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The Pope's Visit to Britain is Nothing to Celebrate

2009-12-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

Original article
Tanya Gold

Save us, O Lord, save us all. Save us from the Pope. Joseph Ratzinger is coming to Britain. Gordon Brown is "delighted". David Cameron is "delighted". I am "repelled". Let him come; I applaud freedom of speech. But no red carpets, please. No biscuits. No Queen.

In his actions on child abuse and Aids, Joseph Ratzinger has colluded in the protection of paedophiles and the deaths of millions of Africans. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Pope John Paul II's chief enforcer), it was Ratzinger's job to investigate the child abuse scandal that plagued the Catholic church for decades. And how did he do it? In May 2001 he wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication. He referred to a previous (confidential) Vatican document that ordered that investigations should be handled "in the most secretive way . . . restrained by a perpetual silence". Excommunication is a joke to me, perhaps to you, but to a Catholic it means exclusion and perhaps hellfire – for trying to protect a child. Well, God is love.

He also waved aside calls to discipline Marcial Maciel Degollado, the Mexican founder of the global Legion of Christ movement. Allegations of child abuse have stalked Maciel since the 1970s. His victims petitioned Ratzinger, only for his secretary to inform them the matter was closed. "One can't put on trial such a close friend of the Pope as Marcial Maciel," Ratzinger said. Two abuse victims sued him personally for obstruction of justice, but he claimed diplomatic immunity.

Eventually, when the allegations could no longer be denied, Ratzinger apologised, and sent Maciel off "to a life of prayer and penitence". Why not prison? He didn't say. "It is a great suffering for the church . . . and for me personally," was Ratzinger's comment about the wider child abuse scandal. Great suffering? I thought to be raped as a child was great suffering. To be exposed as complicit in a cover-up is surely merely . . . embarrassing?

Ratzinger added that he believed the Catholic church had been the victim of a "planned" media campaign. By whom? By gays? By Jews? By Jedi? He instructed that prayers be said in perpetuity for the victims – thanks, I feel better now! – along with a push to ensure that men "with deep-seated homosexual tendencies" do not enter the priesthood, thereby turning all responsibility for the scandal into – the laps of the evil gays!

Ratzinger is also active in the suppression of Liberation Theology, a Latin American movement that insists that social justice is the central purpose of Christianity; that good Catholics should also be political activists who fight for the rights of the slum-living poor. Ratzinger was repelled, and dismissed it as "a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church".

And so to the church's own holocaust – in Africa. Condoms can protect Africans from Aids. But who can protect them from Ratzinger? The Catholic church has long pursued a no-condoms policy. In El Salvador the church got a law passed, ensuring that condoms were only sold with a warning stating they did not protect the user from Aids. In Kenya, Cardinal Maurice Otunga staged public burnings of condoms. The former Archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki told his flock that condoms, far from protecting them, contribute to the spread of the disease. Well, God is love.

Some local priests in Africa counsel contraception, because they care about their parishioners. But the Vatican, on its Roman cloud, disagrees. Aids, Ratzinger says, "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems". That is a lie. Not a fantasy, like the virgin birth and all the other magical, mystical nonsense, but a dangerous lie. There are, Your Holiness, more than 12 million Aids orphans in Africa. Twenty-two million Africans have Aids and the UN fears that eventually 90 million could die.

Ratzinger presides over a church that calls homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound". Catholic reformers have tried to liberalise this view but Ratzinger slapped them down. In a 1986 letter, he complained that, "Even within the Church, [people] are bringing enormous pressure to bear . . . to accept the homosexual condition as though it were not disordered." He added that homosexuality is "an intrinsic moral evil".

Care to know the suicide statistics for teenage gays, Your Holiness? They are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual fellows. In 1998, a 39-year-old gay man called Alfredo Ormando set fire to himself in St Peter's Square, in protest at your policies. He died.

Ratzinger is no better on women; he opposes women priests, of course, and demands the criminilisation of abortion even for women who have been raped or are very sick; gin and wire coathangers, anyone? His friend, the theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg, has said that Ratzinger sees the push for female priests as driven by "spokeswomen for radical feminists, especially lesbians".

So this is the man who is coming to lecture us about morality. Welcome, Benedict XVI, Episcopus Romae, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God. Don't tread on the corpses

Vatican Probing Child Sex Abuse Allegations Against Archbishop

2009-10-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/26/09

The Irish Church's standing in Rome has been dealt a further damaging blow with a high-level Vatican investigation into a complaint of child sexual abuse against a Tipperary-born archbishop.

This is the first instance of an official charge of clerical child molestation being made against an archbishop of Irish nationality, and it comes as the Irish Church is preparing “for the worst” with publication of the Murphy Report on abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

It was learned yesterday Richard Burke (60), Archbishop of Benin, a city in southern Nigeria, stepped aside earlier this year pending the outcome of an ecclesiastical trial by the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog body, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Kiltegan missionary archbishop from Fethard, Co Tipperary, who is believed to be in the United States, has not commented on the allegation.

He is accused by Dolores Atwood, a 40-year-old married woman now living in Canada, of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, aged 14, and ill in a Nigerian hospital which he visited as a priest.

She also alleges that she suffered “emotional torture” during a 20-year secret affair which he conducted with her contrary to his vow of celibacy.

Last night St Patrick's Missionary Society in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, also known as the Kiltegan Fathers, revealed it received a complaint from a woman against Archbishop Burke on December 16 last.

“We expressed the deep sorrow and regret of the Society for the suffering the complainant and her family are going through and we affirmed the Society's commitment to child protection,” a statement said.

“We assured her that the Society's Child Protection Policy and Procedures would be adhered to. The Society offered to provide counselling for the complainant.”

The statement confirmed that the Society has complied with a request from the Doctrinal Congregation to send to Rome all relevant documents relating to the allegation so that Rome can exercise full jurisdiction.

“Although a member of St Patrick's Missionary Society, Archbishop Burke ceased to be under the jurisdiction of the Society when he became a bishop and is now under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See,” the Kiltegan Fathers said.

It was the late Pope John Paul II who consecrated him Bishop of the Nigerian diocese of Warri in March 1997, and in December 2007 Pope Benedict XVI promoted him to Archbishop of Benin City.

According to Monsignor Charles Scicluna, a senior advocate for the Congregation, Pope Benedict was informed of the charges against Archbishop Burke, who will be called to Rome for interrogation before it completes its investigations under oath of confidentiality.

The Church Must Bow Down to Law of the Land

2009-10-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/25/09

THE report on the Catholic hierarchy's handling of child sex abusers in the Dublin archdiocese is expected to criticise civil authorities for contributing to a culture of impunity surrounding paedophile priests.

While senior clergy will carry the blame, the report also implicates some senior gardai and health authorities for failing to follow through on complaints against paedophiles. According to informed sources, the report singles out the lax response of gardai in certain investigations and also criticises the former health boards in the Dublin area for failing to protect children from exposure to paedophile priests.

"The report will indicate that some senior gardai did not see investigating church men as their role. There was a view that the church was outside the remit of the garda," said an informed source.

Health authorities are criticised for not having the structures in place to deal with abusers outside the family. "They did not seem to know what their powers were," said the source.

The criticisms are believed to relate to cases dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, a period when both the Church and the civil authorities have in the past claimed they had yet to be enlightened about paedophilia.

The Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in the Dublin archdiocese is the second this year to examine the extent of child abuse perpetrated by the members of the Catholic Church. The Ryan report disclosed in brutal and graphic detail how children, most from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, were routinely beaten, sexually and psychologically abused in residential institutions.

The findings of the second report are expected to be just as shocking.

The scale of official reluctance to challenge Catholic hierarchy over its handling of paedophile priests is said by sources to be disturbing. Equally alarming is how the errant priests were shielded behind the cloak of the church as they moved from one parish to the next.

The victims of clerical abuse and the clergy itself may have to wait another fortnight to discover the extent of the report's findings. Having got the all-clear from the High Court,Justice Minister Dermot Ahern had planned to release it after a cabinet meeting last Tuesday.

The report's release was stalled again after the Director of Public Prosecution raised fresh concerns that its publication could prejudice a forthcoming trial of a priest on sex abuse charges.

In advance of its publication, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has already alluded to its findings as providing "a painful but an important reflection on society".

But when it is eventually published, the protagonists in the sordid tale of ecclesiastical cover up documented in several volumes running to 1000 pages are likely to include former senior clerics in the Dublin diocese.

Its investigation from 1975 to 2004 examines in forensic detail the progress of 46 paedophile priests, under the stewardships of the Archbishops Dermot Ryan, Kevin McNamara andCardinal Desmond Connell. Of the three, Cardinal Connell is expected to face most scrutiny. Archbishop of Dublin from 1988, he retired in 2004, with yet another apology for his scandal-prone handling of child sexual abuse cases.

Demonstrating his willingness to face up to clerical sex abuse, he trawled diocesan records over 50 years and gave the names of 17 priests to gardai, along with the names of those who had complained. He was demonstrating his willingness to deal with clerical child abusers at the time.

When in 2005, his successor, Archbishop Diarmiud Martin, embarked on his own trawl of diocesan archives, he discovered files on 102 priests and identified a figure of 390 children whom they had sexually abused. Last year, Archbishop Martin revised the figure to 160 priests who were suspected or alleged to have abused more than 400 children since 1940.

Another protagonist is expected to be Monsignor Alex Stenson, whose name has featured in several of the child abuse cases highlighted in recent years due to his role in investigating complaints against priests.

A highly regarded canon lawyer, Msgr Stenson is now a parish priest in Killester, a north Dublin suburb. For several years he was chancellor of the Dublin archdiocese working with both Dr Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Connell who succeeded him in 1988.

As chancellor, Msgr Stenson was the person to whom many parents were referred when they complained about suspect priests.

Msgr Stenson was the senior cleric who accused a nine-year-old Mervyn Rundle of lying when he claimed to have been abused by a parish priest. This was despite the fact that the diocese had already received numerous complaints against the priest.

The priest was instead sent back to his parish. It was many years later before he was convicted and Mr Rundle awarded €300,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Those who know Msgr Stenson say that he is a meticulous record taker. It is believed that he took detailed notes of his interviews with priests under suspicion and with their accusers, including parents, children and others.

It is understood that these records accounted for many of the 65,000 diocesan documents that Archbishop Martin released to the commission of inquiry last year. Cardinal Connell contested the release of some of the documents, in a High Court action which he later withdrew.

Msgr Stenson, who helped to draft the Catholic Church's guidelines on dealing with child sex abuse, spoke at the launch of the document in 1996.

Elaborating on the guidelines for journalists, he said there is "no way certain paedophiles" could be re-admitted to ministry, although bishops could make an exception in "special cases" where the priest would not have access to children.

Perhaps this was the logic which led to the late Fr Noel Reynolds becoming chaplain at the National Rehabilitation hospital in Dublin in 1997, despite complaints to the Dublin archdiocese about his behaviour towards children in his previous parish of Glendalough.

Cardinal Connell never told the hospital about Fr Reynolds' past, in breach of his own church guidelines.

Only when a "formal" complaint was made to the archdiocese in 1998 was Fr Reynolds removed from ministry. He later admitted to abusing 100 children.

Despite that staggering confession, the first the hospital knew of its former chaplain's paedophile proclivities was when it was contacted by the ground-breaking Prime Time documentary in 2002.

Behind the Catholic hierarchy's public displays of sorrow and hand-wringing for the victims of clerical sex abuse is a competing loyalty to canon law.

The Dublin archdiocese even refused to assist gardai in cases where sex abuse had been admitted to them in private by priests because -- in its view -- canon law took precedence over civil law.

This ecclesiastical arrogance was displayed to greatest effect in the case of Marie Collins. As a 13-year-old in hospital in Dublin, the chaplain stood at her bedside and took inappropriate photographs of her.

Years later in 1995, when she learnt that the cleric was still a working priest, she reported him to the Dublin archdiocese. Although the priest had admitted his guilt, Cardinal Connell indicated he could not co-operate with a garda inquiry. Msgr Stenson later threatened to sue Marie Collins when he discovered she had given his correspondence to her admitting the priest's guilt to gardai.

When Marie Collins went public with her claims in 2002, Michael McDowell, then justice minister, dismissed the Catholic Church's canon law as having the same status as golf club rules.

Seven years and a commission of inquiry later, it still remains to be seen whether or not the Catholic hierarchy is truly ready to bow to the law of the land.

Archbishop Accused of Sex Assault on Teenager

2009-10-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/25/09

An Irish archbishop is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Africa before having a 20-year affair with her, it emerged today.

The Vatican is investigating a complaint made against Archbishop Richard Burke, who stepped down as Archdiocese of Benin in Nigeria earlier this year.

He is one of the most senior members of the Catholic Church to be accused of assaulting a minor.

Archbishop Richard Burke was a member of St Patrick’s Missionary Society, based in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow.

In a statement the society, also known as the Kiltegan Fathers, confirmed it received a complaint from the woman last December.

“She alleged that she was sexually abused as a child by Richard Burke,” it said.

“We expressed the deep sorrow and regret of the society for the suffering the complainant and her family are going through and we affirmed the society’s commitment to child protection.

“The society offered to provide counselling for the complainant.”

Archbishop Burke, who is from Co Tipperary, was ordained a priest 34 years ago and later worked as a missionary in Nigeria. He became an archbishop in 2008.

It is alleged he sexually assaulted the victim in April 1983, when she was a 14-year-old patient in a hospital.

The victim, a married 41-year-old mother of three who now lives in Canada, maintains she also had a relationship with the cleric for more than two decades.

Archbishop Burke withdrew from ministry while the complaint is being investigated.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by child sex abuse scandals, most recently with the Ryan Report which laid bare the physical and psychological abusive regimes operated by religious orders in church and state-run institutions.

A damning inquiry into the handling allegations in the Dublin Archdiocese is also due to be published.

The Kiltegan Fathers said although still a member, Archbishop Burke is under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See since he was made a bishop.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requested that all relevant documents relating to the allegation be forwarded to Rome so that it can exercise its full jurisdiction in the matter,” its statement read.

“The society has done this.”

The Kiltegan Fathers said it also kept in contact with the complainant and informed her regularly of the steps taking in accordance with its policy and procedures.

“The society is committed to ensuring that justice is done and that no child is put at risk through the behaviour of our members,” it added.

Abuse Claim Against Archbishop

2009-10-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/25/09

MICHAEL O'REGAN

The Vatican is investigating an allegation of child sex abuse against an Irish-born archbishop based in Africa, his missionary order confirmed today.

Archbishop Richard Burke (60), from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was ordained a priest for St Patrick’s Missionary Society, known as the Kiltegan Fathers, in Co Wicklow, in 1975. He was ordained a bishop in 1997, and installed as Archbishop of Benin, Nigeria, in March of last year.

In a statement, the society said it had received a complaint last December from a 40-year-old woman against Archbishop Burke.

“She alleged that she was sexually abused as a child by Richard Burke. We expressed the deep sorrow and regret of the society for the suffering the complainant and her family are going through and we affirmed the society’s commitment to child protection,’’ it added.

“We assured her that the society’s child protection policy and procedures would be adhered to. The society offered to provide counselling for the complainant.’’

The statement pointed out that although Archbishop Burke was a member of the society, he had ceased to be under its jurisdiction when he became a bishop and was now under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See.

“However, he agreed to follow the society’s child protection procedures and voluntarily withdrew from ministry while the complaint is being investigated,’’ it added.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requested that all relevant documents relating to the allegation be forwarded to Rome so that it can exercise its full jurisdiction in the matter. The society has done this.’’

The society, said the statement, had kept in contact with the complainant, and informed her regularly of the steps being taken in accordance with policy and procedures. She had also been informed of the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See in the matter.

“The society is committed to ensuring that justice is done and that no child is put at risk through the behaviour of our members,’’ it added.

The Irish Mail on Sunday featured an interview with Dolores Atwood, who said that the abuse began when she was 14 years old and a patient in a hospital at Warri, Nigeria, in April 1983.

She alleged the archbishop continued to have a sexual relationship with her as recently as 2003.

Ms Atwood, who now lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, said she believed she was “manipulated and controlled’’ as a teenager.

She said she eventually confessed the relationship to her husband because she was wracked with guilt. She wrote to the Vatican and the society reporting the allegations.

Ms Atwood said she had provided phone recordings, letters and airline tickets to Church authorities as proof of their relationship.

Clergyman Linked to Rwandan Genocide Seized in Italy

2009-10-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/25/09

(CNN) -- A Rwandan accused of "complicity" in the massacre of students at the college he headed during the country's genocide 15 years ago has been arrested in Italy, where he served as a clergyman, an international police agency said.

Officers from the Italian Carabinieri and Interpol's National Central Bureau in Rome, Italy, arrested Emmanuel Uwayezu -- who had been wanted in Rwanda, the international police organization Interpol said Wednesday in a news release.

Uwayezu, 47, is accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. He is in Italian custody and is awaiting extradition to Rwanda.

According to Interpol's statement, the Rwandan arrest warrant says Uwayezu was alleged "to have acted individually and as part of a conspiracy to plan and commit genocide by instigating Hutus to kill Tutsis in the area of Gikongoro, as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho."

He is accused of "participating in meetings with government and military authorities which allegedly planned the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group" and "complicity in the massacre of some 80 students in May 1994 in the college which he headed."

Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997, took an alias, and was working as a vicar at the Church in Empoli commune near Florence when he was seized, Interpol said.

The man was identified after Interpol's fugitives unit received information and pictures from Rwandan authorities.

The Archdiocese of Florence issued a statement about the arrest two days ago, saying it hopes the justice system will come up with the truth about the case.

But, it said, "we stand by the fact that Don Emmanuel has always declared his estrangement to the events in question and we accompany him in prayers."

One Italian news report noted that Uwayezu is a priest of Hutu ethnicity and lived and worked as vice-parish priest in Ponzano, part of the county of Empoli.

Don Guido Engels, the head of the parish and a priest, told the ASCA news agency that "Don Emmanuel never cultivated feelings towards another ethnic group. He always wanted peace."

"The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification, location and apprehension of fugitives around the world," said Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director of police services.

This operation is a credit to law enforcement officers and agencies in Italy and Rwanda."

Two years ago, Interpol created a unit dedicated to searching for fugitives in the genocide who were wanted by Rwanda and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. So far, seven people wanted by Rwanda and five wanted by the tribunal have been arrested.

