Pinocchio

The Rev. C. Robert Manning, a Colorado Springs Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing a Child

2012-01-23T23:56:00.001+01:00

Church: Springs priest faces sex-abuse probe

Rev. Robert Manning is a pastor at St. Gabriel the Arch-Angel Church

After learning their pastor has been accused of sexually abusing a child, the shocked congregation of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church was left in silence Saturday night.

The Rev. Rafael Torres-Rico told the packed, 1,100-member church during the 5 p.m. Mass that The Rev. Charles Robert Manning is being investigated by Colorado Springs police for “sexual abuse of a minor.”

No other details of the allegations against Manning were shared with the congregation, some of whom were in tears by the end of Torres-Rico’s announcement.

“It is important to remember that in both civil and canon law Father Manning is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Torres-Rico told the church.

The allegations were brought to the police on Jan. 4, and Manning has since been asked to step down, Torres-Rico said.

Colorado Springs police spokeswoman Barbara Miller said she was not aware of the investigation and had no comment.

St. Gabriel’s, on Scarborough Drive in one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in eastern Colorado Springs, opened its doors in 1998. The church, near the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Research Parkway, hosts five services per weekend for its growing congregation, according to the church’s website.

The church does not allow children under 12 years old to attend mass alone. At Saturday’s mass the congregation was reminded to accompany children under 12 anywhere in the building, including to the restroom.

Church-goers refused to comment as they left the service. Church officials had no immediate comment.

No criminal record for Manning can be found in Colorado. An online search shows that Manning has served in three parishes over the past decade.

In a 2002 posting on a Catholic website, a C. Robert Manning identified himself as pastor of St. Lawrence the Martyr Church in Bridgeton, Mo.

From 2004 to 2007, Manning headed a Catholic church in Imperial, Mo. There, he oversaw efforts to revive the church’s school, which faced falling attendance, according to the church website. The school closed in 2007, the year Manning came to Colorado Springs.

In 2010, Manning was named chaplain of the year by the Colorado branch of Knights of Columbus.

The Catholic Church has battled allegations of sex abuse by priests for years, including a revelation in 2010 that the former priest at Divine Redeemer in Colorado Springs was accused of a sex abuse against a child in Denver.

When the priest, the Rev. Mel Thompson, was accused in 2010 of molesting a Denver boy, there had been 50 similar cases within the Denver Archdiocese over a five-year span.

Gazette.com, RYAN MAYE HANDY, January 21, 2012

The Diocese of Colorado Springs is asking anyone with concerns or complaints about Rev. Manning or any minister to contact the Diocesan Office of Mission Effectiveness at (719) 636-2345 and ask to speak to Ed Gaffney or Terri Sorter. Gaffney can also be reached at (719) 651-7742 and Sorter at (719) 660-6073.

Father Eric Ensey's case. How long will church be allowed to keep its dangerous secrets?

2012-01-21T02:59:00.001+01:00

How long will church be allowed to keep its dangerous secrets?

Authorities knew now-convicted U.S. priest was under investigation

Father Eric Ensey

An American priest, who has been financially sup-ported for the past five years by the priest and parishioners of a Vancouver Catholic church, has been convicted of sexually molesting a minor by an ecclesiastical tribunal in Pennsylvania.
In its decision, reached last October, the tribunal recommended to the Vatican that Eric Ensey be dismissed as a priest.
"The tribunal reached moral certitude that Ensey had indeed committed the offences of which he was accused," Fr. Tom Doyle wrote in letters sent last week to Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller and John Hor-gan, the priest at Saints Peter and Paul Church.
Doyle, a Dominican priest and canonical lawyer, represented the victims.
"I realize that Ensey and his cohorts continue to insist on their innocence," he wrote. "They have masked themselves with a deceitful veil of traditional orthodoxy, which has proven successful in duping a number of people. Unfortunately there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary."
The tribunal spent nearly three years investigating Ensey, who since 2002 has been restricted from doing any ministerial work, presenting him-self as a priest, wearing clerical garb or performing any sacred functions.
Horgan passed none of that information on to parishioners.
"I told them he [Ensey] was a student priest," Horgan told me in December. "I did not go into all the details because, in this case, I though the charity we were doing for him was sufficient. That may well have been a mistake of prudence on my part."
At that time, Horgan also told me he was "fully aware" of the tribunal proceedings.
Horgan's fundraising stopped in December after Miller ordered an end to soliciting and accepting tax-deductible donations for Ensey, other members of the Society of St. John, the seminary it runs in Paraguay, and an associated orphanage.
Ensey is appealing the tribunal's decision, Doyle said in a telephone interview from Virginia. The appeal will be heard by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body once known as the Inquisition.
"Ensey's chances of winning an appeal are about as good as that of a rabbi being elected pope," said Doyle, who has been involved in many similar cases since the first one in 1985 when he worked in the Vatican's embassy in Washington, D.C.
The congregation will likely decide fairly quickly. But it doesn't make its decisions public. The Vatican also provides no public access to its list of so-called defrocked priests.
It's not clear how much money the Vancouver parish raised to support Ensey or whether they were given tax receipts for those donations. Horgan, however, told parishioners that he had been giving a third of his salary to the disgraced priest.
The archbishop's direction to stop collecting donations resulted from parishioners' complaints.
Nearly 10 years ago, Ensey was stripped of ministerial duties after a former seminarian filed a civil lawsuit alleging that he'd been sexually abused by Ensey and Carlos Urruti-goity, who is now a monsignor in Paraguay.
Ensey and Urrutigoity founded the Society of St. John in Pennsylvania. But the bishop there "suppressed" or disbanded it in 2004 because of allegations of rampant sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement.

Soon after the diocese had negotiated a $425,000, out-of-court settlement in the sexual abuse lawsuit in 2005, Ensey fled to Rome without the bishop's permission.

Had Ensey followed orders and remained in Pennsylvania, he would not have needed the Vancouver parish's charity. He could have collected a salary until the case was finalized.

Even so, it's unlikely Vancouver parishioners would have financed his studies if they'd known Ensey was under investigation for sexual abuse, or helped a Paraguayan society whose leaders are also alleged sexual abusers and financial mis-managers.

But they didn't know. Horgan's lapses of judgment. The archbishop's seeming lack of oversight. The Vatican's hands-off approach that allowed the Society of St. John to be reconstituted in Paraguay and its leaders to oversee a seminary that graduated 36 priests last year.

And the Vatican's continued secrecy regarding those who are being investigated or have been defrocked.

How long will Catholic faithful allow this to go on? They've already spent hundreds of millions of dollars defending priests and compensating their victims.

Vancouver Catholics dug deep to raise $19 million in 2002 for victims of the Christian Brothers' Mount Cashel orphanage to avoid selling St. Thomas More College and Vancouver College.

If protecting children and youth isn't a priority for church leaders, parishioners should, at very least, demand they do a better job of risk management.

The Vancouver Sun, Daphne Bramham, January 21, 2012

Reverend Gill Reeves, one of the country's first women priests hangs up her vestments

2012-01-19T04:06:00.000+01:00

Whyteleafe priest was one of first women to be ordained

Rev Gill Reeves has retired after 15 years in Whyteleafe

One of the UK’s first female priests has hung up her vestments.

Reverend Gill Reeves, a campaigner for female equality in the church, held her final service at St Luke’s Church, Whyteleafe on Sunday after 15 years in charge of the parish, as well as St Peters and St Pauls, Chaldon.

The 65-year-old mother of two was a member of the Movement for the Ordaining of Women, and was among 90 who took up the priesthood at Southwark Cathedral just months after a change in Church of England law in 1994.

She said: “It was exciting at the time. Of course the fight is not over, you still cannot have female bishops, but it was a big milestone and it was quite something to feel you were part of history being made. It is not often you get the chance.”

Born in Hampshire, Rev Reeves moved to South Norwood where she began to be drawn to the church.

She said: “It was after my husband died. I was working in the community and had my two young children, when I began to feel the calling.”

The medical laboratory scientist first began as a curate at St Georges Church, Shirley, before working briefly at St John’s Shirley, and moving to St Mary’s Caterham.

It was here the opportunity to take the post at Whyteleafe came up.

She said: “They were welcoming. Personally I have never experienced any issues as a woman priest.”

Her final months were tinged with sadness after St Luke’s churchyard was targeted by metal thieves who took memorial plaques before Christmas.

The parish was visited by Bishop Christopher Chessun, of Diocese of Southwark, on Saturday, January 14, who held a service for parishioners affected by the theft.

Rev Reeves, said: “It was mixed feeling- upsetting about the theft but grateful the bishop made the effort to see us.”

Rev Reeves will now return to Shirley to care for her elderly mother.

She said: “There was the option of staying until I was 70 but the timing felt right.”

Croydon Guardian.co.uk, Nick Hitchens, Thursday 19th January 2012

Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations

2012-01-19T03:56:00.000+01:00

Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations

EDMONTON – A former altar boy who alleges he was sexual abused by a priest and a church organist has filed two $3.4-million lawsuits against the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton.

The alleged victim, a 51-year-old man now living in Vancouver, claims the sexual abuse happened in the early and mid-'70s, when he was a member of the congregation at St. Joseph's Basilica in Edmonton.

According to one of two statements of claim filed Jan. 6, the man said he was initially sexually assaulted by a person employed at St. Joseph's as an organist and music director.

He alleges that, between 1970 and 1973, the man gave him gifts and groomed him for eventual sexual abuse. He also claims the man, who is named as a defendant, was fired from his position as a result of the abuse.

He alleges both the man and the Catholic archdiocese are liable for the sexual abuse as they were responsible for his care and supervision.

He also claims the archdiocese was negligent for allowing the organist to carry out the alleged sexual abuse, allowing him access to children and failing to prevent it. As well, he says the archdiocese was negligent for failing to report the abuse allegations to the authorities.

As a result of the alleged abuse, the alleged victim claims he suffered pain and anguish, severe psychological trauma, life-long depression, severe anxiety, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In the second statement of claim, the man alleges he was sexually abused by former priest Patrick O'Neill between 1973 and 1975 while in an exchange program for altar boys at other parishes including one in Grande Cache, Alta.

He alleges O'Neill, who is named as a defendant, was the priest at the Grande Cache Parish at the time.

He also claims the archdiocese is liable for the alleged sexual abuse by O'Neill.

