• Ex-bishop standing behind ousted clergy -- Roman Catholic Church (RCC).
The Dallas Morning News,
www.dallasnews. com/shared content/dws/ news/city/ dallas/stories/ 052304dnmet Bishop.277ad. html ; By STEVE McGONIGLE, Saturday, May 22, 2004
AMARILLO (TX): Life has a definite moral clarity for Leroy Matthiesen.
Whether protesting nuclear weapons, lobbying to spare a nun's killer, saying Mass for gays and lesbians or providing second chances for fallen priests, the retired Catholic bishop of Amarillo does not anguish over his choices.
"I told somebody I seem to have a knack for creating some problems and difficulties," the 82-year-old said, breaking into a trademark squinty-eyed smile and impish chuckle. "I just say I gotta be me."
His unpretentious persona and steadfast devotion to principles have endeared "Bishop Matt" even to those who criticize his worldview or find him profoundly tone deaf. "He's like a disciplined Mr. Magoo," one ally quipped.
But even true believers are wincing at Bishop Matthiesen's latest social justice cause.
He has sent letters around the sprawling Panhandle diocese soliciting funds for three priests who were removed from their rural parishes two years ago because Catholic bishops banned alleged sex offenders from ministry. In the last few months, the diocese has slashed its financial support for the three former pastors to $100 per month.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:53 PM]
(This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
for Sat May 22, 2004. )
INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs.
• Winona Group Seeks Healing after Priest Abuse -- RCC.
KARE, Minneapolis, St. Paul, USA,
www.kare11.com/news/news-article.asp?NEWS_ID=64201 , Associated Press, 5/22/2004
WINONA (MN): A Winona Catholic group hopes their organization will help the area heal from the priest sex abuse scandal.
The Winona Voice of the Faithful plans to hold a Mass for Healing Sunday at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish to pray for healing in the church.
Group co-chairman Mary Sherman says the scandal hurt clergy who have been faithful to their vows. She also says some people want to put the abuse behind them, but argues that it's not possible without change.
The Reverend Daniel Dernek will celebrate the Mass. In a church-bulletin essay, he encourages victims to begin healing by talking about their abuse.
• Two cases dismissed in Jackson diocese abuse allegations [1974-84] -- RCC.
Sun Herald,
www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/8733332.htm ,
Associated Press, Sat, May. 22, 2004
JACKSON, Miss. - A Hinds County judge has dismissed two lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Jackson alleging priest sexual misconduct.
Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter had dismissed an earlier case last year.
DeLaughter ruled Friday the two plaintiffs gave up their rights to seek an exception to the statute of limitations when they entered into a settlement with the Diocese in 1994. Details of the 1994 settlement weren't disclosed.
DeLaughter is considering a motion to dismiss the claims of the two remaining plaintiffs on the same statute of limitations issue.
State law provides that if an offense occurred before 1989 involving a minor, he or she had six years from their 21st birthday to file their lawsuit.
The four plaintiffs, referred to as John Does 6, 7, 8 and 9 in court files to conceal their identity, filed a lawsuit in 2002 claiming they were sexually abused by a priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shelby and at St. Therese Catholic Church in Jackson between 1974 and 1984.
• Egan short-circuiting reform, critics say Newsday,
www.nynewsday.com/news/local/bronx/nyc-egan0523,0,5431403.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-bronx ;
May 22, 2004
UNITED STATES: The head of a national lay group charged with investigating the sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church said Saturday that several prelates, including Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, are attempting to short-circuit reforms passed two years ago.
Illinois Appellate Judge Anne Burke, interim chairwoman of the National Lay Review Board, expressed particular concern about the fate of an annual audit that tracks whether church leaders are fulfilling promises to protect children.
"We have to do the audits or we'll be back to business as usual," Burke told about 500 members of Voice of the Faithful, a national reform group, in a meeting at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Manhattan. "There is no denying the magnitude of the crisis that has loomed into the life and spirit of the church."
At issue, Burke said, is backpedaling by some bishops on promises they made in Dallas in June 2002, at the height of the sex abuse scandals. Under enormous pressure from Catholics in the pews, they agreed then to take specific steps to protect children. And to ensure accountability, they also agreed to annual reports that would be based on an audit of every diocese in America.
But Burke said that no audit is being done for 2004 after several bishops, including Egan, urged a delay until the bishops could discuss the audit process at their next business meeting in November.
"Delaying an audit until late November would effectively kill it," Burke said, because 195 dioceses could not be visited in one month.
• J'accuse [Badaoui]
The Observer, Britain,
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,1222719,00.html ,
Sunday May 23, 2004
FRANCE: The Tour de Renard housing estate stands like a pristine Lego block. The balconies on its three white towers have been painted red and blue. The stairway walls are powder yellow. Its two basketball courts have been given fresh lines and nets. Dotted around the perfect lawns are swings and climbing frames. It looks like a playground paradise. The trouble is, there are no longer children in the Tour de Renard.
Four years ago, the estate - in Outreau, on the outskirts on Boulogne - was racked by a series of sensational allegations of child abuse. A total of 17 adults were dragged into what was believed to be France's worst-ever paedophilia case, involving chains, video porn, bestiality with alsatians and murder.
Then last week, in an equally spectacular turn of events, the key witness - 37-year-old mother of four Myriam Badaoui - retracted all the accusations she had made against her neighbours, many of whom had spent two years in custody. 'I am a sick woman and a liar,' she told the Assizes Court in St Omer. ...
Priest and former neighbour Dominique Wiel, 67, has been behind bars for two-and-a-half years. His imprisonment led to the creation of a support committee with 1,000 backers.
'People say that because he lived opposite Badaoui he must have known about the abuse and must be guilty of molesting children because he did not denounce his neighbours to the authorities,' said Patrice Gence, a member of the committee. 'But Dominique would not want to denounce people he cared for. He lived among the most unfortunate people in our society. He wanted to help them.'
• Archdiocese of Miami settles with sexual abuse victim [1976 Romero, $US 135,000]
Bradenton Herald,
www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/8733168.htm ,
Associated Press, Sat, May. 22, 2004
NAPLES, Fla. - A former altar boy will collect $135,000 from the Archdiocese of Miami to settle a sexual misconduct lawsuit against a defrocked Catholic priest.
The settlement against Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora and former priest William Romero was reached earlier this month, said Ted Zelman, the victim's attorney. Archdiocese leaders initiated the settlement, he said.
The victim - identified in court papers only as "A.B." - accused Romero of initiating "inappropriate conduct" in 1976, when the boy was 12, first at the child's home and later on an overnight stay at the St. Ann rectory.
• Bands of angels strive to save reviled outcasts
[Gallienne] Anglican
Ottawa Citizen,
www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6dc35619-c7e4-4255-a224-e1fbcd0a84f4 ;
by Don Butler, May 22, 2004
CANADA: For the past decade, a band of angels has been watching over John Gallienne.
But these angels are mortal -- flesh-and-blood Samaritans who volunteer with circles of support and accountability that operate out of St. John's Anglican Church on Elgin Street.
Mr. Gallienne is that most reviled of outcasts, a pedophile who sexually abused 13 choirboys when he was choirmaster and organist at an Anglican church in Kingston. He moved to Ottawa in 1994 after serving four years of a six-year prison sentence.
He was back in the public eye this week after news reports that he plays the organ and conducts an adult choir at St. John's, in defiance of a ban imposed 10 years ago by Ottawa's Anglican diocese. Bishop Peter Coffin, who heads the local diocese, is now considering whether Mr. Gallienne should be allowed to retain those roles.
That such a furore would erupt now, after Mr. Gallienne has been living in the community without incident for a decade, speaks to the fear and loathing that adheres to pedophiles like a stain no solvent can expunge.
All of which makes the willingness of a select few Canadians, often from faith communities, to befriend sex offenders like Mr. Gallienne all the more remarkable.
It would be easy to dismiss them as bleeding hearts, these volunteers -- naive do-gooders who see the world, and its manifest evils, through the rosiest of coloured glasses. Except that there is compelling evidence that circles of support and accountability, which began in Canada in 1994, are keeping all of us safer.
• Sex abuse lawsuit against former St. Ann's priest settled [1976 Romero, $US 135,000]
Naples Daily News,
www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_2905520,00.html ,
NAPLES (FL): A former St. Ann Catholic School student will collect $135,000 from the Archdiocese of Miami in the first settlement among a spate of sexual misconduct lawsuits against William Romero, an ex-Naples priest.
A deal in the civil suit against Romero and Miami Archbishop John C. Favarola was reached earlier this month, said Ted Zelman, the victim's attorney. Archdiocese leaders initiated the settlement, he said.
"They were apologetic," said Zelman. "It was clear they weren't disputing that something bad had happened."
Southwest Florida was part of the Miami archdiocese until 1984, when Catholic churches in Collier, Lee, Sarasota and seven other counties became part of the new Diocese of Venice. That's why the lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
Zelman's client - identified in court papers only as "A.B." to protect his identity - accused Romero of initiating "inappropriate conduct" with the victim in 1976, when the boy was 12, first at the child's home through a game of leapfrog and later on an overnight stay at the St. Ann rectory.
• Priest on trial in Roman Catholic court Big News Network,
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=d383346d86edbddf ,
Saturday 22nd May, 2004
CHICAGO (IL): The Roman Catholic Church has been holding a secret trial in Chicago of a priest accused of sexual misconduct with minors, the Sun-Times reported Friday.
The priest's identity was not disclosed, nor was the location of the trial revealed.
It is the first of what could be as many as 12 such trials of priests from the Chicago archdiocese accused of sexual misconduct with minors.
Sometime after the first of the year a special tribunal of three canon law judges, responding to an order from the Vatican, began its formal inquiry into the alleged offenses of the accused priest.
• Diocese faces another sex abuse lawsuit [1960s McFadden]
SIOUX CITY (IA):
Sioux City Journal,
www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/05/22/news/local/a88c2823c0f266a386256e9c00185a6c.txt ;
By Nick Hytrek
A 15th lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest has been filed against the Diocese of Sioux City.
Kim Henshaw, formerly known as Kim Pinney, alleges that the Rev. George M. McFadden had sexual contact with her in the early 1960s when she was under the age of 14. The alleged abuse occurred at St. Francis of Assisi parish, which is now closed.