Police in Uganda recently arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide. Idelphonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga, a suburb of the capital, Kampala.

The arrest, by Ugandan police, was part of an operation between the tribunal, Ugandan authorities, and Interpol. Nizeyimana was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal is based.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead over a 100-day period, the United Nations and Interpol say. Millions more were raped and disfigured, and nearly an entire generation of children lost their parents.

Archbishop Accused of Sex Assault

2009-10-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/25/09

An Irish archbishop is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Africa before having a 20-year affair with her, it has emerged.

The Vatican is investigating a complaint made against Archbishop Richard Burke, who stepped down from his post with the Archdiocese of Benin in Nigeria earlier this year.

He is one of the most senior members of the Catholic Church to be accused of assaulting a minor.

Sex Case Cripples Haiti Charity, Sponsors Worry About Children

2009-10-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/24/09

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Dr. Andrea Steen fears she may never hear from Kenderna and Richardson again.

The Windsor physician sponsors the Haitian boy and girl through Hearts Together for Haiti, the aid organization once directed by former local priest John Duarte, who remains in jail in the Dominican Republic awaiting extradition to Canada to face multiple charges of molesting teenage boys at the mission he founded on the island's north coast.

"All I can say is I hope I was able to help them for the two years I sponsored them," Steen said Friday. "I hope they continue to carry on with their school and do the right thing. I hope it works out. But I feel sad and worried. There's no way of knowing."

Steen said the the 12-year-old boy and eight-year-old girl and their families came from the seaside village of Bas-de-Mer-Limbe, where the aid organization ran a clinic, a school and a sponsorship program for children. But, because of the devastating effects the allegations of sexual abuse have had on Hearts Together for Haiti, and a power struggle that has erupted in the communities since Duarte's abrupt departure in 2006, the Windsor-based organization has been forced to leave the village.

Duarte, 44, was arrested at a hotel near Puerto Plata, where he had been working as a waiter and scuba instructor, by Dominican authorities acting on a Canadian warrant earlier this week. He has been charged under the Criminal Code with nine counts of sexual exploitation of boys between the ages of 12 and 17.

Steen said the news of Duarte's arrest hit her family hard.

"It was pretty devastating to see those stories after having been there," said Steen, who has visited the children and their village. "I haven't stopped thinking about it the last two days.... I think of the children. She was absolutely the cutest little girl, a smile that would light up the place. I think about them and I hope whoever is left there will help them."

She recalled bringing the boy and girl clothing, a soccer ball, books, all the things the children of the village did without before Hearts Together for Haiti came along about four years ago.

Steen said she began her involvement after visiting the area on a medical tour and meeting Duarte.

"He told us all about Hearts Together for Haiti," she recalled. "He was so charismatic.... One of those people you can meet once and know you'll remember him the rest of your life."

She knew there must have been something wrong when she learned that Duarte had left the organization.

"I just knew something happened," she said. "I thought maybe a drinking problem and that he would come back and get treatment. I would never have thought it would be something like this."

She was impressed HTFH leadership took immediate action to remove Duarte.

"They went and confronted him and did their best to protect the kids. I think they've done the best they could to keep moral and ethical.... I hope people continue to support them. Their hearts are in the right place."

Marcie Spratt, a member of the board of directors for the organization and co-ordinator of the sponsorship program, said between the two communities -- Bas-de-Mer-Limbe and Labadie -- there were 267 children and their families, 42 elderly men and women and 17 young adult students on sponsorship. More than 1,100 children attended the schools.

In addition, part of the $600 a year that sponsors paid went toward a medical plan the organization had set up, with clinics staffed by Cuban doctors. Hearts Together for Haiti sent $17,000 a month to finance their operations. All of that, she said, is now in limbo.

Former Ontario Priest Awaits Extradition on Sex Charges

2009-10-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/23/09

A former Canadian priest currently sitting in a Dominican Republic jail cell awaiting extradition to Canada on multiple sexual molestation charges was working as a scuba diving instructor at a hotel before local authorities arrested him this week.

Joao Jose Correira Duarte, a former Windsor, Ont., priest also known as John Duarte, faces nine counts of sexually exploiting 12 to 17-year-old boys in Haiti over a 10-year span. He was arrested Tuesday by Dominican immigration and counter-narcotics agents in a joint operation, local authorities said.

Duarte, 44, had been living quietly in Sousa, Puerto Plata, where he found work at a local hotel, first as a waiter and then as a scuba diving instructor where he mainly taught tourists, according to a statement from the National Directorate for Drug Control.

"John Duarte fled to this area like just another tourist who flock to their northern coast of the country to enjoy the warm beaches, but he decided to stay here and to dedicate himself to teach scuba diving," said directorate spokesman Roberto Lebron.

Duarte allegedly exchanged goods and money for sexual favours with Haitian youth aged 12 to 17 at two hotels in Petion Ville, a sector located in the south of Port-au-Prince, Dominican authorities say. He bought the youths clothes and paid for the lodging of some of his victims' families.

The charges stem from Duarte's alleged conduct with youth between 1995 and 2005 in Haiti, the Ontario Provincial Police said. He was a priest during that time, OPP said.

He was arrested under a section of the Criminal Code which allows Canadian citizens to be prosecuted for some offences committed outside of Canada.

The RCMP's national child exploitation co-ordination centre also participated in the investigation.

Duarte held many posts in the Windsor area between 1996 and 2003. He was pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windsor and pastor-priest at Catholic Central high school from 2000 to 2003.

Duarte's involvement in Haiti dated back to the early 1990s.

Ex-Windsor Priest Faces Extradition From D.R.

2009-10-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/23/09

A former Windsor priest arrested in the Dominican Republic and accused of sexually abusing teenage boys in Haiti will be tried in Ontario, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed Thursday.

John Duarte, 44, is currently being held in custody in the D.R. awaiting extradition to Canada, according to Const. Shawna Coulter. He has been charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation, she said.

The charges against Duarte are related to allegations involving "a number of male youths in Haiti during the years 1995 to 2005," Coulter said.

A photo of John Duarte shows him in Haiti, where he did charity and missionary work. (CBC)

He was arrested on Tuesday at a hotel in Sosua, D.R., a beach village on the country's northern coast, following an investigation by the OPP and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Duarte was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1996 and served at a number of parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windsor and St. Gregory the Great in Tecumseh, according to Frank Chauvin, who knew Duarte through his own charity work in Haiti.

He left the priesthood in 2003 to move to Labadie, Haiti, where he worked for a Windsor-based charity group, Hearts Together for Haiti (HTFHaiti), which he co-founded, Chauvin said.

But in June 2006, HTFHaiti's chairman, Steve McDougall, received an email from a villager in Labadie, a northern coastal town, making "a very serious complaint" about Duarte, McDougall said.

Duarte denied the allegations but resigned from HTFHaiti almost immediately, McDougall said.

He then left Haiti and moved to Dominican Republic, Chauvin said.

"The news of the arrest of John Duarte for allegations of sexual abuse that happened in Haiti is devastating," the director of communications for the Diocese of London said in a press release.

"Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to come forward," Mark Adkinson said.

Duarte's Arrest 'Devastating' to Local Catholic Community

2009-10-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/23/09

The OPP are making plans for officers to travel to the Dominican Republic to take custody of a former Windsor priest who is facing multiple charges here of molesting teenage boys at the mission he founded in Haiti.

Const. Shawna Coulter, media relations officer for the Essex OPP detachment, said Thursday that John Duarte, 44, of Windsor, is in custody in the Dominican Republic and extradition proceedings are under way.

Duarte is charged under the Criminal Code with nine counts of sexual exploitation of boys between the ages of 12 and 17.

Acting on an arrest warrant issued by a Windsor justice of the peace in August, Dominican authorities arrested Duarte at a hotel in Sousua, near Puerto Plata, Oct. 20.

Coulter said the arrest was made under a section of the Criminal Code which provides for a Canadian citizen to be prosecuted for certain offences committed outside of Canada that would result in criminal charges if they occurred here.

“Extradition is under way and we’re just waiting,” Coulter said.

She said no date has been set for Duarte’s return.

On Thursday, a retired Windsor police detective who ran a girl’s orphanage in Haiti, said he had concerns about Duarte when the priest was a young seminarian working in the impoverished Caribbean country in the early 1990s.

Frank Chauvin said he was asked by a Haitian colleague working with troubled youth in the capital Port-au-Prince, to look into a situation where young boys were being sexually exploited at an orphanage.

In the course of taking the boys’ statements, which he intended to hand over to Haitian police, Chauvin said he became aware the American man who was allegedly abusing the children was living in the house with a Canadian seminarian. He discovered it was Duarte.

Although Duarte’s name never came up in the boys’ statements, Chauvin said alarm bells went off.

“He was a seminarian living with a suspected pedophile,” said Chauvin. “He was spending a lot of time there. It wasn’t right to have a seminarian from London down there in a situation like that. I was concerned he’d be dragged into something.”

Chauvin said he informed the bishop’s office at the London diocese and Duarte promptly returned to Canada. The investigation of the orphanage was disrupted when Haiti experienced a coup and all government institutions collapsed.

In a statement Thursday, the diocese of London said Duarte’s arrest is devastating to the Catholic community locally as well as in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Diocese spokesman Mark Adkinson said Duarte, who was born in Portugal but moved to Canada at a young age, was ordained in 1996.

He was associate pastor at St. Michael Church in Leamington from 1996 to 1999, priest-chaplain at Cardinal Carter high school in Leamington from 1997 to 1999 and associate pastor at St. Gregory Church in St. Clair Beach, in 1999 and 2000. He was pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windsor and pastor-priest at Catholic Central high school from 2000 to 2003.

Adkinson said that Duarte told the diocese in 2003 that he was going to leave the priesthood and Canada. “The diocese has had minimal contact with him since.”

Adkinson said the fact Duarte seemed to move around a lot in the early days of his priesthood was not necessarily an indication there were problems with his conduct.

“It’s not out of the ordinary for a newly ordained priest to have two or three assignments in the first years.”

Adkinson said the church likes to give recent graduates a broad range of experiences in various parishes.

Marcie Spratt of Hearts Together for Haiti, the Windsor-based aid organization Duarte founded, said Thursday the allegations have devastated the charity.

Spratt said the investigation into Duarte’s conduct was begun at the behest of the charity immediately after complaints against the priest surfaced in 2006.

Since then, the organization has been forced to stop operations in the villages where it had been running three schools, two health clinics and sponsorship programs for hundreds of impoverished families, she said.

“The damage has been far-reaching. This has weakened us very much. We’ve spent 21⁄2 years putting out fires instead of helping the dying, the sick and the children who need an education. We’ve been wasting time on this.”

Northern Ireland Victims Fight Back

2009-10-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Original article

10/20/09

So far the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister has failed to give any public commitment to such an investigation despite calls from a number of politicians and members of the public for a Ryan-style inquiry in Northern Ireland.

The SDLP is to lodge a motion next month calling on the Executive “to conduct an assessment of the level of abuse and to provide all appropriate support for those victims that come forward.”

With Northern Ireland omitted from the Ryan Report, victims here are still waiting for an adequate response from either the church or state.

Solicitor Joe Rice, from John J Rice Solicitors, told the Belfast Telegraph that a number of victims have now decided to take action themselves and are seeking advice on launching legal proceedings against the orders responsible and the government bodies charged with child welfare at the time.

Mr Rice said that ever since the publication of the Ryan Report his offices in Armagh, Ards and south Belfast have been inundated with victims seeking justice.

“This is something that is beginning to gather momentum. We have been instructed by clients in Northern Ireland who have been victims of abuse, both in state institutions and in care homes similar to those in the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (The Ryan Report) in the Republic of Ireland. We have noticed, over the past few months, in our three offices, people coming in with complaints in relation to physical abuse, neglect and sex abuse in various institutes. These complaints of abuse have not been properly investigated by the authorities in Northern Ireland. All the institutions would have been under the inspectorate of the old Stormont government at the time.

“We have started to correlate information in common with some of these cases with a view to issuing proceedings, not only against the institutions but also the government departments that would have been responsible at the time. We have also placed an advert to try and stimulate people to come forward in relation to certain institutions.

“It seems to me that those people subject to abuse in Northern Ireland have not been well served by the authorities and the government agencies set up to protect them. It is one of these things that has not been properly dealt with in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Rice would not say how many victims have come forward or name the institutes involved, but said the complaints are not restricted to institutes in the Belfast area. The SDLP’s Alex Attwood said that his party is determined to push for a full assessment into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland to be carried out as quickly as possible.

“These people were among the most vulnerable in society,” he said.

Mr Attwood added: “It may have taken nine years for the Ryan report but we would like to think there is a different culture now because of the experience of the rest of the island. We would like to think that a new future investigation would be much more concentrated so that people would get results of inquiries quicker. We need to put appropriate mechanisms in place to help these people. It is hard to assess the scale of this which is why we are calling for this assessment.”

DUP MP David Simpson said that while there have been individual cases brought against people accused of abusing children in their care in Northern Ireland there is a real need for a serious investigation into the scale of the problem of child abuse by religious orders, or other care institutions in Northern Ireland.

He added: “The Ryan Report showed the extent of the problem in the Republic of Ireland.

“I believe we need to establish the facts surrounding just what went on in Northern Ireland. Many lives have been ruined by the child abuse inflicted by those who were in a position of trust. We need to establish how many.

“This was a gross betrayal perpetrated by those were to supposed to be caring for children. It was also a shameful failure on the part of the authorities who placed them into care only to abandon them to their fate.”

I lived in fear of the next beating, the next humiliation

Clutching an old black and white photograph, Margaret McGuckin points to a sad looking young girl whose face is turned away from the camera.

“Look how sad she is. That is me. I was three-years-old and as far as I can remember I had just arrived at Nazareth House girls’ home on the Ormeau Road. I think it was 1958. It hurts when I see how sad that little girl is,” said Margaret.

Margaret, her sister and two brothers were placed in the care of the Nazareth Sisters when her parents broke up and her father struggled to raise four young children alone. Margaret was three years old and was kept in the home until the age of 11.

“My time there was just hell. There was just real coldness in there, no love was ever displayed and that is so difficult and confusing for a young child who has just been separated from her family. They wouldn’t even let me speak to my sister which might have helped. Anytime I saw her through the railings in the segregated playground, we were pulled away from each other if we tried to talk or hold hands.

“We were treated like child slaves being made to scrub the floors, windows and walls. It was like something out of a Dickens’ book. We were just little children and we were on our hands and knees scrubbing floors. I can still remember the smell of that orange wax and carbolic soap.

“My whole life there was lived in fear — fear of the next beating, the next humiliation. I was made to feel worthless, that I was a bad person and I kept those beliefs with me my whole life. I remember one day being beaten the whole way to a cupboard by one of the Sisters. When she got me there she kept beating me with a stick and telling me I was evil and a liar and the worst type of person that walked the earth. When I cried she battered me even more, telling me to stop crying. When she left me in the cupboard I cried out for someone to come and take me away so many times, but no one came to rescue me.

“No kindness was ever shown to us and anything that might have brought me some comfort was immediately taken away. I can recall my father buying me a beautiful yellow jumper with a teddy bear on it, but it was taken from me never to be seen again. It may not have seemed important to them, but to me it was a reminder that I once had a family who loved me.”

Margaret, who is now 52, said when she was 11-years-old she was inexplicably told to leave the home, maybe because her father was no longer able to pay money for her keep there.

“I wasn’t prepared for the outside world. I didn’t take to many people because I always felt so worthless and ashamed. When I went to secondary school, I remember standing at a wall in the playground seeing others sniggering at me. It must have been the way I was, I was just looking at a wall. I always felt embarrassed and ashamed, like I was dirty and unclean. That was the scene set for the rest of my life.

“What happened to me in Nazareth House affected my job positions, my friendships and relationships with a wide range of people. I always felt unloved, ugly, rejected, dirty, evil, no good. I have hated myself so much because I was led to believe that I was a monster of some sort. It has only been this year that I am finally turning my life around. For the first time ever, I feel as if I am in control.”

Margaret is now leading a campaign to have the religious orders publicly recognise and apologise for the abuse thousands of children in Northern Ireland suffered while in their care. “What happened in these places was recognised in the Republic, but not here and we want that same recognition,” she added.

“I used to walk around filled with so much anger and sadness, but there is more joy and laughter in me now. I look in the mirror now and I am smiling. I want other victims to feel the same.”

South’s shocking report has no equivalent here

The Ryan report told the nightmare story of violence and sexual abuse suffered by a generation of some of the most vulnerable children in Ireland.

It painted a chilling picture of a severely dysfunctional church and state in Ireland — a church that protected and tolerated its members’ actions, and a state, charged to inspect the children's’ homes and schools, that failed to safeguard the young victims.

It took nine years to compile the 2,600-page report, which proposed 21 ways the Irish government could recognise past wrongs, including building a permanent memorial, providing counselling to victims and improving Ireland's current child protection services.

It provided some level of closure and justice for the thousands who were sent as children to Ireland’s austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last church-run facilities shut in the 1990s.

But in Northern Ireland no investigation has ever been launched and the problem here remains locked in the past.

Stories of abuse at homes like St Patrick’s Home in west Belfast, run by the De La Salle Brothers, Termonbacca in Londonderry and Nazareth Lodge children’s home in east Belfast, run by the Sisters of Nazareth, are becoming more and more prevalent.

There is no longer any doubt that vulnerable children were subjected to horrifying violence and abuse while in the care of church and state run homes and schools in Northern Ireland, but a full probe into the level of abuse is necessary.

The issue is not going to go away until there is formal recognition of the extent of the abuse and a public apology from the religious orders and the government institutions that failed vulnerable children for decades. The victims who suffered in silence for so many years deserve nothing less.

And Churches Wonder Why Fewer People Attend

2009-10-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Original article

10/23/09

Many recent letters suggest Americans are turning away from God, and the civil marriage law is proof of such a move.

Statistics show Americans overwhelmingly believe in God, however, many, like me, have given up on religion.

Here in Maine, the Catholic archdiocese supports a people's veto of Question 1 and has collected two special donations to defeat it. All this, while the bishop lives in a mansion and the church closes schools and parishes.

A few states away, the Archdiocese of New York has said little about New York's support for civil marriage, as it is more interested in preventing the statues of limitations for cases involving child abuse by priests from being increased. Seems it can't afford any more pedophile lawsuits or it will go bankrupt.