Statements of claim contain unproven allegations. Statements of defence have not yet been filed.

Meanwhile, O'Neill was sentenced to two years in jail in 1998 after earlier being convicted of charges related to the sexual abuse of three boys between 1971 and 1984.

In 1999, he was given a two-year conditional sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two Irish boys he hosted on a visit to Edmonton.

Edmonton Sun, Tony Blais , Thursday, January 19, 2012

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe gets 3 years in prison for stealing from church

2012-01-13T04:14:00.000+01:00

Priest gets 3 years in federal prison for looting $650K from Vegas parish for gambling habit

Msgr. Kevin McAuliffe

LAS VEGAS — Muffled sobs erupted Friday in a courtroom packed with supporters of a Roman Catholic priest who was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison and ordered to repay $650,000 he acknowledged embezzling from his northwest Las Vegas parish to support his gambling habit.
Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe, 59, stood straight and offered no reaction as U.S. District Judge James Mahan credited him for accepting responsibility for looting parish votive candle, prayer and gift shop funds for eight years, but faulted him for “hedging his bet” by blaming it on a gambling addiction.

“You abused a position of trust, Mr. McAuliffe,” the judge said. He dispensed with any church title for the priest who hid a weakness for casinos and video poker from parishioners who know him as Father Kevin. “You betrayed people who depended on you.”
McAuliffe offered a remorseful apology, saying he felt “guilt, shame and self-loathing,” and noting that he had “rightly” lost his positions of authority in the church. He asked the judge for leniency so he could make restitution, help others with gambling addictions “and atone for what I have done.”
Defense attorney Margaret Stanish asked the judge for probation so McAuliffe could continue getting counseling for his gambling addiction, keep practicing as a priest and pay restitution to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Summerlin. He won’t get treatment in federal prison, Stanish said.
“Is it all about retribution?” she asked the judge. “This court has the ability to fashion a punishment that takes into account not only the offense but the individual. He would not be here but for a gambling addiction.”
Stanish brought in Dr. Timothy Fong, a psychiatry professor and chief of the gambling studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles, to testify that McAuliffe’s gambling compulsion amounted to “self-medication” by a man masking feelings of stress, depression, sadness, social anxiety and inadequacy.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Brown characterized McAuliffe as an opportunist and thief who didn’t exhaust his own savings before taking church cash to fund gambling, cars and travel. She accused him of grasping at gambling addiction as “a hollow excuse offered now, when he’s desperate for leniency from the court.”
The prosecutor derided Fong’s diagnosis as unsupported by a single 2 1/2 hour interview with McAuliffe, several telephone calls with his defense attorney and a review of self-assessments that McAuliffe provided in sessions with other counselors at a gambling addiction clinic in Las Vegas. Treatment only began after FBI agents questioned him last May about missing church funds, she said.
And Brown pointed to counseling reports that she said suggested McAuliffe was focused more during therapy on his legal predicament than on getting help for a gambling addiction.
“He did do good,” she said. “But he also stood before his congregation preaching about sin, lies, theft and greed ... all the while deceiving them.”

The judge referred to a parish rift over McAuliffe’s crime when he said he received approximately 100 letters of support through the priest’s defense attorney. Mahan also made part of the court record a stack of letters parishioners sent straight to the court saying McAuliffe should be punished.
“I expect the church to forgive him, and the parishioners by and large to forgive him,” Mahan said from the bench. “That’s different than the justice system.”

McAuliffe pleaded guilty in October, before an indictment or criminal complaint was filed, to three counts of federal mail fraud for falsifying documents sent in 2008, 2009 and 2010 to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in San Francisco. Each count carried a possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Mahan handed down a 37-month sentence — midway between the 33-month minimum and 41-month maximum recommended by federal probation officials — along with the restitution order. The judge also sentenced McAuliffe to three years of supervised release following prison and banned him from gambling. McAuliffe was ordered to begin serving his sentence April 13.
Outside court, longtime parishioner Regina Hauck, 80, called the judge fair but the sentence unfair. She said she wanted forgiveness.
“I know him. He’s a wonderful priest,” Hauck said of McAuliffe. “But I think he’s a sick man, and everyone makes a mistake.”
McAuliffe had already been removed as pastor of the northwest Las Vegas congregation of more than 8,000 families and relieved of diocese duties.
Bishop Joseph Pepe, head of the regional church administration since 2001, issued a statement Friday saying he was “saddened that the actions of Monsignor McAuliffe have caused hurt to so many people” and saying he was praying for the congregation.
McAuliffe had complete control from 2002 to 2010 of church activities and finances at one of the largest Roman Catholic congregations in Nevada, and was able to hide his embezzlement because he was a signatory to financial statements to the Las Vegas diocese and San Francisco archdiocese, Brown said in presentencing documents.
When confronted by the FBI last May, McAuliffe spent two hours offering various explanations how his earnings supported his gambling, the prosecutor wrote.
“When these explanations failed, agents asked the defendant if he stole money from the church, which the defendant denied.”
Stanish told the judge in court documents that McAuliffe began paying restitution to the church in May and has paid $13,420 so far.

The Associated Press, January 13, 2012

Father Andreas L, a german priest admits 280 counts of sexual abuse

2012-01-13T03:58:00.000+01:00

German priest admits 280 counts of sexual abuse

''It was never my impression that the children did not consent''

(Father Andreas)

Der Angeklagte Andreas L. kommt am Donnerstag zum Prozessauftakt ins Landgericht in Braunschweig. Wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs in 280 Fällen muss sich der katholische Pfarrer von heute an vor dem Landgericht verantworten Foto: dpa

A German Catholic priest has admitted 280 counts of sexual abuse involving three boys in the past decade, saying he did not think he was doing harm.

Named only as Andreas L, the priest told a court in Braunschweig that he had first abused the nine-year-old son of a widowed woman parishioner.

After being banned by his diocese from making further contact with the boy, he abused two brothers, aged nine and 13.

Thousands of Germans have left the Church over revelations of abuse.

About 180,000 renounced their Catholicism in 2010, up 40% from the previous year, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports.

Pope Benedict XVI, a German by birth, briefly met victims of sexual abuse by priests when he visited his native land in September, expressing "deep compassion and regret" at their suffering.

Disneyland Paris

The priest on trial in Braunschweig faces a minimum prison sentence of between six and six and a half years.

He was arrested during the summer, after the mother of his earlier victim reported him to the authorities.

She acted after her son, now aged 17, revealed to her the abuse he had undergone for two years.

Sexual assaults were made on the three boys in various settings: at the priest's house, on skiing holidays, in a parental home, on a trip to Disneyland Paris and at a church shortly before Mass.

The priest, who covered his face with a ring binder as he went into court on Thursday, said that while working in Braunschweig in 2004, he had begun a close relationship with the widow.

When Fr Andreas was moved to Salzgitter, her son often spent weekends with him, and the two would go off on short trips.

He would give the boy presents such as a camera and a mobile phone.

Abuse would often occur three times a weekend.

The priest said it had not been his intention to get close to the boy sexually, and that it had never occurred to him that he was doing harm.

Pornographic images

When the mother began to suspect her son's relations with the priest were inappropriately close, she approached the diocese of Hildesheim, the priest's employer, which forbade further contact with the boy.

The abuse of the two brothers then began under similar circumstances, the court heard.

After contact with these victims was also forbidden, the priest approached his first victim again, writing him a letter.

It was then that the truth about the abuse emerged.

"It was never my impression that the children did not consent," the priest was quoted as saying at the trial.

When asked in court if he was a paedophile, he replied, according to local newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung: "It would be wrong to say No but to say Yes would also fall short of the truth."

When a prosecutor asked him in court if he thought a "father would do this to his children", he was silent.

About 2,800 pornographic images were found on the priest's computer, including several of his victims.

Correspondents say members of the public who were in the courtroom watched the trial with faces rigid from shock.

They included parishioners from St Joseph's Church in Salzgitter, where Fr Andreas had once been a respected priest, according to Germany's Spiegel magazine.

BBC News, 13 January 2012

Father Roy Snipes has more assistance than most priests in Masses...

2012-01-12T03:13:00.001+01:00

Pooches take the pulpit

Father Roy Snipes of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas, has more assistance than most priests during Masses, counseling sessions and confessions: five of his 13 dogs. Bendito joins him on the altar during Mass on New Year's Day.

No begging! Bendito, one of Father Roy's dogs, stands by during Communion. That's Puebla behind them.

With Bendito at his side and Puebla at his feet, Father Roy speaks with Ramiro Facturan after Mass.

Flanked by Chunkly, left, and Bendito, Father Roy Snipes exits the church at the end of Sunday services. “In this dehumanized era, I believe dogs are the angels that will keep us human,” says Snipes.

Father Roy and his dogs greets parishioners at the end of the New Year's Day service.

Tiny Newly wears a robe during services, just like Father Roy.

A young parishioner gives Newly some special attention.

Father Roy Snipes has more assistance than most priests in Masses, counseling sessions and confessions: his dogs. The big mixed-breeds — sometimes as many as five of them — provide the extra dollop of warmth and joviality that can open hearts wider to receive the good father's message.

"Church can have a tendency to feel rigid and frigid to people," he says. That dissolves when he walks into Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas, with his mutt pack trailing behind his robes. The dogs sometimes veer off from the processional to prowl the pews, greeting favorite people, but during Mass they generally lie quietly at the altar (though one has taken to curling up in the celebrant's chair, so Sikes has to perch on its edge).

He's so convinced of the power of the animals that when a newcomer complains (rarely), he says gently, "If you want to look for a church that doesn't have dogs, I'm sure you'll find one." He reminds them Jesus was born surrounded by animals. "In this dehumanized era, I believe dogs are the angels that will keep us human."

Snipes, a self-proclaimed cowboy preacher who relishes a Lone Star beer after Mass and loves country music, is an avid dog rescuer (he has 13, though only five are interested in church). He first began sharing Mass with a dog in 1985. That was the late mahogany-colored Magna, who gained such acclaim the city named a street after her.

Snipes may be a trailblazer, but he's not alone. The pooches-in-the-pulpit trend is quickly gaining converts.