The suit, filed Thursday in Woodbury County District Court, is similar to the others filed against McFadden and the diocese. It accuses both of sexual abuse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, negligent supervision and conspiracy.
As in the other suits, Henshaw alleges that the diocese knew McFadden had sexually abused boys and girls at other parishes but covered up his actions by transferring him to other churches.
Most of the suits against McFadden concern his actions while at St. Francis. Other lawsuits allege sexual abuse by McFadden at Sioux City's Immaculate Conception parish and St. Joseph's in Jefferson.
As a result of the alleged abuse, Henshaw said in the suit that she suffers anxiety attacks, sleeping difficulty, nightmares, loss of self-esteem, loss of trust and withdrawal from others. She is seeking damages for past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and legal costs.
• Chesley subpoenas priests to testify [12+ include Gallenstein, Schuhmacher, Holtz; possibly plus Hughes]
The Kentucky Post,
www.kypost.com/2004/05/22/diocese05-22-2004.html ,
By Paul A. Long,
COVINGTON (KY): Lawyers seeking to show what they say is a 50-year cover up of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington have subpoenaed more than a dozen current or former priests to testify.
The subpoenas, issued by attorneys Robert Steinberg and Stan Chesley, call on the priests to give depositions in the on-going case in Boone County.
Several of the priests were suspended by the diocese -- one is no longer a priest -- after they were accused of sexual abuse. But Steinberg would not give specifics about why testimony was being sought from those particular priests.
"We're going to question them about the subject matter of our case," he said.
None of the depositions has been scheduled yet, partly because many of the priests are being represented by their own attorneys, rather than the lawyers for the diocese.
Diocese spokesman Tim Fitzgerald confirmed that the priests had hired their own attorneys.
• Foys suspends two priests [1979 Reinersman, Steidle]
The Kentucky Post,
www.kypost.com/2004/05/22/priest05-22-2004.html ,
By Kevin Eigelbach, 05-22-2004
COVINGTON (KY): Covington Bishop Roger Foys has placed two priests, including his second-in-command, on administrative leave while the diocese investigates allegations against them of sexually abusing minors.
The priests are the Rev. Gerald Reinersman, vicar general for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, and the Rev. Mark Steidle, parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell.
Both men have denied the allegations, and this is the first accusation against either, Foys said in a letter published Friday in the diocesan newspaper, The Messenger.
A Lexington man accused Reinersman of abusing him in 1979 at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Lexington.
The alleged victim said he had repressed his memory of the abuse and identity of the perpetrator until several years ago.
In a statement published in the Messenger, Reinersman called the accusation completely unfounded.
"From the first day of my priesthood, twenty-five years ago, I have remained faithful to my promise of celibate chastity," he wrote. "My conscience is clear as I stand before God and any person."
• Catholic aid group for abused asks funds Lexington Herald-Leader,
www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/state/8730018.htm ,
By Ellen R. Stapleton, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sat, May. 22, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): After months of lining up support from Roman Catholic bishops, the founders of a national retreat center for victims of sexual abuse by priests are launching public fund-raising efforts.
The Farm, which began operating in Crestwood outside Louisville in April, has received donations from 20 religious orders and 30 bishops so far, said Susan Archibald, head of The Linkup, the advocacy group that runs the center.
Donors included Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, head of the national bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an umbrella organization for religious orders in the United States.
Four bishops didn't send church funds but wrote personal checks instead, Archibald said.
Archibald didn't want to disclose the amounts of individual contributions, but she said the total was $100,000. She thinks a $1 million annual budget for The Farm would be ideal.
"We're used to operating on a shoestring," Archibald said. "But the more we have, the more we can do."
• A new direction for area Catholics?
Daily Press,
www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-15435sy0may22,0,4790825.story?coll=dp-news-local-final ;
BY MICHAEL D. WAMBLE, 247-4737, May 22, 2004
RICHMOND (VA): Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo is still trying to get to know Virginia.
Days after arriving in Richmond from Hawaii, where he served as Honolulu's bishop for nearly 10 years, he's shaken off his jet lag but is still getting used to his new home.
He's keeping a map folded in the inside pocket of his jacket. "DiLorenzo, Lewis and Clark," the bishop joked after a Friday press conference in Richmond.
On Monday, DiLorenzo, 62, will be installed as the leader of more than 213,000 Catholics of the Diocese of Richmond, a diocese that covers three-fourths of Virginia and all of Hampton Roads. ...
Though DiLorenzo believes that the matter of priest sexual abuse hasn't weakened the church call to speak out with moral authority on abortion, "disappointment," he said, may have lessened the number of people listening. "Some people may not make the distinction that we are a church of saints and sinners," he said. Believing the Catholic Church is just a church of saints, he said, could lead to further disappointment.
That doesn't excuse lapses by the diocese to adhere to a charter signed by the nation's bishops on the removal of abusive priests and how to prevent future instances of abuse, a document DiLorenzo said he's committed to follow.
• Church service to help heal wounds of priest abuse The Courier-Journal,
www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/05/22ky/B1-cath05220-6040.html ,
By PETER SMITH, psmith@courier-journal.com , Saturday, May 22, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): Victims of priest abuse will join Roman Catholic Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly and others tomorrow in a reconciliation service that one organizer says is meant to "heal some wounds."
The service will be held at Holy Spirit Church, one of the hardest hit by the abuse crisis in the Archdiocese of Louisville. The event grew out of a proposal by a support group of sexual-abuse victims who meet regularly at the Lexington Road parish.
[. . .]
Archbishop Thomas Kelly will attend the service, at Holy Spirit Church on Lexington Road, to build trust. "We are called to be agents of healing and reconciliation," he said.
If you go...
The Service of Healing for Survivors of Abuse will be held at 2:30p.m. tomorrow at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 3345 Lexington Road. The public is welcome.
• Predator priests hide in plain sight; Living secret lives in our communities The Patriot Ledger,
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2004/05/22/news/news01.txt ,
By CASEY ROSS, cross@ledger.com ,
Transmitted Saturday, May 22, 2004
MASSACHUSETTS: Law enforcement officials say priests accused of sexual abuse constitute the largest group of unregistered sex offenders in the nation, and some are warning that they have no way to prevent more children from being abused.
"We ask where they are now, and (church leaders) say, ‘We don't know where they go after they've been removed from ministry'," Bristol County District Attorney Paul Walsh said this week. "It's as if they're saying, ‘they're your problem now, not ours'."
Two years after prosecutors began reviewing lists of priests accused of sexual abuse, only a handful of those priests have been criminally charged, and dozens more are living in Massachusetts communities without the knowledge of neighbors or police.
Prosecutors say they could not bring charges against most priests because the statute of limitations had run out on their alleged crimes. In other cases, they were unable to locate witnesses.
The Romney administration was warned of the building threat posed by accused priests this week by Catholic lay groups who spoke during a meeting of the governor's commission on domestic violence and sexual abuse.
While acknowledging the danger, an official with the Executive Office of Public Safety said the administration will not force the release of names without legal proof that priests have abused in the past.
"There is a delicate balance that needs to be struck to make people safe without erroneously maligning potentially innocent people," spokeswoman Katie Ford said. "The administration is open to seeing a proposal on any changes that need to be made. We're always looking for ways to make the law stronger."
• Judge: 2 have no case against diocese The Clarion-Ledger,
www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040522/NEWS01/405220338/1002 ,
By Jimmie E. Gates, jgates@clarionledger.com , May 22, 2004
JACKSON (MS): The statute of limitations bars two of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit to proceed with their case against the Catholic Diocese of Jackson over alleged sexual abuse by a priest, a judge ruled Friday.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter granted a summary judgment motion on behalf of the Catholic Diocese to dismiss the claims.
DeLaughter said the two plaintiffs gave up their rights to seek an exception to the statute of limitations when they entered into a settlement with the Diocese in 1994.
Details of the 1994 settlement weren't disclosed during the hearing.
DeLaughter took under advisement a motion to dismiss the claims of the two remaining plaintiffs based on the statute of limitations having expired.
According to state law, if an offense occurred before 1989 involving a minor, he or she had six years from their 21st birthday to file their lawsuit.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:30 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Sat May 22, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont82.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Sun May 23, 2004 edition follows:- • A Cardinal's Sin [Law, Daily]
New York Post,
www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/24456.htm, May 23, 2004
UNITED STATES: Clergymen are meant to instruct on matters of morals, but you'd think the American Catholic church would approach this duty with at least a modicum of humility.
Wrong.
James Francis Cardinal Stafford, a senior American Vatican cardinal, charged the United States with "moral failure" and "deception" because of its Iraq policy and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Well, not to be too flip, but when it comes to "moral failure" and "deception," this appears to be a case of "takes one to know one."
Cardinal Stafford served as head of the Denver archdiocese from 1986 to 1996. That was a period when - as has only been revealed in recent years - abuse of young boys and men by Catholic priests occurred across the nation.
Many of Stafford's bishops actively covered up the abuse and transferred abusive priests to other, unknowing, parishes - permitting the same thing to occur with a whole new set of victims.
The impact of the revelations continues to cause ripples, ending otherwise distinguished careers (such as those of Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law and Brooklyn's Bishop Thomas Daily) in ignominy and suspicion, and bringing the Boston archdiocese to the verge of bankruptcy because of multiple lawsuits.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:57 AM]
• Secret trials of priests won't help church build credibility Chicago Sun-Times,
www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits23.html ,
May 23, 2004
CHICAGO (IL): The Roman Catholic Church has always struck a special balance between the openness of parishioners declaring their faith and the secrecy of them confessing their sins. But in trying priests charged with sexual abuses against minors, its tribunals operate exclusively in secrecy. At a time when so many people need to have their belief in the church restored, we wonder if that's the best approach.
The issue is raised by news that an ecclesiastic court recently began a formal inquiry into the alleged sexual misconduct of an unidentified priest from the Chicago archdiocese, the first of what may be a dozen such cases -- 12 being the number of Chicago priests removed from ministry for sexual abuses since 2002. The name of the accused priest, as well as the names of the tribunal's three judges and even the location of the hearing, fall under the strictures of a "pontifical secret." By forbidding the divulgence of details from these trials, the Vatican means to protect the rights of the accused and accuser.