Clearly, the Catholic Church is more interested in being a political action committee than a church.

Protecting its assets is more important than victims' rights or the needs of local parishioners who will go wanting for lack of schools and local churches.

I am disappointed that the archdiocese and other religious groups are supporting the current TV ads that are based on scare tactics and misinformation.

Tactics like these will only lead to more folks leaving churches. As for me, I'll seek out a new church that is affirming and not divisive.

Until then, I'll keep God in my heart, and religion out of my life and wallet.

Carl Harnegie

Child Sex Abuse Report Won't be Made Public for Several Weeks

2009-10-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/22/09

By Dearbhail McDonald and Louise Hogan

Thursday October 22 2009

THE publication of a damning report on clerical sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese will be delayed for at least several weeks.

Lawyers acting for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday asked High Court judge Mr Justice Paul Gilligan to consider a new issue, which had not been brought to his attention when he heard the main case regarding publication of the report earlier this month.

The new issue is believed to concern potential criminal proceedings that could yet result from a current garda investigation, amid fears that elements in the report might jeopardise a possible prosecution.

Last week, Judge Gilligan ruled that all but one chapter, and 21 other references in the report relating to a particular priest, were to be excluded from publication in case it prejudiced criminal proceedings.

The ruling paved the way for the imminent publication of the vast bulk of the report.

But yesterday's intervention by Mr Ahern, following late night discussions on Tuesday with the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and justice officials, will further delay publication of the long-awaited report.

The new matter had not been brought to Judge Gilligan's attention when he was asked, last July, for directions on whether the report could be published. The issue was also not raised at the three most recent hearings on the report.

The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation, led by Judge Yvonne Murphy, looked at the handling by church and state authorities of a sample of 46 priests in Dublin between January 1, 1975, and April 30, 2004. Several of the cases involve men who are facing court proceedings.

Insidious

The new issue will be heard next Thursday.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday defended the delay in publishing the report.

Speaking in the Dail, Mr Cowen said the move was to ensure nothing prejudicial was done in respect of any prosecution that may emerge from the report.

Children's Minister Barry Andrew also defended the decision to return to the High Court.

"Clearly there is nothing insidious about it, simply ensuring that the publication is not going to jeopardise the prosecution of any individual," he said.

Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said: "If there is a need for a bit more scrutiny in the High Court then let's get it done but let's get it done as quickly as we possibly can."

Mr Ahern said that his desire to have the report published was necessarily outweighed by the imperative to ensure that nothing was done which would allow perpetrators of "this terrible abuse" to walk free.

- Dearbhail McDonald and Louise Hogan

Italian Police Arrest Priest for Role in Rwanda Genocide

2009-10-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/22/09

Just weeks after the arrest of a top accused of planning, executing and participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Italian police arrested another suspect. A priest, this time. The man is accused of ordering for the deaths of 80 students aged 12-20.

According to media reports, 47-year-old Emmanuel Mihigo Wayezu - who had been serving in a church in the Tuscan town of Empoli for the past 12 years - has denied all charges and has said he tried to save lives rather then ending them.

The arrest comes just over three weeks after the arrest of Idelphonse Nizeyimana, one of the top four planners and executors of the massacres, which started in the first week of April 1994, lasted for approximately three months and killed approximately 800.000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Ethnic division

However, a group called African Rights accused Wayezu, who is an ethnic Hutu, of being involved in the massacre of 80 Tutsi students aged 12-20 at the Kibeho College of Arts, situated in the south of Rwanda. Wayezu at that time was the director of the school.

"They perished at the hands of their teachers, fellow students, the gendarmes who were supposedly protecting them and interahamwe militiamen," Africa Rights say in a report.

"They died because the director of their school, Father Emmanuel, abandoned them and laid the groundwork for the massacre. The youngsters were studying at the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci [part of the art school] in Kibeho where he had been the headmaster for two years. They died at the nearby College of Arts because that is where Wayezu, after separating the students along ethnic lines, sent all the Tutsis."

"He planned their deaths"

According to the organisation, the role of the church man in massacre of the Tutsi students in Kibeho - which took place on May 7 - is crystal clear:

For two years prior to the massacre of 7 May 1994, Fr. Uwayezu allowed some students, in particular those displaced from the war-affected préfectures in the north, to spread ethnic hatred at the school, labelling all Tutsis as inyenzi [cockroaches in Kinyarwanda] and enemies of Rwanda. This created ethnic divisions within the student body, encouraged lack of discipline and emboldened these students, and many among the staff, to believe they could do whatever they saw fit.

Dangerous vaccuum of hatred

The report furthermore says that on 7 April, when a plane carrying president Juvénal Habyarimanawas shot from the sky, Uwayezu gathered the students together "to announce the death of the president in a manner that was calculated to enflame ethnic tensions and suspicions. At a time of fear and uncertainty, he left the students to their own devices. His failure to provide them with guidance and leadership created a dangerous vacuum filled by staff and students with an ethnic agenda in support of the genocide."

According to reserach by Africa Rights, Wayezu on April 11 arranged for about 20 gendarmes to camp near the school to look after the students’ security. Only 4 days later, these militiamen actively participated in the massacre of about 20,000 people at the Parish of Kibeho, situated nearby. "Afterwards they returned to the school. Wayezu is accused of instructing the gendarmes to shoot the refugees who were trying to escape the parish by hiding in the school. He allowed the students who were especially hostile to Tutsis to spend time with the gendarmes," the report says.

Wayezu is also accused of ignoring pleas for help from Tutsi students who said Hutu classmates had told them of a plan to massacre them, and that the gendarmes were taking a census of Tutsis within the school.

Handful of survivors

In the days to come, it is said that Wayezu has been often seen in the presence of the men who would later be key participants in the 7 May massacre. On the night of May 6, it is alleged that gendarmes escorted a small group of students out of the College and confiscated the key, making it impossible to lock the school from the inside.

A few hours later, in the morning of May 7, a large number of militiamen armed with machetes and knives entered the dining room, where the students were having breakfast. Wayezu was nowhere to be seen.

The gendarmes, who he had posted there “to safeguard the students” shot into the air instead of dispersing the attackers. The massacre started immediately. Except for a handful of survivors, most of the students at the College perished, killed by the guns and grenades of the gendarmes or the spears, axes and machetes of the militiamen. Wayezu returned to Kibeho several days after the massacre at the College

Men of God?

It is not the first time a 'man of God' has been arrested on suspicion of planning, participating in and executing the 1994 genocide. In 2001, ex-priest Athanase Seromba - who had also fled to Italy - was charged by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on the four counts: genocide or alternatively complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. Five years later, Seromba was found guilty of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity and sentenced to a single term of fifteen years imprisonment.

On 22 December 2006, the Prosecutor filed an appeal against this judgement. Two years later, the Appeals Chamber overturned the conviction of Athanase Seromba for "aiding and abetting genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity and substituted it to convictions for committing genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. The Appeals Chamber unanimously quashed the sentence of 15 years imprisonment and sentenced him to life in prison."

Child Abuse: ‘They Poisoned my Mind Against my Own Mother’

2009-10-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/21/09

Raped and infected with gonorrhoea when she was just 8 years old, then shortly afterwards, seized and sentenced to eight years in a children’s institute run by sadistic nuns, Kathleen O’Malley has spent most of her life hiding from herself. But having emerged stronger from her horrific childhood she has set herself a new challenge: to find the sister who suffered with her.

The facts of Kathleen O’Malley’s life would probably not have been believed ten years ago, not before the dam finally burst on the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland.

A long-awaited report into clerical abuse in the Diocese of Dublin is expected to be published this week and bishops are bracing themselves for another round of public anger. It will be a horror story of how known paedophile priests were shunted from parish to parish by their religious seniors. The number of children who suffered as a result of the Church’s cover-up could run into thousands.

It will also be another shattering blow to the moral authority of an institution that once ruled Ireland with an iron rod, following hard on the heels of the Ryan report, an independent tribunal that concluded in May after a decade of evidence-gathering that there had been “endemic and systemic” sexual, physical and emotional abuse of hundreds of thousands of Irish children in residential institutions run by religious orders. Four years ago, when Kathleen first told her story in her memoir, Childhood Interrupted, there were plenty of cynics around who were prepared to cast doubt on the extraordinary tale of suffering inside a system that seemed akin to the worst excesses of a totalitarian regime.

But a sea-change has occurred in Ireland since the Ryan report: the anger still swirls and will gather strength again this week with the publication of another report.

The proof of Kathleen’s claims is laid out before her on a coffee table in her smart detached Hertfordshire bungalow: pages and pages of official reports whose secrecy was not easily given up by the Irish authorities.

Two legal documents are chilling. The first is the peremptory record of how Kathleen, with her her sisters, Sarah Louise and Lydia, were taken from their mother in a dawn raid on their Dublin tenement home and found guilty in the children’s court of being “destitute” and “having a parent who does not exercise proper guardianship”. The second is a transcript of the trial of Luke McCabe, a neighbour who raped Kathleen in 1950. It’s extraordinary to read the words of a child being cross-examined by Judge McCarthy in open court: “Do you know what would happen if you told lies?”

Answer: “The Lord would light me.” Looking back, reading those words on the page, Kathleen can laugh now. “I meant I’d get a beating; it was all I knew. But look here, when he asks if I’d been taught the Catechism and knew the difference between right and wrong. I said my mother had taught me. But he ignores that answer and asks if the Sisters of Mercy had taught me. Because I was born out of wedlock she and her child counted for nothing in their eyes.

“The people who took us from Mummy were paid a bounty by the religious orders because the nuns in turn received half a man’s wage per week for every child they took. It was a business. They called us destitute and uncared for, but that’s what they condemned us to — we were loved and cared for, but they took us away and, to rub salt in the wounds, Mummy was forced to pay for it. She had to pay for our upkeep at Moate, the industrial school.”

But the court transcript also reveals glimpses of a strong-willed mother determined to fight for her children. Mary O’Malley told the court that in the eight months that had passed since Kathleen had been taken from her, the nuns had “told her not to tell anybody about the dirty thing that was done to her”.

Although the judge directed the jury to acquit McCabe of the most serious charge of “unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor”, he was found guilty of assault. It was a small but important victory for the O’Malleys. “McCabe got 18 months hard labour but my sisters and I got 25 years of that between us,” Kathleen says.

The regime at Moate was unremittingly grim. “I learnt to be quiet and not draw attention, that’s how I survived. We were the O’Malleys from Dublin, dirty jackeens from the slums was how they described us.As a result, when I finally got out at the age of 16, I ended up wearing a mask and armour all my life. It was drummed into me that I was worthless. We had our own nice clothes taken away and we were put into rags and worked from dawn til dusk in the laundry. We never played, we were sterile, we were given nothing. There was a rusty tap in the yard where we were allowed out for half an hour a day.

“We got an egg a year, a sausage a year, the rest of our food was slop and bread. We were allowed one half-hour visit a year from our mother, who would make a three-hour journey to see us and they wouldn’t even give her a glass of water.

“The annual visit took place in what was called ‘the poor-man’s room’ and it was supervised, with a nun present, so nobody could say anything they really wanted to say. It was horrible; there were always tears. For my mother, any mother, to have her children taken from her . . .”

Kathleen’s eyes redden as her words tumble out. “So I buried it all.”

It has to be said that she did so with remarkable success, leaving Ireland for London as soon as she could, working first in hotels then as a governess for a wealthy French family in Paris, accompanying them on summer holidays in Venice; getting a job with Elizabeth Arden and becoming a beautician working alongside “debs”.

She invented an idyllic childhood, telling new friends about going to boarding school in the Irish countryside. Kathleen even sent Christmas cards each year to “kindly nuns” at Moate, visiting them whenever she returned home to see her mother.

“When I look back on it I cringe and wonder why my mother never said, ‘What on earth do you think you are doing? Are you completely mad?’ The worst part of the whole experience was how they actually poisoned my mind against my mother. The unforgivable part is that they told me and my sisters that my mother had given us up, that she didn’t want us. And we believed that for years.

“I only discovered in later life how hard she fought to get us back. She suffered so much. They bad-mouthed her to us, calling her a ‘streetwalker’.”

One of Kathleen’s greatest regrets is having torn up the only photograph of her with her mother, at a time in life when she really did believe all the nuns had told her. She has a photograph of Mary with her two sons, Kathleen’s half-brothers, who were key to “setting her free” and reordering her memories. “I’d locked the door on the past, I’d stuck it in a trunk, never to be opened. But eventually I felt that I had to prove I wasn’t taken away from Mummy for my own protection. And I discovered a letter about her sons and her fight to keep them.

“By this stage she was married. I think the real problem for us was that I was illegitimate and there was such a stigma attached to that in Ireland. But the letter proved that, if she was fit enough as a mother to have her two young sons, why not her three daughters?”

The Ryan report has been another landmark, not just in Kathleen’s life but in the history of the relationship between Church and State in “Holy Mother Ireland”. Barry Andrews, Ireland’s Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, said last month: “The deference that was at the core of the problem is no longer there.”

That is small consolation for Kathleen O’Malley. “I don’t know at what point the religious gained their power, but they had total power and autonomy to do as they wanted. We were brainwashed to say that we were well-looked after.”

And, looking for proof, she delves once more into the ring-binder folders, producing a letter purporting to have been written by her mother. It says: “I wish to thank the department (of education) for sending them to such a lovely school.”

“That’s my sister’s handwriting, I recognise it,” Kathleen says. “The nuns dictated a letter, which they made my sister write, just as if they were crooked police officers falsifying evidence!”

She is scornful of the progress Ireland is making towards righting these heinous wrongs. “They say they now want to put up a monument to all those who were treated badly. They had a garden party with the President of Ireland, to which around 130 victims were invited, but I wasn’t and neither were thousands of others. And that was like my evidence to the Ryan commission, which was ignored. I was never given the opportunity.”

One of the more controversial aspects of Ireland’s delve into the darkest reaches of its past has been the making of “awards” — the word compensation is avoided — to those affected through the Redress Board.

Kathleen, a magistrate in Middlesex with a solid middle-class lifestyle consisting of golf, line-dancing and strong friendships, may not have felt the need to take up that opportunity, but she is determined to get something for her sister Lydia.

“Lydia suffered the most because she was so much younger than me or Sarah Louise when we were committed to Moate. We were all split up and the system deliberately made sure you did not keep together.

“I would see Lydia from time to time and whenever I did she was rocking back and forth continuously. The day I left Moate I didn’t even give her a hug or a kiss and we had been very close before we went there.”

Eventually Lydia married a US Marine and moved to the US, but divorced him after he became violent. “She moved from one abusive relationship to another. I last saw her in 1975. The last I heard from her was 14 years ago when she was living in Washington DC, but she was vague about her circumstances. I got the impression that she was living in some kind of shelter.

“I wanted to visit but the day before I was due to fly she rang to say that she didn’t want to see me, that she wasn’t allowed visitors, that she’s put on weight and lost her teeth. She was embarrassed but she’s carrying a guilt that she doesn’t deserve. I understand because I have gone through that. I have lived in fear most of my adult life of my childhood catching up with me. I don’t have many leads on where she is now, but I will find Lydia and when I do I will present the proof of her case to the Redress Board.

“I am a very different person now to who I was even five years ago. I remember feeling physically sick when I bumped into someone I was in Moate with. That’s how we were taught to react by the nuns.

“I was ashamed of my name. I remember Sister Cecilia saying ‘I wouldn’t tell anybody who you are or where you’re from’. And they did prepare us for our roles in life as they saw them, which was scrubbing floors. But I don’t care any more. I have nothing to hide.”

Child Abuse Report 'Will be Painful'

2009-10-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/21/09

A long-awaited report into clerical child sex abuse will be a painful reflection on society, the Archbishop of Dublin warned today.

Diarmuid Martin said the report on the Dublin diocese, expected to be published later this week, will also help point the way forward for dealing with paedophilia.

“I think it will provide a painful but an important reflection on society and where we should be going to address the sexual abuse of children,” the Archbishop said.

“It’s a terrible problem.”

The High Court ruled last week that all but one chapter of the report of the Dublin Archdiocese inquiry can be published, to avoid prejudicing a prosecution against one priest.

It will be the second devastating clerical child sex abuse report to rock the Catholic Church in Ireland this year after the harrowing Ryan report laid bare the physically and psychologically abusive regimes operated by religious orders in church and state-run institutions.

The latest long-running inquiry, headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy, has uncovered thousands of cases of abuse by priests.

Up to 450 people have made abuse allegations against former priests since 1940.

The inquiry has focused on a sample of 46 priests and how the Church hierarchy dealt with allegations of abuse.

They include 19 senior clerics, including Cardinal Desmond Connell, who last year dropped a potentially embarrassing court challenge to stop the commission getting access to 5,586 secret Church files.

The Archbishop said he did not know when the report will be released, but added: “It’s very interesting, this question was brought to the courts on September 8 and we are now six weeks on.

“It just goes to show that there is a very difficult balance that needs to be attained between the public interest and my interest in getting the report out and the need to avoid prejudicing prosecution or to ensure the right of anybody who has not had the opportunity to challenge what has been said.

“It’s the first time that this legislation has been used. It’s difficult.

“My hope is, and I’ve said this on many occasions, the sooner the report comes out the better.”

Andrews Defends Delay in Abuse Report Publication

2009-10-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/21/09

Children's Minister Barry Andrews has said there is nothing insidious about the delay in publishing the findings of an investigation into how the Dublin archdiocese handled clerical sex abuse allegations.

The High Court ruled last week that all but one chapter of the report could be made public provided references to one individual were removed to avoid jeopardising criminal proceedings.

It emerged this morning that Justice Minister Dermot has asked his officials to go back to the court and seek further clarification of the matter.

Speaking in Dublin today, Mr Andrews said the decision was taken on foot of advice from the Attorney General.

He said there was "a material fact" that wasn't brought to the attention of the High Court and the Government wanted to seek the direction of the court on the matter.

Government Delays Publication of Dublin Abuse Report

2009-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/21/09

The Government has reportedly delayed publication of the report into how the Dublin archdiocese handled allegations of clerical sex abuse between 1975 and 2004.

The findings of a special commission of investigation were expected to be published this week after the High Court ruled last week that all but one chapter could be made public.

However, reports this morning say Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has instructed his officials to return to the High Court to seek clarification of certain matters.

The Attorney General is reportedly concerned about the possibility that the report could impact on a number of court cases.

