a pledge to remove from public ministry
-- though not necessarily to defrock -- any priest who had ever molested a child,
no matter how long ago. "From this day forward, no one known to have sexually
abused a child will work in the Catholic Church in the United States," declared
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Vatican's partial rejection of the policy last week plunged that core promise
into uncertainty.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:25:06 AM
HARTFORD (CT)
Priests Say They're Sorry
Failed To Disclose Accused Pedophile's Hiding Place
Hartford
Courant
October 21, 2002
By PETER MARTEKA, Courant Staff Writer
Two Connecticut priests, temporarily stripped of their duties after failing to
disclose the location of a priest accused of molesting more than two dozen youths,
publicly apologized this weekend to the bishop of the Bridgeport Diocese, fellow
priests and members of their parishes.
The Rev. David W. Howell of St. Joseph Parish in South Norwalk, and the Rev. Gerald
T. Devore of St. Maurice Parish in Stamford read prepared statements at weekend
Masses at their respective churches.
Devore also announced his resignation from St. Maurice, saying he has asked Bishop
William E. Lori for some time off and planned to ask Lori for a new parish in
the future.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:15:52 AM
NASHUA (NH)
Voice of the Faithful, a church reform group, making inroads in New Hampshire
Chapters forming in Durham, Milford, Concord, Keene and New London.
Foster's
Daily Democrat
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A group of laypersons hoping to reform the Roman Catholic
Church said they are getting a better reception in New Hampshire than Massachusetts,
where the recent clergy abuse scandal began.
Peter Flood, a New Hampshire-based organizer for the Voice of the Faithful, said
the church can learn from the scandal and become stronger for it.
"God works in strange ways. This may be like being in Alcoholics Anonymous: You
have to hit rock bottom before you join, but then you come back up again," Flood
said.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
08:00:07 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Law may accept funds from dissident group
Boston
Herald
by Robin Washington
Monday, October 21, 2002
Bernard Cardinal Law is reconsidering his decision to reject a $50,000 donation
from a lay group seeking change in the church, top archdiocese officials said
yesterday.
Dr. Joseph Doolin, president of Catholic Charities, said whether or not the cardinal
accepts the money, his charitable organization hasn't ruled out taking funds from
Voice of the Faithful, a Newton-based group formed in response to the clergy sex
abuse scandal.
``The cardinal is looking at that very, very seriously and until the archdiocese
has examined that, we're just waiting,'' Doolin said.
The Rev. Christopher Coyne, an archdiocese spokesman, also said Law is considering
the offer.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
07:52:51 AM
BOSTON (MA)
Antigay pickets, church protesters clash
Boston
Globe
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff, 10/21/2002
A half-dozen followers of Frank Phelps, a Kansas pastor whose church says that
homosexuals ''pose a clear and present danger to the survival of America,'' picketed
outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross yesterday.
Carrying signs bearing derogatory and callous remarks about homosexuals - one
said ''(homosexuals) die, God laughs'' - the group at one point clashed with regular
church protesters, who are calling for Cardinal Bernard F. Law's resignation.
That put the regular protesters critical of Law's handling of the clergy sexual
abuse scandal in the odd position of defending the church.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
07:47:35 AM
MANCHESTER (NH)
N.H. near decision on charging diocese
Boston
Globe
By Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Staff, 10/21/2002
MANCHESTER, N.H. - New Hampshire state prosecutors are close to deciding whether
to bring criminal charges against the Diocese of Manchester for allegedly violating
the state's endangerment of children law by transferring priests known to face
complaints of sexual abuse to new parishes, according to the chief of the attorney
general's criminal division.
If Attorney General Philip T. McLaughlin brings criminal charges, it would mark
the first criminal charge against the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy in any state
for effectively enabling sexual abuses. If a charge is brought, it would be against
the diocese, not any individual bishop, said the official, N. William Delker.
The investigators are reviewing how the diocese handled the cases of more than
40 priests who have been accused in recent civil suits, as well as complaints
about priests abusing youths in New Hampshire between the early 1960s and the
mid-1980s.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/21/2002
07:45:23 AM
Young Priests Hold Old Values
Their views often are at odds with liberal reform of Vatican II in 1960s.