That's an admirable goal, one that shares the basic "innocent until proven guilty" standard of civil law, which treats these abuse cases separately. But in the wake of a scandal that has led to the removal from ministry of about 700 priests nationwide, rocking the faithful and muddying the reputation of the church, shifting from a policy of containment to one of greater openness would be of benefit to everyone concerned. Cardinal Francis George, who has it in his power to ask the Vatican to waive the pontifical secret, would do well to consider that option.
• Sex-abuse review at crossroads The Journal News,
www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/052304/a0123faithful.html ,
By GARY STERN, May 23, 2004
NEW YORK: A majority of the nation's Catholic bishops probably remain committed to eliminating sexual abuse by clergy, but an influential minority of bishops may still seek to block the church's ongoing review process, a top lay official said yesterday.
Anne Burke, the interim chair of a National Review Board appointed by the bishops, said that she's hopeful that the nation's bishops will decide next month to begin a second audit of how dioceses are complying with a new church policy on sexual abuse.
"In my heart of hearts, I think that most want to move ahead," said Burke, a justice on the Illinois Court of Appeal. "But I don't know that for a fact. I don't know what the silent majority of bishops are thinking. I am still disturbed that a number of bishops made a concerted effort to derail the process of getting the audit done."
Burke discovered in March that several bishops, including Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, had sought to put off the review process until bishops could meet again in November. She wrote in a March 30 letter to Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. bishops conference, that her 13-person review board felt "manipulated" and that the bishops risked backsliding on their commitment to stop abuse.
The bishops conference has since decided to discuss the audit at a closed-door conference next month.
In an interview before she addressed members of the lay group Voice of the Faithful, Burke said delaying a 2004 audit of all 195 dioceses could allow abuse and other injustices to go undiscovered. It would also allow the church to lose its momentum in fighting abuse, which started with the bishops' approval in 2002 of a get-tough policy, a "Charter on the Protection of Children and Young People."
• Settlement helps victim move on
[1976 Romero]
News-Press,
www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040523priest.html ,
By GRANT BOXLEITNER , gboxleitner@news-press.com ,
Published by news-press.com on May 23, 2004
FLORIDA: The attorney for a former Lee County man who sued the Archdiocese of Miami and a defrocked priest for sexual misconduct says his client can finally move on with life following a recent settlement.
William Romero, 67, who retired as a priest from the diocese in 1995, was accused of abusing the former altar boy while at St. Ann Catholic Church in Naples in 1976. The plaintiff, who recently moved from Lee County to California, sued Romero and Miami Archbishop John C. Favarola on Oct. 3.
Naples attorney Ted Zelman, who represents the plaintiff, said lawyers from the archdiocese wrote a letter to him, asking if his client would be willing to settle the case. The archdiocese agreed to pay the plaintiff $135,000 in the settlement reached earlier this month, Zelman said.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta and archdiocese attorney Kevin Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment.
"I’m not talking," Romero said when reached at his LaBelle home Saturday night.
Bringing the case to court would have stressed out siblings and parents of the victim listed in court papers as "A.B.," his attorney said.
"They weren’t contesting that the abuse actually took place," Zelman said. "Obviously, it’s something that’s pained him a lot these last 28 years. The pain he had gone through was suddenly acknowledged.
• 2 priests deny abuse allegations [1979 Reinersman, 1994 Steidle]
The Cincinnati Enquirer,
www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/23/loc_kypriests23.html ,
By Dan Klepal and Matt Leingang, Mar 23, 2004
COVINGTON (KY): Two priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington - including the second-in-command behind Bishop Roger Foys - are on administrative leave while they are investigated over allegations of sexually abusing minors.
The Rev. Gerald Reinersman, vicar general for the diocese who served on the diocese's Committee for Addressing Sexual Misconduct, is accused of abusing a Lexington teenager in 1979. At that time, he was a pastor at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Church. As vicar general, Reinersman stands in for the bishop.
The Rev. Mark Steidle, a pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell, is accused of inappropriately touching a minor in 1994 at Marydale Retreat Center.
Both men have denied the allegations.
The investigations were announced Friday by Foys, in a letter to the diocesan newspaper. The bishop said the leaves of absence are in accord with diocesan policy, which mirrors a policy adopted by the U.S. bishops at a national conference in 2002. That says accused priests should be placed on leave to protect members of the parish.
• Corrupted by The Church
MSNBC, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5039859
SPAIN: Newsweek International, May 31 issue - Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has long been known for his colorful, touching and often hilarious tales of people on the fringe: transvestites, neurotic actresses, drug addicts and wayward nuns.
In his latest picture, "Bad Education," which opened the Cannes Film Festival last week, Almodovar tackles one of the greatest taboos of all: sexual abuse by priests. Set in a Roman Catholic boys' boarding school in Spain-much like the one Almodovar himself attended-"Bad Education" recounts the love that the literature teacher has for one of his students-a love that turns into sexual abuse. Ten years later, the tortured boy has become a drug-addled transvestite, desperate to go clean and become a woman.
It is a poignant and disturbing film, one of Almodovar's finest. Last week in Cannes, the director spoke to journalists, including NEWSWEEK's Dana Thomas, about faith and his disgust with the Catholic Church. [Excerpts follow in the article.]
• The Farm Trying To Raise Money Outside Of Catholic Groups
Lexington Herald-Leader,
www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/8735798.htm ,
By Ellen R. Stapleton, ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE (KY): After months of privately lining up support from Roman Catholic bishops, the founders of a national retreat center serving clergy sexual abuse victims are launching public fund-raising efforts.
The Farm, which began operating in Crestwood in April, has received donations from 20 religious orders and 30 bishops so far, said Susan Archibald, head of The Linkup, the advocacy group that runs the center.
That includes key church officials such as Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, head of the national bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an umbrella organization for religious orders in the United States. Four bishops didn't send church funds but wrote personal checks instead, Archibald said.
Although Archibald didn't want to disclose the amounts of individual contributions, she said funds from all sources total about $100,000. She thinks a $1 million annual budget for The Farm, which provides a sanctuary and recovery programs for victims, would be ideal.
"We're used to operating on a shoestring," Archibald said. "But the more we have, the more we can do."
The money will be used to pay for programs and staff at The Farm, and the rest will fund scholarships for victims to travel there.
The Linkup will continue to solicit donations from the 195 dioceses in the United States, Archibald said. A parish in Chicago took a collection specifically for The Farm at a Mass this month, she said. Bishop Ronald Gainer in the Diocese of Lexington, which covers 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky, has encouraged individual parishes to invite Linkup members to visit.
"In his contact with The Linkup leadership, he's been positively impressed with their efforts to aid victims in their healing and help them reconnect with the church," said Tom Shaughnessy, a diocesan spokesman.
• Aftershocks Of Abuse Ripple [Clark]
Mercury News,
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8737515.htm?1c ,
By Brandon Bailey
FREMONT (CA): Some parishioners were upset this spring when Fremont's Corpus Christi Church took down a sign naming the parish center in honor of a long-dead priest. But it wasn't the first time.
Two years ago, Roman Catholic officials quietly removed a sign at Holy Spirit, another Fremont church, bearing the name of another pastor who had led that church decades ago. The two signs were removed for the same reason: The priest being honored had been accused of molesting children.
The nationwide scandal over sexual abuse has hit especially hard in Fremont, where at least five priests are accused of molesting children in the 1970s. Taken together, the cases make Fremont an especially powerful example of the continuing aftershocks caused by clergy sexual abuse.
Victims struggle to overcome emotional wounds. Longtime parishioners try to reconcile shocking allegations with their memories of beloved religious leaders. A woman reflects on her decision to avoid being married by a controversial pastor. A man wonders if the church had an unspoken policy of sending problem priests to what was then a blue-collar town, away from more affluent parishes in the Diocese of Oakland.
"It seems as if this was a dumping ground," said Dan McNevin, a 44-year-old real estate developer and one of three former Corpus Christi altar boys who have sued the diocese, alleging they were abused by the Rev. James Clark at the historic old church in Fremont's Niles district. Clark died in 1989.
• Church may face second wave of clergy sex abuse lawsuits
[1970s Lane]
Boston Herald,
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=29020 ,
By Laura Crimaldi/ MetroWest Daily News,
Sunday, May 23, 2004
BOSTON (MA): Five months after the Boston Archdiocese settled a lawsuit with the nation's largest known financial payout over clergy abuse, the groundwork is being laid for more legal action against the church by dozens of new alleged victims in the sex-abuse scandal.
Lawyers representing an estimated 40 to 50 new clients who are alleged victims of sex abuse by priests plan to meet June 2 to discuss how to proceed with legal action against the archdiocese, according to Boston attorney Carmen Durso.
Earlier this month, Durso sent an e-mail to lawyers who represented 540 victims of clergy sex abuse in an $85 million settlement paid out in December.
Victims' attorneys are trying to determine the magnitude of a second wave of lawsuits against the archdiocese and how they should be handled, Durso said.
"These are people who did not just come out of the woodwork. They've always been there," said Durso, who represented 40 alleged victims during the first round of negotiations.
Many of his clients say they were abused by the Rev. Bernard J. Lane during his tenure as head of the Alpha/Omega youth treatment center in Littleton in the 1970s.
Nance Lyons, a Boston attorney who also represented victims of Lane in the first lawsuit, has one new client who claims abuse at Lane's hands.
"I'm very shocked that I haven't received additional calls from (victims of) Bernard Lane," Lyons said.
• Parishioners back accused pastor [1980s McLaughlin]
Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/144/city/Parishioners_back_accused_pastor+.shtml ,
By Pat Healy, 5/23/2004
SOMERVILLE (MA): Parishioners of St. Benedict Church in Somerville are rallying to defend the Rev. John E. McLaughlin, who last week agreed to accept a voluntary administrative leave pending the investigation of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor in the 1980s.
The alleged incident only recently came to the attention of the Archdiocese of Boston, and the identity of McLaughlin's accuser is being kept confidential, according to church officials.
St. Benedict's was packed with parishioners last Monday night as the congregation began sorting out a mix of emotions on the matter.
