ROME
Pontificia Universita Gregoriana

Church leaders from across the world come to Rome to relaunch their commitment to the safeguarding of the vulnerable with a new global initiative: “Towards Healing and Renewal”

Bishops and Religious Superiors from across the world will come to Rome in February for the launch of the Catholic Church’s global initiative on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Towards Healing and Renewal is being offered by the Gregorian University in Rome and consists of a major symposium followed by the launch of a multiinstitution e-learning centre which will run for the next three years – the Centre for the Protection of Children based in Munich, Germany. Delegates for the symposium will come from about 110 Bishops’ Conferences and also be superiors of more than 30 Religious Orders, making this a truly international gathering focusing on safeguarding by the Catholic Church.

This initiative has the support of several Vatican Congregations as well as the Secretary of State and the symposium, which will run from February 6-9, will have speakers from all continents in recognition of the global nature of safeguarding the vulnerable. The speakers include the testimony of a victim of abuse, who will address the delegates about the need for victims to be heard and how to effect positive change. Full details of the symposium and the
speakers are available on the website thr.unigre.it.

Following the 2011 circular letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to Bishops’ Conferences requiring all Dioceses in the world to develop guidelines within the next year on the handling of all abuse allegations, the symposium will play a significant role in enabling Bishops and major religious superiors to move towards creating a consistent global response. Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, will give the opening address at the Symposium conference, and representatives from the
CDF have had a very active role in giving shape to Towards Healing and Renewal.

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

7:01 p.m. EST, February 3, 2012
WATERBURY—
The parties trying a sexual abuse complaint against the Archdiocese of Hartford spent much of Friday arguing over how much the jury should hear of testimony given at a related legal proceeding by one of the world's foremost experts on clergy sexual abuse.

The subject of the argument was a transcript of a deposition taken in November from Thomas P. Doyle, a priest, canon lawyer, former Vatican diplomat and authority on child abuse. In 2006, Doyle co-authored, with A.W. Richard Sipe and Patrick J. Wall, the book "Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse."

In 1985, concerned that the bishops of the Catholic Church were ill-equipped to deal with growing evidence of clergy abuse, Doyle also co-wrote a manual on preventing and reacting to abuse that was considered the definitive work on the subject at the time.

That manual was one of the subjects discussed Friday in the suit by a former altar boy who claims he was sexually abused by Father Ivan Ferguson, often at a church rectory in Derby, from 1981 to 1983. The suit contends the church allowed the abuse to take place because it failed to act when Ferguson admitted molesting two boys two years earlier, in 1979, in the Tarriffville section of Simsbury.

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com

The victim in the criminal sex case of former Nativity of Our Lord priest Christopher Wenthe has filed a request for $42,000 in restitution with the court.

The woman, who was 21 when the abuse occurred, did not initially ask for the money from the former St. Paul priest.

But the Ramsey County judge in the case, Margaret Marrinan, suggested at sentencing that it would be appropriate for her to do so.

The judge said she had heard that the victim's mother had spent a great deal of money for her treatment for an eating disorder - which was exacerbated by Wenthe's abuse, the victim said during trial.

CANADA
CBC News

Former students of native residential schools say they are being mistreated by lawyers who are supposed to help them claim federal compensation, but are instead taking their award money in some cases.

The National Residential School Survivors' Society, which represents about 32,000 former students across Canada, is calling on law societies to do more to discipline lawyers who are taking advantage of those who are applying for compensation.

Society spokesman Ted Quewezance said some survivors are being told their claims are bogus, while others are having problems with the lawyers they have hired.

"We get complaints regarding lawyers — lawyers cherry-picking certain cases, only taking cases which are lucrative, and denying the little people," Quewezance told reporters Thursday in Winnipeg.

VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service,

VATICAN CITY — Ten years after the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in the United States, Catholic bishops from all over the world will meet next week at a Vatican summit aimed at preventing abuse and protecting children.

The conference, “Towards Healing and Renewal,” will be held on Feb. 6-9 and is organized by the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome.

The Vatican’s top spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters on Friday (Feb. 3) that the summit enjoys the “full support and participation” of the Vatican’s highest offices, but Pope Benedict XVI is not expected to attend.

Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s chief abuse prosecutor, said the protection of children must become “a permanent principle and concern” in every decision of the church.

WISCONSIN
Patch

By Sarah Millard

A jury trial has been set for former communications director for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod who faces up to 75 years in prison if convicted on three counts of possessing child pornography.

Joel W. Hochmuth will go before the jury March 13 and 14. A jury status hearing is scheduled for March 8.

Hochmuth was charged in November after detectives from the Waukesha Police Department met with a special agent from the FBI, who told detectives that Hochmuth was using the Internet handle “Skiguy10101” had child pornography on his computer depicting “pre-pubescent and adolescent boys engaged in various sexual acts,” according to a criminal complaint.

IRELAND
The Journal

THE POPE AND other senior clergy must ask forgiveness of clerical sex abuse victims if the Catholic Church is to move on, a woman who was raped by a priest as a teen has said.

Marie Collins, who has been prominent in the struggle for justice for victims after being abused by Dublin priest Fr Paul McGennis, is scheduled to speak at a Vatican symposium on the issue of abuse next week.

However, she said some of her fellow survivors are questioning the motives behind the event. Collins told the Associated Press that some have wondered if the meeting in Rome is merely a public relations exercise instead of a genuine initiative to protect children.

CONNECTICUT
WTNH

Tina Detelj

Moodus, Conn. (WTNH) - State Police have launched a criminal investigation involving a church in Moodus.

Investigators aren't saying specifically what they're looking for but say the investigation involving Saint Bridget Church started in December.

Reverend Gregoire Fluet's name is on the sign but he's not at his parish. He's on a leave of absence while state police investigate.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Norwich tells News 8 the investigation began in December when concerns were brought up by one parishioner at St. Bridget of Kildare Church in Moodus. Father Gregoire Fluet who oversees all finances in the parish stepped aside to allow for the investigation by State Police.

WISCONSIN
Fox 11

Published : Friday, 03 Feb 2012

Laura Smith, FOX 11 News

WINNEBAGO COUNTY - A pedophile ex-priest makes a plea to a judge about his future, just days before his trial.

Norbert Maday is a former priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Winnebago County.

The state wants him labeled as a sexual predator and sent to a secure facility for treatment.

But he wants to go to a treatment home that specializes in treating pedophile priests.

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Fri Feb 3, 2012

(Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has sometimes been in denial over the sexual abuse of children by clergy but must now move forward to face up to the scandal, the Vatican's top official for the issue said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters Television, Monsignor Charles Scicluna said he hoped a major symposium on pedophilia to be held next week in Rome would encourage Church leaders from around the world to listen more to the victims.

"Denial is a very primitive way of coping with very sad things," said Scicluna, whose formal title is Justice Promoter.

"I don't think that denial will ever be a good response. I will not deny that we have been in denial. I think that people know that. But people need to know that we have to move forward from that very primitive coping mechanism. It doesn't work," he said.

RIME
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

Representatives of 100 bishops’ conferences and 30 religious orders meet in Rome next week to launch a global initiative aimed at improving efforts to address the clerical sex abuse crisis.

The initiative is to be presented at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University during the course of a four day conference entitled ‘Towards Healing and Renewal’, supported by the Vatican Secretariat of State and Curial offices.

Philippa Hitchen went along to the press conference on Friday evening to find out more…..

After almost two years of preparation, this closed door conference describes itself as a symposium for Catholic bishops and religious superiors on how to deal with the devastating effects of sex abuse. It’s the first time that representatives of 100 bishops conferences, plus over 30 religious congregations have come together to hear first hand from victims and to try and promote a consistent response of the church to this ‘open wound’ as it’s often called.

All participants have been urged to meet with victims in their own countries and listen to their stories to have a clear understanding of what healing and renewal might been to survivors who in many cases lived for decades without any recognition of the abuses they suffered.
One Irish survivor, Marie Collins will address the participants about her own need to hear not just the abuser priests ask forgiveness – something she has already grated to her own abuser – but to hear church leaders – priests, bishops and cardinals, own up to their own roles in prolonging the suffering by putting the reputation of the church above the needs of the children in their care.

NEDERLAND
Nu

ROERMOND - Bisschop Frans Wiertz van Roermond heeft vrijdag pastoor Jan S. van de Koepelkerk in Maastricht op non-actief gesteld.

Wiertz deed dit nadat bij het bisdom klachten waren binnen gekomen over seksueel misbruik door S. uit de tijd dat hij nog broeder was op jongereninternaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade.

ROME
ABC News (United States)

ROME February 3, 2012 (AP)

An Irish woman who was raped as a teen by a priest says some fellow survivors of clergy sex abuse are questioning the motives behind an upcoming Vatican-backed symposium.

Marie Collins said Friday that some have wondered if the meeting next week in Rome is merely a public relations exercise instead of a genuine initiative to protect children.

She says she wrestled with her decision to accept an invitation to be a keynote speaker, but agreed because top Vatican officials will be there, including the U.S. cardinal in charge of church strategy on abuse, and she wants her voice heard.

NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Written by
Peggy Wright
Staff Writer

Jose Ramon Feliciano, the ex-church janitor found guilty in December of murdering the Rev. Edward Hinds in his rectory in Chatham in 2009, is slated to be sentenced on March 2.

The sentencing of the 66-year-old Feliciano, who had blamed the 61-year-old victim for provoking the fatal knife attack on Oct. 22, 2009, was not set when a Morris County jury declared him guilty of murder on Dec. 22. The March 2 date, however, could be postponed at the request of prosecutors or defense lawyers or based on changes in Superior Court Judge Thomas Manahan's schedule.

Feliciano is expected to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

A janitor at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church for 18 years as of October 2009, Feliciano was among a few people who discovered the priest dead on the kitchen floor of the rectory around 8 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2009, and he made half-hearted attempts to resuscitate him. Within hours and while Feliciano was being tended to for elevated blood pressure at Morristown Medical Center, investigators had begun accumulating evidence that linked Feliciano to the crime.

IRELAND
Breaking News

A former priest has appeared in court charged with indecently assaulting a boy in North Dublin in 1983 and 1984.

The 75-year-old, who lives in Meath, was arrested this morning at Ballymun garda station on seven charges.

Dublin District Court heard he replied "not guilty" to three of the charges.

WISCONSIN
Pierce County Herald

By: Doug Stohlberg, Pierce County Herald

Feb 5 marks the 10-year anniversary of Hudson’s most infamous crime -- the double murder of funeral home director Dan O’Connell and his student intern, James Ellison.

Making the case even more bizarre was that the murders were committed by a Catholic priest, Ryan Erickson. It took nearly three years to finally put together the necessary evidence and solve the case. Erickson died of suicide as the police dragnet closed around him.

It was a cold Tuesday afternoon on Feb. 5, 2002, when police received a call at about 1:40 p.m. from Marty Shanklin, the St. Croix County medical examiner. He had stopped at the O’Connell Funeral home at 520 11th St. to collect routine signatures on a death certificate.

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 03, 2012 All Things Catholic

In a polarized world, it was probably inevitable that opinion on the Catholic sex abuse crisis, like pretty much everything else, would crystallize into two opposing blocs. On one side are critics convinced the church still doesn't get it because it has failed to enact the sweeping reforms they support; on the other are apologists who believe the church has been unfairly turned into a scapegoat, and that if anything, it's overreacted.

Although there are highly distinct subgroups within each bloc, in general, both the critics and the apologists tend to be well organized and quite savvy about getting their message out. (Without comparing them in other ways, both SNAP and the Catholic League, for instance, have highly effective PR operations.)

Yet there is also a third constituency, swimming against the polarized tide, though you wouldn't really know it from media coverage or the blogosphere. Composed mostly of Catholic insiders, these are people who grasp the church's failures and who regard recovery very much as a work in progress, but who also believe the church has made important strides and could become a social pacesetter in anti-abuse efforts.

Generally, these are folks who work quietly within institutional structures, more interested in getting something done than in issuing press releases. Their effectiveness stems from their focus. Unlike the two other camps, these folks don't believe the sexual abuse crisis is primarily about something else, such as the corruption of the hierarchy or anti-Catholic media bias. They believe the core challenge is to create systems and structures that keep children safe -- and, where possible, to promote healing and reconciliation with victims.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said he is giving “very careful consideration” to issues relating to the former Bethany Home for mothers and babies in Dublin.

There have been demands to include the Protestant-run Rathgar home, which was open between 1921 and 1972, in the terms of reference of an inquiry into the former Magdalen laundries.

Former residents of the Bethany Home have accused the government of discriminating against them on religious grounds by excluding them from the remit of its investigation of the Catholic-run Magdalene laundries. Mr Shatter has rejected the suggestion that the State's position is motivated by religious discrimination.

In a letter to Northern Ireland Assembly MLA William Irwin, Mr Shatter said there were “no plans” to expand the brief of the interdepartmental committee chaired by Senator Martin McAleese.

NEW YORK
Voice from the Desert

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

The January 26, 2012 edition of the New York Archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic New York, carried a story regarding the decision of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to assign Msgr. Wallace Harris, former pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Harlem, to “a life of prayer and penance.” Road to Recovery’s response to this news is one of outrage and disgust. Cardinal-designate Dolan is fully aware of the fact that Msgr. Harris had many victims, including the courageous Eric Crumbley who publicly announced that he had been sexually abused by Harris while a student at Cathedral Prep and a youth member of St. Joseph of the Holy Family Parish in Harlem.

Msgr. Wallace Harris should be defrocked by the Vatican, and Cardinal-designate Dolan should petition the Holy Father to do so. Harris had access to teenage boys during most of his priesthood, including stints at Cathedral Prep High School, Cardinal Hayes High School, and parish youth programs throughout Harlem and the Bronx. The many victims who have already come forward to report their abuse by Harris deserve better. By relegating Harris to a life of prayer and penance, the Vatican is sending a message that he will never truly be held accountable for his extensive and despicable abuse of young men. He must be stripped of his priesthood and Cardinal-designate Dolan should insist on it.

Why did the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith not defrock him? Was it because Cardinal-designate Dolan recommended that he not be defrocked? It appears that the Vatican would not have acted without the recommendation of the Archbishop of New York. It is interesting that Cardinal-designate Dolan has not made public statements about any of the NY priests recently who have sexually abused children, gambled parish money away, or fathered children before ordination to the priesthood.

CONNECTICUT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on February 03, 2012

In a new, rare and stunning just-published interview, former NYC Archbishop Edward Egan made shocking statements about the church’s on-going clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis, including:
■I don’t think we did anything wrong.
■I’m very proud of how this thing was handled.
■I believe the sex abuse thing was incredibly good.
■There really wasn’t much . . . hidden.
■I do think it’s time to get off this subject.
■I don’t think I should be upset about that, or you should be, or anybody else.
■I never had one of these sex abuse cases, either in Bridgeport or here (New York). And I believe that the cases I had were each handled just exactly as they should have been.
■I did exactly what we were told to do. And as a result, not one of them (the accused priests) did a thing out of line.
■I’m not the slightest bit surprised that, of course, the scandal was going to be fun in the news.
■If you have another bishop in the United States who has the record I have, I’d be happy to know who he is.

(See full interview, in Connecticut Magazine, below)

Most bishops have a dreadfully skewed and self-serving view of the crisis. But most work very hard to conceal it. Most are carefully coached by top-notch public relations professionals to say all the right things publicly (while privately, they deal with wounded victims and abusive clerics in largely the same ways they always have).

Egan, however, is obviously unrepentant, self-absorbed and painfully dismissive of the abject suffering of tens of thousands of deeply wounded men, women and children who have been sexually violated by priests, nuns, bishops, brothers, seminarians and other Catholic officials. We can’t help but believe that many other prelates feel exactly as he does but are shrewd enough to avoid saying so outside of clerical circles.

CALIFORNIA
Record Searchlight

SACRAMENTO — A suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation appeared for the first time Thursday in Sacramento County Superior Court since he was released from jail last month after his $5 million bail was reduced to $700,000.

Sacramento defense attorney Jesse Ortiz III, who is representing the Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 32, said his client's case was put off Thursday until March 9 to allow more time to investigate.

But, he said, it's unlikely the investigation will be finished by the March status conference date.

"That takes time," he said.

CALIFORNIA
The Record

February 03, 2012

Former Stockton-area priest and notorious pedophile Oliver O'Grady is back in prison, charged yet again with crimes involving sexually abused children.

O'Grady, who served nine years in prison before being defrocked and deported when he was released in 2000, was sentenced in his native Ireland to three years in prison.

His crime this time? He had thousands of electronically-stored pornographic photos and videos of children. The images were found in 2010 on a laptop he left behind on a flight to Ireland from the Netherlands where he fled after the release of a documentary film, "Deliver Us From Evil," that detailed his crimes.

NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Mary Caplan on February 02, 2012

In a new decision, Vatican officials are refusing to defrock a serial predator priest, Msgr. Wallace A. Harris, and NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan is quietly going along with the reckless decision.

In 2010, Dolan quietly let this prominent and powerful priest quietly resign from his Harlem parish, deliberately and deceptively leaving the impression that he was stepping aside because of alleged health problems. Dolan knew then that Harris had been accused by at least ten men of sexually assaulting them when they were kids.

Still, despite repeated promises to be “transparent” in child sex cases, Dolan only hinted to only one group of parishioners at only one church that the accusations against Harris were credible, letting many of them believe their pastor was innocent but beset with health issues and leaving for that reason.

And now Dolan, who so vigorously pledges to be “open” about clergy sexual abuse, refuses to even disclose where Harris is.