Call them 'ministry dogs'

There has even emerged new vocabulary — "ministry dog" — to describe animals with service-dog training that are matched up with faith leaders. Tiger, a Labrador retriever trained by NEADS (National Education of Assistance Dogs Services) in Princeton, Mass., was, in the end, not assigned to a disabled person because of a safety quirk — hesitancy around statues. But that's not a problem for Ami Sawtelle, who ministers at three Boothbay Harbor, Maine, United Methodist churches.

Tiger accompanies her to worship services, visits ailing congregants and calms nerves in ER waiting rooms. A veterinarian before becoming a pastor, Sawtelle sought a ministry dog because she understood the tenderness a dog can bring to difficult times.

As an added boon, the extroverted pooch, which is trained to, among other things, switch lights on and off and open doors, "introduces me to people all the time."

Most of the dogs taking on churchly duties, however, aren't specially trained, but are simply pets with a penchant for pastoral care.

Sit, stay, hear confession

In Baden, Mo., Elijah, the border collie-Labrador pet of Father Don Buhr, is known far and wide as The Church Dog. "He owns this place," says Buhr with a laugh. "The rectory, the church, he goes wherever he wants."

Elijah sticks close to the altar of Our Lady of the Holy Cross during Mass, but greets parishioners before and after "with a big goofy grin."

When Buhr came to this church in 2010, he declared "if Elijah distracts you from prayer" the dog wouldn't be permitted in church. Elijah stayed. He even sits in on confessions and goes on sick calls. "The great majority like him," Buhr says. "The rest ignore him."

Pastor R. Kelly Harvell ministers to two Methodist churches in New Hampshire — in Whitefield and Bethlehem — with pet French bulldog Carny, 11, who appears on the website and attends four services every week.

During church, Carny lies on his bed beside the pulpit, but sometimes wanders off to work the pews. "I can always tell where he is … because people's faces light up," says Harvell. Some congregants get a special visit because Carny senses they're struggling in some way. "He seems very aware of who needs him."

Usa Today, Sharon L. Peters, 01/11/2012

Father Uriel Ojeda a priest accused of molestation set for release on bail

2012-01-10T03:56:00.000+01:00

Priest accused of molestation set for release on bail

Supporters of the 32-year-old Ojeda hoisted balloons and sang songs while they waited for him to walk out of the front door of the jail at 651 I St.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/01/priest-accused-of-molestation-set-for-release-on-bail.html#storylink=cpy

Photo by Hector Amezcua

About 50 people have gathered outside the downtown jail in Sacramento awaiting the bail release of the Rev. Uriel Ojeda, the Catholic priest who has been accused of molesting a girl under 14 years old.

Ojeda's attorney, Jesse Ortiz, said that the reverend is scheduled to be released on bond sometime before 5 p.m. today.

Supporters of the 32-year-old Ojeda hoisted balloons and sang songs while they waited for him to walk out of the front door of the jail at 651 I St.

Sacramento County prosecutors have filed a seven-count complaint against the reverend who had served at parishes in Woodland and Redding before his arrest late last year.

The Sacramento Bee, Andy Furillo, January 9, 2012

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/01/priest-accused-of-molestation-set-for-release-on-bail.html#storylink=cpy

Read

Ojeda's attorney, Jesse Ortiz, said that the reverend is scheduled to be released on bond sometime before 5 p.m. today.
Supporters of the 32-year-old Ojeda hoisted balloons and sang songs while they waited for him to walk out of the front door of the jail at 651 I St.
Sacramento County prosecutors have filed a seven-count complaint against the reverend who had served at parishes in Woodland and Redding before his arrest late last year.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/01/priest-accused-of-molestation-set-for-release-on-bail.html#storylink=cpy

more here: http://bloAbout 50 people have gathered outside the downtown jail in Sacramento awaiting the bail release of the Rev. Uriel Ojeda, the Catholic priest who has been accused of molesting a girl under 14 years old.
Ojeda's attorney, Jesse Ortiz, said that the reverend is scheduled to be released on bond sometime before 5 p.m. today.
Supporters of the 32-year-old Ojeda hoisted balloons and sang songs while they waited for him to walk out of the front door of the jail at 651 I St.
Sacramento County prosecutors have filed a seven-count complaint against the reverend who had served at parishes in Woodland and Redding before his arrest late last year.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/01/priest-accused-of-molestation-set-for-release-on-bail.html#storylink=cpy

gs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/01/priest-accused-of-molestation-set-for-release-on-bail.html#storylink=cpy

Archbishop Dermot Clifford asks his priests to pay into fund for abuse victims

2012-01-09T22:36:00.000+01:00

Archbishop asks his priests to pay into fund for abuse victims

Archbishop Dermot Clifford

AN archbishop has asked priests to pay up to €720 each year into a fund used to compensate victims of clerical sex abuse.

The Irish Independent has learned that letters have been sent by Archbishop Dermot Clifford to all priests in the Cashel and Emly Archdiocese asking them to pay between €50 and €60 per month to a Clergy Contribution Fund.

The letter says the money will be paid into the fund because of the "debts incurred in relation child protection issues" -- but does not say it would be used for payouts.

However, it has been learned that the fund in question was quietly set up three years ago and is solely used to pay compensation for clerical sex abuse.

When contacted, a spokes-man for the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly refused to comment -- or to say how much money has been paid in relation to the "child protection issues".

Up to 80 priests in 46 parishes across Tipperary and Limerick have been asked to contribute to the Clergy Contribution Fund. If every priest complied with the request, it would raise approximately €50,000 for the diocese per annum.

Curates are paid around €20,000 per year, with parish priests paid marginally more. They are paid centrally from the diocese. The diocese, in turn, receives money from each parish, with the amount determined by the number of Catholic residents it has.

The priests were not informed how much has been paid out or what is the current balance of the Clergy Contribution Fund. The administration of the fund is overseen by the archbishop.

The diocesan spokesman refused to reveal the balance of the fund -- and said the letter was "strictly confidential". The spokesman added that it was a private matter and that no figures had been disclosed.

In the letter marked 'Private and Confidential to the Clergy of Cashel and Emly', Dr Clifford reminded his colleagues that, at the last meeting of the Council of Priests, a discussion took place amongst council members regarding the Clergy Contribution Fund.

"Due to debts incurred in relation to child protection issues, it is the opinion of the council that I make a renewed appeal to the priests of the diocese for the restoration of contributions to the fund," Dr Clifford wrote.

"The suggested level of contribution in this renewed appeal was made at the Council of Priests that parish priests contribute €60 per month and curates €50," he added.

The contributions are voluntary and it is understood any contributions come directly and solely from the salaries of priests.

Dr Clifford said it is recommended that contributions be deducted at source from priests' monthly allowance.

"This arrangement would facilitate the smooth operation of the fund," he wrote.

However, the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (ISCA) dismissed this suggestion last night, saying the letter amounted to a request that compensation be provided by friends and relatives of abuse victims as priests would inevitably receive money from parishioners.

Priests have previously voluntarily donated to the fund from their own resources on an intermittent basis.

Neither the diocesan spokesman nor their child protection delegate would comment on what were the child protection issues which resulted in debts for the Clergy Contribution Fund.

It is unknown how many, if any, other dioceses have asked priests to contribute from their own salaries towards payouts for victims of clerical sex abuse.

Yesterday, the vast majority failed to respond to queries asking them to set out their individual stance.

However, the Archdiocese of Dublin, as well as the Dioceses of Waterford and Lismore and of Down and Connor, did respond to confirm that no such request had been made of their own clergy.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Ireland said the issue of fundraising and of how that money is used is a matter for individual dioceses.

The Irish Independent, Barry Duggan and Mark Hilliard, Monday January 09 2012

Judge denies appeal made by father Gerald Robinson an Ohio priest convicted of killing nun in hospital chapel

2012-01-09T22:20:00.000+01:00

Toledo priest denied new trial in nun's death

Father Gerald Robinson, a Roman Catholic Priest from Toledo, was convicted of the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 2006. THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Gerald Robinson, the Toledo Catholic priest convicted of murdering a nun, was denied a petition for a new trial in a ruling Monday by Judge Gene Zmuda of Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

The 73-year-old priest is serving a 15 years to life sentence in an Ohio prison after being convicted in May, 2006, for the 1980 murder of St. Margaret Ann Pahl. He contended in an amended petition for post-conviction relief that police reports from

the 1980 investigation that were misfiled and discovered by chance in 2009 could have helped his case in 2006.In Monday’s ruling, Judge Zmuda rejected that claim, saying the 136 documents would have added nothing of significance to the trial.

“Had counsel known of the additional documents, they would have merely possessed more of the same type of information, already disclosed and considered preparing for trial,” Judge Zmuda wrote.

Toledo Blade.com, Staff, 01/09/2012

Father Bart Sorensen accused of possessing child porn out on bond

2012-01-06T23:24:00.002+01:00

Priest pleads not guilty to child porn charges

The Rev. Bartley A. Sorensen, the priest charged with viewing child porn, leaves District Judge Thomas Caulfield's office in Forest Hills Tuesday morning after waiving his hearing. (Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette)

A Catholic priest pleaded not guilty today in federal court to possessing thousands of pornographic images of young boys.

The Rev. Bart Sorensen, 62, formerly of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, was released on $50,000 unsecured bond, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan ordered him placed on home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Sorensen declined comment after his arraignment. His attorney, Patrick Thomassey, said it was unusual for a child pornography case to get transferred from state to federal court. The cases that usually get transferred are gun- and drug-related, he said.

"I still don`t really understand the federal interest in this case," he said.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton said Wednesday, when the federal indictment against Sorensen was unsealed, that protecting children from exploitation, particularly by people in positions of trust, is a priority for his office.

Allegheny County police arrested Sorensen on Dec. 10, saying a parish employee called a church child abuse hotline after seeing Sorensen view child pornography on his computer. Sorensen, who waived his preliminary hearing before a district judge, is free on $100,000 bond on state charges of possession of child pornography.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh removed Sorensen from active ministry and placed him on administrative leave on Dec. 9.

County police said they found 5,000 pictures on three CDs they took from his church office during an initial search and additional images and videos they found during a second search. A county police affidavit said several of the images included young boys posing naked or engaged in sexual activity.

The two federal charges against Sorensen are receiving and possessing child pornography.

The U.S. Attorney`s Office said it anticipates the state dropping its charges against Sorensen now that he`s charged federally. Mike Manko, spokesman for District Attorney Stephen Zappala, declined comment other than to say that those charges are still pending.