"There were probably over 1,000 people there," said Julia Pollard, who has been attending Mass at the church for more than 30 years. Faith is keeping the parish together right now, she said, but most are praying for the pastor's quick return.
"I know the authorities have a job to do, and as parishioners we need to continue with what Father McLaughlin left us with, which is to be good to each other, be spiritual, pray, and go to church," she said. "But we want him to come back to us."
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:26 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Sun May 23, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont82.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Mon May 24, 2004 edition follows:- • Bishop says church credibility 'zilch' if abuse audits were to stop Catholic News Service,
www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20040524a.htm ,
By Tracy Early, May-24-2004
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn said May 21 that if the bishops do not continue with their sexual abuse audits "our credibility will be zilch."
He noted that some bishops thought the audits, undertaken as part of the implementation of the 2002 "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," were too burdensome and wanted to end them now.
One audit has been completed. The U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse and the National Review Board reached an agreement May 17 on proposals for conducting a second diocesan audit of child sex abuse prevention policies and on doing a study of the causes and context of the crisis.
The bishops will discuss the proposals during their June 14-19 meeting in Denver.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:28 PM]
• Hollingworth's long, hard road to realisation [ex-Anglican archbishop]
The Age, Melbourne,
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/24/1085389333736.html , May 24 2004
AUSTRALIA: One year after he resigned as governor-general, Peter Hollingworth stepped tentatively into the spotlight yesterday to elevate the issue that cost him his job.
The occasion was the launching of a book with a title that seemed as apposite for him as it was for author Barbara Biggs: The Road Home, What Price Redemption?
Dr Hollingworth revealed that much of his time and energy in the past 12 months had been devoted to the issue of child abuse and its many painful ramifications.
"Too few of us fully understand or really comprehend the terror, the trauma and the awful long-term side effects of child abuse, especially sexual abuse," he said.
"I, for one, took far too long to fully comprehend these things, but I am learning... "
A year ago today, Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general over his mishandling of child sex abuse allegations while archbishop of Brisbane, particularly allegations against a pedophile priest in 1993.
[COMMENT: Few fully understood? "Now whoso shall trip up one of these little ones ... millstone were hanged about his neck ... depth of the sea." Matthew 18:6, and see Mark 9:42. That's not too hard to understand, is it? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Former student at Holy Cross alleges sex abuse by ex-nun [1960s, 70s Rhoads; Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary]
The Daily Times,
www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=11778472&PAG=461&rfi=9 ,
From Staff and Wire Reports, 05/24/2004
PENNSYLVANIA: A former student of Holy Cross Catholic Grade School in Springfield has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Va., and the Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters in Virginia Beach, contending they failed to warn parents that a woman suspected of sexually abusing students was teaching at Holy Cross.
In the suit, the woman alleges that she was abused for nearly six years by Eileen M. Rhoads, a former nun who taught as a lay person at Holy Cross until 1994, while the woman was attending the elementary school. She is seeking $10 million in damages.
The woman is the fourth former Holy Cross student to file a civil lawsuit connected with alleged abuse by Rhoads who is now 64 and living in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby. Rhoads was named in lawsuits filed on the behalf of two men in March and another man on May 11 against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and former Archbishop of Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, alleging they allowed known sexual abusers to work with children.
In March, the plaintiffs, who now live in Springfield and West Chester but declined to be identified, alleged that Rhoads molested them repeatedly between 1974 and 1974 [sic; error on website]. On May 11, Francis Meehan, now 40, of Clifton Heights, alleged that he was molested by Rhoads while in sixth grade at Holy Cross.
Rhoads was criminally charged in February with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy while she was Sister Francis Theresa at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Grade School in Virginia Beach, Va., during the 1969-1970 school year.
She was arrested at her Drexel Hill home in February and remains free on $25,000 bond. Her trial is scheduled for July. Virginia, unlike Pennsylvania, has no statute of limitations on felonies.
The alleged Virginia Beach victim also is suing Rhoads in civil court for damages.
In the latest civil lawsuit involving a Holy Cross student, the plaintiff alleges that officials for the Richmond diocese and the nun's former order, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, "knew or should have known" that Rhoads was suspected of abusing the 10-year-old boy at the Virginia Beach school, yet still allowed Rhoads to teach at Holy Cross.
Rhoads, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, had suddenly resigned from the sisterhood before leaving Virginia Beach.
The complainant said she was 12 years old and in the sixth grade when she met Rhoads at Holy Cross. She alleges Rhoads gave her drugs and alcohol to win her trust, then began sexually abusing her. She said the abuse continued until she was 18.
Neither Rhoads nor a spokesperson for the Richmond diocese could be reached for comment on Sunday. A recorded statement reached via the Richmond diocese telephone number said that the diocesan offices would be closed today for the installation of the Most Rev. Francis Xavier DiLorenzo as the 12th bishop of Richmond. #
• Accused priests defended [Reinersman, Steidle]
The Cincinnati Enquirer,
www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/24/loc_priests24.html ,
By Reid Forgrave, Monday, May 24, 2004
COVINGTON (KY): Parishioners at Catholic churches in the Diocese of Covington share a common belief about the recent allegations of sexual abuse against two priests in the diocese: Allegations are just that, and people should wait for a verdict before pronouncing guilt.
The accusations against the Rev. Gerald Reinersman, the diocese's second-in-command behind Bishop Roger Foys, and the Rev. Mark Steidle, a pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell, are the latest in a series of priest sex-abuse scandals to rock the Catholic community in Greater Cincinnati.
But several local Catholics pleaded Sunday for the public not to indict these priests for sexual abuse before the investigation is completed.
"With these men's reputations, I have no doubt these are false accusations," said Leo Greis, a Fort Mitchell man who has been a parishioner at Mother of God Church in Covington for 38 years. "But now they're going to be reminded of this for the rest of their lives, even though they're not guilty."
• "Talk of the Town" Am radio talk show to address clergy abuse crisis in Worcester. Worcester Voice,
http://worcestervoice.com/Current%20news.htm , May 24, 2004
WORCESTER (MA): Mary T. Jean, director of the Worcester Voice, will be live on "Talk of the Town" with Bill Coleman at 6 p.m. Friday, May 28 on WORC (1310 AM) radio. Worcester Voice is an advocacy organization that supports victims of clergy abuse.
We look forward to the new opportunities we have in this Diocese as we await an answer from Bishop Robert McManus on our request to meet with him.
We pray that he follows the lead of Archbishop Sean O'Malley and replaces the diocesan lawyers, removes the insurance company from the equation and offers fair and adequate settlement to the victims. Reparative justice for victims of injustice is official Catholic teaching for the faithful and is discussed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which has full approval and was signed by Pope John Paul II.
• Child Sex Investigations Haunt Wash. Town [False accusations of the past]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/breaking_news/8743629.htm?1c ,
By JOHN K. WILEY, Associated Press, Mon, May. 24, 2004
WENATCHEE, Wash. - It's been a decade since this placid town of alpine lakes and apple orchards first came to be haunted by whispers of a pastor and his flock taking children to the church basement and forcing them to take part in sex orgies.
The prosecutions of scores of Wenatchee-area residents tore the community apart and brought it international notoriety before children began to recant - and most of the accused were freed.
While the spotlight has dimmed, the bitterness lingers for those who say they were falsely accused.
"Some way or another, I want an apology out of this community ... for what they've done to us and all these other innocent people," said Rev. Robert "Roby" Roberson, who in 1995 was acquitted with his wife, Connie, of leading the alleged sex ring.
An apology is unlikely anytime soon, given the dozens of civil lawsuits filed against local authorities and the lead investigator. Many of those involved declined to be interviewed, or did not want to comment while lawsuits are pending.
Along with other local officials, Chelan County Prosecutor Gary Riesen, whose office prosecuted many of the cases, declined to comment.
"I think it's all been said," he said.
• Clergy And Abuse Victims Work To Heal The Wounds [$US 26m]
WAVE, Louisville, Ky.,
www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1888544&nav=0RZFNLdB ,
By Frances Kuo, 6:20 p.m., May 23rd, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): Decades after abuse cases rocked the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sunday was a day of reconciliation. Healing the wounds was a tall order for some of the victims who turned out. Last year, more than 200 abuse victims settled a lawsuit with the Archdiocese for $26 million dollars. But the harder task is healing the psychological wounds. As WAVE 3's Frances Kuo reports, this service was meant to be a first step.
Church often represents healing. But for dozens of members of Holy Spirit Church, that healing doesn't come so easily.
"It was a little of a struggle, you have to face your demons," said Bernie Queenan, a victim of clergy abuse.
The demons are from decades ago when the church was hard hit by the sexual abuse scandal. This was meant as a moment of reconciliation, not just for the victims, but even those who weren't.
• "We wished it could have happened sooner." WHAS,
www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/WHAS11_TOPSTORY_HEALINGSERVICE.1efb54354.html ,
By Chloe Friedman / WHAS 11 News, 10:07 PM EDT on Sunday, May 23, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): It was called a special service of healing.
On Sunday, at Holy Spirit Catholic, many were invited to come together and pray for the victims of sexual abuse. Many say it is a moment, they have been waiting years for.
Out of respect for victims, TV cameras did not capture the service. For many, this may have been the first time they have confronted their abuse. Those who did speak on camera called the service a tremendous step toward repairing a fractured relationship with the Archdiocese of Louisville.
"For some, I think this will be an ending, but for others a beginning," says Cal Pfeiffer. He was a victim of priest abuse but told WHAS News he has not turned his back on his Catholic faith. That is why he says Sunday afternoon was historic.
• Ex-bishop raising money for ousted priests [Matthiesen; 25% of priests outsted]
Houston Chronicle,
www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2588616 ,
Associated Press, May 24, 2004,
AMARILLO (TX): A former Catholic bishop has sent letters around the Panhandle diocese soliciting funds for three priests who were removed two years ago over sexual abuse allegations.
Leroy Matthiesen, the outspoken retired bishop of Amarillo who gained national acclaim in the early 1980s for his stance against nuclear weapons, said that he could not turn his back on the ousted priests.
"These are my friends," the 82-year-old told The Dallas Morning News for its Sunday editions. "There's no way I would even consider the idea of not helping them."