CALIFORNIA
The Modesto Bee

A Catholic priest accused of child molestation again did not enter a plea Thursday at his Sacramento Superior Court arraignment.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda made his fifth court appearance since his Nov. 30 arrest on seven counts of molesting the same girl under the age of 14 in Woodland and Redding.

UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

A SELF-PROCLAIMED priest has been convicted of his second sexual offence in as many weeks after he indecently exposed himself to a doctor during a medical examination.

Royston Thompson, a priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, appeared in court yesterday following Tuesday’s examination.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard that the 25-year-old attended the Darlington surgery complaining of back pain and was examined by a female doctor.

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sentinel

CATHOLIC priest Father Alexander Bede Walsh told a jury he is "deeply ashamed" about his previous conviction for downloading indecent images of children from the internet in 2005.

The 58-year-old, who served as a priest in Cheadle for 14 years, is on trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court charged with 27 offences including indecency and indecent assault. He denies all the allegations.

Yesterday Walsh said he "knew it was wrong" when he accessed the material, but said he pleaded guilty to the offence.

And he said he felt "deeply shocked" by the recent accusations made by eight complainants.

Walsh, who now lives in church accommodation in Church Lane, Abbots Bromley, near Rugeley, said he could not remember some of them.

UNITED KINGDOM
Get Hampshire

By Stephanie Cockroft
February 03, 2012

AN alcoholic drunk himself to death after struggling to cope with the memories of being sexually abused by a Roman Cathlolic priest when he served as an alter boy, an inquest has heard.

Simon Withrington was found dead in his Aldershot home on November 17 last year, after drinking enough vodka to put him more than six times over the drink-drive limit.

The coroner Andrew Bradley, who took the hearing at Alton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, gave a verdict of misadventure and said it was clear Simon had not actively tried to kill himself.

CONNECTICUT
Connecticut Magazine

by Tom Connor

Editor's note: As the first trial in the Hartford Catholic priest sex abuse scandal is underway (as reported in the Hartford Courant) and new testimony comes to light in how the Hartford archdiocese handled the issue, writer Tom Connor was able to interview former Bridgeport bishop and New York City cardinal Edward Egan, who held a high position within the Catholic church when the abuses were alleged to have happened in the Bridgeport dioceses.

Ten years ago this spring, the sexual abuse crisis involving hundreds of Roman Catholic priests and thousands of young victims broke nationally in the media, engulfing dioceses from Boston to Los Angeles but also the Diocese of Bridgeport, where 23 lawsuits against seven local priests were working their way through the courts.

Three years earlier, however, this magazine had reported on long-standing and widespread abuses in the diocese (“Gods and Monsters,” May 1999; link opens a .pdf of the original story), then under the leadership of Bishop Edward Egan. In that article, Egan was portrayed as a wily, coldly-calculating defender of the Church and abusive priests, more corporate lawyer than spiritual guardian. The article revealed that he had let accused priests continue to work in local parishes, authorized payments to victims in exchange for silence agreements, and lied about those payments during a deposition. At the time, he had refused to meet with this writer.

Edward Egan came to Bridgeport in 1988 with impressive credentials: doctorate summa cum laude in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in the Vatican City, a judge of the Tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota, co-chancellor of the Chicago archdiocese where he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King on the Civil Rights marches. And once in Bridgeport, he restored the diocese’s finances; opened schools, immigrant centers, a seminary and a residence for retired priests; and co-founded the Inner-City Foundation for Charity and Education.

IRELAND
RTE News

Minister for Justice & Equality Alan Shatter has said he is considering very carefully demands for an investigation of the former Protestant-run Bethany Home.

Former residents have accused the Government of discriminating against them on religious grounds by excluding them from the remit of its investigation of the Catholic-run Magdalene Laundries.

Mr Shatter gave his assurance to William Irwin, a Co Armagh-based member of the Northern Assembly.

However, he told him there are no plans at present to expand the brief of the Government-appointed McAleese Committee to include the Bethany mother-and-baby home where, despite State inspections, a number of unreported deaths occurred before and during WWII.

FLORIDA
NBC Miami

Authorities have filed new charges against the Fort Lauderdale youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a boy while the boy lived in his home for 10 years.

Jeffery London, 48, faces five additional sexual battery charges, the Broward Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

Police said London performed oral sex on the child while he played pornography on his TV, the complaint affidavit said.

London was first arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 25 for several sex-related crimes, according to the BSO.

NEW YORK
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – The ex-pastor of a Harlem church accused of sexually abusing children in the 1980s has been assigned to “a life of prayer and penance.”

Archdiocese of New York spokesman Joseph Zwilling tells the New York Post that Wallace Harris is living “under very, very close supervision” in a Catholic-run residence.

Harris arranged Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 Mass at Yankee Stadium and gave the invocation at Gov. David Paterson‘s swearing-in that same year.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: February 3, 2012

More than 550 people who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests or church employees have filed claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in bankruptcy proceedings, the largest group of claimants against any of the eight dioceses that have declared bankruptcy since 2004.

The claimants came forward, many just before the deadline late Wednesday, after being encouraged to do so by the church itself and by victims’ advocates. The archdiocese ran notices in local parish bulletins and in newspapers across the country, as the bankruptcy court required.

However, if the archdiocese has its way in court, as many as 95 percent of the claims could be dismissed. The archdiocese has filed motions asking the bankruptcy judge to throw out the claims of those whose cases are beyond the statute of limitations, or who already have settlements from the archdiocese or whose alleged abuse was at the hands of a layman or laywoman working for the church, not a cleric, said Jerry Topczewski, a spokesman for the Milwaukee archdiocese.

IRELAND
The Journal

THE GOVERNMENT HAS restated that there are no immediate plans to reconsider the decision to close Ireland’s embassy in the Vatican.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore announced last November that the Irish embassy in the Vatican would be closed as part of the government’s programme of cuts to its budget with embassies in Iran and East Timor also shuttered.

The decision was criticised by Catholic groups and opposition parties who expressed scepticism as to the reasons behind the closure of the embassy following a cooling of the government’s relationship with the Vatican in the wake of the Cloyne report into clerical sex abuse in a Cork diocese.

GEORGIA
The Associated Press

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Jewish leaders are criticizing a ceremony that involved a controversial megachurch leader being wrapped in a religious scroll and exalted as a "king" to the applause of his parishioners.

The video from a service last Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church shows Rabbi Ralph Messer, a Messianic preacher, instructing two men to slowly wrap Bishop Eddie Long in a large scroll that's purported to be the Torah.

"It doesn't matter where you go, how you try to attack him. He's sealed," Messer proclaims, before the scroll is opened to reveal a teary-eyed Long. Moments later, Long was seated in a plush chair, covered in a prayer shawl while holding the sacred scroll and lifted by four men.

"He now is raised up from a commoner to a kingship," Messer proclaims, as the men walk Long's seat around an adoring crowd.

GEORGIA
International Business Times

By Toyin Owoseje | February 3, 2012

A video showing controversial US Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church being crowned 'King' by Rabbi Ralph Messer during one of the church's televised services has sparked outrage with the Christian community.

The 14-minute video clip of the crowning of the embattled preacher, who is at the centre of a sex scandal following allegations that he sexually abused several teenage church members over a period of years, has gone viral just hours after it was uploaded on video sharing website YouTube.

Eyebrows were raised across the globe after viewers watched the uploaded ritual like service, currently making the rounds on the internet.

In the footage of the service on January 29 at New Birth, guest preacher Rabbi Messer, who leads Simchat Torah Beit Midrash (STBM) proclaimed Long to be spiritual royalty.

GEORGIA
Religion Dispatches

[with video]

Post by Anthea Butler

Hat tip to my Twitter follower @Shugah for sending me this clip of Eddie Long being crowned King at New Birth on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

While most Christians were having regular Sunday services, over at Eddie Long’s New Birth Church in Lithonia, Ga, Ralph Messer, who is part of the Hebrew Roots movement, was crowning Eddie Long King in an elaborate ceremony that included wrapping Long in a Torah Scroll purported to be found at Auschwitz and Birkenau.

In case you’re unable or unwilling to watch: the video shows Messer giving Long the Torah scroll declaring that he is the first man to look upon the scroll after 3000 years. Long is “wrapped in the scroll” and prayed over. Messer asks Long to take a seat, and declares that God gave Long a position of power and authority. He is given the constitution of God as a king (6:49), the Torah, and then, Messer has four men representing the four corners of the earth, (7:04) pick the chair up. Messer then declares that Eddie Long is raised up from a commoner to a King, replete with music, cheers, and a poorly executed blessing in Hebrew. If it weren’t so offensive to Christian and Jewish sensibilities, it would be laughable.

CANADA
Canada.com

By Robert Hiltz, Postmedia News February 2, 2012

OTTAWA - Anglican priest Rev. Wayne Lynch, convicted of indecent assault in 1999 for incidents that occurred in the '70s, resigned from a church Thursday that recently allowed him to join in eucharist celebrations.

Lynch's victim said Thursday he's relieved by the resignation but he can't understand why he wasn't involved in the decision to bring the priest to Annapolis Royal's St. Luke's Anglican Parish in the first place.

Glenn Johnson, who was sexually assaulted by Lynch when he was 14 years old, says the decision to give restricted duties to Lynch without any consultation with him doesn't make sense.

CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

February 3, 2012 - 4:34am By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau

ANNAPOLIS ROYAL — A former Nova Scotia man who was sexually assaulted by an Anglican priest says he was shocked to learn his abuser had again been performing duties at a small Annapolis Royal church.

The priest resigned Thursday in the wake of the controversy.

In an interview from his Ottawa home, Glenn Johnson said he was "flabbergasted" that Rev. Wayne Lynch had been performing duties at St. Luke’s Anglican Church before his resignation.

"I would think that the church would know better."

Johnson, 48, was sexually assaulted by Lynch in the late 1970s while serving as an altar boy at All Saints Anglican Church in Brooklyn, Queens County. He was 13 at the time.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

[Garda Inspectorate reports]

By Michael Brennan Deputy Political Editor

Friday February 03 2012

GARDA Commissioner Martin Callinan said yesterday that the force had given "huge attention" to improving its handling of child sexual abuse investigations in the wake of a critical report.

He was speaking after a Garda Inspectorate report found fault with the gardai for under-reporting child sexual abuse allegations in its crime statistics and for lacking specialist child abuse investigators.

But Com. Callinan said the force had drawn up a new policy on child sexual abuse investigations since it had received the draft report in 2010.

"All of the areas which have been identified in the report have received huge attention since," he said.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Nothing is more important than protecting our children.

So begins Kathleen O’Toole, head of the Garda Inspectorate, in her review of the force’s response to child sexual abuse.

Yet the Ferns, Dublin, Cloyne and Ryan reports revealed occasions when gardaí were more concerned with protecting the reputation of the Catholic Church or shielding themselves from the hassle of a potentially difficult investigation.

Chief Inspector O’Toole frankly acknowledges those failings, not only historic but, more importantly, current. On communication between the agencies tasked with child protection, she states: "Effective collaboration still appears to be the exception and not the rule." One example is the failure to complete joint action sheets between the HSE and the gardaí when a concern about child sexual abuse is reported. In the Dublin Metropolitan Area, only 1% of those concerns resulted in a joint action sheet. Across all six Garda regions, the completion rate averaged just 23%.

FLORIDA
CBS Miami

[with video]

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – More charges have been filed against a South Florida youth pastor accused of molesting children.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said another child has come forward to say that they were sexually abused by 48-year old Jeffrey London. During a court hearing on Thursday, the judge ordered that London be held without bond.

London was arrested last week at his Lauderdale Lakes home for allegedly sexually abusing a boy. The alleged victim in the case said he lived with London for more than a decade and he was repeatedly abused during that time.

NEVADA
The Henderson Press

Written by Carla J. Zvosec

Otis Holland, 55, a Las Vegas pastor wanted on charges of having sex with underage girls, was captured on Wednesday, Jan. 25, in Mexico.

Holland disappeared from the Henderson area in June, after an arrest warrant was issued for him by the Henderson Police. The warrant was for 11 counts of sexual assault of a victim under the age of 16, one count of child abuse and conspiracy to commit a crime.

On a recent airing of Fox-TV's America's Most Wanted, the pastor's crimes were broadcast, bringing in a tip from a viewer who saw the program. The information was delivered to the U.S. Marshals Service, which had been working in conjunction with the Henderson Police in the search for Holland.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

[Garda Inspectorate reports]

A REPORT by the Garda Inspectorate into consistent failures by members of the force to properly investigate, record and prosecute cases of child sex abuse makes for disturbing reading. An excessively deferential approach and a reluctance to apply for search warrants to secure church records are suggested as contributory factors. It sounds familiar. Hasn’t that kind of weak-kneed reaction to potentially illegal or criminal actions by senior church, business, banking and political individuals been tolerated for decades?

It is important to realise that this investigation was ordered in the aftermath of the Murphy report concerning clerical sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese and it deals with criticisms of the Garda Síochána from 2009. The report was delivered in 2010, as public anger over denials and cover-ups by the Catholic hierarchy overflowed and a fresh investigation was launched in the Cloyne diocese. In the circumstances, withholding the document to avoid the Garda being caught up in public condemnations was understandable. The official reason given for the delay was “legal constraints”.

Poor management, indiscipline and inadequate Garda record-keeping has come under scrutiny in recent years. The Morris tribunal, which investigated corruption in Donegal, recommended the establishment of a Garda Inspectorate to review professional standards and to promote best international practice. In this case, it found that record-keeping was so poor that up to 65 per cent of sex crimes against children were not officially noted. Many were not recorded as criminal offences. And a poor level of co-operation existed between the Garda and the Health Service Executive in responding to abuse cases.

UNITED KINGDOM
Hull Daily Mail

A SOLICITOR representing more than 150 victims of alleged abuse at a notorious Market Weighton care home has called for a public inquiry.

David Greenwood, of Jordan's Solicitors, is fighting for compensation for the men who suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of staff at the now demolished St William's through the 1960s to the 1990s.

He says the Catholic Church should be held to account over the abuse.

Mr Greenwood said: "The Government can either put up with church's inadequate excuses on safeguarding, or take positive action to improve safeguarding for children.

"The culture of cover-up is embedded in the Catholic Church. It will never be challenged without full public scrutiny."

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox News

The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE – Billy Kirchen says the sexual abuse began when he was about 11, when his choir director at a Milwaukee parish assaulted him in the 1970s. After five years of abuse he reported the alleged perpetrator, but says prosecutors and officials with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee did nothing.

Now he's hoping a financial claim against the archdiocese will finally lead to the emotional closure he has craved. Kirchen is one of about 550 people who filed a claim by Wednesday's deadline. Like many of them he said he's not looking to cash in — what he really wants is accountability.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection last year, saying pending sex-abuse lawsuits could leave it with debts it couldn't afford. As part of the filing, all sex-abuse victims were given until Wednesday to file a claim seeking monetary damages.

COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
The Gazette

RYAN MAYE HANDY
THE GAZETTE

A Catholic priest whose duties were suspended after allegations of sex assault of a minor has retired, according to St. Gabriel the Archangel Church in Colorado Springs.

Father Charles Robert Manning, who has been with the church since 2007, had planned to retire this spring, said Dean Doug Flinn, a spokesman for the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

On Jan. 4 Colorado Springs police informed Manning that he is being investigated on allegations of sexual abuse of a child. He was placed on adminstrative leave and suspended from priestly duties.

CANADA
CKOM

Reported by David Kirton

First Posted: Feb 2, 2012

The man known for being the NHL’s first aboriginal player has opened up about horrible abuse he experienced at a residential school in Saskatchewan.

Fred Sasakamoose spoke on the third and final day of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's community hearing in Prince Albert.

“I feel that I could be able to talk now,” said Sasakamoose, who dressed for 11 games with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1950s.

As a child, Sasakamoose attended the Duck Lake residential school. He says when he was nine, he was raped by older children in a bush near the school.

“When I got up, I had no clothes on. Sore. Then I started running, put my clothes on and walked out.

“The priest was there. He could have seen it, but there was nothing that he would do.”

CANADA
CTV

CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Thursday Feb. 2, 2012

A Nova Scotia priest who returned to the pulpit after he was convicted of sexually assaulting an altar boy has resigned.

Rev. Ron Cutler, acting bishop of the Nova Scotia diocese, said in a statement provided to CTV News Thursday that he accepted Wayne Lynch's resignation "from any and all participation in the life of the parish" at St. Luke's Anglican Church in Annapolis Royal, N.S.

Culter sent the statement to Lynch's victim Glenn Johnson, who spoke to CTV News about his ordeal.

Some parishioners were outraged to see Lynch back after he pleaded guilty in 1999 to indecently assaulting 13-year-old Johnson in the 1970s.

UNITED STATES
Joyful Heart Foundation

It’s been gratifying to see the Justice Department’s recent revisions to the definition used to compile statistics about rape. Language is an important part of any discussion about sexual abuse—for men, filtered through the lens of cultural expectations of males. Words shape, define and categorize experiences. And the shift may have some deeper implications than are immediately apparent.

On the surface, the change means that the national data on rape will now include males’ unwanted experiences of sexual penetration—not just females’—and removes “forcible assault” as a criterion for inclusion. This will bring the statistics closer in line with the reality many boys and men face daily and with existing laws and prosecutions in many states. Also, the old definition likely contributed to perpetuating the damaging myth, still believed by many, that men can’t be raped. The change is 80 years overdue.