The High Court ruled last week that all references to one person should not be published as they could jeopardise criminal proceedings.

However, it said the remainder of the report could be published.

Priest on Sex Charges

2009-10-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/21/09

A Catholic priest is to stand trial on six charges of sexually abusing three young Fermanagh sisters. Fr. Eugene Lewis was at one time Superior of the House at St. Augustine's College at Blacklion, now Loughan House open prison.

The 75-year-old missionary priest appeared before a Preliminary Enquiry at Fermanagh Court on Monday of last week. He faces three charges of indecently assaulting one of the sisters on dates unknown between August 27, 1962, and August 27, 1967. He faces a further two charges of indecently assaulting a second sister on dates unknown between May 23, 1966, and May 23, 1974.

A sixth charge accuses the priest of indecently assaulting a third sister on a date unknown between April 25, 1964, and April 25, 1967.

The alleged victims cannot be identified because they were children at the time.

Judge Liam McNally, on the basis of the papers before him, held that "you do have a case to answer". He returned Lewis for trial at Dungannon Crown Court on November 9.

The District Judge released him on continuing bail of £1,000 but, because he is living with the White Fathers, at Cypress Grove House, Templelogue, Dublin, ordered him to lodge an additional £4,000 in cash with the court.

Cover-ups Exposed in Dublin Report Will Shock Most

2009-10-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Original article

10/21/09

The Dublin Archdiocese report will have a profound impact on the Catholic Church’s authority in Ireland.

OVER COMING days we are likely to witness something definitive where the Catholic Church in Ireland is concerned. Publication of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation report is expected to confirm much, but it will shock even more.

This shock factor is unlikely to be centred on the abuse stories involved, or on their scale.

Following the Ryan report last May, it might be said that the Irish public has become almost inured to such depravity. But it is the scale of the cover-up in Dublin and the moral audacity of senior clergy involved which is likely to shock most of all.

Words such as “immoral” and “amoral” are expected to be on round-the-clock call among descriptions of the activities of the Dublin church authorities.

Indeed, stronger language may be employed as it becomes clear that the Catholic Church in Dublin operated a jurisdiction within a jurisdiction based on one consistent rule: protect the institution at all costs.

Those costs included the exposure, and indeed sacrifice, of vulnerable children, again and again, to predatory abusers.

There has been nothing like this Dublin inquiry, anywhere, before. The Ferns inquiry, which is nearest in character to Dublin, involved 26 priests and two bishops. The Dublin inquiry has involved a sample of 46 priests and 19 bishops, including four archbishops.

From what is known, its findings are damning. Bishops in Dublin moved priest abusers around from parish to parish, again and again, in most instances informing no one in the parishes, even its priests, of the newcomer’s proclivities.

In most such instances, too, they moved the abuser priests into poorer, working-class areas, where people were more trusting and less likely to ask questions and where, as elsewhere, it was the children of the most devout who were taken advantage of.

At one time it is known, for instance, that three such abuser priests were posted to one working-class parish on Dublin’s northside. In another Dublin northside parish, the presbytery was shared by one priest child abuser, a second priest and the latter’s mistress.

Nowhere before has Catholic Church authority been held to account on such a scale by a statutory body, on any issue. The irony that this should happen in Ireland will not be lost on many.

The likely exposure of a moral vacuum at the heart of Catholic Church authority in Ireland’s largest diocese will have a wider resonance. It will make it difficult to accept that this was a feature peculiar to the Catholic Church in Dublin or in Ireland.

The impact of the findings for the Catholic Church’s authority on this island are likely to be profound. The immediate effect of such large-scale betrayal will be renewed and radical focus on the role of bishops as patrons where Catholic primary schools in Ireland are concerned.

But that is not all. Its implications for the future of the clerical church in Ireland are grim.

We saw yesterday that the Bishop of Kerry, Most Rev Bill Murphy, has warned that “it is no exaggeration to say that, in the coming years, the church in Ireland will not survive without a committed and involved laity”.

He continued that it was “very likely” that by late next year some parishes in the Kerry diocese will be without a resident priest. And that is now.

Although there has been a rise in the number of first-year seminarians at Maynooth this year, it is the exception which underlines a rapid fall-off in vocations to the Catholic priesthood. There is no reason to believe that the Dublin report will halt that trend.

We are witnessing an unseemly end to a form of Catholicism which has been dominant in Ireland since shortly after the Famine. The Dublin report is likely to hasten that decline considerably.

That this has been brought about by the church authorities themselves, more than any outside influence, is another lesson in the consequences of abusing power.

It is, too, another powerful illustration of the corruption towards which such unchecked power leads.

Local Priest Sentenced; Will Not go to Jail

2009-10-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Original article
By Julie Fine

WKBW-TV

updated 11:22 a.m. ET Oct. 7, 2009

Buffalo, NY (WKBW) -- Father Norman Sullivan walked into court with his attorney. It was a quick appearance, but the punishment will take a lot more time. 5 years probation, and one thousand hours community service. Sullivan had no comment when he left.

The Erie County District Attorney's office found that Sullivan stole more than 200 thousand dollars from his own parish, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Cheektowaga, during an eight year period, taking both cash and checks.

"When you give us the tools to investigate those kind of cases we will investigate it. We had got some extra money from the county. We used it to get a forensic accountant," said Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita.

Sullivan has since paid the church back.

Today in court, Sullivan's lawyer says he can no longer say mass or wear the collar, and that is the worst punishment he can receive. Sullivan himself spoke in open court saying "I am truly sorry for the folly I created", and added, "I am disgraced and embarrassed."

State Supreme Court Justice Russell Buscaglia said, "I am at a loss to explain why you did what you did," but spared him jail time and instead sentenced probation and 1000 hours of community service. District Attorney Frank Sedita thinks the sentence is fair and appropriate

"I am not the judge but he has no criminal record. He paid all of the money back. He confessed after we confronted him with everything. He is in his seventies," said Sedita.

We contacted the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, and we're told the Buffalo Catholic Diocese takes no position on sentencing, but that Father Sullivan remains suspended from priestly ministry indefinitely.

Security Posted at Bishop's House

2009-10-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/07/09

A private security firm has been hired to guard Bishop Raymond Lahey's residence in Antigonish, N.S., after it was vandalized.

Ronnie Horne, who lives around the corner from Lahey's house, said a neighbour told him someone hung a sign from a post in front of Lahey's house within 24 hours of his child pornography charges becoming public.

"Someone had put a sign on the post saying, 'Pedophile lives here,'" Horne said. "I don't know how the lady found out but she came out, took it off and she threw it in the garbage — and from then on there's been security there."

He said security guards had been stationed in front of the house on 23 Silverwood Drive for 24 hours a day since Oct. 1.

Lahey was charged on Sept. 25 for allegedly possessing child pornography on his laptop. He resigned as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish the next day and turned himself in to police on Oct. 1.

Bruce MacIntosh, a lawyer for the diocese of Antigonish, said he did not know how long members of Reliant Security would be on the property.

He said he believes the anger that some people are feeling will subside.

"It reflected a frustration that some people must feel and it was decided that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps to have somebody keep an eye on the property for a bit of time until people have an opportunity to reflect more calmly on some very difficult circumstances."

Father Paul Abbass, the spokesman for the Antigonish diocese, said the diocese will cover the cost of keeping the property secure because the house is their property.

Group Asks Archdiocese To Withdraw Motions

2009-10-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/06/09

Church Moving Pedophiles To Other Churches, Advocacy Group Says

There is a call for Milwaukee's Archdiocese to drop its fight against fraud cases filed by victims of priest sex abuse.

Members of a sex abuse victims group called SNAP delivered a letter to the Archdiocese in St. Francis on Tuesday, asking it to withdraw two legal motions.

The motions argue bishops have a First Amendment right to move known pedophile priests from one church to another.

"It is unconscionable. We also feel it's an affront to religion to say that it is a bishop's right to do whatever he wants to with somebody who's a priest because he's a priest," said Peter Isely, member of SNAP.

The archdiocese released a statement late Tuesday afternoon that said it is involved in a number of pending lawsuits and will allow the court to decide all legal questions until all the lawsuits are resolved.

Sotomayor Takes Vocal Role on Her First Day

2009-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/06/09

The newest Supreme Court justice doesn't play the shy rookie, but peppers lawyers with questions, more even than Scalia and Ginsburg. The court takes a close look at the Miranda rule.

Reporting from Washington - By mid-morning on the first day of the Supreme Court's term, it was clear new Justice Sonia Sotomayor would fit right in -- and in particular with her talkative fellow New Yorkers.

Sotomayor peppered the lawyers with questions in a pair of cases, joining with Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the oral arguments. Together, they left the other justices sitting in silence for much of the time.

In the first hour alone, Sotomayor asked 36 questions, and Scalia followed with 30. Ginsburg is particularly interested in legal procedures, and she and Sotomayor dominated the questioning for much of the second hour.

In the past, some rookie justices listened for days before joining in the fast-paced arguments. Justice David H. Souter, the reserved New Hampshire native whom Sotomayor replaced, said little during his first year. Justice Clarence Thomas has not asked a question for more than three years.

If anyone assumed Sotomayor would play the role of shy rookie, she dispelled that idea within the first minutes of the opening argument.

She leaned forward and began questioning Maryland Atty. Gen. Douglas Gansler about the Miranda rule, which requires police to warn a suspect that he has a right to remain silent and a right to lawyer. If a suspect says he wants a lawyer before he answers questions, the police must stop the questioning. It also bars police from trying again a day or two later to persuade him to talk without a lawyer.

But how long does this prohibition on questioning last? A police investigator in Maryland decided to visit an inmate who was held on other charges and ask him about an unresolved child abuse case. It was two years and seven months after the prisoner, Michael Shatzer, had refused to talk unless he had a lawyer. Shatzer made incriminating comments to the new investigator. After Shatzer was convicted of child abuse, a Maryland appeals court ruled that his rights were violated when he was questioned without a lawyer present.

The Supreme Court took up Maryland's appeal, and the justices, Sotomayor included, sounded as if they were searching for a new rule that would allow questioning of crime suspects after a long lapse of time.

A lawyer for the convicted child abuser insisted he should not have been questioned once he had said he would not talk without a lawyer.

"So there is no termination point? Really?" asked Sotomayor, sounding as skeptical as Scalia.

The possibility of a rivalry between Scalia and Sotomayor has been the topic of speculation since her appointment. Scalia has been the court's most outspoken conservative for more than 20 years, and Sotomayor had shown herself to be strong and assertive as a judge on the U.S. appeals court in Manhattan.

Outside the courtroom, she has already managed to upstage Scalia. A lifelong Yankees fan, she was invited to throw out the first ball in a recent game at Yankee Stadium. Scalia, another lifelong Yankees fan, is awaiting his invitation.

The term's opening is also the day for the court to turn down litigants. The justices released a list of more than 1,800 appeals that they turned down without comment.

In an abortion-related case, the court turned down a pro-adoption group called Choose Life Illinois that said it had a free-speech right to have "Choose Life" license plates. The state refused and said it did not want to get involved in the abortion controversy. (Choose Life vs. White)

The court rejected an appeal from a Florida youth who said he had a right to sit silently during the Pledge of Allegiance at school. Florida law says students can be excused from this ritual only with the parents' permission. (Frazier vs. Smith)

The court turned away a free-speech appeal from high school students in Tennessee who said they had a right to wear T-shirts displaying a Confederate flag. (Barr vs. LaFron)

The court refused a request from the Catholic archdiocese in Bridgeport, Conn., seeking to block the release of files on priests accused of sexual abuse. A state court had ordered the release, and the church argued, unsuccessfully, that this would violate its rights under the 1st Amendment. (Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp. vs. New York Times)

Accused, Suspended Priest Worked in Chicago

2009-10-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Original article
October 6, 2009

The priest accused of abuse in a lawsuit struck down last month by the Illinois Supreme Court gave retreats in Chicago in the 1970s, according to internal church documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

Kenneth Roberts, a suspended priest who served in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Archdiocese of Dallas, came to Chicago in October 1973 with permission from the late Cardinal John Cody to conduct a two-day retreat, according to letters between church officials.

But he stayed through early November apparently to promote his autobiography "Playboy to Priest," according to the documents.

In a letter to the then-vice-chancellor of the St. Louis Archdiocese, Cody expressed concern that Roberts was listed in the Catholic Directory as "absent on leave" and overstayed his welcome in Chicago.

"Evidently he has a good publicity setup, but I would like to suggest to this 'Playboy Priest' that faculties, given to him for a particular occasion, do not mean that he can stay here forever," Cody wrote. "There is danger that you might lose his services in St. Louis!!! I am always fearful of these 'wandering minstrels.'"

Roberts returned twice in 1977 to conduct retreats for religious women, according to the records. In a letter to his own bishop, Roberts admitted to spending time in Chicago.

"I have worked in that area quite a bit after obtaining faculties but one of the Sisters said that she thought it might be a good idea to obtain them again since they have been quite strict in the diocese late," he wrote.

In September, the Illinois Supreme Court tried to correct misconceptions about an amendment to the state's statute of limitations in 2003, which gave accusers five years instead of two to file civil suits after they realized they were abused.

The ruling stemmed from allegations against Roberts that he abused a student at St. Mary's Parochial School in Belleville in 1984 when Roberts was a guest lecturer on several topics, including sex education.

--Manya A. Brachear

A Cross to Bear

2009-10-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Original article
10/06/09

PETER LAZZARI'S reaction was visceral - the Melbourne physician stared in shock at the image before him. It left him profoundly shaken - a response that was echoed among other readers. On September 15, The Age ran an article ''Sacrificial altar boy'' with a photograph taken in the 1960s of altar boys at St Patrick's Cathedral. It set out the story of Gavan Boyle, raped by Monsignor Penn Jones in 1963, his slow, inexorable path to an early death as an alcoholic near-derelict, and the devastating effect on his wider family - an aspect of sexual abuse that often slips into the background.

Read the original report here

''I was shattered when I saw the picture, absolutely shocked,'' Lazzari says. ''It was deeply distressing, I couldn't believe the effect it would have on me.''

Not only had Lazzari sat at the same desk as Gavan Boyle at school, the fate of a close friend from the school where Jones had been chaplain suddenly took on a more sinister hue. Lazzari, a physician with considerable experience with abuse victims, says the friend died at 31 of alcoholism. ''He was a GP in Williamstown. He rang the St Vincent's admitting officer, who was a doctor in those days, to say 'I've got a patient for you'. They said, 'what's his name?' and he said 'it's me'. He died three days later of liver failure.''

Was he abused? Lazzari can never know, but his self-destructive behaviour from his teens until his death and other factors suggest it is a distinct possibility.

''These were vulnerable pubescent or pre-pubescent boys who were exploited appallingly by a monster. They would have done the Catholic thing and not complained and felt guilty, because you were taught to feel guilty about all sorts of things,'' Lazzari says. ''No one was there for them, their families … don't get to know. School mates probably couldn't do anything.''

Lazzari was one of several people who contacted The Age, some to say they were in the photograph, or had endured some sort of unpleasant episode with Monsignor Jones.

It raises questions about what responsibility the church has, once it knows there is an abuser in its midst, to actively seek out other victims and try to help them before their lives disintegrate in a vicious spiral. Should the church report abusers to the police? What can and should it do with abusive priests? How can it balance its responsibilities for justice to both alleged victim and accused?

In Jones' case, the church did not receive an official complaint until he had died, and been honoured with an effusive eulogy by then-archbishop Francis Little in The Age.

But many of the boys under his care knew. He seemed obsessed with talking to boys about erections and sex, and if he could take things further he did, they say.

One, ''Matthew'', sent The Age an email about Jones' attempt to sodomise him, but later asked that details not be quoted as he was too distraught.

Like Gavan, he complained to the Catholic Church, and his account was accepted by independent commissioner Peter O'Callaghan, QC.

''Jack'', an altar boy, knew three others in the photograph and strongly suspects that two or maybe all three of them were abused. ''They were slightly effeminate. I was shattered [by The Age article] because when I first met Penn Jones I thought he was a magnificent priest. I was naive … Jones was a terrible man. He used the confessional as a sounding board. He asked me once, what did I do with my erections. I walked out of the confessional.''

Not every caller had negative memories. Father Grant O'Neill, parish priest at Diamond Creek, one of the altar boys pictured, is wary of the rush to condemn a man now dead and unable to defend himself. ''I was an altar server for six years at the cathedral. I never got a hint of anything going on.''

O'Neill says Gavan Boyle claimed he was abused at a summer camp at Shoreham, but the church couldn't get the campsite in summer - the camps were every May. ''For me it was a real time of [Christian] formation, and the young Christian workers had a profound impact.

''I worked as a prison chaplain for 10 years and was there when some of my ex-priest brothers came there. I vaguely remember Gavan. I can't say it didn't happen to him, but I used to see it in jails all the time: there's a whole series of things why lives fall apart.''

THE Catholic hierarchy also has reservations. A spokesman for Archbishop Denis Hart says the article on the Boyles is ''a flawed and incomplete basis on which to address questions as to how the Melbourne Response operates'' and complains that the report lacked balance.

But given that the church has formally accepted at least two complaints about Jones as true, has the church any responsibility to try to find and help other potential victims?

The archbishop's spokesman says no. The great majority of complaints are about abuse long ago, so it would be impractical to search for victims. Of the 300 or so complaints that have been accepted, 16 per cent happened in the 1950s, 22 per cent in the '60s, 38 per cent in the '70s and 17 per cent in the '80s.

Further, whether a victim wishes to complain is entirely a matter for that person, according to the spokesman. Some do not want to complain, mainly because they do not want to revive the past.

According to the spokesman, the church does not report abusers to the police, but says it always invites and even encourages victims to do so. If the victim does, the church process stops while the police investigate. Often the victim has already been to the police.

So what does the church do? According to the spokesman, if a practising priest is the subject of an investigation likely to lead to charges, he is usually put on administrative leave until after the case is heard. If he is convicted he remains on administrative leave - his faculties to act as a priest are removed. If the complaint does not go to the police and a practising priest admits abuse amounting to criminal conduct, again the archbishop will put him on administrative leave, removing him from public ministry.

But critics, such as Broken Rites, say this is a recent development forced on the church by the public outcry. Until recently, bishops were inclined to move errant priests from parish to parish, where they often re-offended. One of the most notorious Victorian offenders was Father Gerald Ridsdale, now jailed for the third time and convicted of sexual offences against 40 children.