Los
Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe, Times Staff Writer
Second of two parts
Younger Roman Catholic priests in the United States are markedly more conservative
than their elders, a Los Angeles Times poll has found, reflecting a global trend
toward Christian orthodoxy that is reshaping the world's largest church.
Clerics under age 41 expressed more allegiance to the clerical hierarchy, less
dissent against traditional church teachings, and more certainty about the sinfulness
of homosexuality, abortion, artificial birth control and other moral issues than
did their elders, the poll found.
Most Priests Say Bishops Mishandled Abuse Issue
Many believe that the U.S. church's charter, though protective of children, is
unfair to clerics, and many are angry at prelates.
Los
Angeles Times
By Larry B. Stammer, Times Staff Writer
Two-thirds of the nation's Roman Catholic priests disapprove of the way that U.S.
bishops have handled sexual abuse allegations against members of the clergy, a
nationwide Los Angeles Times poll of the priesthood has found.
The findings of the poll, the most extensive nationwide opinion survey of American
priests since 1994, point to a pervasive and deep-seated anger among many priests.
Many are upset at the nation's bishops. They are also, in many cases, angry at
the news media.
In written comments that many priests submitted with the poll responses, they
said bishops delayed dealing with the crisis in the first place, then compounded
the problem by adopting a "zero-tolerance" policy, the Charter for the Protection
of Children and Young People, that denies accused clerics their rights to due
process.
Poll Analysis: Priests Say Catholic Church Facing Biggest Crisis of the Century
But most are satisfied with the way their lives are going.
Los
Angeles Times
By JILL DARLING RICHARDSON, Times Poll Assoc. Director
Most priests and members of religious orders believe the Catholic Church is currently
facing the biggest crisis of this century, according to the latest Los Angeles
Times poll. The survey of 1,854 priests and religious in 80 dioceses across the
United States and Puerto Rico reveals a clergy who are happy in their chosen life,
but who feel embattled by a barrage of negative media attention. Many also expressed
concern over the Church hierarchy's handling of the crisis, and some fear loss
of credibility and possible witch-hunts as more allegations -- some decades old
-- come to light.
PDF document
with poll results
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/21/2002
07:10:57 AM
Victims of clerical abuse urge American bishops to stand up to Rome
San
Francisco Chronicle
CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer Monday, October 21, 2002
(10-21) 01:56 PDT ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Stung by the Vatican's criticism of a clergy
sex abuse reform policy, a leading victims' advocacy group is urging American
Roman Catholic prelates to stand up to Rome.
Outside Catholic churches in more than a dozen U.S. cities Sunday, members of
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests handed out leaflets calling on worshippers
to demand the removal of abusers "regardless of what officials in Rome say."
"Virtually every bishop has come under fire for protecting molesters," said David
Clohessy, national director of SNAP. "Maybe it's time to come under fire for protecting
kids."
posted by Bill Mitchell on 10/21/2002
07:08:13 AM
Sunday, October 20, 2002
ST LOUIS (MO)
Moral opacity
PROBLEM PRIESTS
St.
Louis Dispatch
THE MEN who run the Roman Catholic Church continued their steadfast march
into the 19th century last week, refusing recognition of the sexual abuse
policy drafted by their American bishops last summer.
Vatican officials said the new policy created "confusion and ambiguity"
because some of its provisions conflicted with the "universal law of the
church." In particular, church leaders fretted about the lack of a statute of
limitations in the American policy; the summary dismissal of priests; the
public disclosure of the names of the accused; and the broad definition of
sexual abuse.
posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/20/2002
07:07:40 PM
FREEHOLD (NJ)
Awaiting rabbi trial, Freehold has seen seamy cases before
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Rita Giordano
Inquirer Staff Writer
FREEHOLD, N.J. - Now it's Freehold's turn, and this is a town that can take
it.
That's the word in this plain-talking little county seat with a blue-collar
soul and revitalized downtown. If the media circus from the first Rabbi Fred
J. Neulander murder trial in Camden pulls into Monmouth County, Freeholders
say they won't get flustered.
And what about being the stage for one of the seamiest sagas of sex and betrayal
this side of Sin City: a prominent Cherry Hill rabbi, 61, accused of having
his wife, Carol, killed in 1994 so he could keep up an affair? Freehold won't
flinch.
"We've seen it before," said Michael Toubin, police commissioner since 1987,