But then I think about individuals and families I’ve worked with over the years, as a child protection social worker, an advocate for adults who experienced sexual abuse and with men who have physically, emotionally or sexually abused their intimate partners. I realize that many people, including many professionals, will still have a lot of misunderstanding about the meaning of “rape” especially when it is applied to boys and men. Conventional wisdom often conflates rape with other forms of sexual abuse and violations of sexual boundaries, assuming the words mean the same thing. This can create great confusion when media reports use widely varying statistics, alternately citing data either on sexual abuse or on rape of boys (and sometimes both) without highlighting the differences in definition or explaining why one figure might appear higher or lower than another.

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican’s chief prosecutor in sex-abuse cases sees a decrease in the incidence of clerical abuse in those countries where the “code of silence” has been broken.

Msgr. Charles Scicluna reports that the rate of sexual abuse among clerics in the US has dropped sharply. But the worldwide figures on child abuse remain “truly alarming,” he says.

MISSISSIPPI
Catholic Culture

February 02, 2012

A federal judge in Mississippi has dismissed a complaint against the Vatican, brought by insurance commissioners in connection with an elaborate financial scheme conducted by a man who had no connection with the Holy See.

The insurance commissioners of Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas brought their complaint against the Vatican in 2002, after a man named Martin Frankel took funds from insurance companies in a complicated financial scheme.

Frankel, working under a pseudonym, claimed that he was a “financial advisor” to the Vatican, and set up a foundation which he claimed had the personal authorization of the late Pope John Paul II. With those bogus credentials he managed to manipulate insurance companies.

UNITED STATES
Christian Newswire

Contact: Twila Belk, 563-332-1622, twilabelk@mchsi.com

ATLANTA, Feb. 2, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- A statement from veteran author and abuse survivor Cecil Murphey:

Minutes ago I read about the latest scandal. The Catholic Diocese of Milwaukee may have to file for bankruptcy because 550 young men have filed claims of abuse against the clergy.

Most of the article was about money -- paying the victims and draining the treasury. But I read nothing about the shattered, broken lives of those 550 men.

And only 550 individuals have made claims -- which implies there are probably at least that many who don't have the courage to speak up.

I admire those 550 and how difficult it must have been for them to say, "I was molested." Male sexual abuse is probably the most under-reported crime in the world. Like women reporting rape two decades ago, the survivors often become victimized again through publicity and often charges of lying.

UNITED STATES
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abused and Healing

Virginia Jones

I lay on the couch, unable to feel my right hand and barely able to move my right arm after having undergone elbow reconstruction surgery early that morning. I wondered at the wisdom of the hospital discharging me, but I was a charity case and the need to save money by cutting every corner possible is an ever present reality in America’s healthcare system.

It was Elizabeth, my clergy abuse survivor partner in healing, who insisted on coming to my house to stay over night. Until I broke my elbow last year, I had largely managed to avoid having to go to a doctor since losing health insurance in the process of getting divorced. Elizabeth, with a much larger family than mine, had seen family members through surgeries in recent years, and knew I needed care even if I did not know it. I thought that my teenagers could handle it. They handled me having bronchitis and pleurisy.

Elizabeth, put aside her son and three young grandsons as well as her husband, and came to my house as soon as she could after work and helped me get up from the couch and carry my nerve blocking medication bag to the bathroom and well...do I have to explain in detail?

UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils...

Paris Arrow

Updated February 2, 2012

Today is the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem or Temple of Solomon. The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Pope John Paul II connected the feast day with the renewal of religious vows. All those renewal of religious vows made by his JP2 Army and all his squad of Rosary fanatics who pray the rosary everyday - could not defeat the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army named aptly after his longest reigning papacy where he said and did nothing to stop pedophile priests, read more here http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/10/rosary-could-not-defeat-jp2-army-john_06.html . Not once did John Paul II care to meet with one of the victims of the 80 pedophile priests whom Cardinal Bernard Law aided and abetted. John Paul II was too concern with religious vows and appointing red robe wearing Cardinals and Bishops and conducting religious ceremonies like the Pharisees and the Presentation of wealthy investors at the Vatican Bank.

POLAND
Catholic Sentinel

A Polish priest testified that a man reported to him that he was sexually abused by the former rector of a parish in Kolobrzeg, Poland.

The testimony is believed to be the first by one cleric against another accused of sexual abuse in Poland. The trial comes amid growing complaints about the church’s lack of response to abuse allegations against clergy.

Leading Catholics, as well as representatives of Poland’s Children’s Rights office, have urged the church to adopt clear procedures for handling abuse claims in line with Vatican guidelines.

A Catholic journal reported the Polish church had no “information policy” or “norms of conduct” and lacked psychological checks for clergy and “transparent norms” for vetting employees.

NEDERLAND
NOG

Amsterdam (ANP) - De Amsterdamse burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan wordt voorzitter van de werkgroep tegen kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik.

Dat heeft minister Ivo Opstelten (Veiligheid) dinsdag bekendgemaakt tijdens de behandeling door de Tweede Kamer van de uitkomsten van het onderzoek door de commissie-Deetman naar het seksueel misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk.

NEDERLAND
Gemeente

De Amsterdamse burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan wordt voorzitter van de werkgroep tegen kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik.

Dat heeft minister Ivo Opstelten van Veiligheid bekendgemaakt tijdens de behandeling door de Tweede Kamer van de uitkomsten van het onderzoek door de commissie-Deetman naar het seksueel misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk.

NEDERLAND
VPRO

De verhalen over misbruik van kinderen door leden van de katholieke kerk blijven maar komen. In 2009 kwam een groep leerlingen die in de jaren zestig op katholieke scholen in Engeland en Tanzania had gezeten dankzij het internet weer met elkaar in contact. Ze bleken allemaal het slachtoffer van geestelijk, lichamelijk en soms seksueel misbruik.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Philly Post

Larry Mendte

I first met Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua when he walked into the NBC 10 studios as a guest on Live @ Issue, the Sunday morning news interview show I started. He was alone, no PR person, no entourage. The Cardinal was both physically and mentally fit. For a half hour he defended Catholicism, attacked then Mayor Rendell for his refusal to support school vouchers, and ended the show with a blessing for Philadelphia. He was charismatic, combative and impressive. I liked him.

This was before the Philadelphia Archdiocese sex-abuse scandal was exposed. Everything the Cardinal fought for in that interview was undone. The Catholic schools that he loved so much would start to wither and close as families started to question their faith. Bevilacqua himself started to wither and fade. When he died in his sleep Tuesday night it was the final resignation of a mind and body that had stopped working years ago.

The last time Cardinal Bevilacqua showed his combative intelligence was in front of a Philadelphia grand jury. He appeared 10 times in 2003 and 2004 and showed much of the same righteous indignation and defense of the Church that I had experienced five years earlier. Only this time, the Cardinal was trying to defend the indefensible: the sexual abuse of children by 63 priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

OSTERREICH
news@orf.at

Die Klasnic-Kommission, die im Auftrag von Kardinal Christoph Schönborn den sexuellen Missbrauch und die Gewalt an Kindern durch Priester und Ordensleute untersucht, steht nun in einem besonders dramatischen Fall schwer in der Kritik.

Ein Gewaltopfer erhält keine Entschädigung, obwohl zunächst ein Geständnis vorlag und ein Gutachten der Kommission zum Schluss kam, dass die Vorwürfe stimmen, berichtete das Ö1-Morgenjournal am Montag - mehr dazu in oe1.ORF.at.

OSTERRICH
betroffen

30 Jan, 2012

Ein Täter immer noch im Amt
Klasnic Kommission verweigert Entschädigung
Schönborn und Kapellari wussten davon und unternahmen nichts

(Admont, Wien, 30.1.12 PUR) In Stifte Admont wurde Anton F. (Name geändert) von 1966 bis 1969 von den zwei Padres Koloman V. und Gebhart G. ausgepeitscht und bewusstlos geschlagen. Er musste eiskalt duschen und stundenlang barfuß auf kaltem Steinboden stehen. Einer der Beschuldigten vergewaltigte den Minderjährigen und ejakulierte auf dem blutenden Rücken des Buben, nachdem er ihn zuvor ausgepeitscht hatte. Das Gewaltopfer leidet – in direkter Konsequenz durch die Gewalt der beiden Padres – an einem 70%igen Gehörsverlust am linken Ohr, an einer Schulterluxation, an Depressionen sowie an eine nach wie vor ungeheilten Wunde im Gesäß. In einem Clearing Bericht der Klasnic Kommission bestätigt ein Psychologe diese Vorkommnisse. Drei weitere Gutachten attestieren die Glaubwürdigkeit des Betroffenen und es gibt weitere Betroffene. Auch die Täter sind geständig: ein profil-Bericht aus dem Jahr 2010 zitiert Padre Koloman V. mit den Worten: „Ich bin für die Hörbehinderung des Herrn Anton F. verantwortlich. Es tut mir unendlich leid. Ich kann es nicht mehr rückgängig machen. Wir hatten damals keine Ausbildung, waren überfordert und haben mit nicht zu rechtfertigenden Methoden versucht, Ruhe und Ordnung zu schaffen. Ich leide darunter, muss damit leben und bitte Gott und Herrn F. um Verzeihung.“

OSTERREICH
Betroffen

Schönborn, Kapellari und Klasnic als Mitwisser durch Sachverhaltsdarstellung schwer belastet

(Admont, Wien, 1.2.2012 PUR) Vorgestern hat ein heute 58jähriger rituelle Auspeitschungen Ende der 60er Jahre in Stift Admont durch 2 Priester beschrieben. Heute meldet sich ein weiterer Betroffener zu Wort, der im Jahr 2010 eine Sachverhaltsdarstellung an die Staatsanwaltschaft Graz und an die Klasnic Kommission gesandt hatte. Darin werden die Angaben von Anton F. bestätigt: “Besonders in den ersten Jahren kam es zu massivem Missbrauch und Misshandlungen mir gegenüber. Massive Schläge ins Gesicht und Auspeitschungen mit Ledergürtel am offenen Gesäß. Die Auspeitschungen erfolgten in Form sexuell-ritueller Handlungen von beiden Erziehern gemeinsam und im Privatzimmer von Pater Gebhard G. Dabei waren die Auspeitschungen ein “Vorspiel“ zum sexuellen Missbrauch. Mein Kopf wurde zwischen die Beine eines Paters
geklemmt, während dieser onanierte, und der andere Pater (….) mich vergewaltigte. (….) Zusätzlich war es bei Pater Koloman V. gängige Praxis, brennende Zigaretten auf meinem Arm auszulöschen, die Narben sind bis heute gut sichtbar. Nach der Matura wurde die Belastung aus dem Missbrauch und den Misshandlungen während meiner Schulzeit in Admont so groß, dass ich mit 19 Jahren einen Selbstmordversuch unternahm und mir die Pulsadern aufschnitt. Mein Vater rettete mich in letzter Sekunde.“

CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

By Debra Bogstie

Thursday, Feb 2, 2012

A Moodus priest is on voluntary leave as state police investigate allegations of financial irregularities at his parish.

State police said they launched an investigation into St. Bridget Church in Moodus in December.

That's the same month in which Father Gregoire Fluet took a voluntary leave of absence, according to Michael Strammiello, the spokesman for the Diocese of Norwich.

The investigation pertains to the church's finances and was launched after a single parishioner raised questions, Strammiello said.

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

2:03 p.m. EST, February 2, 2012
WATERBURY —
A judge on Thursday said the Catholic Church cannot defend itself from a priest sex abuse case by arguing that its response to the abuse — while inappropriate now — was widely accepted when the abuse occurred 30 years ago.

It was the second time in less than a year that a judge in Connecticut presiding over a negligence claim arising from child sexual abuse blocked a defendant from preventing historical evidence about changing societal attitudes toward child sexual abuse. Last year, Superior Court Judge Dan Shaban, also sitting in Waterbury, ruled thatSt. Francis Hospital could not present such testimony by an expert witness in a case involving abuse by former hospital endocrinologist Dr. George Reardon.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Kevin Dubay ruled against the Archdiocese of Hartford, which is defending itself from the claim that it allowed a priest to abuse a former altar boy when it ignored prior allegations against the priest.

The altar boy, identified in court papers as Jacob Doe, claims he was abused as an adolescent from 1981 to 1983 in Derby by Father Ivan Ferguson. Ferguson admitted to fomrer Archbishop John F. Whealon in 1979 that he had previously abused two boys who attended church in the Tariffville section of Simsbury.

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Robert McClory on Feb. 02, 2012 NCR Today

Recent reports concerning a high Vatican official who had saved the church millions of dollars by eliminating "corruption and dishonesty" in various Vatican agencies aroused worldwide interest. But no one found the stories about Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò's reform efforts more fascinating than Michael W. Ryan, a retired U.S. Postal Service security specialist, who has been trying for about 20 years to save the American church the millions it reportedly continues to lose through the embezzlement of Sunday collections and other fund sources.

Their stories bear several similarities. Almost a year ago, Pope Benedict XVI removed Viganò from his post as chief financial officer for the Vatican city-state and sent him to the United States as the new papal nuncio, despite Viganò's protest that the move could undo his clean-up campaign. Ryan's attempt to help the church clean up the loose security policies that drain funds has met with such deep-seated disinterest that he has virtually despaired of getting anywhere. He has recently written a book titled Nonfeasance: The Remarkable Failure of the Catholic Church to Protect Its Primary Source of Income. (Nonfeasance is defined in the dictionary as a "failure to do what ought to be done.")

Hearing of Viganò's removal from his Vatican job, Ryan said, "Is it any wonder I'm not getting anywhere with the hierarchy?"

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Nicole Sotelo on Feb. 02, 2012 Young Voices

Next month, the Knights of Columbus will celebrate the 130th anniversary of their incorporation as a benefit society. Founded by a young parish priest and parishioners, the Knights united to serve their community with a special focus on supporting widows, orphans and those in need.

Since then, the order has grown to 1.8 million Catholic men worldwide, rightly proud of their reputation for parish involvement, volunteer service and charitable contributions. In recent years, however, top officials at the Knights of Columbus have been funneling the organization's "charitable contributions" not only to charity, but to politics of division.

In 2008 and 2009, the Supreme Knight's charitable report shows the organization gave more to "family life" projects than they did to "community projects." On the surface this sounds benign, but "family life" is the Knights' terminology for predominantly anti-gay initiatives, whereas "community projects" represents soup kitchens and food pantries.

Among the "community projects," the Knights contributed $5,000 to disaster relief in Indiana and $3,000 to the community soup kitchen in New Haven, Conn., where the organization is headquartered, according to the 2010 Annual Report of the Supreme Knight. This deserves applause, until you learn that under the same category of "community projects," they financed a $530,000 contribution to the Becket Fund, an organization of politically controversial lawyers. Do these lawyers really need the Knights' charity?

CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

[with video]

February 1, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Questions don't die at the Cook County morgue in the case of a Chicago Catholic priest who was stabbed more than 20 times. His death was ruled a suicide.

The I-Team has been told that the body of Father Waclaw Jamroz is going to be exhumed so a full autopsy can be done. The exhumation will come two and a half years after the Cook County medical examiner chose not to do a full examination.

Without a complete autopsy, questions about the priest's death have festered - questions that some experts and his family say are disturbing and unanswered.

With a popular inspirational show on Polish TV, Father Waclaw was widely known outside his Our Lady of the Snows parish near Midway Airport.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Culture

Phil Lawler | February 02, 2012

In the prosecution of three priests from the Philadelphia archdiocese, the level of hostility toward the Catholic Church has become so pronounced that it’s difficult to see how a fair trial could take place.

Prosecutors have indicted one former official of the archdiocese (along with two other priests). But they have described the archdiocese itself as an “unindicted co-conspirator.” In practice, that seems to mean that the prosecutors can make charges against the archdiocese without having to worry about rebuttal, since there are no lawyers in the courtroom to defend the archdiocese.

Meanwhile the judge in the case, Teresa Sarmina has showed her own hostility with the outrageous statement: “Anybody that doesn't think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet.” Notice that her claim is voiced in the present tense. She is not saying that there was abuse in the past: a claim that can easily be supported. She’s saying that there is widespread abuse now. Maybe we don’t even need a trial; she’s declared the Church guilty already!

NEW JERSEY
Catholic Star Herald

Written by Carmel Malerba

CAMDEN — The office charged with promoting a secure environment for young people under diocesan auspices has changed its name. It will now be known as the Office of Child and Youth Protection. It was formerly known as the Office of Safe Environment for Children, Youth and Adults.

The change went into effect Feb. 1.

The change was implemented, according to Rod J. Herrera, director, to “more accurately reflect what the office does in providing safe environments for children and young people.”

NEW JERSEY
Catholic Star Herald

Written by Carmel Malerba

The Office of Child and Youth Protection is announcing CAP (Child Assault Prevention) sessions. CAP is the safe environment training program for adults who have regular contact with minors. Attendance is required in order to comply with the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The policy of the Diocese of Camden is that adults will attend CAP once every five years.

CAP 1 teaches attendees to recognize child abuse and neglect and how to report to the proper authorities. CAP 1 is for new volunteers and employees.

CAP 2 is No More Bullies, No More Victims and is a workshop on bullying awareness and bullying prevention. Cyberbullying is also addressed. Both sessions are 90 minutes.

NEW JERSEY
Catholic Star Herald

An Ohio man has accused Father Joseph E. Shannon, a priest of the Camden Diocese who was removed from ministry in 1990, with sexual abuse.

Mark Bryson, 50, alleges that Father Shannon sexually assaulted him when he was in first grade at St. Anthony of Padua School in Camden in the 1970s.

In a suit filed Jan. 27 in U.S. District Court, Bryson said he had repressed memories of the assault until recently, according to media reports.