According to court evidence, his superiors in the Ballarat diocese knew certainly by 1971 that he was a danger to boys, but kept him as an active priest until he was convicted in 1993. Broken Rites says the diocese shifted the Ridsdale problem from parish to parish but it never warned parishioners that their children were in danger.

The Melbourne Archdiocese Response was introduced in 1996 by then-archbishop George Pell. Some victims, including Gavan Boyle's family, have criticised it as lacking compassion and accountability, and a senior priest, Father Kevin Dillon, recently called for a review, saying the church was ''too self-protecting for its own good''. Archbishop Hart responded that the protocol had delivered ''compassion, counselling and compensation'' to hundreds of victims, and there was no need for a review.

According to Archbishop Hart's spokesman, the independent commissioner has in the 14 years he has been operating made 300 findings of sexual abuse, involving 58 priests over 60 years. Of those, six have been jailed, three were convicted and given suspended sentences, 30 died before the complaint was made, and 16 no longer function in priestly ministry.

How does the church balance its responsibilities to accused and victim? According to the spokesman, if the victim does not want to go to the police he or she is interviewed by the independent commissioner and given a transcript to amend or qualify as required. This is then given to the accused for his response.

If he denies it, the commissioner conducts a confidential hearing using the same procedures as a magistrates' court. In every case so far, the accused has had his own lawyer, sometimes so has the complainant.

If the accused admits the complaint, it is reported to Archbishop Hart. But often the priest has already been convicted or has died.

Geoffrey Robinson, the Sydney bishop who designed the Towards Healing abuse protocol used in every Australian diocese except Melbourne, says balancing justice for both parties is one of the biggest difficulties.

''You can't call them all guilty instantly. It's often one person's word against another's, and you can't take it any further, but the police have the same problem. Towards Healing has a better clear-up rate than the police because [clergy] will make admissions, but not if they fear there is prison at the end of it.''

Under Towards Healing, offending priests are removed from all ministry. Most end up doing nothing, or perhaps working in a library - but not a school library. ''If you want someone not to offend, then kicking him out on to the street is not the way to do it. There is a duty to get treatment for the person and place him somewhere you can keep an eye on him.''

How difficult is it to seek out other victims? The archbishop's spokesman calls it ''impractical'', and it certainly takes effort and discretion - one cannot simply say to a parent, ''Father X molested another child, are yours all right?'' - but the police manage to do it in their investigations.

Detective Inspector Glenn Davies, head of the Victoria Police sexual crimes squad, says police often find other victims through the first. ''They know the circumstances, they talk to each other. Sometimes we make a public appeal. Often we find them by examining records in the church: who was working, rosters, parish records.''

Davies says the church does not differ much from a football club recently in the news: it naturally wants to protect its reputation. But church authorities are entirely co-operative with police, much more than most institutions, he says.

Police are also used to asking difficult personal questions about people's lifestyles, and have a victim's charter to guide them.

But Davies believes it is essential for victims to come to the police, saying the under-reporting of sexual assault is massive.

''We are the true experts, with legislative support and coercive powers. We will get results if you are looking to have the perpetrator brought to justice. We are the only ones who can do that. The Catholic Church has no coercive powers, and it is not mandatory for the church to report abuse as it is for medical people.''

If there is one thing Peter Lazzari feels strongly about, it is that the church should not be involved.

He tells of a woman of 76 whose recovery began 69 years after she was abused by a relative when she finally opened up in his rooms.

''Even though her life was made a mess by it for 69 years, healing is possible,'' Lazzari says. ''Gavan did not have this opportunity to really heal, he was thwarted at every turn and he ultimately died because of it. These people can be helped, it can be effective, and they can move on. So it is an extremely important process to open it more in the public arena, to encourage people to come forward, not just for the sake of retribution but to reach the stage where they grow in their life and become more complete human beings again.

''To expect the church to help is totally inappropriate. It needs to disentangle the victims from its tentacles. Christians, yes. Catholics, yes, but not the institutional church. Not the biased, self-interested Catholic hierarchy.''

TRAIL OF ABUSE

MANY readers contacted The Age after the article ''Sacrificial altar boy'' appeared in the paper on September 15. John Schulze, a former student at Parade College, remembers a number of the altar boys in the photo, and knows that several had troubled years after leaving school.

''My first and only contact with Penn Jones was a compulsory meeting with him acting as chaplain. His first words to me were not, 'Hello, I'm Monsignor Penn Jones' or any other niceties one might have expected with a person of his standing. His first words were, 'Son, do you pull yourself?' I was gobsmacked.

''There were always rumours going around among the boys at Parade regarding unsavoury behaviour by PJ. I also know that all my year 9 friends were asked that same question by PJ.''

''Bill'', now 52, was a bit more streetwise. ''We all knew he was doing it or trying to do it. He'd take small groups of boys to the Christian Brothers school in Abbotsford; they had their own squash court. You'd play squash and everybody had to have a shower. It would be three or four of us, and he stepped in and said something, and one of us, it might have been me, said, 'Don't even f---ing think about it', so he walked away.''

''Bill'' had his first Crown Lager at 14 in Jones' office at the cathedral. ''We played him along. But we knew he was targeting others. We knew straight away what he was up to, it was all too good to be true. 'I'll be your friend'. What bullshit. He was a con artist who used his position to trick parents into giving their kids up. He was just an animal.''

''Richard'' sent his account of Jones' peculiar predilections to victim advocacy group Broken Rites after The Age article appeared. ''I was one of those boys that was called into Jones' office for a chat about spirituality, or about going to Mass on Sundays. It turned out to be something quite different. It was about masturbation, how big the penis becomes, about the penis becoming red … all this told with detail and with strange movements of his hands.

''Despite countless therapy sessions concerning this episode in my life, I have never been able to remember what happened next.''

Former Priest Pleads Guilty, Could get 18 Months for Touching Elyria Teen

2009-09-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Original article
09/16/09

Brad Dicken

ELYRIA — A former local Catholic priest pleaded guilty Monday to a sex charge alleging he had sexual contact with a teenage boy 12 years ago.

Patrick O’Connor, 51, pleaded guilty to a single count of corruption of a minor as part of a plea agreement that could end up with him serving 18 months in prison. O’Connor had originally been charged with sexually battery, a crime that could have sent him to prison for five years.

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski, who will sentence O’Connor later this year, said the plea agreement didn’t contain a specified sentence.

Instead, prosecutors and O’Connor’s attorneys will argue whether he should be incarcerated.

The plea deal also calls for O’Connor to register as a sex offender every six months for the next 25 years.

O’Connor was indicted late last month after an investigation of more than a year into allegations that he had touched the boy — now in his late 20s — during the summer of 1997.

The victim came forward to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland in June 2008, and the allegations were turned over to Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will.

O’Connor was a priest at St. Jude Church in Elyria in 1997 and also once served as Elyria police chaplain.

The victim in the 1997 case wasn’t a parishioner, but rather a boy from the neighborhood whom O’Connor knew, according to prosecutors.

O’Connor resigned from the priesthood after the allegations surfaced last year. He had been working as chaplain to the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, both in Euclid, jobs that were deliberately designed to keep him away from children.

O’Connor had been on administrative leave from the church from 2003 through 2007 while the Diocese investigated earlier sex abuse allegations from when he was a priest at St. Joseph Church in Cuyahoga Falls during the 1980s.

O’Connor resigned as Elyria police chaplain when those allegations came to light, but he was later cleared of wrongdoing by a diocese review board.

He remains free on bond.

Narco-tape Shows Priests, nun Admitting to Crime

2009-09-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

Original article
09/15/09
VR Jayaraj | Kochi

The tapes of the narco-analyses in the sensational Sr Abhaya murder case of Kerala came out on Monday, showing the accused, two priests and a nun of the powerful Knanaya Catholic Church, admitting to their crime of murdering the 21-year-old nun.

The recordings contained in an 80-minute CD also showed that the two priests, Fr Thomas M Kottoor (58) and Fr Jose Puthrukayil (56), and nun Sr Seffy (43) had a relationship between them. This was perhaps for the first time the recordings of narco-analsyes in a murder case coming out in the open.

The CD of the narco-analyses came out in the media after the CBI probing the case handed it over to the defendants along with certain other documents at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam on Monday noon. Fr Kottoor, Fr Puthrukayil and Sr Seffy, the first, second and third accused respectively, were subjected to the analyses at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory in November, 2007.

The Kottayam Archdiocese of the Knanaya Catholic Church objected to the telecast of the tapes by news channels saying this was an act of gross violation of human rights while the CJM Court reportedly instructed several television channels not to continue with the telecast as the case was still in the court.

The recordings indeed carried signs of editing as the defendants had alleged, but legal experts said that the revelations the accused had made during the procedure were perfectly legible and enough for a probe agency to draw conclusions. The CBI case was that the three accused had struck Sr Abhaya on the back of her head with a blunt object and had pushed her in the well of the St Pius X Convent, Kottayam, after she had seen them in immoral postures. Sr Abhaya’s body was found in the well of the convent on the morning of May 27, 1992.

The narco-tape clearly shows Fr Kottoor, Fr Puthrukayil and Sr Seffi, under the effect of the truth serum, giving legible statements about how they had killed Sr Abhaya and the circumstances in which they had done this.

All the three accused are seen admitting that there was a relationship between them, and Sr Seffi clearly says that she was in love with both the priests while Fr Puthrukayil admits to having touched the nun’s body.

The statements of both Fr Puthrukayil and Sr Seffi are corroborative as they say that they had struck Sr Abhaya on the back of her neck with (the back of) an axe. “It was an axe (kodali) or a hammer (chuttika),” says Fr Puthrukayil, dazed under the effect of the truth serum while Sr Seffi says it was indeed an axe.

To a question, Sr Seffi can be seen telling the expert, Dr S Malini, then assistant director of the lab (and an interpreter), that blood had come out on the neck of the nun after they struck her. On the tape, Sr Seffi is also seen admitting that it was she who struck Sr Abhaya with the axe. The subjects also can be seen admitting that they had thrown Sr Abhaya in the well after she was (thought to be) dead. The priest is seen adding that he had escaped from the convent after the incident by jumping over the compound wall.

The tape also shows Sr Seffi telling the examiner very clearly that she had opened the door of the kitchen in the back of the convent for the two priests, with whom she was in love all the while, on the night of the incident. Fr Puthrukayil also can be seen admitting that he was in love with Sr Seffi, and that this love had come “from within my heart”.

The CD of the narco-analyses was still a subject of controversy as it had been proved that the recordings contained extensive editing. The defendants’ counsel had argued that this made the tapes untrustworthy but the CBI and the lab were of the stand that only unnecessary parts of the procedure had been edited out. After the tapes were out in the media, legal experts said that the genuineness of the recordings need not be doubted though editing had indeed been done.

The CBI had earlier submitted in the court that a Supreme Court judge, a devout member of the same church to which the murdered nun and the accused belonged, had watched the tapes on May 24, 2008 when he was the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, according to Dr Malini. She had also said that the judge had praised her for the work. The SC justice had not so far denied this.

Concerns Over Church Child Abuse Guidelines

2009-09-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Original article
09/16/09

GRAVE CONCERN was expressed yesterday about a continuing lack of adherence by Irish Catholic bishops to implementation of the Church’s own child protection guidelines.

Maeve Lewis, executive director of One in Four, which helps people who suffered abuse as children, told The Irish Times that as recently as Monday last the agency had been contacted by three people on the matter.

Each had complained about clerical abuse to the bishops in their three separate dioceses and in no case had the bishop concerned acted in accordance with church guidelines, she said. In one case the allegation was brought to the bishop’s attention three months ago, since when nothing had been done. In another case, the accused priest still remained as chairman of the local primary school board, while in the third case the accused priest had “gone abroad”.

Church child protection guidelines state that a bishop must inform civil authorities immediately an allegation is made. The accused priest is to be stood aside from ministry and contact with children, pending the outcome of church and State investigations.

Ms Lewis said there were only two Catholic dioceses of the 26 on the island of Ireland where she was confident that church child protection measures were being fully implemented. These were Dublin and Killaloe.

In each, “child protection came from the heart of the bishop”. She was referring to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Dublin and Bishop Willie Walsh in Killaloe.

“On a day-to-day basis it is difficult to make bishops listen” regarding child abuse, she said. This had heightened her concern for child protection regarding primary schools, the great majority of which had the bishops as trustees.

“Following the [Louise] O’Keeffe case, no one is responsible for the protection of children in those schools,” she said.

It had further unnerved her to learn that the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, has no authority over the implementation of such measures in church-run schools.

Ms Lewis was speaking at the launch of One in Four’s 2008 annual report in Dublin yesterday.

Since the Ryan report was published last May, the agency had been contacted by 700 people seeking help, she said. This was more than in all of 2008.

She was “very disappointed that Minister Barry Andrews has been unavailable to meet to discuss once-off emergency funding. Apologies to survivors without action are meaningless.”

In 2008 the agency accommodated 75 new psychotherapy clients and 426 advocacy clients, with 22 sex offenders taking part in treatment programmes at the agency. Of the abused it had helped in 2008, 21 per cent had experienced clerical abuse.

Accused nun Seeks Probe Into Leakage of Narco CDs

2009-09-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

09/18/09
Original article
STAFF WRITER 19:39 HRS IST

Kochi, Sept 15 (PTI) Sister Sephy, an accused in the Abhaya murder case, today filed a petition in a local court seeking a probe into the alleged leakage of CDs of the narco tests conducted on her.

In her petition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court, she said the contents of the narco CDs of two other accused -- Thomas Kottoor and Jose Puthrikayil -- were also leaked and telecast by several Malayalam television channels.

The court later restrained the media from publishing and telecasting the contents of CDS.

Sephy also wanted a ban in the media on any further discussions regarding the contents of the CDs.

Chief Judicial Magistrate K A Baby,sought a reply from CBI, which investigated the Abhaya case, and posted the petition to September 17.

Abused at 3, Woman Gets RC Settlement

2009-09-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Original article
Priest's sex assaults lasted 3 years

Dalson Chen, The Windsor Star

Published: Saturday, September 12, 2009

The youngest victim of pedophile priest Rev. Charles Sylvestre has reached a settlement with the Catholic church.

But Cecilia Annette McLauchlin said doing so was a difficult and painful process, and the London diocese should be ashamed for drawing it out.

"They simply are playing the game of 'survivor.' They push you to the wall, just hoping -- and, I am sure, praying -- that you will crack," she said at a news conference in London on Friday.

Now a 32-year-old Chatham resident, McLauchlin said the abuse began in 1980 when she was three, and it continued until her family moved away from Sylvestre's parish in 1983.

McLauchlin's lawyer, Rob Talach of the law firm Ledroit Beckett, said Sylvestre carried out "perverse sexual acts" on McLauchlin during those pre-school years. Talach said Sylvestre's abuse led to McLauchlin requiring a gynecological examination at the age of five.

McLauchlin said the abuse has affected her life well into adulthood. "I have been so scared, ashamed and confused for so many years, and it is still not over."

McLauchlin said that in the course of her lawsuit, the London diocese required her to undergo a psychiatric examination in the fall of last year, conducted by a medical examiner hired by the diocese.

McLauchlin said she endured questioning in a psychiatric hospital. "Most of those questions were into the acts of sexual abuse. He wanted more description. For 20 minutes, I literally had to describe private areas of Father Charlie (Sylvestre)."

McLauchlin said she believes the London diocese set up the examination to wear her down.

She believes the tactic of the diocese is to bring the unsettled victims to their breaking points, so that they will accept any offer the diocese makes. "They tried to crack me, but they didn't."

Talach noted that the London diocese did not agree to settle with McLauchlin until the last working day before the trial was scheduled to begin.

McLauchlin filed her lawsuit in the fall of 2006.

"Why that had to be dragged out like that ... is her question," Talach said.

"Three years of litigation and then folding on the eve of the courthouse is very expensive for the parties, and very difficult for the victims."

Talach would not disclose the sum of the settlement, stating that it was the request of his client that there be no comment about the amount.

"Cecilia wants the focus to be on the facts and not the figures," Talach said.

McLauchlin said she tried to settle with the diocese last year for an amount "substantially lower" than the eventual settlement, but the diocese ignored her offer.

Mark Adkinson, a spokesman for the London diocese, said it's the policy of the diocese not to comment on the financial details of a settlement.

On McLauchlin's accusation that the diocese was intentionally drawing out the process, Adkinson said: "We handle each case individually. There are circumstances that make some cases take longer to settle than others. There are various issues that go into that." He cited the time it takes to obtain legal advice and calendar conflicts.

2 Pueblo men Settle Suits Alleging Abuse by Priest

2009-09-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Original article
Associated Press - September 13, 2009 4:14 PM ET

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - Two Pueblo men who filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused by a former priest have reached settlements with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo.

Monsignor Mark Plewka of the diocese confirmed the settlements with a 48-year-old man and his nephew, described as in his 30s.

The older man alleged Andrew Burke abused him from 1970-78. The lawsuits accused Burke of establishing a similar relationship with the man's nephew.

The older man had sought $1.8 million from the diocese and the release of Burke's personnel file. Terms of the settlements weren't disclosed, but they did not include release of Burke's file.

Burke left the priesthood in 1973. He committed suicide in September 2005 at age 62.

Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain, http://www.chieftain.com

Abuse Happened for Three Years as a Preschooler

2009-09-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

By RANDY RICHMOND
Original article
Catholic diocese has settled with woman molested by a priest as a child

For 29 years, Cecilia McLauchlin, heavy with shame, tried to run from the past.

Today, she plans to go for a jog, much lighter than ever, and in a different direction.

"I am here to say that for 29 years I have been running away from the abuse and the pain, but (now) I am running toward the rest of my life."

The Blenheim woman spoke publicly for the first time yesterday about the three years of sexual abuse she suffered as a pre-schooler from Rev. Charles Sylvestre, her lifelong pain, and the fight for justice from the Roman Catholic Diocese of London.

She rebuked the diocese for adding to her sorrows.

The diocese dragged on the case for three years, refused one offer to settle, forced her to take "humiliating" medical exams, then settled days before going to trial, McLauchlin said yesterday at a news conference yesterday at the London law office of Ledroit Beckett.

"They push you to to the wall, just hoping, and I am sure praying, that you will 'crack' " she said.

"I hope the London diocese will settle with the rest of their victims and let them go on with their lives, or try."