In the last few months, the diocese has slashed its financial support for the three former pastors to $100 per month. The three are among a group of eight priests admitted by Matthiesen into the Amarillo diocese from 1980 to 1997 who had undergone treatment for alleged sexual misconduct.
Matthiesen's successor, Bishop John Yanta, removed all eight, costing the diocese nearly a fourth of its active priests.
• Sex abuse priest appeals sentence -- Anglican [1974 - 1980s Hawkins]
The Age (Melbourne, Victoria),
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/24/1085377477739.html ,
May 24, 2004
AUSTRALIA: A former Tasmanian Anglican priest jailed for sexually abusing teenaged boys has appealed against the severity of his sentence.
Garth Stephen Hawkins, 58, sat silently in the Hobart Court of Criminal Appeal as lawyer Peter Tree outlined his case.
Hawkins was sentenced last November to seven-and-a-half years' jail with a non-parole period of four-and-half-years for a "chilling litany of devious sexual abuse" committed from 1974 to the early 1980s at Anglican parishes around the state.
In sentencing, Justice Peter Underwood said three victims were only 13 when Hawkins first attacked them, three were 15 and one was 17.
Mr Tree told the court while he did not seek to trivialise the offences as "anything other than abhorrent", the length of the sentence was outside the range of what was reasonably available.
He said the appellant had not reoffended in almost 20 years and his rehabilitation should be taken into account.
• Dozens of abuse victims gather for service [1950s 1960s Miller]
Lexicon Herald-Leader,
www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/8742712.htm ,
Associated Press, Mon, May. 24, 2004
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dozens of sexual-abuse victims assaulted at one Louisville parish decades ago gathered there Sunday for a service dedicated specifically to them.
The Service of Healing for Survivors of Abuse at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church was organized jointly by the Archdiocese of Louisville and by a support group of those who were abused in the 1950s and 1960s by the Rev. Louis E. Miller, who is now in prison.
"This is what this service is about - healing young, good people, robbed of their faith by a man of the cloth, a prolific abuser, a man who was to be respected, loved and most of all a man of trust," said Jim Cecil, one of the victims, in a statement that drew applause.
More than 200 people, including at least 30 priests in clerical garb, gathered at the church.
Archbishop Thomas Kelly walked through the sanctuary and sprinkled holy water on the worshippers and on doorways to the sacristy and school where Miller accosted his young victims.
• Lawyers ready claims of more clergy abuse [40 or 50 new victims; $US 85m in last payout]
Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/24/lawyers_ready_claims_of_more_clergy_abuse ;
By John McElhenny, May 24, 2004
BOSTON (MA): Eight months after the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay a record $85 million to 541 people to settle claims of sexual abuse, lawyers for other alleged victims are preparing legal action against the embattled archdiocese.
Boston lawyer Carmen L. Durso, who represented 40 victims in the $85 million settlement, said eight or nine lawyers representing 40 or 50 new clergy sexual abuse victims will meet in Boston on June 2 to discuss new legal actions.
Durso, who represents 12 alleged victims who were not part of the initial settlement, said the number of claims would rise even further when victims from the last 10 to 15 years who are still struggling to face their abuse come forward.
"There will always be another wave of people," Durso said yesterday.
Another lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, is representing more than 30 other alleged victims who were not part of the original settlement. Garabedian does not plan to attend the meeting on June 2 because of his concerns of a conflict of interest by another lawyer participating in the case.
The clergy abuse scandal has staggered the Archdiocese of Boston, which with 2 million adherents is the largest religious institution in Eastern Massachusetts. Last month, to help pay off the financial cost of sexual abuse by priests, the Archdiocese agreed to sell most of its headquarters in Brighton to neighboring Boston College for $107.4 million.
An archdiocesan spokesman said yesterday that the church's lawyers had been in close contact with those bringing the new allegations. "Our desire has been from the very beginning to settle these lawsuits as equitably and justly as possible," said the spokesman, the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne.
He disputed the idea that new waves of allegations dating from the last 10 to 15 years would continue to surface because, he said, most of the allegations concerned a small number of priests who were removed long ago.
• Diocese puts two on leave amid claims of sex abuse [1979 Reinersman, 1994 Steidle]
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky),
www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/05/24ky/B4-priests0524-4067.html ,
Associated Press, Monday, May 24, 2004
COVINGTON, Ky. - A high-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and another priest have been placed on administrative leave amid allegations that they sexually abused minors.
One of the priests under investigation is the Rev. Gerald Reinersman, who is second-in-command under Bishop Roger Foys in the diocese. As vicar general, Reinersman stands in for the bishop. He also served on the diocese's Committee for Addressing Sexual Misconduct.
Reinersman is accused of abusing a Lexington teenager in 1979. At that time, he was a pastor at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Church.
The Rev. Mark Steidle, a pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell, is accused of inappropriately touching a minor in 1994 at Marydale Retreat Center.
Both men have denied the allegations.
• Service seeks healing for abuse victims
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky),
www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/05/24ky/A1-healing0524-9725.html ,
By PETER SMITH, psmith@courier-journal.com , Monday, May 24, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): Bernard Queenan stood holding an altar candle yesterday at the back of Holy Spirit Catholic Church - near the doorway where a priest had molested him more than 40 years ago - and marched solemnly to the front with two other victims of sexual abuse.
Following them was Archbishop Thomas Kelly, who then knelt silently for several moments in front of the altar. The gestures began a service for the dozens of victims of sexual abuse at this parish and the many others affected by the scandal throughout the Archdiocese of Louisville.
The Service of Healing for Survivors of Abuse was organized jointly by the archdiocese and by a support group of those who were abused at Holy Spirit Church in the 1950s and 1960s by the Rev. Louis E. Miller, who is now in prison.
"This is what this service is about - healing young, good people, robbed of their faith by a man of the cloth, a prolific abuser, a man who was to be respected, loved and most of all a man of trust," said Jim Cecil, one of the victims, in a statement that drew applause.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:36 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Mon May 24, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont82.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Tue May 25, 2004 edition follows:- • Ionia County priest arrested during Internet sting
[2004 Beas]
WOOD TV,
www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1894462&nav=0RceNP6D , 5:12 p.m., May 25, 2004
IONIA COUNTY, Michigan: An associate pastor at an Ionia County Catholic church is facing charges he tried to solicit sex from a girl over the Internet.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is charging Father Shamaun Beas of St. Patrick's Church in Portland with using a computer to accost a minor and commit a crime.
The Grand Rapids Diocese says Father Beas is a Pakistani priest who's currently serving an internship as an associate pastor at St. Patrick's Church in Portland, which is eastern Ionia County.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:41 PM]
And see the Detroit News, "Priest arrested in child sex case;
Cleric, another man face online predator charges in suburbs,"
www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0406/14/b01-164469.htm ,
By Edward L. Cardenas, Wednesday, May 26, 2004
WARREN -- A Catholic priest from western Michigan and a convicted sex offender from Oakland County are the first two people to be arrested under a new statewide initiative to crack down on Internet predators.
The Rev. Shamaun Beas, a visiting associate pastor at St. Patrick’s Church in Portland, was arraigned Tuesday in 37th District Court in Warren on charges he used a computer to set up a meeting with a child to engage in sexual activity. He was held in the Macomb County Jail on a $5 million bond.
Ned Hilburn Fauth, who was sentenced in 1999 for sexual assault in Genesee County, was arrested at his New Hudson home and was arraigned Tuesday on similar charges. [Found by Google] [May 26, 04]
• Catholic Dioceses Struggle Financially
Ledger-Enquirer, www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/8757069.htm ,
Associated Press
UNITED STATES: Some examples of financial problems faced by U.S. Roman Catholic dioceses in recent years. Church leaders generally blame a weak economy, higher insurance costs and lower returns on investments for the troubles, along with expenses related to the clergy sex abuse crisis and, in some dioceses, a drop in donations:
_ ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE: Blamed an expected $1 million deficit in the next fiscal year mainly on costs related to the abuse scandal, including attorney and mediation fees, outreach to victims and training for church workers on identifying and preventing abuse.
• Abuse Victims and Diocese Working on Settlement
WWLP, www.wwlp.com/news2004/topstory.html?artID=53845
SPRINGFIELD (Massachusetts) (WWLP) - There could be a possible settlement between the Catholic Diocese of Springfield and those who claim to be abused by clergy members. But the amount being discussed isn't sitting well with some victims. Because they're still in the mediation process, neither the church nor the lawyer representing the 46 alleged victims, will confirm the dollar amount. But some victims say the diocese is offering $7 million and say that's not enough. Both Tom Martin and his childhood friend Steven Block say they were abused by former priest Richard Lavigne as children. And they believe Lavigne is responsible for the death of their other friend, alter boy Danny Croteau. That's what made them come forward in the first place. Although the diocese won't comment on the details of the settlement offer, they did issue a statement expressing optimism for a successful end to the negations. The statement reads in part: we remain hopeful that a settlement will be achieved so that the healing process can continue for all involved. But for Tom and Steve, whatever money the church ultimately produces, it will only go so far. If $7 million is in fact the settlement amount, it would average out to about $150,000 per person.
• Corrections from The Virginian-Pilot
The Virginian-Pilot,
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=70785&ran=168448
VIRGINIA: A story and headline in Saturday’s Hampton Roads section about a sexual-abuse lawsuit misstated the defendants in the case. Eileen M. Rhoads, a former nun accused of abuse, is not a defendant. The defendants are the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Also, the lawyer for the woman who filed the suit said the story should have said the diocese knew or should have known about Rhoads’ alleged behavior but did not tell parents.
• New vicar named at Fort Mitchell church [Steidle, Reinersman]
The Kentucky Post, www.kypost.com/2004/05/25/priest052504.html
Post staff report, May 25, 2004
KENTUCKY: A priest who was ordained three days ago will replace Rev. Mark Steidle as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell, after Steidle was accused of sexually abusing a minor 10 years ago.
Rev. Phillip DeVous, 27, will take over immediately as parochial vicar or assistant pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church.
Steidle is one of two priests put on administrative leave by the Diocese of Covington while allegations of sexual abuse of a minor are investigated. The leaves were announced last week.