Father Shannon, now 75, was accused by several males of abuse in the 1990s.

Bryson’s suit charges the diocese with having “fraudulently concealed” Father Shannon’s behavior. Repressed memory and fraudulent conconcealment can be used to extend the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse cases in New Jersey.

SOUTH DAKOTA
Freedom and Guns

February 2, 2012
By Gordon Howie

I met Robert Brancato a few weeks ago. I soon discovered that we have something in common… We both believe the State Legislature made a serious error when they passed HB1104. It stripped victims of sexual assault of their rights. It was bad legislation. This year, Robert is working with some Legislators to repeal this law. That would be a very good thing. Thanks to him for all his efforts, and for this article.

By Robert Brancato, Rapid City SD.

In South Dakota we live and respect both the Federal and State Constitutions. We have a Bill of Rights. We have a State Legislature that is made of elected official’s; both Republican and Democratic Parties are represented.

South Dakota’s Constitution clearly states in Article VI, Line 20: “All courts shall be open, and every man for an injury done him in his property, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice, administered without denial or delay.”

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Larry Mcshane / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, February 2, 2012
A prominent Harlem pastor who dodged prison despite charges of molesting 10 high school kids was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the Vatican.

Monsignor Wallace Harris, once the highest-ranking black cleric in the Archdiocese of New York, received the lesser of two possible punishments from Rome, said archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling.

The popular priest — who arranged Pope Benedict’s jam-packed 2008 Mass in Yankee Stadium — could have been defrocked.

Instead, “he’s living in a church-run facility, under very, very close supervision,” Zwilling said Thursday. “He is not allowed to act as a priest. He is not allowed to present himself as a priest.

NEDERLAND
Het Kontakt

ERMELO - Hij had net afscheid genomen van de rooms-katholieke parochies in De Bilt en zou het wat rustiger aan doen, maar Henk van Doorn (73) kan nog niet van de rust gaan genieten. Onverwacht is hij aangesteld als de nieuwe pastoor van de regionale Sint Lucasparochie. ,,Gelukkig heb ik een goede gezondheid. Mijn houding is altijd geweest: Ik ben priester van de kerk van Utrecht, ik hoor wel waar ik nodig ben - en dat is nu in de Lucasparochie.’’Van Doorn neemt de plaats in van pastoor Bert Sturkenboom, die wegens aanklachten van seksueel misbruik van zijn bestuurlijke en pastorale taken is ontheven. In de Sint Lucasparochie zijn sinds vorig jaar de rooms-katholieke geloofsgemeenschappen in Barneveld/Voorthuizen, Achterveld, Leusden, Hoevelaken, Nijkerk, Putten en Ermelo samengevoegd. ,,Afgelopen weekend was ik in Putten en Ermelo om daar voor te gaan. Ik begreep uit reacties dat het gewaardeerd werd dat het bisdom de parochie in de verwarrende situatie die is ontstaan niet aan haar lot heeft overgelaten en heel snel weer een priester heeft benoemd voor de voortgang van het kerkenwerk.’’

NEDERLAND
NOS

Seks met kinderen die jonger zijn dan 12 jaar moet als verkrachting worden bestraft. Een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer steunt dat plan van het CDA. Het CDA diende het wetsvoorstel donderdag samen met de VVD in.

Nu is seks met zulke jonge kinderen in de wet vastgelegd als "seksueel binnendringen" en wordt het als ontucht bestraft. CDA en VVD willen dat het als verkrachting wordt bestraft en stellen ook voor de maximumstraf naar 15 jaar te verhogen.

CALIFORNIA
Leagle

SANTILLAN v. ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF FRESNO
GEORGE SANTILLAN et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,
v.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF FRESNO, Defendant and Appellant.
No. B221409.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Eight.
Filed February 1, 2012.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

ORDER MODIFYING OPINION

GOOD CAUSE appearing, the opinion filed January 6, 2012, in the above entitled matter is hereby modified as follows:

1. On page 10, line 11 of the text, delete "as that term is defined in section 340.1, subdivision (b)(2)" so that the sentence ends after "sexual conduct."

2. On page 10, footnote 4, delete the text of the footnote and replace it with the following sentence: "The Doe court held that the term `unlawful sexual conduct' refers to the acts specified in section 340.1, subdivision (e), which defines ``[c]hildhood sexual abuse' in terms of seven provisions of the Penal Code describing various prohibited sexual acts against minors. (Doe, supra, 42 Cal.4th at pp. 545-546.)"

CANADA
Canada.com

Sheila Dabu Nonato, Postmedia News
Published: Wednesday, February 01, 2012

After seven years of therapy and following consultation with high-ranking church officials, an Anglican priest who was convicted of indecent assault more than a dozen years ago, is back at his Nova Scotia parish, but with restricted duties.

Rev. Ron Cutler, a bishop of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, told Postmedia News that Rev. Wayne Lynch has been permitted to celebrate the Eucharist at Annapolis Royal's St. Luke's Anglican Parish. Lynch returned to the parish two years ago and performs some duties every second month.

"He is permitted to preach, but has very rarely done so. He is permitted to baptize, marry or conduct funerals. Once again, this would be at the request of the rector of the parish," Cutler wrote in an email.

NEDERLAND
de Volkskrant

Wim Wolters legt per 1 maart zijn functie neer als voorzitter van het Platform Hulpverlening van het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK. Hij verklaart dat hij zijn professionele verantwoordelijkheden niet kan waarmaken. Het bestuur van het platform betreurt het vertrek van de hoogleraar en psychotherapeut, liet het vandaag in een verklaring weten.

'De intensiteit en de eenzijdigheid van het maatschappelijk debat en de grote onrust die dat oproept, blokkeert de mogelijkheid van zorgvuldige hulpverlening', schrijft Wolters.

NEDERLAND
Gemerts Nieuwsblad

WIJCHEN – Rudy de Kruijf is afgelopen week door het bisdom Den Bosch uit zijn priesterlijke taken ontheven. Dat gebeurde op zijn eigen verzoek: De Kruijf wil het celibaat niet langer als leidraad voor zijn leven nemen. Ten tijde van zijn priesterwijding in 1998 en de jaren daarna werkte De Kruijf in Aarle-Rixtel.

UNITED STATES
Renew America

By Matt C. Abbott

The mysterious and tragic deaths of two priests — Father Waclaw Jamroz of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Father Alfred Kunz of the Diocese of Madison — need closure.

Father Jamroz's bizarre death in 2009 was ruled a suicide by the Crook County — oops, I mean, Cook County — medical examiner, but, as a Feb. 1 local news segment points out, questions surrounding the case won't go away.

From ABC7 Chicago investigative reporter Chuck Goudie:

'Questions don't die at the Cook County morgue in the case of a Chicago Catholic priest who was stabbed more than 20 times. His death was ruled a suicide.

'With a popular inspirational show on Polish TV, Father Waclaw was widely known outside his Our Lady of the Snows parish near Midway Airport.

NEDERLAND
BB

De Amsterdamse burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan wordt voorzitter van de werkgroep tegen kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik. Dat heeft minister Ivo Opstelten (Veiligheid) dinsdag bekendgemaakt tijdens de behandeling door de Tweede Kamer van de uitkomsten van het onderzoek door de commissie-Deetman naar het seksueel misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk.

Actieplan

Het kabinet besloot recentelijk tot deze 'taskforce', die er onder meer op moet toezien dat het Actieplan aanpak kindermishandeling wordt uitgevoerd. Dit plan omvat vele maatregelen voor verbetering van de preventie, signalering en bestrijding van kindermishandeling. Die beslaan diverse terreinen. Daarom is een centrale regie nodig. Ook moet er worden 'aangejaagd'. Verder moet de taskforce het probleem hoog op de bestuurlijke agenda houden en nieuwe initiatieven tegen kindermishandeling en kindermisbruik stimuleren.

CITTA DEL VATICANO
Il Fatto Quotidiano

di Marco Lillo | 31 gennaio 2012

In un documento riservato, il rifiuto del Vaticano a dare informazioni allo Stato per le vicende antecedenti al primo aprile 2011, ovvero da quando è entrato in vigore il nuovo organismo per la trasparenza finanziaria voluto da Papa Benedetto XVI

Il Vaticano sta prendendo per il naso da mesi la giustizia e la Banca d’Italia. Il Governo Monti dovrebbe fare la voce grossa e ottenere il rispetto degli impegni assunti in materia di antiriciclaggio, ma c’è un piccolo particolare: il ministro della Giustizia, che dovrebbe essere in prima linea in questa battaglia, è stato l’avvocato del presidente della banca vaticana (lo IOR) Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. La linea del Vaticano in questa materia non corrisponde affatto alle promesse di trasparenza contrabbandate in pubblico. Lo dimostra un documento che Il Fatto pubblica in esclusiva (leggi).

Si intitola “Memo sui rapporti IOR-AIF” ed è un documento ‘confidenziale’ e ‘riservato’ circolato negli uffici del Papa e della Segreteria di Stato e annotato a penna da una mano che – secondo gli esperti di cose Vaticane – potrebbe essere quella di monsignor Georg Ganswein, il segretario di Benedetto XVI. E’ stato scritto da un personaggio molto in alto che si può permettere di sottoporre la sua analisi ai vertici del Vaticano. Al di là di chi sia l’autore, il ‘memo’ dimostra che il Papa, il segretario di Stato Tarcisio Bertone, il presidente dello AIF, l’autorità di controllo antiriciclaggio, Attilio Nicora e i vertici dello IOR sono tutti a conoscenza della linea sul fronte antiriciclaggio che si può sintetizzare così: non si deve collaborare con la giustizia italiana per tutto quello che è successo allo IOR fino all’aprile 2011.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

A newspaper has published a confidential memo on relations between the Vatican Bank and the new internal surveillance Authority, concluding that there is no real wish for transparency. But this is not the case

ANDREA TORNIELLI
Vatican City

Last 31 January, Italian daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano published the content of a confidential internal memo regarding the interpretation of the transparency law introduced by the Holy See at the instigation of Pope Benedict XVI and his Secretary of State, in 2011. The document which was partially reproduced from the original, includes some hand written annotations which the Italian newspaper presumed were written by Fr. Georg Gänswein, the Pope private secretary.

The document entitled “Memo on the IOR-AIF reports”, is defined as “confidential” and according to the newspaper “was written by a “high ranking figure who can afford to allow Vatican leaders to analyse the document.” According to Il Fatto Quotidiano the memo is supposed to prove that in spite of their public declarations regarding transparency, Vatican high authorities have agreed not to collaborate with the Italian justice system on what had been going on in the IOR up until April 2011. That is, the enforcement of new regulations which would involve the Holy See being placed on the “white list” of virtuous States engaged in the crackdown against money laundering.

GERMANY
Vatican Insider

The Bishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, talks about a tax paid by the faithful “Without it we would still survive, but differently”

Alessandro Alviani
Berlin

The Catholic Church could survive without the revenue from the “Church tax” which is paid by faithful in Germany. In this case however, it would be forced to cut back on initiatives that benefit the community as a whole. This is according to the Bishop of Munich and Freising Reinhard Marx, who gave an interview published in the issue of the German newspaper Die Zeit which will be on sale tomorrow, 2 February. In the interview, the bishop returned once more the controversial appeal to “Entweltlichung” (detachment form the world) launched by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Germany in September 2011.

This word has given rise to contrasting interpretations: Was the Pope’s intention to encourage German bishops to renounce all earthly aspects of the Church, starting with the “Kirchensteuer” (Church tax) paid in Germany by all those who openly declare themselves to belong to a religious community recognised by the State, but is really collected by regional public tax offices? Marx says this is not the case: the Pope did not intend to say that the Church should distance itself from the world. Instead, he wanted to give impetus to the role it should play in a pluralistic society: “we want to be at the heart of the world, but not be from this world,” he explained.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith described to the Vatican Insider the objectives of the conference against paedophilia which opens next week

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

“In certain Churches where the code of silence is being broken, the number of reported cases of abuse sharply rose before slowly decreasing again. However the worldwide estimates concerning child abuse in society are truly alarming...”said Mgr. Charles J. Scicluna, 52 years old, promoter of justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He is the man who for almost ten years has been working with Joseph Ratzinger to fight the upsetting phenomenon of child abuse at the hands of clerics and now he describes to the Vatican Insider the meaning and the objectives of the Symposium which will take place from 6 to 9 February at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

He said “There is a desire to act and react well, with determination.” The Symposium called “Towards healing and renovation” has been organized by the university together with some dicasteries of the Holy See and the support of the Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone. Participants will include the representatives of 110 Episcopal conferences as well as the Father Superiors of thirty religious orders. This will be a truly international conference. According to a press release on the Symposium www.thr.unigre.it one of the speakers at the event will be an abuse victim who will talk to attendees about the necessity for victims to be heard and how positive change can be promoted.

CANADA
CTV

A Nova Scotia priest who sexually assaulted a young altar boy more than three decades ago is once again preaching to a small-town Anglican congregation, an upsetting revelation to his victim.

Rev. Wayne Lynch pleaded guilty in 1999 to indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy in the 1970s. He received a conditional sentence of two years less a day and was placed on probation for 18 months.

Since then, he has been slowly regaining responsibilities at St. Luke's Anglican Church in Annapolis Royal, N.S. The church's decision to welcome Lynch back has upset some parishioners, and particularly his victim.

"I was beyond stunned, I couldn't comprehend that any organization like the Anglican Church could do something like that again to me after this many years," Glenn Johnson told CTV News.

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Catholic Insider

Last Thursday, the Boston Archdiocese released the annual report for the 2011 fiscal year. Cardinal O’Malley stated that “The Archdiocese of Boston has greatly benefited by the financial management of recent years that has achieved and sustained a balanced budget.” Chancellor Jim McDonough said, “We have made great progress in moving the Archdiocese from a position of financial freefall just a few short years ago to one of stability, fully committed to supporting our parishes, schools and ministries.” That reflects one perspective, and BCI thought our readers might be interested in another perspective.

BCI received an email a few days ago from former Chancellor, David W. Smith, with his analysis of the 2011 Annual Report. BCI thought the analysis from someone familiar with archdiocesan finances was interesting, so we are sharing it with you:

Last week I was asked by the Boston Globe to comment on the Archdiocese of Boston’s release of financial information. I tried to provide “instant analysis” but it is just not possible to review hundreds of pages of information on a same day basis.

NEDERLAND
Roel Verschueren

Over geloof, bisschoppen, congregaties, de paus en slachtoffers van 50 jaar seksueel misbruik in de kerk. Zonder voorwoord noch nawoord

(Nu reeds als gratis PDF download)

MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Over 500 sex abuse claims, a record number, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court against Milwaukee archdiocese

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT 414.429.7259

Nine months ago, in solemn tones, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced he was seeking Federal bankruptcy protection for the archdiocese because of fraud cases filed against church officials for concealing and transferring known child sex offender clergy.

The archdiocese’s books were in the black. There were no trial dates set. There were no judgments pending.

In essence, Listecki was conceding that a jury of his peers–any jury–would find the archdiocese guilty of widespread and systematic corporate fraud.

In doing so, Listecki also made a dramatic and personal public appeal to every single person raped, sexually assaulted or abused by a priest or employee operating or working in the archdiocese to come forward and file a claim with the bankruptcy court as means of achieving a “final resolution” to the clergy abuse and cover up crisis.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Culture

By Dr. Jeff Mirus | February 01, 2012

You've probably already read in our news story that Cardinal Bevilacqua died yesterday at the age of 88, literally days after a Pennsylvania judge ruled once again that he was perfectly capable of giving testimony in the Philadelphia sexual abuse investigation. Considering the state of his health and the fact that he suffered from dementia, this in itself was remarkable.

But something even more remarkable was reported by David Pierre, author of two excellent books on priests falsely accused of sexual abuse. Pierre runs the Catholic Media Report, which seeks to expose anti-Catholic bias in the media.

Anyway, in this case he noticed that in a media statement for the victim advocacy group SNAP, president David Clohessy strongly implied that Cardinal Bevilacqua was faking his illness and memory loss to avoid giving testimony.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer

The clergy sex-abuse scandal that so dominated the last decade of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua's life may well dominate public perception of his legacy, some observers say.

His friends and colleagues, however, described the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, who died Tuesday at age 88, as a "behind-the-scenes" prelate who did much of his best work out of public view.

Bishop Joseph Galante, head of the Diocese of Camden, on Wednesday described Bevilacqua as having been a "leading advocate for assistance for immigrants at a time when society was not as conscious of their needs."

Galante noted that Bevilacqua, already a church lawyer, also earned a civil law degree as a young priest in order to serve the immigrant poor. "I pray God will give him the reward of his labors," he said.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer

Cardinal Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, whose 15 years as shepherd of the 1.5 million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia were marked by both celebration and crisis, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was emblematic of the church to which he had devoted himself since age 14: progressive on some social-justice issues, staunchly orthodox on matters of doctrine and sexuality, and unfailingly deferential to the will of Rome.

After retiring in 2003, he left the cardinal's residence on City Avenue for the apartment at the seminary and rarely appeared in public. He was always a private man, given to dining alone. Yet during his time at the archdiocesan helm he delighted in public appearances and was known for his personal touch with the faithful.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Christine M. Flowers: A MAN OF GRAVITAS & GRANDEUR: No saint, but deserves our prayer

Christine M. Flowers
Philadelphia Daily News

A FEW YEARS AGO, I went to a conference at the Union League where one of my heroes, Antonin Scalia, was going to be present.

I acted like a 'tweener faced with the prospect of meeting Justin Beiber: heart palpitations, twisted tongue and a conviction that my hair looked horrible.