Pittsburgh Tribune, Brian Bowling, Friday, January 6, 2012

Father Uriel Ojeda confessed to sexually abusing the girl

2012-01-06T23:13:00.000+01:00

Sacramento prosecutor says priest confessed to molesting girl

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/06/4166842/sacramento-prosecutor-says-priest.html#storylink=cpy

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, with attorney Jesse Ortiz, listens during Thursday's court hearing. Ortiz said he expects Ojeda to post bail, reduced to $700,000, and be released from the Sacramento County jail.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/06/4166842/sacramento-prosecutor-says-priest.html#storylink=cpy

A young priest accused of molesting a teenage girl stood, head bowed, inside a Sacramento courtroom jail cell Thursday as lawyers argued whether he was a threat to the community.

During a contentious bail hearing on behalf of the Rev. Uriel Ojeda, a deputy district attorney told Judge Marjorie Koller that the priest had confessed to sexually abusing the girl, who belonged to the Woodland parish where he served until 2009. Prosecutor Allison Dunham said the priest confessed to an investigator for the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento shortly after being informed of the allegations.

"The defendant admitted to molesting the child," Dunham said.

Ojeda's lawyer, Sacramento defense attorney Jesse Ortiz, disputed Dunham's account and said his client is being punished by diocesan officials who dislike him.

"Are you suggesting that the diocese made all of this up?" Koller asked, looking perplexed.

"Yes, we are," Ortiz responded.

Ojeda surrendered to authorities Nov. 30 after members of the diocese traveled to his Redding parish and brought him back to Sacramento. He has been jailed for more than a month on seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child occurring over two years and ending in August 2009.

The priest's bail had been set at $5 million, in part because he was deemed a flight risk. On Thursday, Koller reduced bail to $700,000, the maximum recommended under court guidelines for such a case.

Ojeda, 32, who was ordained a little more than four years ago in Sacramento, has yet to enter a plea.

A large and vocal band of Ojeda's former parishioners in Woodland and Redding have supported him during his incarceration, praying and singing outside the Sacramento County Main Jail, raising money for his defense and setting up a website in his name.

About 200 of them came to downtown Sacramento for Thursday's bail hearing, and pledged their support for Ojeda even as details of the prosecution's allegations leaked out. Many who had gathered outside the jail's main entrance erupted into cheers and chants after his lawyer said he likely would be bailed out Thursday night.

Dozens more parishioners from Ojeda's former churches packed the courtroom and jammed hallways, many of them wearing shirts imprinted with his image.

Ortiz pointed to them during the bail hearing. "Who better to ask about whether Father Uriel is a threat to the community?" he asked Koller. He said the priest gave parishioners money, "even his own coat and clothing," and ministered to the sick and dying.

As to whether Ojeda is a flight risk, Ortiz said it would be wrong to assign that label to him simply because of his Mexican heritage. Although he spent part of his childhood in Mexico, Ortiz said, he is an American citizen and "no longer has ties" to that country other than occasional vacations.

Ortiz suggested that Ojeda was wrongly being compared to three former priests in the Sacramento Diocese who fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution in the 1990s.

He also pointed to the case of a local principal, Robert Adams, who is accused of molesting children at his now-shuttered Creative Frontiers School in Citrus Heights. Adams' bail was set at $250,000.

"All I ask of you, your honor, is to treat Father Ojeda as the court treats everyone else," Ortiz said.

Dunham then dropped the prosecution's bombshell, laying out details of the case against Ojeda and arguing against reducing bail.

She said Ojeda "befriended the victim's family," and regularly stayed overnight at their home. One night, she said, he woke the teen and "she discovered his hand" touching her vagina. She grabbed his hand, pushed it away and rolled over, Dunham said. "She thought it was a nightmare."

The molestation continued after the diocese transferred Ojeda from Holy Rosary parish in Woodland to Our Lady of Mercy in Redding, Dunham said. She said he caressed the girl, told her he loved her, kissed her on the lips, touched her breasts and exposed himself to her.

Ojeda "admits to more than 10 sexual encounters with the victim," Dunham said. If convicted, she said, he could be sentenced to prison for 20 years.

Dunham said the priest made the confessions to an investigator for the diocese, an assertion that Ortiz challenged.

"We dispute what she said. He did not say those things," Ortiz said.

He charged that the diocese "always has had an issue with Ojeda, an animosity against him" that might have led to the charges.

A diocesan spokesman, Kevin Eckery, said the case against Ojeda had nothing to do with a personal grudge. "We acted as the public would expect us to do," he said.

Members of the diocese and its investigator drove to Redding on Nov. 30 to discuss the allegations, brought to their attention by a relative of the teen, Eckery said. He said Ojeda confessed during the car ride back to Sacramento that day.

Eckery said the diocese was shocked by the allegations against Ojeda, who he said "was marked for great things."

In deciding bail, Koller said she would not consider the Adams case, "which I know nothing about," and emphasized that the court was not prejudiced against Ojeda because of his Mexican heritage.

"It makes no difference to me what his last name is," she said.

But he spent part of his childhood in Mexico, "and the fact that he has acquaintances in Mexico is relevant," she said. Ortiz requested that bail be set at $250,000. Dunham asked that bail "remain as set, or be tripled or doubled." The judge settled on $700,000.

Once released, Ojeda will wear an ankle bracelet with a GPS tracking device. He will be required to stay within the Sacramento area.

The priest's lawyer declined to discuss where Ojeda will stay during the legal process. Eckery said the diocese has offered to house him, "but his attorney said it would not be necessary."

Ojeda has been on administrative leave since his arrest, and even when released, would not be reinstated any time in the near future, said Eckery. "Any priest who makes an admission like this is ineligible" to serve, he said. "He remains suspended."

Ortiz said his client would be pleading not guilty to all charges. "Pleading not guilty is all I would be prepared to say at this time," he said when pressed as to whether his client disputes the allegations.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, one of Ojeda's former parishioners, Sylvia Chavez of Woodland, reiterated her belief that Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto and others in the diocese are jealous of Ojeda's popularity and want to punish him.

"We feel relieved that he is getting out of jail," Chavez said. "Father should not have been in there in the first place."

The Sacramento Bee, Cynthia Hubert Friday, Jan. 6, 2012

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/06/4166842/sacramento-prosecutor-says-priest.html#storylink=cpy

Bishop Raymond Lahey sentenced, then released ...

2012-01-05T00:19:00.001+01:00

Nova Scotia Bishop Lahey sentenced, then released.

Raymond Lahey leaves the Ottawa court House following his sentencing in Ottawa, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Disgraced Roman Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday for importing child pornography, but was released on probation within hours.

Lahey pleaded guilty to the child pornography charge back in May and surrendered himself into immediate custody while awaiting sentencing.

Since Lahey committed his crime in 2009, Ontario Court Justice Kent Kirkland said the 71-year-old bishop was entitled to receive double credit for time served awaiting sentencing.

And with close to eight months already in jail, Lahey was free to go from the court.

"The most difficult task for a judge in determining an appropriate sentence is the balancing of the fundamental principles," Kirkland said during the hearing.

"On one hand, the sexual exploitation of children is an offence that cries out for significant reprisal. On the other hand, the personal circumstances of this offender, who accepts responsibility for his wayward conduct, defies the urgency of incarceration."

After receiving his sentence and providing a DNA sample for the national sex offender registry, Lahey left court Wednesday afternoon, escorted into a car by one of his lawyers. Lahey made no comment to reporters.

Before he left, Lahey's lawyer, Michael Edelson, said his client's career with the Church was over and that Lahey would return to layman life. As for what Lahey plans to do next, Edelson wouldn't say.

"I don't think he has any concrete plans yet. I have an idea what he is planning to do in the medium term, but I'm not going to disclose it," he said.

"He's taken responsibility and I think he's now living with what he's done, and he realizes what his life is going to be like as a result of what he's done."

Lahey will now be on probation for two years. As part of his conditions, he will have to submit to random searches of his personal and office computers when required by the authorities.

He will also be banned for 20 years from areas where children might gather, such as schools and public pools, and from communicating online with minors under the age of 16.

Kirkland said in his sentencing that he considered the fact that Lahey had no previous criminal record and had a long history of community service.

He also considered a psychiatric assessment conducted last month that found that Lahey was not a pedophile, not a risk to the community and that there was minimal expectation of recidivism.

Lahey was arrested in September 2009 after being stopped at the Ottawa airport re-entering Canada with close to 600 pornographic photos on his laptop and handheld device.

Border officials said they found hundreds of images and dozens of videos, many of them showing young males engaged in sex acts. They also found written stories containing explicit sexual imagery of boys.

There were also thousands of other pictures of adult pornography on the computer.

Border officials said at the time that they flagged Lahey because he was a man travelling alone, and his passport showed several trips to Southeast Asia, Germany, Spain and other areas known for child pornography.

At a sentencing hearing last month, Lahey apologized to his church and to victims of child pornography. He said his addiction to Internet porn went against his moral principles.

"I have come to recognize that I became addicted to Internet pornography on a very indiscriminate basis. This was an addiction powerful enough that despite my own distaste for it and my own internal convulsions I could not break it," he said.

Lahey's arrest rocked his former Nova Scotia archdiocese of Antigonish and he immediately stepped down as bishop. The Vatican appointed a new bishop for the diocese but has not ruled on Lahey's status with the Catholic Church.

Crown David Elhadad said that the 15-month sentence shows that offenders will be prosecuted and convicted of their crimes.

"Possession of child pornography for any purpose whatsoever will attract higher and higher sentences," he said outside the court.

But in the Nova Scotia town where Lahey worked, locals expressed disappointment about the sentencing.

"I don't think the sentence was long enough. I think he should have gotten more," resident John Gary Bennett told CTV Atlantic on Wednesday.

Only weeks before his arrest, Lahey announced the results of a $15-million settlement for victims of abuse in the diocese dating back to the 1950s. About six weeks after the announcement, he had been arrested.

Lahey spent six years as bishop in the diocese, and his offence shook the faith of some of his flock -- like local Frank MacIsaac.

"I think it's disgraceful to be a Catholic, having people like him operating the show," MacIsaac said after the sentence was handed down.