The other priest placed on administrative leave, Rev. Gerald Reinersman, vicar general for the diocese and the second in command under the bishop, had been scheduled to be named pastor of a parish in July. His replacements as vicars general had already been announced and became effective immediately. They are Rev. Michael Due and Rev. Gilbert J. Rutz.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:30 PM]
• Text of Archbishop O'Malley's remarks on church closings Milford Daily News,
www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=48669 ,
By Associated Press, Tuesday, May 25, 2004
BOSTON (MA): Today is not an easy day for the people of the Archdiocese of Boston. This morning all of our pastors and parishes were notified of the results of the reconfiguration process. Many parishes received the news that they would be remaining open and welcoming people from other parishes in the months ahead.
As a result of this process there will be 65 less parishes, but this translates into the closing of 60 churches since five of the former parish churches will continue as worship sites. Although this reconfiguration responds to the very special needs of the present, a radical reconfiguration of the archdiocese has been discussed for many years.
Changes in population, the movement of people from the cities to the suburbs, the decrease in the number of active Catholics have all contributed to the present predicament. At this time, over one third of our parishes are operating in the red, the deterioration of our parish buildings and churches (that in the city of Boston alone would cost over 100 million dollars to repair), and the aging clergy (130 pastors are over 70 years of age) have forced us to make the hard decisions that we have announced today. ...
In addition, I want to assure the people of the archdiocese that the decision to close parishes is in no way connected with the need to finance the legal settlement with the victims of clergy sexual abuse. The sale of the Brighton property of the former archbishop's residences and surrounding land has raised the $90 million dollars needed to do so.
No money from the future sale of parish assets will be used to pay for the settlement. What these funds will do is allow us to financially support as needed the parishes and schools that do remain in the archdiocese as well as to recapitalize our pension and medical funds. This process of reconfiguration is directed not towards the past, but towards the future mission of the Church.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:27 PM]
• Boston Archdiocese to Shut 60 Churches, O'Malley Says (Update3)
Bloomberg, http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aLtUXmdftAvg&refer=top_world_news, May 25, 2004
BOSTON (MA): (Bloomberg) -- Boston's Roman Catholic archdiocese will close 60 churches in eastern Massachusetts over the next four months and reduce the number of its parishes from 357 to 292, the most extensive cutbacks in the U.S. in at least three decades, Archbishop Sean O'Malley said.
The cuts announced today don't include at least 10 parishes targeted for closure last year in the cities of Lawrence and Lowell, an archdiocesan statement said. When added to other previous and announced closings, the Boston area will have lost 122 parishes since 1985, surpassing the 78 Chicago eliminated from 1975 to 1995.
"I am profoundly aware of the emotion the announcement of the closing of a parish evokes," O'Malley 59, said at a news conference at the archdiocese compound in Boston. "I am asking the Catholics of the archdiocese to lay aside their anger and disappointment, to cast off their sadness and join hands with brothers and sisters across the archdiocese."
The cuts, driven by financial needs and a priest shortage, reflect a shift in the Catholic church in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest from serving mostly large families in urban areas to a more suburban, gentrified version of itself, said Bernard F. Swain, a management consultant who worked with eight groups of Boston-area parishes during the closing process.
• Boston Archdiocese To Close Dozens Of Parishes [60 churches to be sold]
TheSanDiegoChannel.com ;
www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/3345129/detail.html ,
May 25, 2004
BOSTON (MA): It's another piece of the fallout from the clergy sex abuse scandal.
It was a tense morning for parishioners at Catholic churches across the Boston area as the Boston Archdiocese announced a list of churches that will be closed as part of a consolidation plan. The restructuring comes amid shrinking attendance at Mass, and smaller weekly collections -- caused partly by the sex abuse scandal.
Churches started receiving letters Tuesday from Archbishop Sean O'Malley indicating whether the parish will be closed. Of the 357 churches in the Boston Archdiocese, 143 churches were on a list as recommended for closure, but less then half of them will close. It will be the largest sale of church property in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
"As a result of this process, there will be 65 less parishes, which translates into the closing of 60 churches since five will continue as worship sites," O'Malley said.
O'Malley said the archdiocese must close the churches because of dwindling Mass attendance, fewer donations, a shortage of priests and aging buildings that would cost millions to repair or renovate. He said that more than one-third of the parishes were operating in the red.
"I want to assure the people of the archdiocese that the decision to close parishes is in no way connected with the need to finance the legal settlement with the victims of clergy sexual abuse. The sale of the Brighton property of the former archbishop's residences and surrounding land has raised the $90 million needed to do so. No money from the future sale of parish assets will be used to pay for the settlement," O'Malley said.
The clergy sex abuse scandal began more than two years ago and has contributed to financial problems plaguing the archdiocese. Church officials reached an $85 million agreement last fall to settle lawsuits filed by more than 500 victims of clergy sex abuse.
• Priest At Michigan Church Arrested In Cyber Sex Sting [2004 Beas]
ClickonDetroit.com ;
www.clickondetroit.com/news/3344603/detail.html ,
May 25, 2004
PORTLAND (MI): A priest at Saint Patrick's Church in Portland, Mich., was arrested by Warren police Monday after he allegedly arranged a meeting with someone he thought was a teenage girl.
Rev. Shamaun Beas, from Pakistan, is a visiting priest at Saint Patrick's. Police say he drove from Portland to Warren where he arranged a sexual encounter with an undercover officer who posed as the girl.
Warren police were waiting for Beas when he arrived.
Beas was arrested as part of Attorney General Mike Cox's new effort to crack down on child predators who use the Internet.
"The goal of this project is to strike fear into those who would think to use the Internet to prey upon children," said Cox.
Cox said the sting is an effort to protect children when they're online, but he said authorities will need assistance from parents.
"These arrests show the absolute need for parents to be on guard, to be aware of what their children are watching on the Internet and know who they're communicating with. With all the benefits the Internet provides, it also provides new dangers," said Cox.
• Timeline of abuse allegations [Years of complaints, Janssen]
Des Moines Register,
Timeline of abuse allegations
www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73172631342658&Avis=D2&Dato= 20040525&Kategori=LIFE05&Lopenr=40524004&Ref=AR ;
05/25/2004
IOWA: Court documents obtained by The Des Moines Register detail allegations of sexual misconduct by priests James Janssen, Francis Bass and Theodore Anthony Geerts, and the Davenport Diocese's response. The documents were drawn from material obtained from the diocese by attorneys for people who have sued alleging abuse, some of which were found in a locked safe in the basement of the diocese's office.
The documentation of Janssen's career thins in the last years of Bishop Ralph L. Hayes tenure and after Bishop Gerald F. O'Keefe was appointed on Oct. 20, 1966.
According to Rand Wonio, the Davenport diocese attorney, Hayes "kept everything" and O'Keefe wasn't much of a paper pusher.
The first warning letter was placed in Janssen's file soon after his ordination in 1948.
• Iowa church officials for years hid allegations of sexual abuse [Still scout chaplain until 1990, Janssen]
Des Moines Register,
www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73172631342658&Avis=D2&Dato= 20040525&Kategori=LIFE05&Lopenr=405250391&Ref=AR ;
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE, REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR, 05/25/2004
IOWA: Iowa Catholic Church leaders for more than 40 years kept secret repeated allegations of sexual abuse by the Rev. James Janssen while they moved him from job to job.
Janssen, 81, accused in numerous lawsuits of molesting boys, was recommended for defrocking earlier this year.
Documents in Scott County District Court show that the bishop of Davenport and other priests, including a future bishop of Des Moines, worried greatly about public disclosure of the accusations as early as 1958, yet continued to allow Janssen to work with boys until 1996. He was a Boy Scout chaplain as late as 1990.
Church watchdogs say it is a pattern common around the country, made public only in the past three years as numerous cases emerged of sexual abuse by priests.
"It is consoling to know that no general notoriety has arisen, and I pray none may result," then-Davenport Bishop Ralph L. Hayes wrote in 1958, after three years of allegations, including that Janssen had been caught in "highly inappropriate acts" with two boys at the Newton YMCA.
• Priest abuse probe unresolved [Accused, but altar boys still attending Quinn]
The Observer-Dispatch,
www.uticaod.com/archive/2004/05/25/news/33340.html ,
By ELIZABETH COOPER, Tue, May 25, 2004
UTICA (NY): More than a year after a former Utica priest was accused of molesting a minor, the Syracuse diocese has not completed its investigation.
The pace is proving frustrating to the priest, to the accuser's attorney and to the parent of an altar boy who now serves with the Rev. James Quinn at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Manlius.
The Catholic Church's 2002 policies for protecting children and youth require that priests be removed from active duty as a precaution if a preliminary investigation finds the charges may be valid.
But because the diocese has yet to conclude its preliminary investigation, Quinn continues to perform Masses in which altar boys assist at St. Ann's.
Bishop Thomas Costello, the diocese's No. 2 official, said the church's investigation has been delayed because of a related civil case, but he declined to give further details.
In May 2003, John Zumpano, now 55, accused Quinn of sexually abusing him repeatedly in the mid-to-late 1960s when the priest served at St. Agnes Church in East Utica and as area director for the Catholic Youth Organization.
Although the civil lawsuit brought by Zumpano was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired, the judge said he believed the charges had merit.
• Diocese seeks to settle claims for $7 million [Lavigne]
Republican,
http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1085471480278420.xml?nntn ,
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com, Tuesday, May 25, 2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has offered $7 million to settle the largest group of clergy sexual abuse claims against it, according to several of the 46 people who are weighing the offer.
Although neither the diocese nor the lawyer representing the 46 alleged victims would comment on the specifics of the ongoing mediation, several of the alleged victims expressed disappointment with progress.
"Next week marks the new bishop being in office two months and we have not reached a settlement. I expected something better by now," said Thomas M. Martin, 43, of Springfield, who filed suit against the diocese more than two years ago, saying he was abused as a minor by defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne.
The diocese issued a three-sentence statement expressing optimism for a successful settlement.
• Bishop Aymond Returns From Visit With Pope AUSTIN (TX):
KXAN,
www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=1892485&nav=0s3dNO0s
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Pope John Paul II in Rome next week. Here at home, Austin Bishop Gregory Aymond just returned from a meeting with the head of the Catholic Church.