You have to understand. For conservative lawyers, Justice Nino is a rock star.

So transfixed was I by the legal lion, I almost missed an opportunity to cross paths with another grandiose presence: Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who was also in attendance and being honored on his retirement. Imagine having those two in the same room: icons of church and state (and there wasn't much of a wall between them either, since I saw them sharing a drink in a corner.)

When a photographer approached and said that we could have a photo taken with both of the Eminent Italians, I jumped at the chance. For the first time in my life, I was speechless, stripped of the ability to communicate with anything other than my mesmerized eyes.

VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

by Sandro Magister

ROME, February 2, 2012 – There are no marches of the "99 percent" at the Vatican; the battles are conducted by firing off letters. On Saturday, January 28, the council of ministers of the Roman curia, in the presence of the pope, dedicated part of the meeting to studying how to shore up the leaking of documents. It was just three days after the latest sensational leak: a sheaf of confidential letters written to Benedict XVI and to cardinal secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone by the then secretary of the governorate of Vatican City, now the nuncio to Washington, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.

Those letters – plus other blistering papers that also threaten to come out into the open in the press or on television – are an act of accusation against one person above all: Cardinal Bertone, who introduced the aforementioned meeting of the heads of the curia dicasteries by explaining how to draft and publish the documents of the Holy See without any more of the mishaps that have proliferated of late. There needs to be, he said, more competence, more collaboration, more mutual trust, more confidentiality.

Benedict XVI listened in silence. He was reminded of the worst evidence of mismanagement in the curia that he has suffered since becoming pope: the avalanche of protests that bombarded him through no fault of his own at the beginning of 2009, after the lifting of the excommunication of four Lefebvrist bishops, including one who denied the Holocaust. Shortly after that incident, in an open letter to the bishops of the whole world, pope Ratzinger did not hesitate to write that he had received more support from "Jewish friends" than from many men of the Church and of the curia who are more interested in creating scorched earth around the pope. And at the end he cited this terrible admonition of the apostle Paul: "If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another."

NEW YORK
New York Post

By DAN MANGAN

Last Updated: 4:34 AM, February 2, 2012

A disgraced Harlem priest who arranged Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 Mass at Yankee Stadium has been sentenced to “a life of prayer and penance” by the Vatican for his alleged molestation of up to 10 kids decades ago.

Wallace Harris, the former popular pastor of the Church of St. Charles Borremeo, also now by order of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is living in a Catholic-run residence “under very, very close supervision,” said Dolan’s spokesman Joseph Zwilling last night.

Zwilling pointedly said that Harris — once the archdiocese’s top-ranking black priest and chairman of the senate representing all of the archdiocese’s priests — is not living in a location near families, and is barred from ever publicly acting as a priest.

In 2008, Harris, 64, both gave the invocation at former Gov. David Paterson’s and arranged for the Pope’s triumphant Mass in Yankee Stadium.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent

THE GARDA Inspectorate has identified a lack of meaningful co-operation between the Garda, Health Service Executive agencies and NGOs as a major ongoing impediment to the swift and thorough investigation of sexual abuse against children.

In the findings of its report into how the Garda responds to complaints of child sexual abuse, it has recommended a new response across the force and the agencies gardaí work with.

It has urged the appointment of an assistant commissioner who would have an oversight role into all of the Gardas responses to allegations of sexual abuse, both clerical and lay.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
TMJ4

MILWAUKEE- Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki was not fazed by the reported 550-plus claims of sexual abuse in his conversation with TODAY'S TMJ4.

Archbishop Listecki's message is that the church will see the accusers in court.

While the window for abuse claims has closed, Archbishop Listecki knows his church's trials have only begun.

"Now we know what we have to deal with in terms of those who have come forward and brought suits against the church," said Archbishop Listecki.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent

The Garda Inspectorate has identified significant shortcomings in the force’s investigation of sexual offences against children.

It said basic record-keeping was so poor that the official crime figures did not capture up to 65 per cent of sex crimes against children reported to the Garda in recent years.

The situation had only become apparent after the Garda was unable to supply the inspectorate with annual figures for sexual offences against children.

The inspectorate requested paperwork to be checked in all 112 Garda districts. The disparity that emerged between the paper records and the Garda computer database of crime rates called into question the integrity of all child abuse figures, it said.

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By PATTI MENGERS
pmengers@delcotimes.com

In the more than 15 years that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was archbishop of Philadelphia, he was charged with the causes of saints and sinners, financially troubled schools and connecting with close to 1.5 million Roman Catholics.

More than 200,000 Delaware County Catholics were among the faithful overseen by the retired cardinal who died at age 88 Tuesday night at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary after a battle with cancer.

“A true leader has to lead and, at the end of the day, make decisions that do affect people’s lives. I’m sure he made decisions after much prayer and study,” said the Rev. Monsignor Joseph McLoone, who was ordained by Bevilacqua in May 1988.

The monsignor is pastor of St. Katharine Drexel Church in Chester, a parish that was established as a result of Bevilacqua’s controversial decision to merge six parishes into one because of the declining number of Roman Catholics in the small city. In 1993, St. Michael, St. Anthony of Padua, Resurrection of Our Lord, Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Hedwig parishes merged at the site of St. Robert Church to form Blessed Katharine Drexel parish and grade school.

LOVELAND (CO)
Coloradoan

Written by
Robert Allen

A Loveland church volunteer accused of sexually assaulting a child has a previous criminal record including child abuse and domestic violence.

Robert Kirchhoff, 54, was advised by videoconference from Larimer County Jail today regarding offenses alleged to have occurred Jan. 27.

Kirchhoff, who until recently was a volunteer with preteens at Resurrection Fellowship church, remains in custody on a $100,000 bond.

He worked with the kids in a group setting, and the volunteer work never involved trips with children away from the church property, said Deborah Kline, administrative assistant to Senior Pastor Jonathan Wiggins.

COLORADO
TheDenverChannel

Alan Gathright, 7NEWS Content Producer

LOVELAND, Colo. -- A volunteer for a Loveland church children's group who was arrested Tuesday on a child sex assault charge had previously pleaded guilty to a child abuse case, according to court records obtained by 7NEWS.

Robert Kirchhoff, 54, of Loveland was arrested on felony charges of aggravated sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child under age 15 by a person in a position of trust, according to court records.

Kirchhoff was held in Larimer County Jail on $100,000 bond.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

COMPARED with generations of Catholic prelates - to whom the faithful literally bowed in order to kiss their rings - the personal style of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was a break from the past.

Bevilacqua, who died Tuesday at age 88, was gregarious and photogenic, personally charming, approachable and funny- for a cardinal, that is. In his 15 years leading the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (1988-2003), he spent a day at each of its 302 parishes, posing for photos with congregants, sometimes tossing his skullcap through the air like a Frisbee. A champion of interfaith dialogue, he was a frequent guest speaker at local synagogues.

What wasn't a break from the past, though, was Bevilacqua's continuation of a longstanding policy of refusing to answer questions or countenance any criticism on pretty much any subject, from school closings and finances to the sexual abuse of children by diocesan priests.

In particular, the Archdiocese exerted pressure on news organizations to block coverage deemed negative. "Church leaders believe they are always working for good and find it difficult that anyone would believe otherwise," an Archdiocesan spokeswoman told the American Journalism Review in 1998. "I think they become uncomfortable, perhaps sometimes even defensive, when their decisions are questioned."

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Published: February 1, 2012

Anthony J. Bevilacqua, a former cardinal and archbishop of Philadelphia whose passion for Roman Catholic causes like helping the poor and fighting abortion was eclipsed in retirement by accusations that he had covered up sexual abuse by priests, died on Tuesday at a seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. He was 88.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the death. Cardinal Bevilacqua had dementia and an undisclosed kind of cancer.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was archbishop from 1988 until his retirement in 2003. Pope John Paul II elevated him to cardinal in 1991.

In Philadelphia, as in previous leadership positions in Pittsburgh and Brooklyn, he pushed the church to help immigrants, presided over cutbacks in Catholic parishes and schools, spoke out against homosexuality and abortion, and built up a lay ministry to compensate for the declining corps of priests.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
Philadelphia Daily News

NINE YEARS AGO, my husband took a photo of our daughter, when she was in kindergarten, with Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

She'd just returned from an excursion to the Philadelphia Zoo, where she'd gotten her face painted like a koala bear's. Afterward, she and my husband hit the St. Pat's Day Parade, where Bevilacqua was working the crowds on that unseasonably warm day.

The cardinal graciously posed with my daughter for a picture, and it's a winner (that's it, to the right). She's leaning into him, and his arm is curled around her waist. His other arm rests atop her hand. Their smiles are wonderful - his is warm and kind; hers impy.

We gave a framed copy of the photo to my parents, who loved Bevilacqua. We placed another on our piano, with other family photos.

UNITED KINGDOM
Coventry Telegraph

by Duncan Gibbons, Coventry Telegraph
Feb 2 2012

A FORMER Coventry priest yesterday told a jury he has never sexually assaulted young boys.

Alexander Bede Walsh, 58, is accused of abusing eight boys in Coventry, Warwickshire and Staffordshire between 1975 and 1994.

Walsh, of Church Lane, Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, denies 23 counts of indecent assault, two of sexual assault and two of gross indecency.

He trained at the Father Hudson orphanage, in Coleshill, in the mid-1970s, and was priest at All Souls Church, in Chapelfields, between 1982 and 1985.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Boston Globe

[Bevilacqua Documents via BishopAccountability.org]

By Maryclaire Dale
Associated Press / February 1, 2012

PHILADELPHIA—Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's death may not greatly alter the March trial of an aide charged with child endangerment for allegedly keeping predator-priests around children.

Bevilacqua's testimony was preserved on videotape late last year, since he was 88 and ailing. And though a judge found him competent to testify, his dementia would have been evident on the witness stand, lawyers said.

Still, his 10 combative appearances before a Philadelphia grand jury in 2003 and 2004 exposed church secrets about 63 accused priests that ultimately rocked the Roman Catholic hierarchy -- and the cardinal himself, who grew reclusive in retirement.

Philadelphia priests raped boys in church sacristies, stripped them nude and whipped them as part of a Passion Play, got them drunk and showed them pornography -- and remained on the job, the 2005 grand jury report said.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

A priest who is charged with a number of child sex abuse offences will face court next month.

Fr Eugene Boland (65) faces four charges of indecently assaulting a female child.

A preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to put him on trial is to take place at Magherafelt Magistrates Court.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Long before his death Tuesday night, even an ailing Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua must have foreseen that one harsh epitaph for him already had been carved in stone.

The words were composed in 2005 by a Philadelphia grand jury investigating the sex-abuse scandal that exposed five dozen alleged predator priests - many of them active during Bevilacqua's 15-year stewardship of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Archdiocesan officials, including Bevilacqua and his predecessor, Cardinal John Krol, stood by and then covered up hundreds of child-sexual assaults by priests, the jury alleged.

While lamenting that statutes had lapsed for the crimes, the panel said church officials' actions in remaining silent while accused priests were shuttled around to unsuspecting parishes was "as immoral as the abuse itself" and that there was no doubt the cardinals "were personally informed of almost all of the allegations . . . and personally decided or approved" a cover-up.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press

Updated 12:18 a.m., Thursday, February 2, 2012

MILWAUKEE (AP) — About 550 people are asking for restitution for alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee — more than in any of the other U.S. dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection, according a lawyer involved in the Milwaukee case.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection last year, saying pending sex-abuse lawsuits could leave it with debts it couldn't afford.

The archdiocese has paid more than $30 million in settlements and other court costs related to alleged clergy abuse. More than a dozen sex abuse suits against it have been halted because of the bankruptcy proceedings. They include allegations against a priest accused of abusing some 200 boys at a suburban school for deaf students from 1950 to 1974.

UNITED KINGDOM
Blottr

The Catholic Church has come under fire yet again after another priest was accused of sexually abusing children.

Alexander Bede Walsh has denied the allegations put against him that from the years 1975 to 1994 Walsh committed 27 acts of sexual misconduct.

Walsh told the court that while he was working as a priest in the West Midlands, he did enjoy working with older children, but not for the sinister reasons that many have put against him. Instead, he said that he preferred working with teenagers "because of their honesty".

Walsh had been previously convicted of having downloaded indecent images of children which forced him to give up his position as a priest. He still lives, however, in ecclesiastical accommodation. The prosecutor used this information to his advantage, describing the defendant as a "predatory paedophile" who used his position in the church to make sexual advances on children.

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sentinel

CATHOLIC priest Alexander Bede Walsh claims accusations of sexual abuse have been made up against him so the alleged victims can claim compensation.

He took to the stand at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday to deny sexually abusing eight boys across the Midlands during a 20-year period.

The 58-year-old is on trial charged with 27 offences including indecency and indecent assault.

Yesterday, he told a jury that he can't remember two of the alleged victims and believes all eight, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have made it up in order to claim compensation.

CANADA
The Sun Times

By Scott Dunn

A retired Anglican priest who once served in the Kincardine area is facing sex-related charges from the 1980s, allegedly solely involving male victims, including a boy.

George Ferris, 64, of Cambridge retired as priest at St. James Anglican Church in Paris, Ont.

He faces two sets of charges, all related to events alleged to have taken place in Brant County, OPP Const. Larry Plummer said in an interview Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Church leaders called on parishioners Wednesday to pray for the soul of retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led them for more than 15 years but was also an uncharged central figure in a child sex-abuse case that involves the alleged shuffling of predator priests.

Bevilacqua, who was 88, died in his sleep at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, according to archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Farrell. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput encouraged all Catholics to "join me in praying for the repose of his soul."

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

[with poll]

Long before his death Tuesday night, even an ailing Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua must have foreseen that one harsh epitaph for him already had been carved in stone.

The words were composed in 2005 by a Philadelphia grand jury investigating the sex-abuse scandal that exposed five dozen alleged predator priests — many of them active during Bevilacqua’s 15-year stewardship of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Archdiocesan officials, including Bevilacqua and his predecessor, Cardinal John Krol, stood by and then covered up hundreds of child-sexual assaults by priests, the jury alleged.

While lamenting that statutes had lapsed for the crimes, the panel said church officials’ actions in remaining silent while accused priests were shuttled around to unsuspecting parishes was “as immoral as the abuse itself” and that there was no doubt the cardinals “were personally informed of almost all of the allegations … and personally decided or approved” a cover-up.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Nancy Phillips
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A savvy move by prosecutors could mean that the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua will speak from beyond the grave at the forthcoming criminal trial of three priests accused of endangering or abusing children, legal experts said Wednesday.

Bevilacqua, who died Tuesday at age 88, testified on videotape late last year about the church's handling of sex abuse allegations against priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese during his 15-year-tenure as its leader.

The tape of the cardinal answering questions from prosecutors and defense lawyers may now be admitted at trial, experts say.

"It comes in," said James A. Cohen, a professor at Fordham law school and a former defense lawyer. Preserving Bevilacqua's testimony on tape should enable jurors to hear from him in his absence, he said.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

MILWAUKEE -- A crucial deadline passed late Wednesday afternoon for the victims of a clergy sex abuse case to file their claims.

There are more than 500 claims.

One survivor said he's increasingly frustrated with the Catholic Church after suffering years of abuse.

"He attacked me once in the sacristy after a mass," Catholic Church sex abuse victim Mark Salmon said.

For Salmon, the deadline for survivors to file claims is just the latest chapter in a battle he's fought for nearly 50 years.

COLORADO
Patch

By Julie Brown Patton

A Catholic priest who served a parish in Wildwood 10 years ago has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of sexual abuse of a minor at his current parish in Colorado, church authorities announced.

Fr. Charles Robert Manning served the St. Alban Roe Catholic Church in Wildwood but left in 2001. Since 2007, he has been serving the St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church parish in Colorado Springs, CO—until a week ago when parishioners were told at a Saturday Mass by Rev. Rafael Torres-Rico that allegations of sexual assault on a minor have been brought against Manning.

To read the Manning-related press release from the Diocese of Colorado Springs, click here. The allegation was received Jan. 4.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Just Awful: Hours Before Cardinal Bevilacqua Passed Away, SNAP’s Clohessy Suggested the Cleric May Be Faking His Illnesses

Less than 36 hours before Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua passed away from lengthy battles with cancer and dementia (he was 88 years old), David Clohessy, the national president of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), suggested that the former archbishop of Philadelphia was faking his illnesses.

On Monday afternoon (1/30/12), Clohessy issued a media statement saluting Philadelphia Judge M. Teresa Sarmina for ruling that the frail and ailing cleric was "competent" to appear and testify at the upcoming clergy abuse trials in March. (More on that here.)

Clohessy wrote:

"We are grateful this judge is standing by her conviction that Bevilacqua will have to testify. For far too long, too many Catholic officials have feigned illnesses and memory lapses' (sic) to avoid facing tough questions, in open court, under oath, about their role …"

Good grief. This is truly awful, even by SNAP standards.

Indeed, we must demand justice and compassion for victims of clergy abuse. This is not optional.

NEDERLAND
Tweede Kamer der Staten-General

video

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the death of Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua and news reports on his passing:

I had many opportunities to be in the company of Cardinal Bevilacqua, and each time I found him to be a bright, amiable and committed son of the Catholic Church. His sense of humor was infectious.

Much of today’s commentaries about Cardinal Bevilacqua are unfair. Let’s begin with the Catholic News Service. Never once in the article, “Cardinal Bevilacqua, Retired Philadelphia Archbishop, Dies at Age 88,” does it mention that he was never indicted for any alleged infraction. Oh, they tried.