Mark Adkinson, director of communications for the London diocese, responded to those criticisms yesterday by saying church officials are working as quickly on the dozens of lawsuits filed by Sylvestre's and other victims.

"We are doing the best we can," he said in an interview.

McLauchlin's deal is one of about 50 reached between the church and Sylvestre's victims, with more than a dozen outstanding.

"We are sorry for all of the hurt she and others have experienced as a result of the actions of Charles Sylvestre," Adkinson added in a written statement.

McLauchlin, now 32, is the youngest sexual abuse victim of Sylvestre's to come forward and sue the diocese.

The retired Roman Catholic priest died in 2007, three months into a three-year prison sentence for 47 counts of indecent assault on girls from parishes in London, Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham and Pain Court, a small village near Chatham.

McLauchlin grew up in Pain Court but was not part of the criminal proceedings. She launched her lawsuit in 2006, after seeing a newspaper story about Sylvestre.

Sylvestre began abusing her in 1980 or 1981, when she was three or four, soon after he began his last parish assignment at the Immaculate Conception Church in Pain Court, she said.

McLauchlin would not reveal details of the abuse yesterday, but she alluded to the physical and emotional pain the abuse brought.

"I really don't know how many three-, four-, five-, six-year-olds can't wear underwear for most of their childhood because they are raw."

According to the lawsuit's statement of claim, Sylvestre fondled her breasts, penetrated her vagina with his fingers, had intercourse with her and made her perform sex acts on him.

All the while Sylvestre abused the pre-schooler, he counselled her on religious matters, became close with her family and posed for photographs with her at a church dance and at her first communion.

"Father Charlie was this man whom I loved, whom I thought was the end all and be all. To have him pick me up and hold me over everyone else made me feel so special," McLauchlin said.

She never told her devout Catholic parents about the abuse until she was an adult.

"I was ashamed. I thought it was my fault and that continues to be a struggle in my life.
"

McLauchlin would not reveal the terms of her settlement.

"Cecilia's case is a double tragedy," her lawyer Rob Talach said. First, she was abused by her trusted parish priest, he said. Second, the abuse happened decades after other girls complained to church officials and police about Sylvestre.

"The abuse in this case never should have occurred," Talach said.

Whatever the Priests may Have Said -- Ireland was a Country Seething With sex

2009-09-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

Original article
By Diarmaid Ferriter

Saturday September 12 2009

Oliver J Flanagan had clearly not heard of the bikini girl on the Galway beach when he made his infamous assertion in 1966 that "Sex never came to Ireland until Teilifís Eireann went on the air".

What would the Fine Gael TD have made of the students at the national seminary in Maynooth who laughed rather than fulminated when they were told the story about a priest who had noticed a young woman from his parish sprawled on a beach wearing a very brief bikini?

The priest sent the woman a note, asking her to wear a one-piece bathing suit. She returned a quick reply: "Which piece do you want me to take off?" Apocryphal? Perhaps. But the story does contains an essential element of truth which was well-articulated by Francis Hackett in January 1945. Hackett, an Irish-born literary critic in the United States, wrote an article on Ireland for The American Mercury magazine.

He was initially concerned with providing a critique of Irish neutrality and living standards, but he also focused much of his ire on the Irish denial of sex in the 1920s and 1930s, of which he had direct experience when he lived for eight years in Wicklow.

He observed: "About the problems of sex, they pretend to be doves when in fact they are ostriches.

"A Jesuit father took it upon himself to decide where, and for how long, the young were to dance. The bishops came out against late parties, mixed bathing, night rides, communism, lipstick and legs. The list of censored books previous to the war already exceeded 1,000." Hackett wove his personal experience into his assessments; he was no detached observer, but someone who had an insight into the underbelly of sexual activity and crime.

"As for the sexual morbidity, I can testify from my own observation as a juror in Wicklow, where I lived from 1929 to 1937, that de Valera closes his eyes to facts. During quarter sessions, the panel had these cases to try: a village girl accused of throwing her newborn baby out of a railway carriage; a seller of soda water charged with homosexuality on 20 counts, pleading guilty; a village elder accused of criminal assault on two children under 12, pleading guilty; a romping athletic youth, accused of raping a girl under 16, found guilty.

"In Clare, at the same time, the judge had so many sex cases, in de Valera's own stronghold, that he called it the Dirty Assize. Rape, infanticide, homosexuality, even incest, crop up." Hackett was not exaggerating; these crimes were indeed cropping up all over the country and were on the increase in the 1920s. As Hackett recognised, it was delusional to maintain that the Irish were exceptionally chaste or sexually pure, but such an insistence proved remarkably durable.

As late as 1965, the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, insisted: "There is probably a saner attitude to sex in this country than almost anywhere else," words that the Ferns Report, Ryan Report and the upcoming report of sexual abuse in the Dublin diocese make a complete mockery of.

In researching the history of Irish sexuality, the historian is frequently confronted with the rhetoric of sin and "moral panic". The language associated with sex was overwhelmingly negative and judgmental. Condemnations and warnings abounded and there were deemed to be sexual traps and temptations around every corner.

In Brian Moore's novel Fergus (1971), Fr Kinneally, who taught Fergus English when he was a student, is asked by Fergus many years later if it was true that he had once cut all the corset and brassiere advertisements out of magazines on the school dentist's waiting room table. "There were young boys looking at those suggestive drawings," Fr Kinneally said. "I thought it wise. Remember, an occasion of sin is an occasion of sin, even if it is not intended to be."

The psychological effect of many years of this kind of language and instruction took its toll on some people, a notable example being the novelist Edna O'Brien, who told a journalist in 1968: "I don't think I have any pleasure in any part of my body, because my first and initial bad thoughts were blackened by the fear of sin and therefore I think of my body as a vehicle for sin, a sort of tabernacle of sin."

Her words of over 40 years ago will still resonate with a generation encouraged to equate sexual activity with sin, but as Francis Hackett recognised, there is also ample evidence that the Irish did not always obey their pious masters. Continued condemnation of sexual excess or deviance suggested there was a significant gulf between the rhetoric of Irish chastity and the reality.

There were a whole host of largely hidden Irelands that came to light during court proceedings, or as a result of private government inquiries into such issues as venereal diseases and the age of consent in the 1920s and 1930s.

With regard to many of those who emigrated in the 1950s, it was noted that much of their obedience at home had been largely superficial: in 1953, Fr Tom Fitzgerald, a native of Tipperary working as a chaplain in the east end of London, suggested that the female Irish emigrants he encountered had only been restrained at home "by outward conventions, not by faith, not by anything deep within herself".

Despite this, there was a continued articulation of the myth that "anything which tends to keep the Irish together reduces the risk of moral lapse", revealing a striking double standard; the belief that there were no such "lapses" at home in Ireland. In truth, the Irish solution was to hide and deny those who had "lapsed". And it was nearly always women who paid the price; there was an abundance of "fallen" Irish women, but no "fallen men".

By the 1960s there was a growing resentment and anger. This sense of defiance was captured in Michael Farrell's book Thy Tears Might Cease (1963), when the character Martin Reilly, having been punished and humiliated by priests about his private feelings, decides to resist them, "and think what thoughts he chose in the solitude of his own heart".

Those policing Irish personal lives in the 20th Century were not necessarily unique in their preoccupation with sexual morality. What happened in Ireland after the creation of the Free State reflected broader European and North American panic about the supposed erosion of moral standards in the aftermath of the First World War (and in Ireland's case, in the aftermath of the War of Independence and Civil War).

Irish measures against film, literature, divorce and birth control were not unusual. Nonetheless, in Ireland, it was clear that moral concerns were more prevalent in influencing prohibitions on birth control than a preoccupation with demographic patterns.

What was unique to Ireland was the reluctance to marry and the redirection of a frustrated sexuality into other areas, including residential institutions, and the recent report of the commission to inquire into child abuse has provided a corrective to the atmosphere of secrecy and shame that surrounded these experiences for so many years. The irony of all the focus on sexual morality in Ireland is that it was being conducted in a country where, in terms of official statistics, there was very little sexual activity. In 1926, 72pc of Irish men between 25 and 43 were unmarried, as were 53pc of women of that age.

These were trends that did not alter significantly until the 1950s, meaning that Ireland had the highest rates of postponed marriage and permanent celibacy of any western country that kept such records.

Clearly, the legacy of the famine, including a reluctance to subdivide land and a high premium being placed on the virtues of celibacy, had lingered.

In seeking to maintain mythical higher "moral standards" politicians continually asked for guidance from the Church.

Indeed, given what is now known about sexual abuse by clerics, it is ironic that the Church was continually being looked to for advice on legislation that was supposed to protect Irish citizens from sexual immorality. There is little doubt there were many Irish politicians during the 20th Century who saw themselves as Catholics first and legislators second, which influenced their stance on issues of sexual morality.

For much of the century, the contention that public debate on sexual morality was inappropriate stood alongside public sermonising and a preoccupation with what was seen, not what was suffered. The challenge that various authorities set themselves was to keep uncomfortable truths behind closed doors.

But towards the end of the 20th Century, as we have so painfully seen, it became more difficult and unacceptable to contain debate about sexual issues long hidden and abuses long suffered in what amounted to an overdue exposure of the myth of exceptional Irish sexual purity.

- Diarmaid Ferriter

I'm Guilty Admits Extradited Catholic Priest Charles Barnett,

2009-09-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

09/08/09
Original link

A FORMER South Australian priest has pleaded guilty to child sex charges after being extradited from Indonesia.

Charles Barnett, 68, was arrested in February following a request from Australian authorities, and the South Jakarta District Court approved his extradition in April.

Today, in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, Barnett admitted to three counts of indecent assault against a person between 1977 and 1982 at Crystal Brook and Port Pirie.

He pleaded not guilty to six other charges of unlawful sexual intercourse and indecent assault at Port Pirie, Crystal Brook, Whyalla and Black Forest between 1981 and 1994.

Magistrate Alfio Grasso remanded him in custody to next appear in court in October.

Ninth man Charged Over St Stanislaus sex Assualt Claims

2009-09-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Original article
06/23/09

A NINTH man has been charged over historic sexual assault claims at a prestigious boarding school for boys in central western NSW.

Detectives have been investigating claims of child sexual assault dating back to 1960 at St Stanislaus Catholic College at Bathurst for almost 12 months.

A 79-year-old man was arrested at a Marsfield address in Sydney's north on Tuesday, police said.

"The man was taken to Ryde police station and charged with five counts of indecent assault on (a) male,'' police said in a statement.

"Those charges relate to the alleged indecent assault of three students between 1966 and 1978.''

He was granted bail and is to face Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on June 25.

Investigations have led to charges against staff including the school's former principal, vice-principal and chaplain.

Police are yet to reveal if the man was teacher at the school at the time of the alleged offences.

The latest arrest came as the case of one of the other eight accused was mentioned in a Sydney court on Tuesday.

Kevin Phillips, 58, was a member of the Vincentian community at St Stanislaus for a few months in 1990. He was also a part-time teacher and sports coach.

He has been charged with attempting homosexual intercourse by a teacher on a student, committing a gross act of indecency and supplying a prohibited drug.

Phillips, who now lives in Mackay in Queensland, was excused from appearing when his matter was mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court.

It was adjourned until September 8 so lawyers can analyse a computer hard drive seized during his arrest in May.

Strike Force Belle is investigating allegations of sexual assault on students at St Stanislaus and All Saints College, also in Bathurst, between 1960 and 1993.

Paedophilia Rampant at Bathurst Schools, Court Told

2009-09-03T14:23:00.001-07:00

Original article
09/01/09

THE evidence against former NSW priests accused of historical sexual assaults painted "a picture of rampant paedophilia" in Bathurst schools, a court heard today as one fights for his liberty.

A former Father at St Stanislaus College, Brian Joseph Spillane has been charged with a fourth round of offences relating to alleged sexual assaults at the prestigious school.

The charges relate to alleged sexual assaults on students at the school more than 20 years ago.

A number of the men charged were members of the Vincentian Order on the staff at the college in the 1970s and 1980s.

Spillane is now accused of a total of 146 charges of indecency and sexual abuse against 27 victims - three of whom were girls.

Crown Prosecutor Beth Walker today asked a Downing Centre Local Court to refuse bail on the new charges and revoke bail granted on the old ones.

"In my submission, the brief of evidence presents a picture of rampant paedophilia," she said, citing a string of corroborating witness statements.

Spillane's barrister Philip Boulten SC is expected to mount a heavy case for his client to remain on bail this afternoon.

The hearing continues before Magistrate Jane Culver.

Students 'Hypnotised for sex' at St Stanislaus

2009-09-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Original article
LISA DAVIES

September 02, 2009 12:01am

STUDENTS at prestigious Catholic boys St Stanislaus College school were hypnotised into having sex with teachers, a court heard yesterday.

One of those teachers, former St Stanislaus College chaplain Brian Spillane, yesterday faced a fight for his freedom as additional charges were laid, bringing the total to 146.

The court heard how a former teacher had handed police "typed and signed admissions" from a St Stanislaus staffer that he had in fact hypnotised boys for the purposes of having sex with them in 1967.

The Crown said evidence would corroborate the claims from some of Spillane's victims that they were hypnotised by him.

Spillane, one of nine former teachers charged, is accused of indecent and sexual assaults at the school between 1971 and 1990 against 27 victims - three of whom were girls in the parish.

Crown Prosecutor Beth Walker yesterday asked the Downing Centre Local Court to refuse bail on the new charges and revoke bail granted on the existing ones.

"In my submission, the brief of evidence presents a picture of rampant paedophilia," she said.

Spillane, 66, has yet to enter any pleas to the charges.

In new evidence, Magistrate Jane Culver was told of an informant, "Witness A", who had told police of seeing Spillane involved in sex acts with "various students" during prayer sessions.

Witness A has also told of seeing Spillane engaging in sexual activity with students in a shower block.

Prosecutor Ms Walker rejected any suggestion the informant had "an axe to grind".

She argued the case was an extremely strong one and said there was significant corroborative evidence.

Magistrate Culver said while recent material and the full brief did in fact paint an alarming picture, Spillane "doesn't appear to have engaged in any recent paedophilia activity" since the last allegation of 1989.

She continued bail and ordered Spillane's wife to provide another $10,000 surety.

More Bathurst School sex Abuse Charges

2009-08-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/31/09

One of the men accused of sexual assaults at two Bathurst schools, in central western New South Wales, is facing more charges.

The 66-year-old was yesterday charged in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney in relation to an extra 29 counts of indecently assaulting 11 boys and girls.

He was granted bail to reappear in the court today.

Strike Force Belle is investigating allegations of abuse against students at St Stanislaus and All Saints College in Bathurst between 1960 and 1993.

Priest Peter Julian Brock Accused of Sexual Abuse

2009-08-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/29/09

The first case involved what must be identified as a local celebrity-type priest, a media darling, spokesperson for the local diocise, Member of the Order of Australia, Newton John Award winner and conductor the Newcastle University choir. Various young men gave evidence that Father Peter Julian Brock masturbated over them and performed oral sex on one child while on school camps.

Father Brock also liked playing Strip Jack Naked card games with children. On one occasion he confessed sobbingly to the boys saying: “You don’t understand how hard it is being a priest”. I don’t think he was referring to the sexual arousal he felt from lauding his “God-given” powers over defenceless children – more so the oft’ trotted out sexual frustration by clergy defence. News media reports made mention of a troubling exchange between a mother and child – in response to her son’s allegations against Father Brock, his mother slapped his face while admonishing the child for such blasphemous words.

The ripple effect among parishioners, my family included, is profound, as this comes on the back of more than five similar cases locally in as many years. (For further info. see:www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/.../1329844.aspx
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=9385
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=1516 http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/3467269078/http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page178-brock.html)

Peru Arrests Priest Accused of Molesting Child

2009-08-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/27/09

LIMA – A Colombian priest was arrested in the southern Peruvian region of Puno for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl who has Down syndrome, the Peru.21 newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Rev. Antonio Jose Zapata Calle was reported to authorities two months ago by the girl’s family and a court in Puno ordered his arrest after the investigation was completed.

The 47-year-old priest is being held at a prison in the city of Juliaca under tight security due to fears that other inmates might attack him because his case involves a child.

Zapata arrived in Puno four months ago to do missionary work.

The South Andean Human Rights Institute plans to ask the court to sentence the priest to life in prison if he is convicted of molesting the girl, the newspaper said.

Congress approved a law in 2006 that imposes life prison terms on those convicted of raping children younger than 10.

Some 1,000 children are raped each year in Peru, official figures show. EFE

Archdiocese Removes Priest Pending Outcome of Investigation

2009-08-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

08/23/09
Church of St. Patrick pastor faces decades-old allegations

Kristin Harty
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — The pastor of the Church of St. Patrick has been fired amid allegations that he sexually abused a minor in the mid-1970s — charges he has denied.

Monsignor Thomas Bevan, 73, was removed from the ministry Aug. 19 and cannot function as a priest until an investigation is complete, the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced Sunday afternoon.

“If the allegations are proven false, he would be restored to the ministry,” said Sean Caine, spokes-man for the Archdiocese. “If they are credible, he would remain permanently removed.”

About 200 church members gathered at St. Patrick’s on Centre Street Sunday afternoon to find out what happened to Bevan, after he was replaced by a guest pastor during Masses Saturday and Sunday. The meeting, led by Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, lasted less than an hour.

“I’m just in shock,” said Susan Cioni, a St. Patrick’s member for 27 years. “It’s still like it’s not real. We’ve known Father Bevan for a long time. He did wonderful things for St. Patrick’s. I’m very sad. Of course, he’s not proven guilty yet. Who knows what will happen.”

According to the Archdiocese, in June, a former student at the parish school of St. John Catholic Church in Frederick said he was abused on a number of separate occasions while Bevan was an associate pastor there from 1974 to 1979. The Archdiocese said it immediately reported the case to civil authorities in Frederick County, but was instructed not to take further action, including conducting its own investigation or contacting Bevan.

The Archdiocese said it received permission from county authorities last Tuesday to resume its investigation. Archdiocese representatives met with Bevan — and fired him — the next day.

In 2005, Bevan faced a similar accusation of sexually abusing a minor, but the case was not pursued because of a lack of evidence, the Archdiocese said. Bevan denied the charge, which stemmed from alleged incidents in 1974.

Bevan, who was ordained as a priest in 1963, has been pastor at St. Patrick for 12 years. With about 900 families attending, it’s one of Allegany County’s largest churches.