It's a meeting that can ultimately shape the future of what happens here in Central Texas.
The war in Iraq, gay marriage and a sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church -- they are among the most controversial issues and all subjects Bishop Gregory Aymond talked about during a visit last week with the pope. ...
The Vatican praised the Austin Diocese for its program designed to combat and prevent the sexual abuse of children in the church and in society.
"The Vatican and the holy father are very concerned that we reach out to victims. Secondly, they are very concerned we work with those priests accused and if those accusations are true that we make sure they're not in ministry," Aymond said.
• Lawyer: Ex-priest sentenced to prison many challenge law [Feeney]
San Luis Opisbo Tribune,
www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/8751451.htm ,
Associated Press
APPLETON, Wis. - A former priest sentenced to 15 years in prison on sexual assault charges may challenge why Wisconsin's statute of limitations did not apply in his case, his lawyer said.
Attorney Gerald Boyle of Milwaukee has filed a notice to seek post-conviction relief - a notice usually preceding an appeal - in the case of John Patrick Feeney.
The six-year statute of limitations for filing the charges against Feeney didn't apply because it didn't include the time when he was outside the state.
Feeney left Wisconsin in 1983. He was arrested on the Wisconsin charges in September 2002 at his apartment in Los Angeles.
Boyle said Monday he was "troubled" by the statute of limitations question.
"I just don't think that it was fair then and I don't think it is fair now to prosecute someone so many years later for something that was known to law enforcement," he said.
• Former priest sued, past abuse alleged of Spokane girl Seattle Times,
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001937766_spokaneabuse25m.html ,
By Seattle Times staff
SPOKANE (WA): A lawsuit has been filed in Spokane County Superior Court alleging past sexual abuse of a girl by a former Spokane priest who now is a civilian employee of the Seattle Police Department.
The plaintiff claims in the suit that she was abused in the 1970s at Spokane's Assumption Parish and School, starting when she was about 12 years old. The suit says a church official was informed of the alleged abuse but didn't report it to authorities and instead blamed the girl.
The priest, who left the ministry, currently works as a victims advocate for the Seattle Police Department, which has placed him on administrative assignment while it investigates the allegation.
The department issued a statement late last week noting the employee has an unblemished 14-year career with the department. He "vehemently denies the allegations," said his attorney, Anne Bremner of Seattle.
The Seattle Times is not naming him because he is accused of criminal activity in a civil case that is unresolved.
In its statement, the Seattle Police Department said it had been notified by Spokane media in 2003 that the employee was the subject of an allegation of sexual molestation of a minor, stemming from his time as a priest.
• Alleged abuse victims weigh settlement offer from diocese [$US 7m offer to 46]
Providence Journal,
www.projo.com/ap/ne/1085481085.htm ,
The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The Springfield diocese has offered $7 million to settle lawsuits from 46 alleged Roman Catholic clergy abuse victims, who are now considering the offer.
Neither the diocese nor the lawyer representing the alleged victims would comment on the specifics of the ongoing mediation, but several alleged victims expressed disappointment with progress.
"Next week marks the new bishop being in office two months, and we have not reached a settlement. I expected something better by now," Thomas M. Martin, 43, of Springfield, told The Republican of Springfield. He filed suit against the diocese more than two years ago, alleging that defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne abused him when he was a minor.
The diocese issued a brief statement stating in part:
"We remain hopeful that a settlement will be achieved, so that the healing process can continue for all involved."
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:00 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Tue May 25, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont82.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Wed May 26, 2004 edition follows:- • Text of Rev. Scahill's letter The Republican,
www.masslive.com/news/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1085557671300911.xm
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
SPRINGFIELD (Mass): The following is the text of a letter written yesterday by the Rev. James J. Scahill, pastor of St. Michael's parish in East Longmeadow, to Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell. Dear Bishop McDonnell, I am dismayed by a remark attributed to you as is quoted in today's paper from Tom Martin. I know Tom Martin and his family and find him to be a reliable and truthful person.
"You would settle in a minute if you had land to sell." There are acres of unused land owned by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield - right here behind St. Michael's Church, East Longmeadow. There is no way we can staff and maintain St. Joseph's Mission on Vineland Avenue, East Longmeadow - this is prime sellable land owned by the R.C. Bishop of Springfield. What about the rectory of St. Paul's Parish in Springfield, the former school and its property of St. Joseph Parish, Springfield, and its lucrative location across from the Basketball Hall of Fame and property owned by the diocese on Tinkham Road in Wilbraham??
The victims I believe are seeking $14.5 million and they should not be compromised, ongoingly maligned, manipulated and abused by an institution that placed them in harms way and covered up its protection of pedophiles and abusers of minors.
At the current $7 million offer the victims will receive far less than the church has given over 12 years to Richard Lavigne (approx $300,000). Other violators will in their lifetime receive more from this Church than the victims they so atrociously violated in heart, spirit, and body.
By the way you and I know that you never really apologized to me over your comparison of me to Lavigne and you surely have not come close to doing that publicly.
I am watching closely now how you are treating the victims and their families and what will be done about Richard Lavigne come May 31. Sincerely, Rev. James J. Scahill
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:25 PM]
• In pews of Our Lady shock, anger and tears The Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts),
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4746~2173486,00.html
By ROBERT MILLS, Sun Staff,
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
CONCORD Pastor Austin Fleming addressed his congregation at the Our Lady Help of Christians parish last night poignantly and simply.
"Oh my God, you are beautiful," he said, earning 30 seconds of roaring applause from parishioners.
Just hours before, those same faces some in tears and some grimaced in anger learned their parish would be one of 65 closed under a downsizing announced by the Archdiocese of Boston.
Our Lady Help of Christians and Concord's other Catholic parish, St. Bernard's, will both be closed and a new parish will be formed on the site of St. Bernard's.
• Sexual sin in the spotlight; Act of contrition.
Boston Phoenix, www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/03866764.asp
BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI, Wednesday, May 26, 2004
BOSTON: A new play by Michael Murphy brings the Boston clergy-sexual-abuse scandal to the stage. Sin: A Cardinal Deposed turns an unflattering eye on Bernard Cardinal Law, the former Boston archbishop who came to epitomize the Catholic Church’s negligent handling of its pedophile priests.
Law, of course, resigned in 2002 without admitting any guilt in the scandal. Now, his words have found new life on stage, as Sin takes all its dialogue verbatim from Law’s pretrial depositions in lawsuits filed by clergy-abuse victims. Previously produced by Chicago’s Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, the play will be making its local debut in June.
• 'This in no way diminishes ...' National Catholic Reporter,
http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/052804/052804x.htm ,
By EUGENE KENNEDY, May 28, 2004
UNITED STATES:
Perhaps not since biblical scholars assigned the designation Q to the 235 verses found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark,
have Catholics encountered such compelling evidence of a common source for the themes of influential documents. And
perhaps not since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls acquainted us with the practices of the Jewish sect, the Essenes, have
official papers introduced us to the methods of such a distinguished group as America’s Catholic bishops.
The Essenes "abstain from marriage ... speak only in turn. They are completely governed by the officers of the community,"
wrote the late Jesuit Fr. John L. McKenzie in his Dictionary of the Bible. "They must take solemn oaths to observe the rules of
the community and to conceal its secrets."
Opening their packets for their March meeting, many members of the administrative board of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, including Archbishop Harry Flynn, chair of their Ad Hoc Sex Abuse Committee, learn for the first time that
they will vote on deferring any discussion of the National Review Board’s report and its associated projects until November.
Not even Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has been informed that a coup de main is underway against the National Review
Board and the Office of Child and Youth Protection and its associated projects. He abstains when the question is finally
called.
Although the episcopal letters are filled with boilerplate commitment ("We affirm," Mansell avers, "our commitment to the
Charter for the Protection of Children ... ") their vote effectively quashes the investigative recommendations made that day by
the National Advisory Council, the Office of Child and Youth Protection, the Ad Hoc Committee on Sex Abuse and the
National Review Board: to approve an on-site audit by the end of 2004 by the Office of Child and Youth Protection, to
approve funding for the National Review Board’s request for a proposal to implement the already approved study of the
causes and context of the sex abuse problem, and that the conference of the bishops continue to deal with "fraternal
correction," bishops disciplining bishops who failed to bar priest sex abusers from parish work.
All about us
The gods of irony smile when, trying to hide part of the truth about themselves, men reveal the whole truth instead. Melancholy
themes of self-reference, self-pity and condescension are particularly striking in the letters to Justice Anne Burke, interim chair
of the National Review Board, after she reacted to the administrative board’s action (NCR, May 21). Though subsequent
publicity has apparently forced the bishops to reconsider the matter, their wish to be done with the board and its requirements
is evident in the language of their letters.
Denver’s Archbishop Charles J. Chaput writes on April 2 of Burke’s questioning this preemption of the committee’s work:
"Please note that the June 2004 bishops’ meeting is a quadrennial retreat. ... This in no way diminishes the continuing
importance of the NRB, the Dallas Charter, or issues relating to the sexual misconduct scandal. But neither can we as bishops
neglect other vital matters, including calls for a plenary council. ... Our problems with your letter lie elsewhere. The matter of
‘fraternal correction’ among bishops has canonical implications that go well beyond the NRB’s competence. ... It is not the
NRB’s duty to interpret the Charter. ... Finally, Justice Burke, we were embarrassed by the tone of your letter. ... Your
language is designed to offend. ... Whatever its goals, your letter diminishes the credibility of the NRB and invites resistance."
The closing line is offered like a ring to kiss, "Be assured of our good will and prayers nonetheless ... "
Bishop David L. Ricken of Cheyenne, Wyo., provides a coda April 16, " I do believe that, after such a storm for two years,
the bishops need a bit of a break [emphasis added] to reflect on all that has happened so that we can move ahead,
thoughtfully and prayerfully ... " And, of course, " ... wishing you a happy Easter Season, I remain ... "
Then there is the idiosyncratic Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz claiming that bishops cannot share their "sacred power" with anyone
(interview, Catholic World News) while he attacks such review board members as Leon Panetta, who "was devoted to
promoting and fostering and permitting the heinous practice of abortion. What makes him qualified to be on this board, and to
be in this capacity?" And psychologist Michael Bland? "I don’t think ... that he has ever been canonically laicized. ... I don’t
think Michael Bland is in good standing in regard to the church." And Alice Hayes? "When she was at the University of San
Diego, she put a known homosexual man in charge of religious studies; she also, as I understand it, had a Gay and Lesbian Club on her campus ... "
What’s missing?