In 2005, the local District Attorney, Lynne Abraham, smeared Bevilacqua in public with a grand jury report, but came up empty: she knew from the get-go that nothing could be done because of this “civil liberties technicality” called the statute of limitations. Moreover, in the grand jury report of 2001, it said that the grand jury was charged with investigating “the sexual abuse of minors by individuals associated with religious organizations and denominations.” But Abraham ignored this charge and focused exclusively on the Catholic Church. I wrote to her on March 31, 2011 asking her to explain which “religious organizations and denominations” she investigated besides the Roman Catholic Church. She refused to respond.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Register

by JOSEPH PRONECHEN
02/01/2012

PHILADELPHIA — Bells tolled from St. Martin’s Chapel on the campus of Philadelphia’s St. Charles Borromeo Seminary last night, announcing the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. The 88-year-old cardinal died in his sleep in his apartment at the seminary.

With the death of Cardinal Bevilacqua, who was the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, the Church in the United States lost its second cardinal in less than two months. Cardinal John Foley died Dec. 11 in the archdiocese’s home for retired priests.

Cardinal Bevilacqua, who fought cancer and dementia recently, led his flock of 1.5 million members from 1988 until he retired in 2003.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia today announced services for Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in his sleep Tuesday night at the age of 88.

Following a private viewing at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood on Monday, Feb. 6, Archbishop Charles Chaput will receive Bevilacqua's body at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul about 5:30 p.m.

A public viewing follows at the Cathedral Basilica from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. There will be an additional public viewing on Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A Mass for Cardinal Bevilacqua will begin at 2 p.m. followed by the Rite of Committal in the Cathedral Crypt (located below the main altar).

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sentinel

A PRIEST accused of sexually abusing eight boys worked in churches across North Staffordshire, it has been revealed.

Alexander Bede Walsh is currently on trial charged with 27 offences including indecency and indecent assault.

The trial has already heard that he was respected and trusted by his parishioners during the 14 years he worked in Cheadle.

Yesterday, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court was told he also spent time in Newcastle and Burslem.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal

By PETER LOFTUS

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, the former leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia who faced criticism for his handling of allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests, died Tuesday at the age of 88, the diocese said.

Cardinal Bevilacqua's death came a day after a state judge reaffirmed he was legally competent to testify as a witness in a criminal trial of three priests charged in connection with alleged abuse of children during his tenure as archbishop from 1988 to 2003. Defense attorneys for the priests had argued Cardinal Bevilacqua wasn't competent to testify because he was senile. He provided videotaped testimony in November that may be played at the trial, scheduled to start later this month. Cardinal Bevliacqua wasn't charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the abuse allegations.

A spokesman for the archdiocese didn't provide a cause of death. According to a 2011 court document, Cardinal Bevilacqua's lawyer said he suffered from dementia and cancer. The diocese said in a statement that he died in his sleep at the Philadelphia seminary where he lived.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New Civil Rights Movement

God Hates Fags To Picket Funeral Of Philadelphia Cardinal Who Died Amid Pedophile Priests Trials

by David Badash on February 1, 2012

God Hates Fags announced today they will picket the funeral of Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died yesterday, amid several cases of priests on trial for pedophile rape, sex abuse, and molestation. Bevilacqua, 88, was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1988 to 2003, and was deemed fit to stand trial and deliver testimony prior to his death. Bevilacqua was accused of ignoring the pedophile priest scandal that occurred on his watch.

“Bevilacqua, known for his regular press-the-flesh visits to all 302 parishes in the archdiocese and for his strong stands against racism and anti-Semitism, was also sharply critical of homosexuals and refused for several years to close Catholic churches and schools to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday,” the L.A. Times reported, adding:

Bevilacqua’s tenure was marred by clergy sexual-abuse revelations that rocked the Philadelphia archdiocese in 2002, as the scandal was erupting nationwide and in Europe.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 1, 2012

More than 500 people have filed sex abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy in advance of today’s 4 p.m. deadline. It is the largest number of claims among the eight Catholic dioceses to seek bankruptcy protection since 2004 in response to sex abuse allegations, and on par with a Jesuit bankruptcy that covered five states.

Victims and their attorneys called the numbers staggering and just the tip of the iceberg, noting that statistically only a small percentage of sex abuse victims come forward.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said the church had cast a wide net for victims in compliance with the court's instructions, and had no expectations regarding the numbers that would come in. He reiterated Archbishop Jerome Listecki’s assertion that it would seek to bar all claims it is not obligated to cover under bankruptcy law, regardless of whether the abuse occurred.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua served as head of the Philadelphia archdiocese for more than 15 years, retiring in 2003.

He was an active and visible leader of the regions 1.5 million Catholics, taking on the tough task of closing dozens of shrinking parishes and parochial schools.

Bevilacqua also campaigned hard for the canonization of Mother Katherine Drexel. Those efforts were rewarded when Pope John Paul the Second recognized her in 2000.

He was known as a social conservative who took traditional views on contraception, abortion and gay rights, and he took on the thankless task of closing parishes and schools that were under-used in the diocese. Though he was active in visiting parishes and spoke out on the need to help the poor, National Catholic reporter Michael Winters says he'll be remembered mostly for the child sex abuse scandal that engulfed the church.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 88. Cardinal Bevilacqua died in his sleep at 9:15 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he had resided since his retirement. Cardinal Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from February 11, 1988 to October 7, 2003. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on June 28, 1991.

"I was greatly saddened to learn of the death of my predecessor Cardinal Bevilacqua," said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. of Philadelphia. "I encourage all Catholics in the Archdiocese to join me in praying for the repose of his soul and that God will comfort his family as they mourn his loss. Cardinal Bevilacqua has been called home by God; a servant of the Lord who loved Jesus Christ and His people."

As the leader of the Archdiocese for 15 years, Cardinal Bevilacqua initiated a renewal process called Catholic Faith and Life 2000 to bring non-practicing Catholics back to the Church. The renewal process culminated on October 22, 2000 with 40,000 Catholics participating in a candlelight procession on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Cardinal Bevilacqua also reached out to Catholics in the Archdiocese through a weekly live call-in radio program and a monthly bulletin titled, "Voice of Your Shepherd." He regularly made pastoral visits to parishes, schools, nursing homes and other institutions throughout the Archdiocese and to people of all faiths through his visits to hospitals and prisons as well as ecumenical and interreligious outreach.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Religion Dispatches

Post by Anthea Butler

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died last night at the age of 88, just one day after being approved as legally competent to testify in the upcoming sex abuse trial of the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

The trial of Monsignor William Lynn is expected to commence at the end of March 2012, and the case promises to be an explosive one. Prosecutors and the Philadelphia DA want to set a precedent for showing how the archdiocese instructed Monsignor Lynn to move priests from church to church in the hopes that the sexual abuse of children that had been committed in the archdiocese would not be discovered.

The Cardinal, whom church officials said suffered from dementia, was deposed for the upcoming trial in November of 2011. Monsignor Lynn worked under Bevilacqua, and would have taken his orders from the Cardinal concerning abusive priests.

UNITED STATES
The Huffington Post

Rev. Debra Haffner

When I went to seminary, I was surprised to discover how little information there was about sexuality in my courses, and that preparation for dealing with congregants' sexuality issues was mostly absent. A decade later, the Religious Institute's study, "Sex and the Seminary," found that few of even the most progressive seminaries covered sexuality issues comprehensively, and just one required a course on sexuality issues for graduation. In 2009, the Religious Institute reported that only 10 seminaries met at least two thirds of the criteria for a sexually healthy and responsible institution. This left the majority of future clergy unprepared to minister to their congregants on a broad range of sexuality issues, including marital counseling, incest, domestic violence, teen pregnancy and so on.

Today, I am proud to report that the landscape at U.S. seminaries, divinity and rabbinical schools is shifting toward increased sexuality education. Twenty seminaries now meet a majority of the criteria for a sexually healthy and responsible seminary, or twice what we found in 2009. During the past three years, the Religious Institute has partnered with these seminaries to ensure that tomorrow's clergy are prepared to minister to their congregants, and to be effective advocates for sexual health and justice. These 20 seminaries now provide coursework on sexuality, policies that support sexual health, a commitment to an environment safe from harassment and abuse and leadership that is committed to activism on sexuality issues. We have designated these 20 institutions as Sexually Healthy and Responsible Seminaries.

The 20 seminaries represent nine denominational schools, plus several interdenominational and nondenominational schools in 12 states.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Los Angeles Times

February 1, 2012

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, the former head of the Philadelphia archdiocese who was accused during his 15-year tenure of ignoring sexual abuse of children by hundreds of priests, has died. The diocese announced that Bevilacqua, 88, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at a seminary in a Philadelphia suburb.

Bevilacqua, known for his regular press-the-flesh visits to all 302 parishes in the archdiocese and for his strong stands against racism and anti-Semitism, was also sharply critical of homosexuals and refused for several years to close Catholic churches and schools to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

In a statement Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI praised Bevilacqua’s "longstanding commitment to social justice and pastoral care of immigrants and his expert contribution of the revision of the church’s law in the years following the Second Vatican Council."

UNITED KINGDOM
Grantham Journal

Published on Wednesday 1 February 2012

A priest has told a court he never sexually abused or inappropriately touched young boys while he was working at Roman Catholic establishments in the West Midlands.

Alexander Bede Walsh is accused of abusing eight youngsters in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry between 1975 and 1994.

Jurors at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that Walsh, of Abbots Bromley denies a total of 27 offences of indecency, buggery and indecent assault. Giving evidence to the court, the 58-year-old said he enjoyed being around children but not because of any sexual motives.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS News

(CBS) PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Archdiocese confirms that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, retired archbishop of Philadelphia, has died, with sex abuse trials looming for members of his clergy.

CBS Philly reports that toward the end of Bevilacqua's tour of duty, a Philadelphia grand jury cited him and his predecessor for allowing dozens of predator priests to continue on the job.

Upon his retirement and the fallout from the grand jury report, Cardinal Bevilacqua went into seclusion at the seminary and was rarely seen in public.

In recent months, however, he was compelled to testify on video in proceedings surrounding his former secretary of the clergy, and other priests accused of abuse. Earlier this week, a judge ruled Bevilacqua was still competent to testify in person at their upcoming trials

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com

1:53 p.m. EST, February 1, 2012
WATERBURY —
A former altar boy suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford for abuse by a priest presented psychological evidence in court Wednesday showing that he faces a lifetime of emotional disability because of the abuse.

Clinical psychologist David Johnson of New Haven testified that the victim, known in legal papers as Jacob Doe, suffers from chronic moderatepost-traumatic stress disorder and chronic moderate depression.

The collective effect of the two disabilities — in particular diminished powers of concentration and detachment and estrangement from others — has left Doe with a 10 percent occupational disability, Johnson said.

Doe, a consultant who investigates fires and explosions, claims in his suit that Father Ivan Ferguson sexually abused him repeatedly in the early 1980s when Doe was a student at the diocese-run St. Mary's grammar school in Derby. In his cross-examination of Johnson, church lawyer Joseph Sitarz suggested by his questions that Doe did not try to avoid Ferguson after the first abusive encounter in a church rectory in Derby when Doe was 13.

MAINE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on February 01, 2012

In a new ruling, Maine’s highest court is letting a child sex abuse victim expose a predator priest in the court. The case involves Fr. Renald C. Hallee, who was found, just last year, working in a Boston-area Catholic church, despite the pending court case against him.

We applaud Christine Angell for her courage and persistence in seeking justice and exposing wrong-doing. If not for her brave and responsible actions, Fr. Hallee would still be working in a Catholic parish among unsuspecting families and perhaps still sexually assaulting kids.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Agency

By Benjamin Mann

Philadelphia, Pa., Feb 1, 2012 / 01:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has offered his condolences to Philadelphia Catholics following the loss of their former archbishop Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, who died on the evening of Jan. 31 at the age of 88.

In a telegram to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, the Pope said he joined the faithful of the archdiocese “in commending the late cardinal's soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ's flock in Philadelphia.”

Cardinal Bevilacqua, who led the archdiocese from 1988 to 2003, died in his sleep at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. He was suffering from cancer and dementia at the time of his death.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

February 1, 2012, by Cary Docter and Ben Handelman

MILWAUKEE — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee expects more than 500 claims from survivors of alleged priest sexual abuse will be filed as part of a bankruptcy court order. Survivors have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to file a claim for the abuse they suffered.

On July 14, 2011, a bankruptcy court entered an order that requires sexual abuse survivors to file a claim no later than February 1, 2012. This deadline is called a “bar date” because it means that people who come forward after that date may be “barred” from ever filing a claim against the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

By getting a bar date, the Archdiocese is able to limit who can sue it after the bar date. In most circumstances, abuse survivors will not be able to sue the Archdiocese if they fail to file a claim with the bankruptcy court before February 1st.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Blatant Injustice in Philadelphia: Trial Judge Declares Abuse in Catholic Church 'Widespread,' Said Bevilacqua Was 'Competent' For Questioning

Dave Pierre

Have justice and fair treatment gone out the window in the upcoming Catholic clergy abuse trials in Philadelphia? It sure looks like it.

1. In a truly astonishing betrayal of impartiality and discernment, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina sat in an open courtroom yesterday (1/31/12) and declared in front of Catholic priests and their defenders:

"Anybody that doesn't think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet."

Wow. This is from the woman who is supposed to assure that a fair trial is conducted. One cannot help but conclude that a fair trial is nearly impossible with such a prejudiced and ill-informed judge on the bench.

Sarmina’s comment is not only incredibly biased, but demonstrably false. In all of 2010, there were eight credible accusations against Catholic clergy for contemporaneous abuse of a minor. In 2009, the number was six. (See the 2010 CARA Report. Pardon the self-promotion, but I have operated a web site and authored two books explicitly to try to dispel myths such as those aired by Sarmina.)

WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

Documents from the Brooklyn diocese and the Philadelphia archdiocese, showing Bevilacqua's methods in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Camden, and St. Louis.

NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

A hearing is to be held to determine if a Roman Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse offences will stand trial.

Father Eugene Boland is accused of four charges of indecently assaulting a young girl between June 1990 and 1992.

The priest, who has served in parishes in Donegal, Londonderry and Tyrone, was ministering in Derry at the time of the alleged offences.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Associated Press

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI expressed "sadness" and sent condolences to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Wednesday over the death of retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the archdiocese for more than 15 years.

Bevilacqua, who was 88, died in his sleep at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, according to archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Farrell. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

"I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and to all the faithful of the archdiocese, the pope wrote in a telegram to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput. "I join you in commending the late cardinal's soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ's flock in Philadelphia, his longstanding commitment to social justice and the pastoral care of immigrants, and his expert contribution to the revision of the Church's law in the years following Vatican Council II."

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years, died last night aged 88.

Bevilacqua died in his sleep at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Farrell said.

He had been battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer.

He served as the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

It is open season on the "moles" who disclosed confidential documents. But behind the scenes there is a no-holds-barred fight between different factions

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

It is open season on the Vatican moles who released (and continue to release) confidential letters and documents, one week after the explosive episode of "The Untouchables", an Italian investigative journalism program, conducted by Gianluigi Nuzzi, which was aired on Italian television channel LA7. Last Wednesday, the video revealed some confidential letters sent by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò (currently Nuncio to the U.S. and previously Secretary of the Vatican Governatorate) to the Pope and to Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone. The letters contain weighty revelations against some clergy and laity in the Holy See, who had been accused of stealing, and against some laypeople in Bertone's entourage.

The poisonous atmosphere has intensified over the last few days following new developments: in the Italian daily Il Giornale, Mgr. Viganò was strongly disparaged for a legal dispute with family members over the management of an enormous family wealth (€30 million) which he shares with a brother priest. The prelate wanted the brother to be declared incapable of managing said wealth, because he had allegedly been manipulated by a sister. A year ago, Il Giornale published a series of anonymous articles praising the current Secretary of State, calling him "admiral" of the "fleet of Benedict XVI," with words that were so excessively laudatory as to be embarrassing to him. The same anonymous author also wrote and published articles against Mgr. Viganò in the same paper, predicting his expulsion and calling attention to his nepotism (the prelate had indeed called for his nephew, a priest, to take up a post in the Secretariat of State). Last Saturday, the same newspaper again attacked the former Secretary of the Governatorate with an anonymous article (along with one mentioned above on Viganò's family problems) in which the prelate was accused of being behind the leaking of the letters to the media in the United States, presenting him as having betrayed the Pope.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Will Cardinal Bevilaqua’s death (see related story) affect the ongoing priest-abuse case? Not much, says one legal expert who is very familiar with the case.

There is now a gag order imposed on all parties in the case (related story), so neither the prosecution nor defense can make statements in reaction to Bevilacqua’s death.

Bevilaqua underwent a deposition in November, and a judge this week overruled defense claims that he was not a competent witness (another related story).

Charles Peruto Jr., the former counsel for one of the accused priests and a longtime defense attorney, says Bevilaqua’s death changes nothing.

FAIRFIELD (CT)
The Mirror

Posted by Martin OSullivan

It’s been over 13 months since his almost 20 year sentence was issued, yet the effects of Fairfield University alumnus Doug Perlitz’s actions are still being felt by many.

Seventeen Haitian men have recently brought lawsuits against Fairfield University, the Society of Jesuits and various other figures tied to Perlitz, according to the Associated Press. The lawsuits allege that these organizations and figures failed in their duty to protect these men from Perlitz years ago despite numerous warning signs.

The lawsuit seeks $20 million for each of the seventeen victims. These proceedings increase the alleged number of boys abused by Perlitz to 21.