CTV News.ca, Staff, Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012

Don Verze's death. He takes his secrets – and Berlusconi's confessions – to the grave

2012-01-02T23:07:00.000+01:00

Mr Berlusconi and father Verze

In March 2010, on his 90th birthday, the priest, tycoon and hospital director Don Luigi Verze announced, in the presence of his old friend Silvio Berlusconi, the launch of a new biomedical research programme that would see people live to the age of 120.

But Mr Verze himself will not be benefiting from the Quo Vadis project. The 91-year-old was struck down by a heart attack on Saturday, the eve of a year in which he would have had to explain how a €1.5bn (£1.2bn) black hole developed in the accounts of Milan's San Raffaele teaching hospital, the prestigious institution he had spent four decades building.

Italy's financial police continue to scour files and documents from the hospital over fraud allegations, an overseas slush funds and a suicide, while attempts to save the hospital and research centre continue.

Few doubt that many of Mr Verze's secrets – and those of the rich and powerful he knew intimately, such as Mr Berlusconi – will follow him to the grave. But it's not just details of the alleged corruption seeping out from the San Raffaele's accounts that continue to fascinate, but the personality of Mr Verze himself and what he represented.

Having built up the high-profile medical centre on land he bought in the 1970s (Mr Berlusconi was doing the same thing in this period and met Mr Verze this way) his prominent role in Milan society was assured. Like Mr Berlusconi, the would-be priest and philanthropist would be go on to face several charges of corruption in the courts, without being convicted.

As news of his death emerged at the weekend, Guido Podesta, the President of the Province of Milan, led the tributes. "I learned of Don Verze's death with the poignant pain felt by all who knew him and respected him," he said. "Even recently, despite the difficulties of his creation, the hospital San Raffaele, he won admiration and affection for his generous efforts to support medicine, research and excellence, which help ease suffering through science."

But it seems that the jet-setting priest was equally in love with luxury and power; how else, critics ask, do you explain his close friendships with Mr Berlusconi and disgraced former premier Bettino Craxi or his admiration for Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro?

And in Italy, the Church is about power. The Holy See is based in Rome, but much of its money – and strength – is in Milan, Italy's financial capital.

One expression of this influence is the activity of Communion and Liberation, the ultra-conservative lay organisation that has consistently backed Mr Berlusconi and has key supporters in Italy's richest area, Milan/Lombardy, with the region's President, Roberto Formigoni, among them. Its political influence allows the pursuit of a right-wing social agenda on topics including stem-cell research and assisted dying.

Many think Mr Verze also illustrated the church's desire for power. "He was a symbol of the unacceptable face of the Catholic Church in Italy – grabbing power, influence and business at every opportunity," Professor James Walston, who teaches political science at the American University in Rome, said. "He might have liked to consider himself a philanthropist, but he wasn't. Philanthropists have large amounts of money – and give much of it away. Don Verze was no Bill Gates."

La Repubblica newspaper described him as a man caught between "faith and science; charity and megalomania". It all started to go seriously wrong for Mr Verze last February, when news broke of the gaping chasm in the San Raffaele's balance sheet. In June the Vatican stepped in with plans for a €250m rescue. A month later, Mr Verze's right-hand man at San Raffaele, Mario Cal, committed suicide as the scandal snowballed.

In an unrelated incident, a friend of Mr Berlusconi's on trial for allegedly recruiting prostitutes for the Prime Minister's "bunga bunga" parties, attempted to commit suicide in his cell, it was reported yesterday. Dario Mora was thwarted by prison guards as he tried to asphyxiate himself.

In November, finance police raided the offices at San Raffaele as part of magistrates' fraudulent bankruptcy probe, amid claims that senior managers had siphoned off huge sums to overseas slush funds. Next came reports of kickbacks for local politicians and suggestions that Mr Verze had been planning to buy a second private jet.

At Mr Verze's 90th birthday, Mr Berlusconi said of his old friend: "He gives me absolution without even hearing my sins because he already knows them. I hope Don Luigi rests in eternity because if there is a person that deserves it, he does."

Whether someone believes Mr Berlusconi's wish has been granted depends on a person's view of Mr Verze. Corriere della Sera said it was not clear whether he was a "Saint or Devil". But perhaps in Italy it's possible to be both.

The Independent, Michael day, Monday 02 January 2012

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe's defense to target gambling

2012-01-02T22:55:00.000+01:00

Catholic priest's defense to target gambling

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe, a Roman Catholic priest siphoned $650,000 from the bank accounts of his Las Vegas parish

When Kevin McAuliffe appears in federal court Jan. 13, the Catholic priest's addiction to gambling will be used as an argument for leniency in his sentencing for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Summerlin parish.

His attorney, Margaret Stanish, has hired an expert who will offer testimony about gambling and his assessment of McAuliffe as a pathological gambler. The expert, Dr. Timothy Fong, is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and on the staff of UCLA's Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He treats problem gamblers with a combination of pharmacology and psychotherapy, trying to rewire brains that can't shake the feeling the next bet is going to yield a big payday.

According to court papers, Fong will tell Mahan that the former monsignor, in addition to being a pathological gambler, suffers from major depression and social anxiety.

Meanwhile, the priest hopes his case sheds light on problem gambling in Nevada -- and that people will get help before the disease takes command of their lives, as it did with his, according to McAuliffe's attorney.

THE SILENT ADDICTION

There aren't many vices the Nevada lifestyle can't exploit, and McAuliffe, who was the pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, is far from the only resident to develop a compulsion to gamble -- or who resorted to theft to feed that addiction.

Stanish said her client is remorseful and eager to share his story.

"He thinks some good can come out of this if he talks about what he's gone through," she said after McAuliffe, once the vicar general of the Las Vegas Diocese, pleaded guilty. "Our hope is the judge takes into account the monsignor's gambling problem and all the good works he's done."

Six percent of Nevada adults are compulsive gamblers, according to statistics from the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. The national average is between 1 percent and 2 percent.

This translates to at least 120,000 people in Clark County and 25,000 in Reno. Only a small percentage of them commit crimes to feed their habit, but the "silent addiction" wreaks havoc in other ways.

Compulsive gambling is called the silent addiction because those afflicted are hard to spot. Nobody overdoses from gambling. You don't get arrested for gambling and driving.

A WOLF IN PRIEST'S CLOTHING

McAuliffe, 58, was not forced to admit to major theft. He pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud, but theft is what he did, and he did it a lot: $650,000 worth.

According to court documents, he stole from the collection basket.

He stole from the votive candle fund.

He stole from the gift shop.

He stole from the church mission fund.

He stole from the general bank account and he wrongly reimbursed himself by claiming he made church-related purchases on his personal credit card when he did not.

Indirectly, McAuliffe stole from every church in the diocese. As second-in-command to Bishop Joseph Pepe, McAuliffe was responsible for controlling finances -- and for giving the diocese 13 percent of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's annual income from the contributions and collections of its more than 10,000 families.

Thirteen percent of $650,000 is $84,500.

Parishioners were rocked in June when Pepe announced McAuliffe had been relieved of most of his duties while the FBI investigated the theft allegations.

Rumors flew for four months, pitting the many who couldn't believe their beloved priest did anything wrong against those who feared the worst.

In October, those fears were realized when McAuliffe and federal prosecutors agreed to a deal. McAuliffe pleaded guilty to the mail fraud charges for sending falsified financial documents across state lines to the San Francisco Archdiocese.

After he entered the plea, the question of the faithful became, "What did he do with the money?"

By all appearances his life was an austere one.

McAuliffe, said parishioners, drove a Cadillac that was old when he brought it to Las Vegas from Wisconsin in 1997. He did his own repairs. He wore threadbare jeans and cowboy boots. He was frugal.

But he had a dark secret -- a secret that might have revealed itself whenever McAuliffe walked into a casino and sat down in front of a slot machine.

AN ADDICTION TO GAMBLING

In an Oct. 8 interview conducted one day after her client pleaded guilty, Stanish said the irresistible temptation to gamble led McAuliffe to steal from St. Elizabeth's over a period of years. That irresistible temptation has the priest facing a maximum term of 60 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.

But he could also receive probation, depending on what federal probation officials have learned about McAuliffe's life in preparing their pre-sentence report for Judge Mahan, and what prosecutors have to say about the man.

In court documents outlining his plea agreement, McAuliffe agreed to repay the money he took from the Summerlin parish -- but how a priest who no longer has a flock would do that is unclear.

Mahan might be inclined to be lenient if McAuliffe somehow makes restitution -- or at least a sizable payment -- before his hearing.

But the federal court system has yet to embrace the concept of alternative sentencing programs that many state judiciaries have implemented.

Clark and other Nevada counties have programs for offenders ranging from drug addicts and repeat drunken drivers to people with mental health issues. The Legislature in 2009 created a specialty court for problem gamblers, albeit one that couldn't be implemented for lack of funding.

And while the U.S. government seems more interested in taking a pound of flesh than giving an ounce of cure, federal prosecutors and judges are not without compassion.

A VIEW FROM THE FEDERAL BENCH

"We are very concerned," said U.S. Chief District Judge Robert Jones when asked whether problem gambling is an issue for a significant number of federal defendants.

Jones presided over bankruptcies for two decades before ascending to the federal bench in Las Vegas.

"A substantial percentage of bankruptcies are caused by problem gambling," he said, recounting a case in which a man filed bankruptcy after his wife chocked up "huge gambling losses" in the year after they moved to Nevada.

"All judges have that concern, and I don't fault the Nevada Legislature for enacting laws to address it."

Jones said while there are no specialty courts in the federal system, there are treatment programs available. When defendants are found guilty of a crime that was committed to pay for a gambling habit, he said, "very specific" conditions can be placed on them, including an outright prohibition on gambling once they are released from prison or if they are given probation.

Jones said U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden and Federal Public Defender Rene Valladares and their respective staffs are well aware of the toll all addictions have on defendants, their families and society as a whole. They prepare their cases accordingly, he said.

While federal judges have the discretion to require a defendant to get treatment, they don't often grant them the opportunity to avoid a conviction.

"Diversion is always a possibility," said Assistant Federal Public Defender Jason Carr, who spoke in general terms and not on a specific case. "But they are quite difficult to get. You better have an ultrasensitive client or the prosecution has to have major defects in the case. They are extremely rare in federal court."

Diversion is available to people who commit minor crimes because of an addiction. If they successfully complete a treatment program that lasts from one to three years, the charge that got them into trouble is dismissed.