Members were concerned Sunday about the future of the parish — and about Bevan’s well-being.

“We just wanted to make sure he’s OK,” said lifelong member Jeff Widdows, who attended Sunday’s meeting and learned that Bevan is being taken care of financially and receiving counseling.

Bevan couldn’t be reached for comment.

“A lot of parishioners came away feeling very resentful that they’ve removed him before the accusations are proven,” Widdows said. “The church has gone from one extreme to another — from sweeping it under the table to guilty until proven innocent ... I understand that if the allegations are true, he has to pay consequences, but this man’s reputation has been ruined.”

In addition to serving at St. John in Frederick and St. Patrick in Cumberland, Bevan served as associate pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middle River (1963-1974); pastor at St. Mark in Fallston (1979-1991); temporary administrator at St. Mary in Cumberland (1991-92); and temporary administrator at St. Patrick in Mount Savage (1992).

Bevan served as executive director of the Secretariat for Priestly Life & Ministry for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1992 to 1997, and in the Office of Clergy Education for the Archdiocese from 1976 to 1991. During his time as an associate at Mount Carmel, he taught religion and church history at the parish high school. While an associate at St. John, he taught liturgy courses at Mount St. Mary’s.

Caine said that two representatives from the Archdiocese will help run St. Patrick in Bevan’s absence, with Father Jim Kurtz, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul in Cumberland, stepping in, as well.

Counseling has been of-fered to those affected by the allegations, Caine said.

More than 4,450 Catholic priests have been accused of sex abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Of 11,000 total allegations, 6,700 were investigated and substantiated, the study said. Another 1,000 were unsubstantiated, and others were not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the allegation was made.

Cases gained widespread public attention after a series of Boston Globe articles in 2002.

Bitter Words for Church in Salute to Abuse-probe Judge

2009-08-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/24/09

IT was a far cry from that bleak May day when survivors of institutional abuse were not admitted to the long-awaited news conference in a Dublin hotel at which Mr Justice Sean Ryan published his damning report into systematic abuse of children by religious orders in State run institutions.

At the weekend, three months later, Judge Ryan stood side by side for a family photograph with representatives of survivors' groups and journalist Mary Raftery, whose documentary, 'Suffer Little Children', first alerted the public to the scale of child abuse in what was known as "CatholicIreland".

The judiciary, the abused and the media came together in the Co Mayo market town of Ballina to receive special awards presented on behalf of the Humbert Summer Schoolby its honorary president, John Hume, the peacemaker inNorthern Ireland and Nobel Laureate.

Saturday on the banks of the rain-swollen River Moy was a day of remarkable salmon leaps in the torrential saga of state and media probing into what has become known as 'the Irish disease'.

In his first public appearance since his explosive findings were made public, Judge Ryan paid a moving tribute to "the courage and fortitude" of the abused, whose horrendous evidence about their experiences as children is now permanently recorded in the landmark report of theCommission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which he chaired. Judge Ryan did not hold back from giving full credit to the residents of State institutions for bringing to light "events which were shrouded in darkness for so long".

In turn, survivor Michael O'Brien, the former mayor ofClonmel who captured the nation's imagination by challenging the platitudes of Government minister Noel Dempsey on an unforgettable RTE 'Questions and Answers' programme, bowed to the good judge and thanked him "for the momentous work you and your team have done". But Mr O'Brien was only prepared to give conditional pardon to the religious congregations who locked up him and thousands of other children in penal institutions as serfs. He will forgive his oppressors only when he knows in his heart that "these people mean it when they say 'we are really, really sorry'."

"I do not want silly apologies. I want to see repentance," he said.

Showing moral courage by her attendance, but bringing with her no extra cash demanded by the Government and survivors to top up the meagre redress deal negotiated by former education minister Michael Woods, Sr Marianne O'Connor, secretary general of Cori, the Conference of religious of Ireland, said the Humbert School was "the first public forum to which religious have been invited since the publication of the Ryan".

There was no prize for the religious orders from the Humbert School. Only two of the local clergy were present. It was noted by many that the Bishop of Killala, John Fleming, away on pilgrimage to Lourdes, had not sent a special delegate to witness both the awards, and there was a series of scathing criticisms of the secrecy deployed by the Catholic hierarchy and their lack of direct engagement with the survivors.

The criticism came from Augustinian priest Fr Iggy O'Donovan and Fr Kevin Hegarty, two courageous priests who want the Irish Church to move out of its closed cloisters into the more participative church of the Second Vatican Council, in which bishops share decision-making with priests and laity in a national synod.

Fr Hegarty, exiled to the remotest parish in north Mayo for publishing articles on clerical child abuse in the mid-1990s, noted how today's bishops tried "to establish clear blue water between themselves and the religious congregations" in the wake of the Ryan Report.

"As they sought to sail away from the wreckage revealed in the Ryan Report, room on the Episcopal lifeboats was extremely limited," Fr Hegarty lamented, while Michael Kelly, deputy editor of the traditionally conservative 'Irish Catholic' newspaper, bemoaned that following Ryan the Irish Church now stood "in the gutter, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, humiliated, hopefully repentant".

Fr O'Donovan, who was reprimanded for concelebrating an Easter Sunday Mass in Droghedathree years ago with an Anglican rector, explained that he belonged to a Church which, as an institution, "rarely if ever admits to having been wrong or to having inflicted harm on people".

Most strikingly of all, Michael O'Brien accused the Irish bishops of not telling Pope Benedictthe full scale of the Irish abuse crisis -- and he demanded that the Pope should meet two survivors to listen to their stories.

Rome, Maynooth and Cori needed to take seriously the alarm bells rung in Mayo this weekend, or their Church is moribund as far as the next generation is concerned, he said. However, while Rome, Cori and Maynooth continue to man the breached ramparts of their closed walls, the danger is that like the Church, the Cowen government will shrink from its financial responsibilities to abuse victims.

The unspoken hope of Maynooth and Government Buildings is that the survivors' group will divide and fight among themselves, and that the media and the public will weary of their plight.

Priest Demands Freeze on Recruiting Clergy

2009-08-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Original article
By Shane Hickey

Monday August 24 2009

A LEADING priest has called for the Catholic Church to halt the recruitment of clergy in light of the child sex abuse scandals.

Fr Aidan Troy, who came to international prominence when he walked with Ardoyne schoolchildren through loyalist protests in north Belfast, said the Church needed to "halt recruitment, reform and reorganise".

He said the hierarchy had been responsible for a "wholly inadequate response to the horrendous abuse that has been uncovered" and that they should not engage in "window dressing", but instead take radical action.

Fr Troy was the parish priest of the Holy Cross church in north Belfast during 2002 when ugly scenes of sectarian hatred and violence saw Catholic parents having to escort their children to school under heavy security in a hardline loyalist area.

Now based in Paris, he said that he was "ashamed" at the Church's reaction to the Ryan report into child sexual abuse in institutions run by the religious orders.

"It has been more about improving the Church's image than tackling fundamental problems," he said.

"In the 1970s I was sent around schools to recruit pupils to the priesthood. I couldn't do that now. Back then, parents were delighted if their sons chose to become priests. Now, most would understandably oppose it and try to talk them out of it."

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said a national office for the safe-guarding of children had been set up by the Church, missionaries and religious orders.

"An inadequate response may have been correct some time ago, but not in recent years," he said.

- Shane Hickey

Three Priests Involved in Genocide

2009-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/20/09

Three new judgments, including that of Fr. Hormisdas Nsengimana, will be rendered by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) before the end of the year, according to the Tribunal's estimates.

The other defendants who will also know their fate before 31 December are Lieutenant Colonels Ephrem Setako and Tharcisse Muvunyi. The exact dates of the judgments are yet to be known.

Accused of genocide, murder and extermination, Fr. Nsengimana, who has claimed his innocence, was, in 1994, vice-chancellor of the Christ the King College of Nyanza (southern Rwanda), one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

According to the prosecutor, who requested life imprisonment on 12 February, the catholic priest, among other crimes, killed his colleague Fr. Mathieu Ngirumpatse.

Fr. Nsengimana is part of the 3 catholic priests detained by the ICTR.

Lieutenant Colonel Ephrem Setako, accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, was director of legal affairs at the ministry of defence.

His charges relate to massacres committed in Kigali and in his native prefecture of Ruhengeri (northern Rwanda) in 1994.

In this case, the prosecutor rested his case on 22 April while the defence did so on 26 June.

In the Nsengimana trial, as in that of Setako, the Chamber is presided by Norwegian Judge Erik Mose.

The case of Lieutenant Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi in particular is so far the first at ICTR to be re-tried.

In this new trial, his charges relate to a speech he made one afternoon towards the end of May 1994 at the commercial centre of Gikore, in the Nyaruhengeri commune, in the prefecture of Butare (southern Rwanda).

According to the prosecutor, the message was interpreted exclusively by Hutu audience as a call to exterminate the few Tutsis who were still alive in the region, an issue being contested by the defendant.

The prosecutor rested his case on 22 June and the defence case, which should not last more than a week, opens on Monday.

Athanase Seromba Convicted and Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

2009-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

08/20/09
Original article

Gregoire Ndahimana, former mayor of Kivumo, western Rwanda, arrested last week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity is expected at the seat of the International Criminal tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha,Tanzania, before the end of the week.

"He could be here before the end of this week," said Bocar Sy, ICTR's Chief of Press Service during a press conference on Thursday.

However, he admitted, there was a delay on the transfer of that accused which would normally take short time unlike other transfers from other continents such as Europe and the United States which would take longer time as they would first be compelled to go through legal battle. U United Nations

He said the arrest of Ndahimana was a result of a joint operation between the DRC government and two UN institutions, ICTR and United Nations Organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).

Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congonited Nations Organization sion in the

The defendant is accused of playing a role in organizing the killings of mostly ethnic Tutsis who had sought refugee at the Nyange Parish Church, Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda between April 6 and 20, 1994.

Former Nyange Parish Priest, Fr. Athanase Seromba had already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the massacres at the site.

According to the UN report about 800 000 people, mostly Tutsis and few moderate Hutus perished in the Rwandan 1994 genocide.

Priest Accused of abusing Homeless Boys in Brazil

2009-08-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Original article
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2009

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - An Italian priest who ran a shelter for homeless children in Brazil has been charged with sexually abusing boys for years and allowing visiting foreigners to exploit the children.

Father Clodoveo Piazza, now working as a missionary in Mozambique, was charged along with another former director of Fraternal Help Organization, a private group based in Salvador, Brazil.

Chief state prosecutor Lidivaldo Britto says a judge will decide whether to request Piazza’s extradition or seek an Interpol arrest warrant. Britto says Piazza is working with children in Mozambique, and he’s “afraid that kids there are in a similar dangerous situation.“

Priest's Card Game Turned to sex, Court Told

2009-08-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Original article

BY DAN PROUDMAN

20/08/2009 8:50:00 AM

CATHOLIC priest Peter Julian Brock used a ruse of playing cards to lure a boy into naked sex trysts which lasted several years, a court heard yesterday.

The alleged victim told a committal hearing yesterday of how Brock had introduced the card game "strip jack" where players lose pieces of clothing depending on what they are dealt in a "counselling room" of a Hunter presbytery before sexually abusing him.

The man, who was a young teenager at the time of the alleged abuse in the 1970s, also told the court how his mother had slapped him and told him "you don't make comments like that about priests" after he had confided in her that Brock was abusing him.

Brock, 63, faces 22 child sex charges involving two alleged victims during the 1970s.

Brock has not been required to enter a plea.

In the first day of a committal hearing expected to last until tomorrow, the man told Newcastle Local Court yesterday of the ongoing abuse he had allegedly suffered at the hands of Brock after the well-known priest had befriended his family.

The court was told Brock had drunk alcohol and socialised with the man's father and often visited the family home.

He had introduced the alleged victim to "strip jack" and regularly played it at the family home, where the pair only got down to their shorts.

But it was when Brock began asking the boy to a presbytery, sometimes by ringing the family and telling the boy's mother that he wanted to play cards after having a "bad day", that the abuse allegedly began, the court heard.

The man told the court that once naked, he and Brock would sit opposite each other and Brock would push the boy's knees apart "so he could look at me" before abusing him.

"He would be drinking and having a smile on his face and drank more and more," the man said.

"He would keep encouraging me to keep my knees apart."

The alleged victim said he began putting more clothes on before visiting Brock in the hope that he would still be dressed when the priest was naked and "that once he had his clothes off I wouldn't have to go any further".

PRIEST SEX CASE

2009-08-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Accuser Admits to Misleading Police

BY DAN PROUDMAN

21/08/2009 9:08:00 AM
Original article

A MAN who has accused Catholic priest Peter Julian Brock of sexually assaulting him as a teenager admitted yesterday he initially identified the wrong presbytery where some of the abuse allegedly occurred.

The man told Newcastle Local Court he had misled police about when the alleged abuse finished because he was concerned they would think he was homosexual if he admitted it continued into his 20s.

The committal hearing also heard how Brock had officiated at the man's wedding years after he was alleged to have abused him.

Brock, 63, is facing 22 child sex offences relating to two boys and alleged to have occurred in the 1970s.

He has not been required to enter a plea.

On Wednesday, the hearing was told Brock abused the boy over several years by luring him into becoming naked while playing card games.

Some of the abuse allegedly occurred in a "counselling room" of a Hunter presbytery.

The court heard yesterday that the alleged victim had, in two statements to police, said that he had been assaulted at a certain Hunter presbytery, but Brock was not based there until years after the abuse was alleged to have first occurred.

In a third statement to police, made almost a year after the first statement, the man changed the location.

Under cross examination yesterday, the man agreed he had deliberately misled police in his first statement when he said the abuse had stopped when he was still a teenager.

He said he was embarrassed that police would think he was homosexual if he told them the sexual activity continued into his 20s.

He told police in a second statement he was abused until he was 24 or 25. On Wednesday he told the court that it continued until his late 20s.

Defence counsel Peter Hamill, SC, asked the man about the discrepancies: "It's your memory that is the problem, not your math, it's a fact that it's your memory that changes."

The man replied: "I know what happened to me, I know as a child and I know he did it."

Accused Priest Released on bail

2009-08-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

08/15/09
Original article

A FELLOW priest put up bail and the Catholic Church offered accommodation to secure the release from custody of a priest charged with grooming a 13-year-old girl for sex.

Robert Fuller, 54, a priest at All Saints Church in Liverpool, in Sydney's southwest, was yesterday charged with grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16 via internet chat sites.

He was arrested in a carpark where he had allegedly arranged to meet the girl. He soon discovered the person with whom he had been talking online was not a teenager but a police detective.

Detectives also executed a search warrant at a presbytery in George Street, Liverpool, where they located and seized computers, documents, photographs and a mobile phone.

A police document tendered during the bail hearing at Parramatta Local Court yesterday alleged that during online chat sessions, Father Fuller had masturbated on web camera and encouraged the girl to masturbate herself. He had also arranged a meeting with the girl.

"During five of the conversations, the (accused) activated his web camera and his face was captured by investigators," police alleged.

The Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, called the news "appalling and distressing" and said he shared "the concern and alarm" of parishioners, parents and the school community.

Father Fuller was immediately stood down from his ministry.

A friend and fellow priest, Father Terry Bell, currently acting as bishop of the Western Sydney diocese, offered $25,000 as bail and accommodation at a church-owned property on the NSW Central Coast in support of Father Fuller's bid for bail.

Magistrate Peter Miszalski granted the priest bail, requiring him to report to police three times a week, surrender his passport, not use the internet and not be in proximity to children. Father Fuller will next appear in the same court on October 8.

A Sydney Priest Accused of Grooming a 13-year-old Girl for sex has Been Released on Bail.

2009-08-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

08/14/09
Original article

Detectives posing as a girl on an internet chat site allege that 54-year-old Father Robert Fuller was sexually explicit in conversations he had with them.

Court documents say he sent sexually explicit videos of himself, where his face is clearly seen.

It is alleged that the priest went to the car park at Parramatta swimming pool yesterday thinking he could meet the young girl.

Instead he was arrested by officers from the Child Exploitation Internet Unit.

In court today, Fuller's lawyer said that the crown case was very strong but he said that the priest had a clean record.

The priest's friend, Father Terence Bell, described him as a hard worker with a good reputation at his parish at All Saints Catholic Church in Liverpool.

He told the court that the church could post $25,000 to secure Fuller's release on bail.

Father Bell said he could live in a unit in Terrigal which the church owns and is used by priests for holidays.

Fuller was granted bail and the magistrate ordered him not to talk to anyone under the age of 18.

He is also banned from using the internet.

‘Devil in Dog Collar’ Priest Faces Jail for sex Abuse over 36 Years

2009-08-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

08/12/09
Original article

LONDON - A priest, tagged as “the devil in a dog collar” by one of his victims, is facing jail for sexual assault on schoolboys over 36 years.

Father David Pearce, who was a headmaster at a school, confessed indecent assaults on five Roman Catholic pupils.

The 67-year-old was said to have attacked his final victim after being slapped with restrictions designed to prevent such conduct.

“I believe the Church are responsible - they knew what he was up to. Devil in a dog collar sums him up,” The Sun quoted one victim as saying.

Judge Andrew McDowall, at Isleworth Crown Court in West London, told Pearce “you should have acknowledged your guilt sooner”, adding a “substantial custodial sentence” was an “overwhelming possibility”.

Westminster RC diocese said: “Ealing Abbey is deeply saddened by the case.”

Pearce is due to be sentenced in October. (ANI)

Priest Faces Jail for Abusing Schoolboys

2009-08-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

08/13/09
Original article

A PERVERTED priest who admitted sexually abusing schoolboys in his care for a period of 36 years has been warned to expect jail.

Father David Pearce, of Ealing Abbey, in Charlbury Grove, Ealing, had originally denied the allegations made by five pupils at St Benedict's School, Ealing, where he had been headmaster.

The assaults involved caning and intimate touching. But the 67-year-old, who had been dubbed Gay Dave by pupils in the school, changed his plea to guilty at the last moment as the trial at Isleworth Crown Court was about to go ahead.

Father Pearce, who retired from his role as head of the school 15 years ago, admitted 10 indecent assaults against four boys under 16 and sexually assaulting a fifth. Restrictions had been placed on him by superiors.

Judge Andrew McDowall, at Isleworth Crown Court, told Pearce to expect a substantial sentence and added: "You should have acknowledged your guilt sooner."

He will return to the court to be sentenced in October.