So how exactly is Fairfield University tied in this time around? The cases assert that in addition to raising over $600,000 for Perlitz’s non-for-profit organization Project Pierre Toussant, the university is responsible for hiring Perlitz and neglecting to adequately monitor his actions in relation to the school in Haiti.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic League

The presiding judge in the trial of two Catholic priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia expressed dissatisfaction yesterday with the following question for prospective jurors: “Do you believe child sex abuse is a widespread problem in the Catholic Church?” Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said, “Anybody that doesn’t think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds as follows:

Judge Sarmina should step down immediately. Her remark, whether based on ignorance or bias, demonstrates her inability to preside over any trial concerning allegations of priestly sexual abuse.

Judge Sarmina’s use of the present tense shows she is unfit to rule. Between 2005 and 2010, the average number of new credible allegations made against over 40,000 priests in the United States was 8.3. How does this compare to other religions? Well, in one borough of New York City, Brooklyn, there have been 85 arrests of Orthodox Jews in the last two years (most of whom are rabbis) for sexually molesting minors. So who has the problem today, Judge Sarmina? Perhaps she should acquaint herself with what is going on in the public schools: as the AP reported in a major investigation in 2007, sexual abuse is rampant.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
BishopAccountability.org

Assessments of the Philadelphia Grand Juries in 2003, 2005, and 2011

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died on January 31, 2012, shortly before the scheduled trial of his senior manager, Msgr. William Lynn. Below we provide excerpts from the assessments of Cardinal Bevilacqua from the Philadelphia Grand Jury Reports in 2003, 2005, and 2011.

Over the past two decades, Msgr. Lynn has put literally thousands of children at risk of sexual abuse by placing them in the care of known child molesters. We believe that legal accountability for Msgr. Lynn’s unconscionable behavior is long overdue, and that he should be prosecuted for endangering the welfare of the victims in these cases.

We would like to hold Cardinal Bevilacqua accountable as well. The Grand Jurors have no doubt that his knowing and deliberate actions during his tenure as Archbishop also endangered thousands of children in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Msgr. Lynn was carrying out the Cardinal’s policies exactly as the Cardinal directed. In most of the cases we reviewed from the previous grand jury report, Cardinal Bevilacqua knew substantially everything that Msgr. Lynn knew about the danger posed by the accused priests.
Philadelphia Grand Jury Report 2011, p. 115

We find that Cardinal Bevilacqua, Monsignor Lynn and other Archdiocesan managers most directly put children at risk when they knowingly permitted priests whom they knew, or were substantially certain, had sexually abused children to have continuing access to children. In summary, we find that the Archdiocesan protocols for investigating abuse, for diagnosing and treating sexually abusive priests and for returning sexually abusive priests to ministry, policies Cardinal Bevilacqua either established or continued, jeopardized the safety of children.
Philadelphia Grand Jury Report 2003, p. 6

CALIFORNIA
California Catholic Daily

Incoming Fresno Bishop Armando Ochoa has been sued by five parishioners from an El Paso, Texas, parish who say the bishop converted funds they donated specifically for construction of a chapel for the traditional Latin Mass to other uses -- and they want their money back.

A Mass of Installation for Bishop Ochoa is scheduled tomorrow in Fresno. Pope Benedict XVI named him as the new Fresno bishop on Dec. 1. Before leaving El Paso, where he had been bishop since 1996, Bishop Ochoa took the extraordinary step of suing one of his priests, Fr. Michael Rodriguez. The bishop’s lawsuit alleges that Fr. Rodriguez, a problematic and outspoken priest, committed financial irregularities and violations of diocesan policy on the handling of parish funds.

The parishioners’ lawsuit, announced in a Jan. 30 press release, is the latest development in the ongoing legal battle. The five parishioners say that more than six weeks ago they asked for a meeting with Bishop Ochoa “to resolve this situation in private and in a spirit of Christian charity,” but never received a response from the chancery.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

Published on Wednesday 1 February 2012

A preliminary investigation hearing is to take place at Magherafelt Magistrate’s Court in Co. Derry next month to determine if there is enough evidence to prosecute a priest who is charged with a number of child sex abuse offences.

Fr. Eugene Boland (65) faces four charges of indecently assaulting a female child. He’s alleged to have committed the four offences between June 28, 1990 and June 30, 1992, while he was ministering in a parish in Derry.

Fr. Boland, whose address was given as the Parochial House, Killyclogher Road in Omagh, stepped down as parish priest of Killyclogher last year when a child welfare investigation started.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Staff Report

The faithful flowed in at 7:15 a.m. as they do each day for daily Mass at Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City.

The death of Cardinal Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, was news to some this morning.

One woman clutched her chest upon hearing the news. "I'm really surprised," she said as she hurried into the side chapel where mass was held.

Msgr. Arthur E. Rodgers asked the 20 people in attendance to remember and pray for Bevilacqua.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

By Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, retired archbishop of Philadelphia, died Jan. 31 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he resided.

According to the Philadelphia Archdiocese, he died in his sleep at 9:15 p.m. He was 88.

Cardinal Bevilacqua headed the archdiocese from February 1988 to October 2003. Funeral arrangements were pending. ...

Just a day before his death a Philadelphia judge ruled that Cardinal Bevilacqua, who suffered from dementia, was competent and could be become a witness in the upcoming trial of a Philadelphia priest, Msgr. William J. Lynn. The priest is accused of having failed to protect children from two priests who were under his direction when he served as secretary of the clergy.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Associated Press

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years but became a central figure in a child sex-abuse case involving the alleged shuffling of predator priests to unwitting parishes, has died. He was 88.

Bevilacqua died in his sleep Tuesday night at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, an archdiocese spokeswoman said. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

Bevilacqua, trained as civil and canon lawyer, was sharply criticized but never charged by two grand juries investigating child sex abuse complaints lodged against dozens of priests in the archdiocese. His death comes just days after lawyers battled in court over his competency as a potential witness in the upcoming trial of a longtime aide.

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former Catholic priest has denied sexually abusing young boys over a 20-year period.

Alexander Bede Walsh, 58, is accused of abusing eight youngsters in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry from 1975 to 1994.

Mr Walsh, of Church Lane in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court he had never inappropriately touched children.

He pleaded not guilty to a total of 27 offences.

CHILE
La Discusion

Abrió ayer el diario La Segunda, y sus ojos se llenaron de lágrimas. Lo mismo que durante años guardó y después, ya adulta, compartió y la justicia no quiso escuchar, esta vez era un hecho que la Iglesia Católica certificaba: el ex sacerdote diocesano Jorge Baeza Ramírez ocupaba el segundo lugar en el listado oficial de los presbíteros sentenciados por la justicia canónica por abusos a menores, documento inédito que contempla los dieciocho casos sancionados por la justicia penal o canónica, el cual había sido anunciado en abril pasado, en el marco del recién creado Consejo nacional para la prevención de abusos contra menores.

“Cuando vimos la lista publicada, nos alegramos mucho. Por primera vez la Iglesia reconoce que Jorge Baeza cometió abusos mientras fue sacerdote en Chillán, a pesar que la justicia no fue capaz de condenarlo. Este paso es muy importante, pues deja muy en claro que nosotros en ningún momento mentimos. Siempre dijimos la verdad, y eso le debe doler a mucha gente”, dijo ayer a LA DISCUSIÓN una de las víctimas del ex presbítero, de quien poco se ha sabido el último tiempo.

CHILE
Revista NOS

Escrito por Sonnia Mendoza en febrero de 2010

En Argentina se hallaría el ex cura Jorge Baeza Ramírez, quien hizo de las suyas entre familias acomodadas de Chillán. Se libró del delito de estupro en 2009, pero no de la paliza de un padre ofendido. Sus víctimas, una madre y sus hijas, no dan tregua. Lo rastrean a diario para poner sobre aviso a quienes se les acerque.

Hay rabia, dolor y desencanto en Carolina, Claudia, Consuelo y Andrea, pero siguen bregando por justicia. Sus testimonios por desenmascarar al abusador sexual que se escondía tras las sotanas del cura top en Chillán, Jorge Baeza Ramírez, ha ido quedando en nada. Y aunque lograron llevarlo a un tribunal de Los Ángeles por estupro en 2009, la prescripción del delito terminó por imponerse.

CANADA
CBC News

The son of a former Baptist church volunteer accused of sexually abusing young boys says his family is standing behind the man.

Police allege Russell Rodman, 58, assaulted three boys while he was volunteering at churches in Calgary in the '80s and '90s. (CBC)Police allege Russell Louis Rodman, 58, assaulted three boys while he was volunteering at churches in Calgary in the '80s and '90s.

His son, Greg, a pastor, told CBC News his father recently confided in him and another man that he was struggling with a desire for young boys.

Greg Rodman said he and the other man, family friend Joel Gordon, convinced his father to go to police.

CANADA
Calgary Herald

By Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald
February 1, 2012

A former Calgary church volunteer who came forward to police has been charged with sexually assaulting boys in the 1980s and 1990s.

Russell Louis Rodman, 58, who now lives in High River, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count each of gross indecency, indecent exposure to a person under 14 and sexual contact with youth by a person in authority.

A publication ban protects the names of churches and victims, however the Herald has learned that Rodman resigned as deacon and treasurer at Bridgeland Baptist Fellowship Church late last summer.

There are no charges stemming from that church, which he joined in the mid-1990s.

CANADA
CTV

Updated: Wed Feb. 01 2012

A former Calgary church volunteer has been arrested and charged with molesting teenage boys in incidents dating back as far as 1981.

Police laid charges against 58 year old Russell Rodman on Tuesday and his son said the charges are only the latest step in a difficult process.

"He came to me actually and told me this was what was going on and he needed help," said Greg Rodman.

Rodman's family and church then urged him to turn himself in to police.

CALIFORNIA
PRWeb

Newport Beach, CA (PRWEB) January 31, 2012

Pursuant to a conciliation agreement reached between victim Anthony Almeida, the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Los Angeles City Fire Department will pay Mr. Almeida $494,150.00 and implement widespread anti-harassment training and updated policies and procedures to settle his sexual and religious harassment claim, which was determined by the EEOC to be founded. Anthony Almeida, a firefighter/engineer employed since 1986, was represented by John C. Manly, Esq., and Vince W. Finaldi, Esq., of the Manly & Stewart Law Firm, in Newport Beach, California in Anthony Almeida v. Los Angeles Fire Department (Case Numbers 480 2007 03679 and 480 2008 04019).

The victim, Mr. Almeida, alleged that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters at his station who employed deeply offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature. An EEOC investigation uncovered that the harassment, which began in late 2006, appeared linked to a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Church by Almeida (Case Number JCCP 5224) regarding sexual abuse he suffered by a priest. One coworker learned that Almeida had filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church over the abuse, and several coworkers mocked him for that, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets.

Although Almeida complained about the harassment to management officials, the EEOC investigation found that the Fire Department failed to adequately halt or address it. Further, the investigation found that Almeida had suffered retaliatory discipline for his participation in another equal employment opportunity investigation.

Harassment of a sexual or religious nature, along with retaliation, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following a determination by the EEOC that there was reasonable cause to believe a violation of law occurred, Mr. Almeida’s counsel represented him in a conciliation process with the Los Angeles City Fire Department and EEOC. The result was a three-year conciliation agreement with the EEOC and Almeida. The agreement effectively settles the case administratively, thereby avoiding litigation.

MISSOURI
Kansas City Business Journal

Rebecca Randles

Date added: February 1, 2012

Submission Type: Professional Recognition
Current employer: Randles Mata Brown LLC
Current title/position: Partner
Industry: Legal Services
Position department: Legal

Reason for being recognized:
Randles was honored last week by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as one of the state's most influential lawyers. She represents dozens of clergy sex abuse victims in western Missouri (including 20+ who sued just last year). In 1999 she tried "Bachmann v. Gummersbach," the only civil lawsuit against a pedophile priest that’s ever gone to trial in Missouri.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

By MARITA GREEN
Times Guest Columnist

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has announced that it is going to close 45 grade schools and four high schools. Delaware County has already lost grade schools and will lose two more high schools next September. It has already started the “planning” to close a number of parishes, the total number of which it has not revealed. In the northwest section of Philadelphia five of the nine parishes are on the contemplated closure list.

We are told that the goal is to save “up to $10 million.” To do this, the archdiocese is apparently willing to shut down high schools cold turkey, without letting classes stay together until they graduate – a bad way to treat young people in their vital formative years. Also, they have apparently lost interest in the mission to underprivileged kids who thrive in the Catholic schools.

The elephant in the living room here is the magnitude of the assets of the archdiocese. What fraction of the total net worth is this $10 million? If the people of the archdiocese who put up the money in the first place could see the true balance sheet that would list all assets, including those listed in names other than the archdiocese, they would have a basis on which to judge this issue.

The problem is that this balance sheet is a closely guarded secret. The people are expected to take on blind faith the word of the archdiocese that it cannot afford to keep the schools and parishes open. After the repeated deceptions over the past decade about priests who molested children, how much blind faith is left?

NEDERLAND
Metro

De Tweede Kamer ondersteunt het pleidooi van de commissie-Samsom voor het instellen van één meldpunt waar slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik terecht kunnen. Voor een aanvullend parlementair onderzoek ontbreekt vooralsnog een meerderheid, bleek dinsdag tijdens het debat over het seksuele misbruik in de kerk.

Een meerderheid van PvdA, SP, PVV, VVD, CDA en GL steunt het voorstel van Rieke Samson voor een onafhankelijk meldpunt. Zij onderzoekt het misbruik van kinderen in overheidsinstellingen en pleitte zondag voor een meldpunt met een lage drempel en deskundige bezetting.

NEDERLAND
Dagblad Noorden

DEN HAAG - De Amsterdamse burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan wordt voorzitter van de werkgroep tegen kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik.

UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Independent

Wednesday February 01 2012

A PRIEST has told a court he never sexually abused or inappropriately touched young boys while he was working at Roman Catholic establishments.

Alexander Bede Walsh is accused of abusing eight youngsters in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry between 1975 and 1994.

Jurors at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that Walsh, denies a total of 27 offences of indecency, buggery and indecent assault.

Giving evidence to the court today, the 58-year-old said he enjoyed being around children but not because of any sexual motives.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 1 FEB 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a telegram to Archbishop Charles Chaput O.F.M. Cap. of Philadelphia, U.S.A., for the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, former archbishop of that archdiocese who died yesterday at the age of 88. The Holy Father writes:

"Having learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and to all the faithful of the archdiocese. I join you in commending the late cardinal's soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ's flock in Philadelphia, his longstanding commitment to social justice and the pastoral care of immigrants, and his expert contribution to the revision of the Church's law in the years following Vatican Council II. To you, and to all the clergy, religious and laity of the Church in Philadelphia, and to the members of his family, I cordially impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ".

MILWAUKEE (WI)
TMJ4

By Jay Sorgi

MILWAUKEE - Wednesday has been set as the final day people can file sex abuse claims against the Milwaukee Archdiocese in its bankruptcy case.

People had until 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to file an abuse claim against a Milwaukee Archdiocese clergy member, teacher, deacon, employee volunteer, or someone connected to the Archidocese of Milwaukee.

The claim would become part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing the Archidocese made last year.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

[with video]

MILWAUKEE -- Alleged victims of clergy abuse have until today to file a claim against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2011, and the courts set today as the deadline for any new claims to be filed.

The archdiocese will be in court in Feb. 9 as bankruptcy proceedings move forward.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki said at the time of the bankruptcy filing that nearly $29 million had been spend to address more than 200 claims over the past 20 years.

NEDERLAND
Reformatorisch Dagblad

DEN HAAG – Minister Opstelten (Veiligheid en Justitie) gaat de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk en de commissie-Deetman verzoeken het inmiddels afgeronde onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen alsnog uit te breiden.

Met de Tweede Kamer is hij van mening dat het gepast is om afzonderlijk in kaart te brengen hoe vrouwen en meisjes in rooms-katholieke instellingen, zoals jeugdinternaten, destijds door geestelijken bejegend zijn.

NEDERLAND
HartvanNederland

Volgens slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik werken bisschoppen misbruikzaken tegen. Slachtoffers zeggen dat de kerk alleen spijt betuigd met de mond en voelen zich nog steeds aan hun lot overgelaten.

NEDERLAND
Trouw

Karen Zandbergen − 01/02/12

Zelden krijgt een Kamerlid zo direct antwoord. "Heeft iemand die hier op de tribune zit iets aan een parlementair onderzoek?" vroeg CDA'er Madeleine van Toorenburg tijdens het eerste Kamerdebat over seksueel misbruik in instellingen van de katholieke kerk aan de afgereisde slachtoffers.

Het heldere 'ja' vanaf de publieke tribune ten spijt, zo'n onderzoek dat het werk van de commissie-Deetman moet aanvullen, lijkt er niet te komen. VVD, PVV, CDA en minister Opstelten van justitie voelen meer voor een verder onderzoek door Deetmans commissie zelf.

NEDERLAND
Oisterwijk

Op 31 januari 2012 debatteerde de Tweede Kamer over het eindrapport van de commissie-Deetman die onderzoek deed naar seksueel misbruik binnen de rooms-katholieke kerk. Nieuwsuur (NOS-NTR) besteedde aandacht aan het debat en toont een interview met een slachtoffer van misbruik in de Catharinenberg in Oisterwijk.

IRELAND
Garda Inspectorate

Foreword

Nothing is more important than protecting our children, yet nations throughout the world continue to struggle to do so effectively. Ireland is no different.

Inquiries in Ireland have resulted in shocking reports of child abuse – in particular, heinous
crimes of child sexual abuse. These reports have primarily focused on the response to incidents of abuse by State agencies and the Catholic Church in Ireland during the past several decades.