DA: CASES INVOLVING GAMBLING RARE

Outgoing Clark County District Attorney David Roger does not think problem gambling results in many crimes, and as a result he doesn't think the state should fund a specialty court for problem gamblers.

The overwhelming majority of crimes are committed by people involved in some manner with the illegal drug trade, he said, and not because they gamble more than they can afford to lose.

Roger said his office opposed gambling addiction legislation when it was discussed and ultimately passed in 2009.

"We took issue because the law allowed courts to dismiss a case without the defendant paying one penny in restitution," Roger said.

NO FUNDS TO PAY COUNSELORS

Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn disagreed with the district attorney's opinion that an addiction to gambling doesn't usually result in crime.

And without a formal and funded specialty court, it can be difficult to find a place for an offender to get help.

"If you can't afford an attorney you probably can't afford counseling," he said, particularly when it can take years for an offender to stop gambling.

While Roger said the state law doesn't require full restitution, those who treat compulsive or pathological gamblers require their clients to do so. Restitution, according to the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, is a primary element of the treatment process, which also includes cognitive behavior therapy.

"We do not want to send the message that you get a free pass or that we condone this behavior," said Denise Quirk, an addictions counselor and marriage and family therapist in Reno.

Quirk said federal judges in Reno have diverted people guilty of theft-related crimes to a treatment program for compulsive or pathological gamblers.

She has advocated for such people in federal court in Reno with mixed results. A pathological gambler is described as the "worst of the worst" of problem gamblers.

One of Quirk's clients, a twice-convicted bank robber, ultimately went to prison but the judge also ordered treatment for his gambling addiction while he is incarcerated and after he is released.

Another client, a woman charged with counterfeiting and a drug offense, was allowed to enter treatment for compulsive gambling. Quirk said she is now a "model citizen."

Treatment, when it works, is remarkable, she said. "It's amazing when you see the transformation. She is now a productive member of society."

If she stays out of trouble, her criminal record will remain clean.

THE TOLL TAKEN ON FAMILIES

Clark County District Judge Cheryl Moss has been a Family Court jurist in Clark County for a decade. She served on the legislative subcommittee on problem gambling that ushered through a bill to create the specialty court for problem gamblers in 2009.

She said judges sometimes base child custody and property division decisions on whether a spouse has a gambling problem.

And sometimes, a spouse can see no alternative to dealing with a problem gambler other than divorce.

"The budget problems would not allow us to create another court," she said, "but we're still able to order treatment."

Moss said problem gamblers affect the family in ways other than spending the grocery money. As Judge Jones said, bankruptcy is common, but there are other issues.

"They leave kids in cars while they go gamble. They leave their kids in a casino's child care and forget to pick them up."

Compulsive gambling also leads to domestic violence and other destructive behavior, Moss said.

And sometimes, it leads to a priest pulling a stint in federal prison -- with his congregation left to pick up the pieces.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, Doug McMurdo, Jan. 2, 2012

December 21, 2012 is the end of the world ?

2011-12-31T21:42:00.002+01:00

2012: western culture obsessed with end of the world, not ancient Maya

It's our culture that is obsessed with the end of the world, not the ancient Maya, writes Kathryn Reese-Taylor

Our world is fascinated by prophecies of doom. Every day the media carry reports of predictions that the next year, decade, century or millennium will bring untold disasters. From a reading of current news headlines, this is difficult to argue against.
And now, we are bombarded by predictions of a disaster associated with what many say is the end of the Maya calendar. But did the Maya actually predict that the world as we know it will be destroyed by some unknown cataclysm on Dec. 21, 2012?
When the Maya abandoned their great cities in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, they left behind large stone monuments with hieroglyphic writing. These inscriptions were very difficult to decipher as the writing system had not been used since the Spanish conquest when all, but four, of the books written by the Maya were burned. However, based on the four remaining books, early scholars were able to identify some of the gods and goddesses, the numerical system, and most importantly, parts of the calendar. Therefore, while they could not decipher the events recorded on the stone monuments, scholars could read the dates on which these events occurred.
One date that stood out was the day the world was created according to the Maya, Aug. 11, 3114 B.C. The actions leading up to the creation of the world involved the exploits of many gods and goddesses and took place over a long period, 13 baktuns (a baktun is equal to approximately 400 years, so 13 baktuns is roughly 5200 years). On this last day of creation, the Maize Lord, one of the principal Maya gods, reached his hand up into the sky and turned the heavens, which started time. After this act, "real time" started, and this is what is recorded as the first day in the Maya calendar.
Because mythological time ended at the end of the 13th baktun, scholars and writers in the 1960s and '70s, who were keenly interested in the Maya, assumed that the "real time" calendar would also end at the end of 13 baktuns, on Dec. 21, 2012. In 1966, Michael Coe, professor emeritus of anthropology at Yale University, first linked this presumed end of the Maya calendar to a cataclysmic end of the world, as predicted by the Hopi and the Aztec. This idea was later picked up and amplified in 1975 by Frank Waters in his book, Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth World of Consciousness. Waters, who also wrote the Book of the Hopi, argued that at the end of 13 baktuns, a catastrophe would completely destroy the old world and a new world would take its place.
However, it is Jose Argüelles that is most closely associated with the 2012 phenomenon. Argüelles wrote a best-selling booking in 1987 called The Mayan Factor. In this book, he focused on the end of the 13 baktuns as a moment of transformation from one world order to another (guided by extraterrestrials from whom the Maya are descended, but that is another article).
It is this concept of a new world rising from the ashes of the old that seems to resonate with people today. Books, articles, movies, documentaries, and websites have tied an array of events, both fictional and factual, to 2012, including solar flares, shifting magnetic poles, astronomical alignments, recent political events, and, sadly, all-too-real natural disasters. Even the current economic crisis in Greece has been linked to 2012, although it is unclear what new world order will result from this calamity! Indeed, it seems clear from the reams that have been written about 2012 that we are unhappy with the world we have created and want a "doover."

Yet, what did the ancient Maya say about such a significant event in their future? Surely something as noteworthy as the end of the world or the coming of a new age of consciousness would have been recorded on many monuments. But in all of the thousands of texts left by the Maya, only one includes any information at all about this momentous future event.

The single example comes from the site of Tortuguero in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. There, on Monument 6, the Maya recorded the end to the 13th baktun. Interestingly, it was not even the main point of this inscription, but an addendum, comprising only eight glyph blocks at the end of a text that originally consisted of more than 156 glyph blocks. The focus of the text was the dedication of the building associated with the monument by the king of Tortuguero, Bahlam Ahaw (Jaguar Lord). This type of prediction into the future is fairly common in Maya texts and serves to contextualize the main event in the inscription.

So what exactly was written in the final eight glyphs on Tortuguero Monument 6?

The Maya recorded that on Dec. 21, 2012 the 13th baktun will end. Bolon Yokte', a god of transition associated with the ending of time periods, will witness the ceremonies conducted on this day and will be "invested," presumably by the descendants of the king, Bahlam Ahaw. Based upon the rituals of contemporary Maya, scholars interpret this passage to mean that the future king of Tortuguero would have brought out an effigy of the god, Bolon Yokte', dressed it in ritual clothing and placed it on display to watch the ceremonies conducted in honour of the end of the 13th baktun.

Ironically, what is missing from this passage is any mention of the end of the world. There is no catastrophe predicted and no rise of a new world order foretold.

Further, the Maya predict other events far into the future, well beyond 2012.

For instance at the nearby site of Palenque, on the West Panel in the Temple of the Inscriptions, the Maya recorded the date of Oct. 23, 4772 in the future to contextualize the accession of the great king, K'inich Janaab' Pakal (Sun-Eyed Flower Shield) on July 26, 615. And at the magnificent city of Tikal, located in the heart of Guatemalan rain forest, the Maya carved the date of Jan. 29, 5,039,131 on a stone monument commissioned in the 6th century by the king, Kalomte' Bahlam (Emperor Jaguar).

So while the Maya certainly envisioned the 13th baktun ending, just as we anticipate that the third millennium will end on Dec. 31, 2999, they in no way thought their world would end.

And this is what is so interesting about the 2012 prophecy. It is our culture that is captivated with apocalyptic predictions of all sorts, religious, political, economic, and environmental, and we invented this doomsday scenario, not the ancient Maya.

Kathryn Reese-Taylor is associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Calgary.

The Ottawa Citizen, Kathryn Reese-taylor, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T17:09:00.001+01:00

Worcester diocese seeking to defrock father Lowe B. Dongor facing child porn and theft charges

2011-12-30T16:32:00.000+01:00

Diocese requests priest defrocking Facing porn charges, accused flees US

Father Lowe B. Dongor

WORCESTER — The Diocese of Worcester has asked the Vatican to defrock the Rev. Lowe B. Dongor, the Roman Catholic priest charged in September with possessing child pornography and stealing from his parish in Fitchburg.
Church and law enforcement officials believe Rev. Dongor has fled the country and may have returned to his native homeland of the Philippines. A default warrant was issued for Rev. Dongor after the clergyman failed to show up for an Oct. 25 court hearing.
Chancery officials said they are seeking to oust Rev. Dongor in the wake of a “clarification” last spring by church officials in Rome that possession of child pornography is grounds for removal from the priesthood.
In May, the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith declared that “the acquisition, possession, and distribution of child pornography is a canonical delict that pertains to the sexual abuse of a minor.”
State police have charged that one of Rev. Dongor’s laptops contained images of girls around the ages of 10 and 11 in various states of undress. The priest also allegedly admitted to investigators that, on a number of occasions, he stole “$40 or $50” from St. Joseph Parish to send to his family in the Philippines.
Rev. Dongor is on administrative leave of absence and was relieved, in July, of his duties as associate pastor at St. Joseph’s by Bishop Robert J. McManus.
Raymond L. Delisle, a spokesman for the diocese, said that Bishop McManus has asked Pope Benedict XVI to defrock Rev. Dongor in light of the pornography allegations.

