Clergy Abuse Tracker More Pre-11/2002 Archives

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, a borough councilman, and a Freehold resident for all but two of his 60 years.


posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/20/2002 05:48:18 PM

LOS ANGELES (CA)
TIMES POLL
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.
But the poll also found a bedrock of faith among priests, happiness in their chosen vocation and a belief that the church will come out of the crisis stronger.


posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/20/2002 05:32:38 PM
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Poll: US priests disapprove of bishops' action on sex abuse scandal
Boston.com
By Associated Press, 10/20/02
LOS ANGELES -- Two-thirds of the nation's Roman Catholic priests disapprove of the way U.S. bishops have handled sexual abuse allegations against members of the clergy, a nationwide poll has found.
A survey of 1,854 priests nationwide by the Los Angeles Times found that 65 percent feel the bishops have done a fair to poor job in providing for the discipline of bishops who cover up for abusive priests.
As part of the survey, priests were given an opportunity to add written comments along with their answers. Some also agreed to interviews.


posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/20/2002 05:26:53 PM
More Priests Likely to Challenge Dismissals
The New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
With the decision from Rome on Friday that the American bishops' zero-tolerance policy on sexually abusive priests must be substantially revised, many more dismissed priests are likely to appeal their cases to the Vatican, according to canon lawyers and other church officials.
Already, canon lawyers say that a record number of Catholic priests — although they are not sure how many — have filed appeals to the Vatican, contesting their bishops' decisions to remove them from ministry because of sexual abuse allegations.
Some of these priests were dismissed as a result of the zero-tolerance policy that the American bishops passed last June in Dallas. But now that policy is in limbo.
The Vatican is now calling into question ways in which the policy conflicted with the church's canon law, including its disregard of any statute of limitations, its broad definition of sexual abuse, and its reliance on review boards made up predominantly of laypeople to advise bishops on the credibility of accusations against priests.


posted by Kathy Shaw on 10/20/2002 05:17:13 PM

Clergy Abuse Tracker More Pre-11/2002 Archives