One such report, the Commission of Investigation – Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin July 2009, issued on 26 November, 2009, clearly indicates failings on the part of the Garda Síochána in certain historical child sexual abuse cases, including undue deference to the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.

As the result, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern, directed the Garda
Síochána Inspectorate to conduct a comprehensive review of police practices for handling these very sensitive and important cases to ensure that such impropriety on the part of the police could not occur today or in the future

IRELAND
RTE News

The Garda Inspectorate has published its report into the force's handling of allegations of child sexual abuse.

The report makes 19 recommendations including that a group of gardaí should be specially trained in how to take reports from those alleging child sexual abuse and only those gardaí should take statements from victims.

It stresses that there is no place for deferential treatment in modern Irish policing.

The report also says that every reported case of child abuse should be the subject of a formal risk assessment.

OHIO
WHIO

LEBANON, Ohio —

Authorities said a Sunday school teacher from a church in Lebanon is accused and has been charged with having sex with a teenage student.

Daniel Webster, of Loveland, 41, was charged with one count of sexual battery.

Police said Webster served as a teacher at Life Adventure Church. They also said he was a friend of the victim's family.

CANADA
The Expositor

By Michael Peeling, QMI Agency

Provincial police have laid a new set of historical sexual assault charges against a retired Anglican minister who formerly preached in Paris.

The Brant County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Investigation Unit charged Anglican Minister George Ferris, 64, of Cambridge, Ontario.

The sexual offences Ferris is charged with date back to the period from 1981 to 1988.

During the time of the alleged incidents, Ferris was a minister at an Anglican church in Paris.

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Mercury News

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—A federal agency says the Los Angeles Fire Department will pay nearly $500,000 to settle a firefighter's federal discrimination case.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday that the department also will implement anti-harassment training as part of the settlement.

The EEOC says Anthony Almeida filed a discrimination charge in 2007 alleging he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters who used offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature.

UNITED STATES
The Post-Standard

By The Post-Standard Editorial Board

The child sex-abuse scandals at Penn State, Syracuse University, in the Catholic Church and elsewhere suggest the sexual exploitation of children is a sign of these troubled times. But the appalling violation of childhood innocence has a long history — though finally it is being discussed openly.

The allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky go back 15 years. The accusers of Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine allege incidents dating back a quarter-century. Some cases against Catholic priests extend to the 1940s and ’50s.

Statistics suggest one in four girls and one in six boys face abuse by the time they reach 18. Onondaga County saw more than 5,000 hotline calls in 2010, representing more than 9,000 potential child abuse cases. (To report possible abuse, call 800-342-3720. You cannot get in trouble for making the call, authorities say; but if you don’t call, abuse could continue.)

NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

The Dutch parliament may start an official inquiry into sexual and violent abuse committed by members of the Roman Catholic Church.

Such an inquiry is the most far-reaching medium parliament has at its disposal. Only ten have been held since World War II.

Dutch opposition MPs are considering convening an inquiry because they feel the government is not doing enough. Granted, abuse in the church is being looked into by a number of groups. A commission set up by the church itself recently reported its findings, and another commission set up by the Health Ministry is still conducting investigations into abuse conducted at institutions overseen by the government. Yet another group is advising the church about paying compensation to victims.

CANADA
Calgary Sun

JENNA McMURRAY and DAMIEN WOOD, Calgary Sun

Sex charges have been filed against a former Calgarian and church volunteer following allegations involving three boys in the 1980s and ’90s.

Police launched an investigation in 2011 after word of the alleged incidents surfaced and the man turned himself in to Mounties, said Det. Stephen Johnston of the Calgary police child abuse unit, which took over the case.

“The allegations came to light within the (accused’s) church and from that point, that sparked the accused to make himself available to the RCMP,” he said.

MICHIGAN
WZZM

Written by
Chris Fleszar

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM)- A former West Michigan pastor accused of inappropriately touching a young boy will spend more time in jail.

Tedd Butler was initially charged with 1st Degree CSC but reached a plea deal. Under the lesser charge he will serve 365 days in jail with 51 days already served. Butler admitted to touching a young boy more than 20 years ago when he was youth pastor at the now disbanded Landmark Baptist Church in Algoma Township.

Last week Butler was sentenced to 12 months in jail in Ottawa County on charges of second degree criminal sexual conduct. The victim in that case was five years old when the abuse occurred.

SWAZILAND
Swazi Observer

By Starsky Mkhonta

WORSHIP services could not take place on Sunday at the church which has been divided by allegations of sexual abuse against its pastor.

The pastor has since been kicked out of the church, but for the second Sunday running, the service could not be held.

Police officers were in attendance to maintain order. The division in the church started when the alleged sex pest pastor was removed. At one time, a visiting pastor was prevented from taking to the pulpit to preach by a factor supporting the disgraced pastor.

LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News

Daily News Wire Services

The Los Angeles Fire Department will pay $494,150 and institute anti-harassment training to settle federal discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced Tuesday.

Anthony Almeida, a firefighter/engineer since 1986, filed an EEOC discrimination allegation in 2007, alleging that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters who used offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature, according to the EEOC.

An investigation found the harassment, which began in late 2006, appeared linked to a lawsuit filed against the Roman Catholic Church by Almeida, regarding sexual abuse he suffered by a priest.

After a co-worker learned that Almeida sued the church, several firefighters mocked him, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets, the EEOC said.

FORT WORTH (TX)
WFAA

[with video]

by MARCUS MOORE
WFAA

FORT WORTH — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth is facing another lawsuit over sexual abuse involving a priest.

The priest's accuser was once a student at Nolan Catholic High School.

The Diocese has already settled 22 lawsuits involving five different priests — paying out more than $8.4 million.

The latest case involves Father William Paiz, who had been a teacher at Nolan High in the 1980s.

FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

By Mitch Mitchell
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- A former student at Nolan Catholic High School who says he was abused by a priest who taught there filed suit Tuesday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and Bishop Kevin Vann.

The suit also names the Claretian Missionaries of the U.S. Western Province.

The suit states that the diocese, the order and Vann had prior knowledge of the sexual proclivities of Father William Paiz yet continued to assign him to positions of trust, such as religion instructor at Nolan.

The suit states that between 1983 and 1987, Paiz sexually assaulted the plaintiff at All Saints Catholic Church, St. George Catholic Church and other locations.

Tahira Khan Merritt, the attorney for the former student, who is now an adult, said she believes that Paiz is still affiliated with the Claretian Order and may continue to serve as a priest in another state. Paiz's status could not be confirmed Tuesday.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Michael Brennan

Wednesday February 01 2012

ARCHBISHOP Charles J Brown is the youngest Papal Nuncio to have been appointed here.

The 52-year-old is also the first whose first language is English -- most of his predecessors having been Italian speakers.

His appointment is being viewed with optimism by the Irish Catholic Church, which has been severely weakened by abuse scandals, falling Mass attendance and declining vocations.

But he has already made it clear that he wants to "help" the church here rather than impose a Vatican-inspired view upon it. He has stated clearly that it is the bishops of Ireland who are in control of the church in Ireland.

Open Democracy

Shareen Gokal, 1 February 2012

In a landmark effort to bring Vatican officials, including Pope Benedict XVI, to account for crimes against humanity - the widespread and systematic sexual violence perpetrated by the Catholic Church, a case has been filed with the International Criminal Court. Shareen Gokal reports

When Megan Peterson was 14, she was convinced her calling in life was to be a nun. Then, in 2004, she met Father Jeyapaul, a visiting priest from India, at her home parish in the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota. Having seen him first at a youth retreat, she only hesitated a little when he asked about the book she was reading and offered to lend her one of his own.

According to Megan, Father Jeyapaul offered her a seat in his office, turned around to get the book and unzipped his pants instead. And that he then proceeded to rape her - and raped her repeatedly for almost a year, threatening to hurt her and her family if she did not cooperate. Megan’s experience is emblematic of so many cases of clergy abuse from around the world-marked by violence, betrayal, and long-lasting harm.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued a short statement early Wednesday on the death of former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua:

"Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 88. Cardinal Bevilacqua died tonight at 9:15 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he resided, in his sleep. Cardinal Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from February 11, 1988 to October 7, 2003. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on June 28, 1991. Funeral arrangements are pending."

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Jeremy Roebuck
Inquirer Staff Writer

The judge in the trial of two Catholic priests and a former priest declared her belief Tuesday that sexual abuse was "widespread" in the Catholic Church.

Reviewing a list of questions to be asked of potential jurors, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina arrived at one that read "Do you believe child sex abuse is a widespread problem in the Catholic Church?" and hesitated.

"Anybody that doesn't think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet," she said, recommending the question be stricken from the list.

Jeffrey Lindy, part of a team of lawyers hired by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to represent one of the defendants, Msgr. William J. Lynn, responded: "I'm taken aback by that conclusion, frankly."

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Jim Remsen
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

This story was originally published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct. 5, 2003.

As Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua nears the end of his 15-year tenure as Philadelphia archbishop and moves into new quarters at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he also has moved into a reflective state of mind.

This was clear in an interview Monday that delved into the cardinal's faith life. The 80-year-old prelate spoke candidly about issues that he normally holds close: his religious devotions, his prayer strivings and struggles, his own mortality.

Sitting at archdiocesan headquarters, in the 12th-floor executive office nearly cleared of his belongings, Bevilacqua began by discussing his "theology of presence," by which he delegated many administrative tasks to free himself for pastoral visits to churches, schools, hospitals, prisons and the like - 2,330 visits over his tenure, according to an archdiocese tally.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY MORGAN ZALOT & PHILLIP LUCAS
Philadelphia Daily News
zalotm@phillynews.com 215-854-5928

CARDINAL ANTHONY Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 15 turbulent years, died in his sleep last night in his residence at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, the Archdiocese confirmed early today.

Bevilacqua, who retired in 2003, had suffered from cancer and dementia in recent years. He died at 9:15 p.m., according to Donna Farrell, Archdiocese spokeswoman.

Bevilacqua, a native of Brooklyn, was appointed archbishop of Philadelphia by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 8, 1987.

As archbishop, Bevilacqua was noted for his strict devotion to the Catholic faith and his visits to the more than 300 parishes in the Archdiocese's five counties. Under his tenure, Philadelphia native Mother Katherine Drexel became a saint in 2000.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
GlobalPost

The retired Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, has died ahead of a church sex abuse trial.

The church said that Bevilacqua, 88, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

He had been battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer.

Bevilacqua's 15 years "as shepherd of the 1.5 million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia was marked by both celebration and crisis," the Inquirer wrote.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Whispers in the Loggia

He was the ultimate man of the law. How bitter the irony, then, that his days would end under a cloud of court scrutiny.

At 9.15 tonight, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua -- Seventh Archbishop of Philadelphia, founder of the Catholic world's first diocesan ministry dedicated to the pastoral care of migrants, arguably the father of modern canon law in the United States -- died in his sleep at his apartment at the city's St Charles Borromeo Seminary. He was 88, and had been suffering from cancer and dementia over recent years.

Born in Brooklyn to Italian immigrants who would raise ten children, the future cardinal's grit, smarts and relentless work-ethic singled him out from an early age. Known as "Tough Tony" to his seminary students and "Bevy" among friends, his sense of discipline and prominent hatred of cheese often concealed a softer side, one that led him to night school in his 50s to study for a civil law degree in order to serve the needs of a new generation of migrants.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Wed Feb 1, 2012

(Reuters) - Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the retired Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia whose competence to testify in an upcoming church sex abuse trial was hotly debated in court, died in his sleep on Tuesday, the church said.

The cardinal, 88, led the Philadelphia archdiocese, the nation's sixth largest, from 1988 to 2003. Church spokeswoman Donna Farrell said Bevilacqua died at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, the traditional home for the leaders of the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he had lived since retirement.

Whether Bevilacqua was well enough to testify had become a pivotal issue in the sex abuse trial of three priests, one now defrocked, and a former archdiocese school teacher. Another church official, Monsignor William Lynn, faces charges of child endangerment but is not accused of abuse.

A jury is set to begin hearing charges in March against the five defendants in a crisis that has put the archdiocese on a national stage.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Patch

By Bob Byrne

A spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirms that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua has died at age 88. in a press release late Tuesday night Spokewoman Donna Farrell says

"Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 88. Cardinal Bevilacqua died tonight at 9:15 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he resided, in his sleep. Cardinal Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from February 11, 1988 to October 7, 2003. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on June 28, 1991. Funeral arrangements are pending."

Bevilacqua has been a major figure in the Catholic priest sex scandal that has rocked parishes from the Upper Main Line and throughout the five county Greater Philadelphia area.

NBCPhiladelphia reports that just one day before his death Bevilacqua, who suffered with cancer and Alzheimer's, had been ruled competent by a judge to testify in an upcoming trial.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Mike DeNardo and Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Cardinal Anthony Belivacqua died Tuesday night at the age of 88 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, leaving a conflicted legacy.

Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia for 15 years, from 1988 to 2003, succeeding Cardinal John Krol. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to Cardinal in 1991.

Rocco Palmo, editor of Philadelphia-based website, “Whispers in the Loggia,” that follows the Catholic Church, knew Bevilacqua personally.

“I’m sure half the Catholics in the Archdiocese probably have pictures in their homes of one of their kids with Cardinal Bevilacqua and the mitre — you know, the pointy bishop’s hat — on the kid’s head,” Palmo said. “I’m sure that even for the revelations and accusations the last 10 years, I’m sure there are still a lot of people out there who remember him very well and very fondly.”

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Courier Post

Written by
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years, championing the Vatican line on homosexuality and abortion but later coming under fire by two grand juries investigating child sex abuse allegations, has died. He was 88.

Bevilacqua died in his sleep Tuesday night at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, a Philadelphia suburb, after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, an archdiocese spokeswoman said. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

Bevilacqua, trained in both civil and canon lawyer, was sharply criticized but never charged by two Philadelphia grand juries investigating child sex abuse complaints lodged against dozens of priests in the archdiocese. His death comes just days after lawyers battled in court over his competency as a potential witness in the upcoming trial of a longtime aide.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David O’Reilly
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Cardinal Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, whose 15 years as shepherd of the 1.5 million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia was marked by both celebration and crisis, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood.

Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said he died about 9:15 p.m.

After retiring in 2003, he left the cardinal's residence on City Avenue for the apartment at the seminary and rarely appeared in public.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was emblematic of the church to which he had devoted himself since age 14: progressive on some social-justice issues, staunchly orthodox on matters of doctrine and sexuality, and unfailingly deferential to the will of Rome.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Staff Report

Just the day before his death, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was declared legally competent to testify at the upcoming trial of two Catholic priests and a former priest on sex abuse charges.

Now, it's unclear what impact his passing will have on the case.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office sought to have testimony by Bevilacqua presented to jurors at the trial of Rev. James J. Brennan and Edward Avery, a former priest, for allegedly abuse boys in separate incident the 1990s.

Msgr. William J. Lynn, a secretary for clergy under Bevilacqua, is accused putting the duo in positions that allowed them to continue abusing children.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Local 10

Author: By Sarah Hoye and Dan Gilgoff CNN

Published On: Feb 01 2012

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -
Philadelphia's Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua has died at the age of 88, the city's Catholic archdiocese announced.

The announcement Tuesday comes as the archdiocese faces one of the most sweeping sex abuse scandals in America.

The allegations date from the time when Bevilacqua was archbishop. He was not himself accused of abuse, but one of his top officials has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child in a ground-breaking prosecution.

The Philadelphia scandal could open a historic chapter in the abuse crisis, church watchers say, changing the way the American criminal justice system deals with church abuse.

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

As Roman Catholic educators hoping to save their schools from closure or merger race to meet today’s deadline to appeal recommendations from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, archdiocesan officials are dealing with their own rejected appeal.

On Monday Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina upheld her November decision to allow testimony from former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, to be included in next month’s clerical sex abuse trial.

That will not happen now. Cardinal Bevilacqua died late last night after a long battle with cancer and dementia.

MAINE
Leagle

ANGELL v. HALLEE
2012 ME 10

CHRISTINE S. ANGELL
v.
RENALD C. HALLEE
Docket: Cum-10-587.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: September 13, 2011.
Decided: January 31, 2012.

Sumner H. Lipman, Esq., and Keith R. Varner, Esq., Lipman, Katz & McKee, P.A., Augusta, for appellant Christine S. Angell.

Peter J. DeTroy, Esq., Russell B. Pierce, Jr., Esq., and Darya I. Haag, Esq., Norman, Hanson & Detroy, LLC, Portland, for appellee Renald C. Hallee.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, LEVY, SILVER, MEAD, GORMAN, and JABAR, JJ.

SILVER, J.

[¶ 1] Christine S. Angell appeals the entry in the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Cole, J.) of a judgment on the pleadings in favor of Renald C. Hallee. Angell alleges that Hallee sexually abused her during her childhood, while he was a priest at St. John's Parish in Bangor in the 1970s. Angell argues that the court erred in imposing a burden on her to allege and prove that the statute of limitations was tolled. We agree and vacate the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] On a motion for judgment on the pleadings, we review the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, in this case Angell. See Tornesello v. Tisdale, 2008 ME 84, ¶ 2, 948 A.2d 1244. Angell was born in 1961. She alleges that Hallee's abuse occurred from approximately 1970 to 1973, when she was between about eight and twelve years old. Angell filed her complaint on March 25, 2010, including claims against Hallee for negligence, sexual assault and battery, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, clergy malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty. She brought a claim against both Hallee and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland for fraudulent concealment and sought punitive damages from both defendants.