Rev. Dongor, the diocese’s first Filipino priest, is believed to be in the Philippines.
Bishop McManus had written the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines warning that the priest may have returned home to the Southeast Asian islands nation.
In a letter to the Filipino prelates, the bishop said that Rev. Dongor left a note saying that he would be returning “home.”
In November, the Philippine-based abs-cbnNEWS.com reported that the priest returned to his hometown of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, in October.
The website said that relatives, including Rev. Dongor’s brother, Joey, were surprised by the visit.
Family members said they hadn’t seen the priest in years and said they were shocked by the charges.
Timothy Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., said local authorities would move to extradite Rev. Dongor back to Massachusetts, if he is located.
At this point, he said the DA’s office has no solid information on Rev. Dongor’s whereabouts.
“Once he’s found, the wheels will be put in motion to bring him back,” Mr. Connolly said.
He said an extradition might be complicated because procedures differ from country to country.
“If he’s found, we’ll bring him back to Worcester to face the charges,” Mr. Connolly said.
Rev. Dongor, 35, was summoned to Fitchburg District Court on Sept. 9 on charges of larceny of property worth more than $250, larceny from a building and possession of child pornography.
He was released on personal recognizance.
Following his arrest, Bishop McManus asked the priest to move off of church property until his case was adjudicated.
For a time, Rev. Dongor stayed with a Worcester-area family.
Rev. Dongor came to Worcester in 2003 and attended Assumption College, where he explored the possibility of becoming a priest. He later studied at St. Mary Seminary & University and was ordained a diocesan priest in June 2010.
Only one diocesan priest has ever been defrocked.
Last fall, the pope ousted Thomas H. Teczar from the priesthood after he was convicted in Texas of sexually abusing a boy and after being publicly accused of molesting at least two Central Massachusetts youths.

Telegram News, Bronislaus B. Kus, Friday, December 30, 2011

Father Peter Kennedy accused of 55 child sex crimes in Ireland is deported from Brazil after eight years on the run

2011-12-29T04:42:00.001+01:00

Irish priest behind one of largest sex abuse settlements in State deported from Brazil

An Irish priest responsible for what is believed to be one of the largest ever settlements in a clerical child sex abuse case in the State has been deported to England from Brazil, where he had spent the past eight years.

Fr Peter Kennedy (72), a priest with the St Patrick’s Missionary Society at Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, faces child abuse allegations from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.

They involve at least 18 people from whom gardaí have taken statements. The suicides of two young men have been examined as part of the Garda investigation.

His congregation removed Fr Kennedy from active ministry in the mid-1980s following persistent complaints of sexual abuse against him dating back to the late 1960s, when he was a missionary priest in Africa. In the late 1980s he moved to London, where he continued to be under the supervision of the Kiltegan Fathers, and worked as a taxi-driver.

Since fleeing to Brazil on a British passport in 2003 he has been resident in Sao Paulo, where he worked as an English teacher.

At the time, gardaí from the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit at Harcourt Square in Dublin had spent more than 18 months investigating serious allegations against him, and a file had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

As Brazil and Ireland do not have an extradition treaty, federal police there moved cautiously over the past four months to prevent Fr Kennedy using judicial means to stall or end his deportation from that country, as had happened where other fugitives to Brazil were concerned.

When the priest applied for permanent residence in Brazil he signed a declaration affirming he did not have a criminal background in his home country or judicial processes against him.

Confronted by Brazilian federal police last Monday, St Stephen’s Day, Fr Kennedy’s permanent residency card was confiscated and he was deported to London that evening. He remains in custody there pending extradition to Ireland.

The priest was at the centre of a major abuse scandal in July 2003 when one of his victims in Ireland was awarded €325,000 in a High Court settlement with the Kiltegan Fathers. It was paid to Brendan Shannon arising from allegations that in 1982 he was abused at his home in Cloonloo, Co Sligo, by Fr Kennedy.

Fr Kennedy had arrived as a locum priest in the parish when Mr Shannon was aged 13. In his statement of claim to the High Court, Mr Shannon said the abuse took place over a period of months when his father was dying of cancer and being cared for in the home. Some of the abuse occurred in the room where his father lay ill.

According to the plaintiff’s mother, Éilis Shannon, then a local national school teacher, the abuse came to an end when she walked in on an attempted assault.

She told The Irish Times that when she contacted a local curate about it he refused to take a complaint. However, Fr Kennedy left the parish immediately.

The Irish Times, PATSY McGARRY, Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Queen's Christmas Speech 2011. Full text and video.

2011-12-25T17:15:00.000+01:00

Queen's Christmas Speech

25 December 2011

Here is the text in full of the Queen's 2011 Christmas message, which was recorded on 9 December - before her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was treated in hospital for a blocked coronary artery.

Watch the Queen's Christmas message in full

"In this past year my family and I have been inspired by the courage and hope we have seen in so many ways in Britain, in the Commonwealth and around the world.

We've seen that it's in hardship that we often find strength from our families; it's in adversity that new friendships are sometimes formed; and it's in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help one another.

Families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within. Indeed, sadly, it seems that it is tragedy that often draws out the most and the best from the human spirit.

When Prince Philip and I visited Australia this year, we saw for ourselves the effects of natural disaster in some of the areas devastated by floods, where in January so many people lost their lives and their livelihoods.

We were moved by the way families and local communities held together to support each other.

Prince William travelled to New Zealand and Australia in the aftermath of earthquakes, cyclones and floods and saw how communities rose up to rescue the injured, comfort the bereaved and rebuild the cities and towns devastated by nature.

The Prince of Wales also saw first-hand the remarkable resilience of the human spirit after tragedy struck in a Welsh mining community, and how communities can work together to support their neighbours.

This past year has also seen some memorable and historic visits - to Ireland and from America.

The spirit of friendship so evident in both these nations can fill us all with hope. Relationships that years ago were once so strained have through sorrow and forgiveness blossomed into long-term friendship.

It is through this lens of history that we should view the conflicts of today, and so give us hope for tomorrow.

Of course, family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation. The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals.

It is this which makes the Commonwealth a family of people in the truest sense, at ease with each other, enjoying its shared history and ready and willing to support its members in the direst of circumstances.

They have always looked to the future, with a sense of camaraderie, warmth and mutual respect while still maintaining their individualism.

The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together.

For many, this Christmas will not be easy. With our armed forces deployed around the world, thousands of service families face Christmas without their loved ones at home.

The bereaved and the lonely will find it especially hard. And, as we all know, the world is going through difficult times. All this will affect our celebration of this great Christian festival.

Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: 'Fear not', they urged, 'we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

'For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.'

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed.

God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love.

In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, there's a prayer:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us we pray.

Cast out our sin

And enter in.

Be born in us today.

It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas."

HM. Queen Elizabeth II

Merry Christmas in the Garden of Eden. I'm with you here, more and more alone

2011-12-24T22:21:00.002+01:00

Sono qui con te sempre più solo

There was everything in the Garden of Eden, chicken liver, kidneys, ground beef, goldfish, blowls of milk... but there was one food you couldn't est : ''The Forbidden Fishbone'', which grew in the center of this wonderful Earthly Paradise. One day Meow, the first female cat, met the Devil disguised as a mouse...
(Corto in Fable of Venice)

... nel giardino dell'Eden c'era di tutto. Fegatini, rognoncini, carne tritata, pesciolini rossi e ciotole di latte. Solamente una cosa non si poteva mangiare: "la lisca di pesce proibita", che cresceva nel mezzo di questo magnifico paradiso terrestre. Un giorno Miù Miù, la prima gatta, incontrò il diavolo vestito da topo...
(Corto in La Favola di Venezia)

Sono qui con te sempre più solo

(Paolo Conte, 1974)

Il Monaco

Corto

Father Bede R. Jagoe, a Dominican priest assigned to Midway Airport charged with sexual abuse.

2011-12-24T03:25:00.001+01:00

Priest at Midway chapel accused of sex abuse

Booking photo of Bede R. Jagoe (Chicago police)

A 77-year-old priest assigned to the chapel at Midway Airport was charged Saturday with sexual abuse after he allegedly tried to grab the crotch of a man who had attended services before boarding a flight to Kansas.

Father Bede R. Jagoe allegedly spoke to the 54-year-old victim after services on Dec. 11, Cook County prosecutors said.

As they boarded an elevator in the C Concourse, Jagoe allegedly told the man he was attracted to him and tried to kiss him on the mouth, then “grabbed (the victim’s) testicles,” prosecutors said.

Surveillance cameras near the elevator show Jagoe moving toward the victim as the elevator doors closed, prosecutors said.

The victim boarded his flight, and reported the incident to Chicago Police after he returned to his home in Kansas. He returned to Chicago on business last week and made a formal report Wednesday.

Jagoe was arrested Friday. On Saturday, he walked into Cook County Central Bond Court with the support of a cane. Jagoe was charged with criminal sexual abuse.

His attorney said Jagoe had been a priest for 51 years. Court records state Jagoe is a member of the Dominican Order and lives in River Forest.

A representative for the Dominican order’s Chicago province was traveling and not immediately available for comment.

Chicago Tribune, Andy Grimm, December 24, 2011

Dutch Catholic sex abuse scandal up to 20,000 victims

2011-12-23T05:18:00.001+01:00

Dutch Catholic sex abuse scandal exposed as inquiry says up to 20,000 were victims

Up to 20,000 children were sexually abused by 800 Roman Catholic priests or lay workers in the Netherlands since 1945, an independent inquiry has estimated.

Wim Deetman speaks during the presentation of the report in The Hague Photo: EPA

The investigation by Wim Deetman, a former Dutch minister, received 1,800 reports of sexual abuse by clergy or volunteers within Dutch Catholic dioceses, congregations and religious orders. At least 105 abusers are still alive.andy rain

Children involved in Church organisations were twice as likely as non-Catholics to be exposed to abuse and the "mild, severe or very severe sexual behaviour" was covered up by senior clergy.

"The problem of sexual abuse was known in the orders and dioceses of the Dutch Catholic Church," the inquiry concluded. "No adequate action was taken, nor was sufficient attention devoted to victims."

Based on a survey of more than 34,000 people, the 1,100-page Deetman report estimated that one in five children in Catholic school institutions between 1945 and 1985 suffered abuse, twice the average level in the general Dutch population.

Allegations of abuse by the Salesian Fathers at the Don Rua boarding school Heerenberg in the 1960s triggered the wider investigation in March 2010 of paedophile assaults within the Church, a process mirrored in Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Canada and the US.

The Deetman commission began work last year and as evidence of widespread abuse emerge the Dutch Roman Catholic Church last month set up a compensation system based on the severity of abuse suffered. The total bill for the church could be higher than £4 million.

Over 2,000 people have now registered abuse with the Church and Dutch authorities and a number of cases will be taken to court.