We can all understand that the bishops have an audience of one, Pope John Paul II, and what they say is designed to please
him, not their people. Still, it takes unrelieved self-absorption to involve themselves in the assault on their own charter without
making a single mention of the victims of sex abuse. It is People magazine-size self-investment to refer to "the church" without
ever mentioning their own people or acknowledging that these men and women are the church and that they themselves are
their servants rather than, as it seems in these letters, their masters. Seldom in relationships that are not official or institutional,
most bishops have little experience of having to change themselves to make such relationships flourish or to restore them when
they are shattered.
As a result, they relate to the people with whom they broke faith in the sex abuse crisis by being pompously
official rather than by being simply human. Their "poor us" self-absorption blinds them to the still suffering victims whom they
wound again by dishonoring the Dallas charter that was supposed to make it safe for Catholics to go back to church again.
Do bishops think magically of a plenary council because it would be all about them, publicly reasserting and restoring their
authority? They must earn that back for themselves, less as self-preoccupied functionaries and more as self-forgetting pastors
to their people. They could begin by keeping their Dallas promise to establish and support an Office for Child and Youth
Protection and a National Review Board.
(Eugene Cullen Kennedy is emeritus professor of psychology at Loyola University, Chicago, and author of The Unhealed Wound:
The Church and Human Sexuality, published by St. Martin’s Press.)
• Audit agreement to be tested in Denver National Catholic Reporter, USA,
http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/052804/052804z.php
• The fringe captures the spotlight
www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/todaystake
• Appellate court rules priests' records aren't sacred Daily Herald (suburban Chicago),
www.dailyherald.com/kane/main_story.asp?intID=38133359
• Victims rights group wants priests' names St Louis Today,
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+% 2F+County/45663B29858DE49B86256EA0000E4FB0?OpenDocument&Headline=ST.+LOUIS&highlight= 2%2Csurvivors%2Cnetwork%2Cof%2Cthose BELLEVILLE, USA: A national victims' rights group on Tuesday called on Belleville Bishop Wilton D. Gregory to publish on the
diocese Web site, in its newspaper and parish bulletins
the names of 12 area priests removed a decade ago for
abuse.
Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests [SNAP] also renewed complaints about what they
labeled the diocese's "hardball legal tactics" used to
keep documents sealed, delay cases and defend
priests in abuse cases.
"As leader of the Catholic Bishop's Conference
(Gregory) should be the most compassionate," said
SNAP director David Clohessy, one of 10 protesters
who gathered in front of the Belleville chancery.
Church officials could not be reached for comment.
The group also criticized Gregory saying he failed to
offer counseling to at least one abuse victim, James
Wisniewski, despite church promises to do so.
Wisniewski, speaking in public for the first time about
the abuse, called on the church to accept responsibility
for its actions, offer an explanation and meet its
obligations to victims.
• Sales net diocese $2.7 million The Republican,
http://masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1085557657300910.xml ,
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Wednesday, May 26, 2004
SPRINGFIELD - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has netted a profit of $2.7 million in property sales and purchases in the past few years, and a maverick priest says more properties could be sold to settle clergy sexual abuse claims.
But the diocese said most of the properties sold were parish-held, and their sales have benefited parish communities, not the diocese at large. [...]
The Rev. James J. Scahill, an outspoken critic of the church's handling of clergy sexual abuse, sent McDonnell a letter yesterday suggesting unused or little-used properties that could be sold in East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Springfield and elsewhere to fund settlements.
A diocesan spokesman said possible property sales have been investigated as a way to help in any potential settlements, but most of Scahill's suggested properties, as well as most other church properties in the diocese, are parish-owned. . . .
• Church must give up papers; Diocese of Rockford: Appellate justices order diocese to turn over its records in priest sex case Suburban Chicago Newspapers,
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/e26priest.htm ,
By Nathaniel Zimmer, mailto:nzimmer@scn1.com ,
05/26/04
ELGIN, USA: The Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court has ruled that the Catholic Diocese of Rockford must turn over documents relating to its investigation of former priest Mark A. Campobello, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two teenage girls.
The unanimous decision, filed Friday, saw the court wade into waters largely uncharted in Illinois, as it concluded that the diocese must provide records of its investigation to 16th Circuit Court Judge Timothy Sheldon, despite a state law, known as the clergy member's privilege, that bars clergy from having to divulge certain information.
That privilege "extends only to information that an individual conveys in the course of making an admission or confession to a clergy member in his capacity as spiritual counselor," Appellate Judge Jack O'Malley wrote on the court's behalf.
The diocese contended that any information obtained by its misconduct officer and a 16-member investigation team consisting of both priests and lay Catholics is protected by the clergy privilege. [...]
O'Malley, a former Republican Cook County state's attorney, noted that compelling the diocese to turn over its records will force it to violate its own canon law, which holds that records of investigations into clergy wrongdoing must be kept secret. But he argued that the law in question, canon 489, is not rooted in a "religious value."
And in a pointed aside, he stated that the diocese's attempt to use canon 489 to shield itself from the state's subpoena is "difficult to reconcile with the lofty civic spirit of the Charter" for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The charter was adopted by the U.S. Conference of Bishops in 2002. In it, the church vows to comply with civil law and cooperate with investigating authorities in cases of alleged abuse. . . .
• Disappearing parishes Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2004/05/26/ disappearing_parishes ; May 26 2004
BOSTON, Mass.: PARISHIONERS are responding with understandable anger and sadness to Archbishop Sean O'Malley's announcement yesterday that 65 of the 357 parishes in the Boston Archdiocese will close. Although O'Malley tried to put the closures in a spiritual perspective, he sounded at times like a chief executive officer trying to reposition an ailing company.
Demographic shifts, deteriorating buildings, declining attendance at Mass, and, most important, the drop in the number of priests necessitate some parish closings. But the fatalistic approach of church leaders dating back to last January is driving much of the disappointment. Parishioners in many of the affected churches were eager to discuss ways to save their places of worship, such as lifting the workload of priests so they could serve more than one parish and expanding the role of deacons. But the leadership of the archdiocese limited meaningful lay involvement to just one area -- recommendations for closures in their regions.
At times, declining parishes can revive under creative leadership. Many of the parishes targeted for closure deserve a chance to prove their viability. The archdiocese's appeals process, however, does nothing to encourage such rebirths. Leaders of closed parishes can appeal only to Archbishop O'Malley or the Vatican. Yet the vicars, regional bishops, and 24-member central committee that ruminated for months on the closures are the ones with the deepest levels of knowledge. They deserve a place in the appeals process.
There was evidence of compassion in yesterday's announcement. The plan appeared to save many urban and rural parishes that will require subsidies. That development fits with the archbishop's concern for protecting the poor. Efforts were also made to ensure that no community would be left devoid of church life. While parishes in Lincoln, Stow, and Rochester will close, their buildings will remain open for Sunday Mass. At an afternoon press conference, O'Malley, who served as a bishop in the West Indies, spoke of the destruction of churches by Hurricane Hugo and the renewal that took place afterward. But the problems of the Boston Archdiocese do not stem from acts of God. The sexual abuse scandal and the failure of Cardinal Bernard Law to confront the crisis promptly led to last fall's $85 million settlement with more than 500 victims. It is disingenuous for O'Malley to claim that the closures and anticipated property sales are unrelated to that crisis. Technically, the sale of church property in Brighton, including the residences, will cover the abuse claims. But the proceeds could have been used to shore up struggling parishes if Law and other church leaders had acted responsibly. . . .
!!!: Priest asked boy to undress so he could correct his kneeling, 50 years ago. [Malone] Franciscan
Priest Abuse Claim Settled after 50 Years,
www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5272D50E-AA8A-4AFD-8C7E-5ED9FCEB10DE ,
Posted By Walker Robinson, WalkerRobinson@woai.com , 6:48:56 AM, 5/26/2004
SAN ANTONIO: A man who claims he was molested by a Catholic priest more than 50 years ago is finally receiving a settlement. A religious order of priests in San Antonio plans to pay the man a large sum of money.
Lorenzo Limon says the priest molested him inside St. Joseph's Catholic Church on the south side when he was just 11-years old.
Limon says Franciscan Father Emmitt Malone sexually assaulted him under the premise of teaching him to kneel and pray.
"He told me to remove my clothes so he could better see how I'm kneeling," Limon said," then he molested me."
Franciscan leaders in St. Louis, Missouri, say they wanted to reach out to Limon.
[... ]
The Franciscans say they plan to compensate Limon by making monthly payments for the rest of his life.
• A&E's 'American Justice' outlines Geoghan's 'Sins' The Boston Herald,
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=29371 ,
By Sarah Rodman, Wednesday, May 26, 2004
MASSACHUSETTS: As Catholic churches around the state prepare to close their doors partly due to
the financial consequences of the clergy abuse scandal, A & E spotlights
defrocked priest John Geoghan tonight at 9.
The latest installment in the network's "American Justice" series, "Sins of a Priest: The John Geoghan Story" documents the now-familiar pattern of a
pedophile priest being shuffled from parish to parish by the Archdiocese of
Boston to outrun allegations of sexual abuse. [...]
For anyone playing catch-up, however, "Sins" does a straightforward job of presenting the chronology of
Geoghan's crimes against his young parishioners - as many as 140 during the course of several decades - in such areas as Saugus, Hingham and Jamaica Plain. It allows some of those victims and their parents to speak out, sometimes graphically, about how Geoghan abused them and then told them, "God wants you to keep this a secret."
The explosion of the scandal, the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law and Geoghan's trial, conviction and murder at the hands of a white supremacist are explored through video, newspaper headlines and commentary from the likes of
Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley and victims' attorney Mitchell Garabedian.
Aside from a defense attorney who questions Geoghan's sentencing, the predatory priest's lone defender is fellow
priest and close friend J