Outside the court, one victim blamed the church, saying: "They knew what he was up to. Devil in a dog collar sums him up."

Pearce started his abuse at the school in 1972, but it ended last January when he was arrested at his home, after claims had been lodged by a pupil.

Westminster RC diocese said: "Ealing Abbey is deeply saddened by the case."

Ealing Abbey founded the school in 1902 and monks act as trustees. The school admits pupils aged four to 18 and has a mixed sixth form.

Famous alumni include the former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten and the comedian Julian Clary.

Sydney Priest 'Groomer' Caught on Webcam, Court Told

2009-08-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Original article
Dylan Welch and Georgina Robinson

August 14, 2009

Single page view

Accused ... Robert Fuller.

A 54-year-old Sydney Catholic priest has been arrested and charged after allegedly attempting to groom detectives who were masquerading as a 13-year-old girl, sending them a series of sexually explicit chat-room messages.

Police allege they posed as a 13-year-old girl on the internet to catch Robert Fuller, a priest of three decades standing and the parish priest of All Saints at Liverpool for six years. Prior to that he was the parish priest at a Punchbowl parish.

They allege he sent chat-room messages between July and August, and even tried to arrange a meeting to engage in sexual activity.

Police arrested Father Fuller in a car park at Parramatta, in western Sydney, at 12.30pm yesterday, and later charged him with grooming a person under the age of 16.

He was refused bail and appeared in Parramatta Local Court today, where he sat silently throughout the hearing.

Magistrate Peter Miszalski, police prosecutor Sergeant Kai Penninkilampi, and defence lawyer Greg Walsh all agreed it was a strong case.

In opposing bail, Sergeant Penninkilampi said Father Fuller being on bail could pose a risk to the community.

He also said it didn’t matter if Father Fuller lived away from children.

"The defendant has shown an absolute preparedness to travel wherever and whenever to contact [the presumed girl] and I would submit it doesn’t matter where he lives."

In a police document tendered during the hearing, it was alleged that, between July 21 and yesterday, Father Fuller had communicated with a person on an online messenger service, Yahoo7 Messenger, who he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

In fact the other person was an investigator from the Sex Crime Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit.

Father Fuller used two names during the conversations - "rr" and "rogers_2468" the document stated.

There were a total of 25 conversations between the priest and the investigator, the court heard.

"During the communications the accused was sexually explicit with the [investigator] with a view to grooming and procuring 'her' for sexual activity," the document stated.

The accused masturbated in front a of a web camera and encouraged the presumed girl to masturbate, the document read.

"The accused ... states he is concerned about getting into trouble because of her young age.

"During five of the conversations the [accused] activated his web camera and his face was captured by investigators."

Eventually a meeting was arranged with Father Fuller near Parramatta Park and he was arrested by police nearby.

Mr Walsh said that Father Fuller would not present a risk to the community and could live in a holiday apartment owned by the Catholic Church in Terrigal, while he went through the court proceedings.

Another priest would live with him and no internet connection would be allowed at the flat, Mr Walsh said.

The church was also willing to offer a $25,000 surety on Father Fuller's behalf.

In granting bail, Mr Miszalski required Father Fuller to surrender his passport, not approach points of international departure, not to use the internet or approach children or places where children congregated and to be supervised at all times.

The matter will next be heard in October.

During yesterday's operation, police also seized laptop computers, documents, photographs and a mobile phone from the presbytery at All Saints Catholic Parish on George Street.

Three schools, including a primary school and separate boys' and girls' colleges, are next to the presbytery.

A Catholic Education spokesman said Father Fuller was not on the teaching staff at either school.

Rwanda Genocide Suspect Arrested in DR Congo

2009-08-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Original article
(AFP) – 5 days ago

ARUSHA, Tanzania — Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested a former Rwandan mayor for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said Wednesday.

Gregoire Ndahimana was arrested yesterday Tuesday in the east of the country, an ICTR official said.

"Measures have been taken for him to be transferred to ICTR headquarters in Arusha in Tanzania," the official told AFP.

Accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, the former mayor of the town of Kivumu is alleged to have played a role in the massacre of more than 1,000 Tutsis who took refuge in the Catholic church in the village of Nyange.

They were buried alive under the rubble when the church was bulldozed.

According to the prosecution, Ndahimana helped prepare the massacre.

A Catholic priest, Athanase Seromba, was sentenced to life by the ICTR appeals court in 2008 for his role in the same massacre.

ICTR prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow has said most of the 12 genocide suspects sought by the ICTR are in hiding in DR Congo.

Formed in late 1994, the UN-backed ICTR is responsible for judging primary suspects in the Rwanda genocide.

Porn Phone Priest Flees Temple

2009-08-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

08/12/09
Original article
By Dielle D'Souza, Press Association

A priest was caught watching clips from a porn film during prayers in a Sikh temple in north India.

Jasbir Singh Gill, who was attending the morning prayers session, noticed that the priest was allegedly "not concentrating on the prayers" and was distracted by "something underneath the table on which the scriptures were placed".

Mr Gill said: "I was shocked to see the priest was actually busy watching pornographic clips on his mobile phone that he had cleverly hidden under the table."

The chief priest of the gurudwara in Jhar Sahab, near Ludhiana, Punjab was called, but the priest managed to escape leaving his mobile phone behind. A complaint was later filed to a police station in Ludhiana.

A police spokesman said: "We have registered a complaint against the accused after checking the porn movie clips on his mobile."

Diocese Settles Boonville Priest Abuse Case

2009-08-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

Original article
By Mark Slavit
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 4:55 p.m.

JEFFERSON CITY -- Officials with the Jefferson City Catholic Diocese have agreed to pay part of a settlement to a man who claims to have been sexually abused by a former Boonville priest.

Jefferson City Diocese officials would not say how much they paid of a $600,000 settlement agreement.

An attorney representing the alleged victim says no amount of money can erase a stolen childhood, a shattered faith and horrific betrayal.

This story centers around a priest who used to call himself Father Carmine Sita. Sita was arrested and charged in 1982 with sexual molestation and marijuana distribution in New Jersey. Sita later changed his name to Father Gerald Howard and the Catholic Church moved him to a Boonville parish here in Mid-Missouri. The alleged victim, whose name remains anonymous, says Father Howard abused him during the 1980’s at Boonville’s Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. We do know that the alleged victim now lives in Virginia and sued the Catholic Church for more than $1 million. The church and the alleged victim reached a settlement of $600,000 in June, which is highest settlement for any sexual abuse case in Mid-Missouri involving a priest. Church officials do not know today’s whereabouts of Father Gerald Howard. That concerns the alleged victim’s attorney Bryan Bacon.

“We really encourage anyone that was assaulted by Fr. Howard in Boonville to come forward," Bacon said. "The statue of limitations for this type of crime, there is none. There are no statues of limitations. If you have been violated, I urge you to come forward and call the police.”

Officials with the Diocese of Jefferson City admit former Bishop Michael McAuliffe made a tragic mistake when he agreed to assign Father Howard to the Boonville Catholic Church in 1983. Church leaders say new procedures prevent situations like this from happening again.

“We’ve trained about 8,000 people in our diocese and the 38 counties that we serve," Associate to the Chancellor of the Diocese of Jefferson City Ronald Vessell said. "We’ve trained about 8,000 people in the ways of preventing child sexual abuse. That along with background checks. We do about 1,000 background checks a year.”

Vessell would not say how much of the $600,000 settlement his diocese is paying. Vessell did say any amount is a lot for a small diocese like his. Vessell says parishioners will not pay for the settlement. The church uses a special fund that has been created by private donations specifically for settlements involving child sexual abuse and priests.

The Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City now has it’s own lay review board that handles any allegations of child sexual abuse.

That board determines if any allegations are credible, before making any recommendations to Bishop John Gaydos.

That process was not available when Father Gerald Howard allegedly abused his victim in the 1980’s.

Mo. Clergy sex Abuse Case Settled for $600,000

2009-08-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

08/13/09
Original article
By: JIM SALTER

The Associated Press

The Roman Catholic Church and a religious order with ministries in the St. Louis area have agreed to pay $600,000 in one of the largest clergy sex abuse settlements ever in Missouri.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests disclosed the settlement Thursday. The deal calls for the Diocese of Jefferson City, the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and the Servants of the Paraclete to share in payment to a man, now in his late 30s, who claims he was abused about 25 years ago by the Rev. Gerald Howard. The deal was finalized in July.

SNAP's David Clohessy criticized Catholic Church officials for failing to publicly disclose the settlement.

"They should have been shouting from the rooftops, 'A convicted predator has struck again _ keep your kids away from him and come forward if you were abused,'" Clohessy said. "But instead they're doing what they've done for centuries, being secretive and reckless and self-serving."

The man, whose name was not released and who now lives in Virginia, had repressed memory of the abuse, Clohessy said, but came forward last year. His disclosure led to mediation with church officials. No lawsuit was ever filed, according to a statement from Ronald Vessell, associate to the chancellor for the Diocese of Jefferson City.

"It is our hope that this individual and his family find healing," Vessell said in the statement, which also encouraged anyone with information about abuse to come forward.

Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, said it told the Cooper County, Mo., prosecutor of the allegations as soon as the victim came forward. "They (SNAP) are clearly wrong that this was kept quiet and not reported to anybody," Goodness said.

Cooper County Prosecutor Doug Abele confirmed the archdiocese sent him information on the case.

"We took a look at it and declined prosecution," he said. "There was not enough basis to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

A man answering phones for the Servants of the Paraclete said no one would be available to discuss the case.

Howard was ordained in New Jersey in 1976 when he went by the name Carmine Sita. In 1982, he pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a minor, served probation and then was sent to a treatment center in New Mexico operated by the Servants of the Paraclete. During that time, he changed his name to Gerald Howard.

He then sought an assignment in the Diocese of Jefferson City. Then-Bishop Michael McAuliffe assigned Howard to serve as associate pastor of a Boonville, Mo., parish where the man and his family attended church. The diocese said it was not clear whether McAuliffe knew of the priest's criminal history.

Howard served in Boonville in 1983 and 1984. The diocese said he was removed for reasons other than abuse, and there were no abuse allegations on record against him.

Goodness said Howard has not worked as a priest for several years. It was not known where he lives or what he does for a living.

The Servants of the Paraclete, the only Catholic religious order in the U.S. that ministers to "priests and brothers in personal difficulty," closed their New Mexico treatment program for priestly molesters in 1996. But they run a treatment center in Dittmer, Mo., outside St. Louis.

The largest known clergy abuse settlement in Missouri came in 2004, when the Archdiocese of St. Louis agreed to pay $1.6 million to a family that accused the Rev. Gary Wolken of abusing their son. Wolken was imprisoned on sex abuse charges.

Clohessy said the Boonville victim is doing his best to keep his life together.

"Like so many of us, his recovery won't be anywhere near complete if Howard is allowed to walk free among unsuspecting families," Clohessy said.

N.S. Church Parishes to pay in Sex-abuse Settlement

2009-08-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

Original article
08/14/09

Roman Catholic parishes in the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia are being told they will fund a $13-million settlement agreement for church members who alleged they were sexually abused by priests.

In a series of meetings held this week in Sydney, Antigonish and Port Hawkesbury, members of parish councils and finance committees met to discuss how they will come up with the money.

The settlement was announced in Halifax last week for people who claimed they suffered sexual abuse going back more than 50 years.

Tom Langley, chair of the legal settlement committee, said the diocese and parishes have enough assets to pay the settlement. He said surveys were taken of the diocese's properties and cash flow in February, months before the settlement was announced.

"The first thing that will occur is that parishes will be asked to pool their cash and liquid resources into a fund to begin the process," he said.

Langley said no churches or glebe houses currently in use will close. The other assets of a church, such as land, may be sold, but Langley said the settlement committee wants the parishes to make their own decisions about what they'll have to give up.

Michael Campbell, a member of the Parish of St. Leonard in New Waterford, said some parishioners are wondering where the money will come from.

"Many would say that parishioners weren't the ones responsible, and that's true," Campbell said. "However, because of our faith and understanding the challenge before us, as a community of Catholics, we will work together to help in any way that we can."

The settlement came out of a class-action lawsuit filed last year. The suit, spearheaded by a New Waterford man who said he was abused by a priest, claimed the church knew that children were being sexually abused and didn't protect them.

Bishop Raymond Lahey also apologized to the victims and their families when announcing the settlement last Friday.

Former Deaf-school Student Sues Archdiocese

2009-08-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Original article
Suit Claims Priest There Molested him in 1970s

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Aug. 13, 2009

A civil lawsuit filed Thursday against the Milwaukee Archdiocese is the first by a former student of St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, where the late Father Lawrence Murphy is believed to have molested as many as 200 boys from 1950 to 1974.

The lawsuit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court by Dean Weissmuller, 50, of Phoenix, is the 11th civil fraud case pending against the archdiocese alleging sexual abuse by priests.

Documents filed as part of the lawsuit suggest that the archdiocese knew of allegations against Murphy as early as the 1950s and worked to protect his reputation for decades after.

They include a letter from a Chicago priest who said he met with then-Archbishop Albert G. Meyer about the allegations in the 1950s, and another by now-retired Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland saying a private funeral was necessary for Murphy to "to protect his good name."

"What this shows is an institutional, deliberate policy of fraud that's existed over the last five decades," Peter Isely of the Midwest chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said in response to the lawsuit.

"This is not a problem of individual priests or bishops, but a fraudulent system constructed around sexual crimes against children," he said.

The archdiocese issued a statement in response to the lawsuit saying it has long acknowledged the abuse by Murphy, calling it a "violation of everything our Church and the priesthood represents," and apologizing to victims.

Weissmuller's lawsuit alleges he was molested by Murphy and dorm supervisor Thomas Tannehill between 1970 and 1972 while a student at the residential school for the deaf. It maintains the archdiocese knew Murphy and Tannehill had previously abused students, deceived families about it, and allowed the men unsupervised and unrestricted access to vulnerable students in spite of it.

Murphy died in 1998, Tannehill in 2007. Neither man was charged criminally in Wisconsin, though a database maintained by the Web site bishopaccountability.org says Tannehill was later arrested on accusations of abuse in Indiana.

Milwaukee Archdiocese documents at the site say Tannehill, a former student at the school, groomed victims for Murphy.

A social worker who evaluated Murphy for the archdiocese in 1993 estimated that he sexually assaulted as many as 200 boys during his tenure at St. John's. He was placed on the archdiocese's list of priests with substantiated claims of sexual abuse in 2004.

Weakland, a central figure in the lawsuits, outraged victims this spring when he claimed in his 2009 memoir that he and church leaders did not understand early on the "criminal nature" of child sex abuse or the long-term effect on victims.

Weissmuller's is the second of the civil fraud lawsuits to allege abuse by Murphy. Last year, Donald Marshall of West Allis alleged he was sexually assaulted by Murphy in the late 1970s at Lincoln Hills School in Irma, where Murphy worked after retiring from St. John's in 1974.

Murphy, well-known in the deaf community, was fluent in American Sign Language and a tireless fund-raiser during his time at St. John's.

In 1974, several former students went to authorities alleging abuse, but Murphy denied it and the investigation was dropped. No charges were filed because the men were adults and the statute of limitations had expired.

Victims later met with then-Archbishop William Cousins. Murphy and others were present. Cousins acknowledged that the church had been aware of the problem for years but that officials felt Murphy was too important to the school to lose.

Murphy resigned after being questioned by a reporter about the allegations. He was allowed to retire and moved to Boulder Junction, where he assisted in two area parishes until 1994. Church disciplinary proceedings were under way when he died.

Wisconsin law bars most lawsuits regarding older claims of sexual assault. But the state Supreme Court ruled last year that the church can be sued for fraud if victims show it was aware of misconduct and did not warn others.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese has said it could be bankrupted by a judgment in the lawsuits after a 2008 ruling that it could not tap its insurance policies to cover intentional fraud.

Diocese Settles Over Sex-abuse Allegation

2009-08-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

By JANESE HEAVIN

Thursday, August 13, 2009

The Jefferson City diocese and Catholic affiliates have agreed to pay $600,000 to a man who claims to have been sexually abused by a former Boonville priest.

Gerald Howard, whose current whereabouts are unknown, also will be defrocked as part of the settlement, said Bryan Bacon, a Columbia attorney representing the alleged victim.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a support group for victims, was expected to make the settlement announcement today outside of the Newman Center in Columbia and later at Jefferson City diocese headquarters. The settlement, reached in June, also involves the Newark, N.J., archdiocese, where Howard previously served, and St. Louis-based Paracletes, a religious order that reportedly treated Howard.

Ron Vessell with the Office of the Chancellor at the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City confirmed the settlement amount and said the three defendants will each pay roughly a third.

The alleged victim, whose name was not disclosed, is now in his 30s and lives in Virginia, Bacon said. He reported abuse to the diocese last year, and the settlement was reached before the man filed a civil lawsuit. It’s possible he will pursue criminal charges against Howard, Bacon said.

The alleged abuse was reported to have occurred at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Boonville and on trips to Columbia, New York and elsewhere between 1983 and 1988, Bacon said. He said it started when the alleged victim was about 12 and continued until he left the area for college.

There are “a lot of reasons” the alleged victim did not come forward when the abuse was happening, Bacon said. “Especially for a teenage boy, it’s something you don’t want other people to know about,” he said. “He also had the victim convinced that this was good for him.”

Bacon said the man claims Howard gave him marijuana, cocaine and other drugs, then warned him he would get in trouble for illegal drug use if he told anyone about the abuse.

SNAP also is criticizing the church for allowing Howard to change his name and hide his background. Vessell confirmed that Howard was previously known as Carmine Sita. Sita was arrested and charged in 1982 with sexual molestation and marijuana distribution in New Jersey, according to an Associated Press report at the time.

Vessell said Howard started duties as an associate pastor at the Boonville parish in 1983.

David Clohessy, the national director of SNAP, said he hopes the settlement encourages others to come forward. “We absolutely believe that he likely molested other kids in Columbia, Boonville and Mid-Missouri, some of whom may well be still suffering in shame and self-blame,” Clohessy said.

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Original articleSuit Claims Priest There Molested him in 1970s

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Original articlePriest worked at Boonville parish.

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Original article
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Original article
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Original article
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Original article
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Original article
By Dielle D'Souza, Press Association

Original article
Suit Claims Priest There Molested him in 1970s

Original article
Priest worked at Boonville parish.