"To prevent scandals, nothing was done: it was not acknowledged, there was no help, compensation or aftercare for the victims," said Mr Deetman.

"There was a policy of 'not hanging out the dirty washing. There is a cultural silence."

Guido Klabbers, from the Dutch KLOKK group of child abuse victims, said: "Everyone can be shocked that this history has come in this magnitude. Everyone can be taken aback that the Church has lied about this and covered it up."

The inquiry did not find a direct link between the Catholic requirement for clerical celibacy and the sexual abuse of children but Mr Deetman did conclude that "sexual need" was a factor.

"We do not consider it impossible that a number of cases would not have happened if celibacy was voluntary," he said.

The inquiry's conclusion that the covered up child sex abuse is not unique to the Catholic Church, another Dutch commission is currently investigating the role of social services in placing children in institutions and foster homes where they were open to abuse.

The Telegraph, Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels, 16 Dec 2011

The Deetman Commission : Dutch priests abused 'up to 20,000 children'

2011-12-23T05:15:00.000+01:00

Victims of abuse by Dutch clergy seek trials

Dormitory at Don Rua Monastery

THE POSSIBILITY of changing the law to allow prosecutions against Catholic clergy believed to have been involved in child abuse is being examined by the Dutch cabinet. This is despite the fact that the statute of limitations on their alleged crimes has run out, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said last night.

The 1,100-page report of the Deetman Commission revealed last Friday that more than 800 Catholic priests and monks – 105 of whom are still alive – had systematically abused as many as 20,000 children, many of them sexually, in church-run institutions, between 1945 and 1985.

Mr Rutte was commenting after it emerged that a formal complaint had already been lodged with the public prosecutor’s office against the Catholic diocese of Rotterdam and its former bishop, Philippe Bär, claiming they had provided “a platform for criminals involved in the abuse of minors”.

The Deetman Commission – chaired by former education minister Wim Deetman – focused in detail on Rotterdam diocese, collating evidence of a substantial number of sexual abuse cases there during the 1980s.

Fr Bär, a Benedictine monk, was Bishop of Rotterdam from 1983 to 1993, when he retired unexpectedly and without explanation to a Benedictine monastery in Chevetogne, Belgium.

The lawyer representing the Rotterdam victims, Jan Boone, confirmed that he had asked the public prosecutor to press charges against Fr Bär and a number of other senior church figures – maintaining that the Deetman report provided enough groundwork to initiate criminal proceedings.

Mr Boone argued that a criminal prosecution would be more appropriate than a civil action because the victims of the alleged abuse would be seen more clearly as the injured parties.

“There is also the fact that, in a criminal case, victims have the right to speak publicly in court about their ordeal – and that is an experience that, to some extent, can have a healing effect.”

In another development yesterday, Bishop Frans Wiertz of Roermond, in the south-east of the Netherlands, said his predecessor, Bishop Jo Gijsen – who had strong views on homosexuality and women’s rights – had ordered the destruction of the diocese’s episcopal archive for the period of his tenure from 1972 to 1993.

Bishop Wiertz said the archive went back 450 years and was intact on both sides of the missing period – though he could not say whether the missing documents had hindered the work of the Deetman investigators.

A letter of apology from the Dutch bishops was read by priests at Masses throughout the country on Sunday, after a scathing attack on the Catholic Church by the deputy Prime Minister, Maxime Verhagen, a practising Catholic.

The Irish Times, PETER CLUSKEY in The Hague, Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Netherlands. Tens of thousands of Dutch children were sexually abused by priests...

2011-12-23T05:01:00.000+01:00

Catholic Church involved in abuse of Dutch children, report says

Tens of thousands of Dutch children were sexually abused by priests and other Roman Catholic figures, but church officials failed to take adequate action or report problems to police, a panel finds.

Wim Eijk, center, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Utrecht, and Cees van Dam, right, head of the Conference of Dutch Religious Orders, at the news conference in the Dutch city of Zeist at which the results of an independent commission's report on sexual abuse within the Netherlands' Roman Catholic Church were announced. (Bas Czerwinski, AP)

Tens of thousands of Dutch children were sexually abused by priests and other Roman Catholic religious figures in the last 65 years, but church officials failed to take adequate action or report problems to police, an independent commission said Friday.
Many of the victims spent part of their childhood in Catholic institutions such as schools and orphanages, where the risk of abuse was twice as high as in the general population, the commission said. But complaints were often ignored or covered up by authorities who were more intent on protecting the church's reputation than providing care for abuse victims.
An independent commission set up by the Dutch Conference of Bishops and the Conference of Dutch Religious Orders, another Catholic organization, examined such misconduct from 1945 to 2010 and how the church chose to deal — or not to deal — with it.
Friday's long-awaited report adds more fuel to the abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church worldwide, from America to Australia. The Vatican's credibility and standing has been significantly eroded by a stream of allegations that priests molested and assaulted members of their flock, and that bishops and other senior church officials tried to hush up the accusations.
The Dutch commission stopped short of accusing the Catholic Church in the Netherlands as a whole of fostering an institutional "culture of silence." The report said that authority within the Dutch church was fragmented, with each diocese given latitude to deal with problems on its own. There was no centrally organized policy or procedure for dealing with sexual abuse.
Wim Eijk, the archbishop of Utrecht, apologized for what happened in years past and told journalists that the report "fills us with shame and sorrow." The conference of religious orders called the abuse "a dark chapter in the history of religious life" and vowed not to repeat mistakes.
The investigation was launched in August 2010 after allegations of abuse at a Catholic institution in eastern Holland. Those allegations triggered others from around the country of sexual misconduct by Catholic authority figures.
The commission found that tens of thousands of children in the Netherlands were subjected over the years to abuse ranging from unwanted sexual advances to rape. Of these victims, 10,000 to 20,000 lived for some part of their youth in Catholic-run institutions such as reform schools and seminaries during the period from 1945 to '81, after which Catholic homes for children were phased out.
Abusers included priests, members of religious orders and lay workers.
When victims tried to complain, they encountered a hierarchy that often dismissed their allegations and even, in some cases, blamed the youngsters for provoking the abuse, the report said. Punishment for offenders, when it was actually meted out, consisted of quiet transfers, orders to do penance, or medical or psychological treatment.
Defrocking an offending priest was rare; so was expulsion, if only because officials wanted to avoid a decrease in the number of members of a religious order, the commission said.
Reporting abusers and their alleged crimes to police was anathema to church officials eager to prevent any whiff of scandal.
"That was left to victims and their parents, who were certainly not encouraged to do so," the commission said in a statement accompanying the release of its report. "The commission is critical of the hesitation, and sometimes the unwillingness, of bishops and superiors to notify the public prosecution service."

The commission said that financial compensation for abuse victims, who were mostly given no care or counseling by the church, is "an essential element of the reparation that must be made."

The Dutch church has already set up a process for those who suffered abuse to claim compensation.

Los Angeles Times, Henry Chu, Reporting from London, December 17, 2011

Pinocchio

The Rev. C. Robert Manning, a Colorado Springs Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing a Child

Church: Springs priest faces sex-abuse probe

Father Eric Ensey's case. How long will church be allowed to keep its dangerous secrets?

How long will church be allowed to keep its dangerous secrets?

Authorities knew now-convicted U.S. priest was under investigation

Reverend Gill Reeves, one of the country's first women priests hangs up her vestments

Whyteleafe priest was one of first women to be ordained

Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations

Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe gets 3 years in prison for stealing from church

Priest gets 3 years in federal prison for looting $650K from Vegas parish for gambling habit

Father Andreas L, a german priest admits 280 counts of sexual abuse

German priest admits 280 counts of sexual abuse

Father Roy Snipes has more assistance than most priests in Masses...

Pooches take the pulpit

Father Uriel Ojeda a priest accused of molestation set for release on bail

Priest accused of molestation set for release on bail

Archbishop Dermot Clifford asks his priests to pay into fund for abuse victims

Archbishop asks his priests to pay into fund for abuse victims

Judge denies appeal made by father Gerald Robinson an Ohio priest convicted of killing nun in hospital chapel

Toledo priest denied new trial in nun's death

Father Bart Sorensen accused of possessing child porn out on bond

Priest pleads not guilty to child porn charges

Father Uriel Ojeda confessed to sexually abusing the girl

Sacramento prosecutor says priest confessed to molesting girl

Bishop Raymond Lahey sentenced, then released ...

Nova Scotia Bishop Lahey sentenced, then released.

Don Verze's death. He takes his secrets – and Berlusconi's confessions – to the grave

Priest takes his secrets – and Berlusconi's confessions – to the grave

Don Luigi Verzé spared fraud probe over £1.2bn black hole in hospital's accounts

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe's defense to target gambling

Catholic priest's defense to target gambling

December 21, 2012 is the end of the world ?

2012: western culture obsessed with end of the world, not ancient Maya

It's our culture that is obsessed with the end of the world, not the ancient Maya, writes Kathryn Reese-Taylor

New Year's Eve

Worcester diocese seeking to defrock father Lowe B. Dongor facing child porn and theft charges

Diocese requests priest defrocking Facing porn charges, accused flees US

Father Peter Kennedy accused of 55 child sex crimes in Ireland is deported from Brazil after eight years on the run

Irish priest behind one of largest sex abuse settlements in State deported from Brazil

The Queen's Christmas Speech 2011. Full text and video.

Queen's Christmas Speech

Merry Christmas in the Garden of Eden. I'm with you here, more and more alone

Father Bede R. Jagoe, a Dominican priest assigned to Midway Airport charged with sexual abuse.

Priest at Midway chapel accused of sex abuse

Dutch Catholic sex abuse scandal up to 20,000 victims

Dutch Catholic sex abuse scandal exposed as inquiry says up to 20,000 were victims

Up to 20,000 children were sexually abused by 800 Roman Catholic priests or lay workers in the Netherlands since 1945, an independent inquiry has estimated.

The Deetman Commission : Dutch priests abused 'up to 20,000 children'

Victims of abuse by Dutch clergy seek trials

Netherlands. Tens of thousands of Dutch children were sexually abused by priests...

Catholic Church involved in abuse of Dutch children, report says

Tens of thousands of Dutch children were sexually abused by priests and other Roman Catholic figures, but church officials failed to take adequate action or report problems to police, a panel finds.