Explosive Report on Catholic Church Abuse, Protections for pedophile priests, Ritual Abuse Conference - Dr. Randy Noblitt and Neil Brick

 

-  Why the Explosive Report on Catholic Church Abuse Is Unlikely to Yield Criminal Charges

-  Tear down the protections for pedophile priests

-  The Credibility of Ritual Abuse Allegations

- Changes in Awareness of Severe Abuse and Child Abuse Crimes Over Twenty Five Years

-  Child and Ritual Abuse Conference Helps Educate Survivors and Their Helpers 

 

 

Why the Explosive Report on Catholic Church Abuse Is Unlikely to Yield Criminal Charges
By Dan Levin Aug. 15, 2018

 

The searing grand jury report issued Tuesday in Pennsylvania that accuses bishops and other Roman Catholic Church leaders in that state of covering up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests has prompted growing calls for justice, while leaving Americans wondering about the broader impact of the revelations on the church and other institutions.

 

But a web of legal barriers stands in the way of prosecuting most of the cases, and efforts to ease those barriers have repeatedly run into political opposition and fierce lobbying by the church and other groups. Pennsylvania lags behind many other states in coming to grips with the problem, despite a series of grand jury investigations stretching back 15 years....

The nearly 900-page grand jury report is unlikely to lead to any new criminal charges or civil lawsuits over the abuse that it catalogs, because the statute of limitations has expired on those cases. Current state law allows victims of abuse as children 12 years to sue after they come of age at 18, meaning they must do so by age 30. Criminal complaints must be filed by the time the victim is 50. Those rules leave the vast majority of abuse survivors, who came forward later in life — the grand jury said they include people as old as 83 — with no legal recourse. Only two of the cases in the report have so far led to criminal charges....
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/us/pennsylvania-sex-abuse-statute-of-limitations.html

 

 

Tear down the protections for pedophile priests
By Editorial Board August 20
IN AN extraordinary communique to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis on Monday acknowledged the “atrocities” committed by pedophile priests and the church hierarchy that systematically covered up their crimes, recognized the inadequacy of efforts “to beg pardon” and admitted that the victims’ “wounds never go away.” In so doing, the pontiff provided a powerful rationale for dropping the church’s long-standing opposition to allowing decades-old cases of rape and molestation by priests to be subject to prosecution and lawsuits.

 

At last, after years of half-measures and tone-deaf remarks, the pope seems to have woken up to the scale of abuse and corruption sanctioned by the church. The question now is whether he is willing or able to turn the tide of institutional resistance in the Vatican and dioceses worldwide that too often has blocked victims from seeking justice and recompense....

Many states have extended or dropped limits on the number of years within which prosecutors are able to charge child sexual abuse felonies. In other states, including Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, efforts to extend criminal statutes of limitations have failed. And the church has spent millions of dollars fighting changes in statutes of limitations to give victims, who often cannot speak for decades about the abuse they suffered as children, more time to bring civil lawsuits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tear-down-the-protections-for-pedophile-priests/2018/08/20/f2d6376a-a4ab-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html

 

The Credibility of Ritual Abuse Allegations
Presenter: Randy Noblitt, PhD
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2018-conference/the-credibility-of-ritual-abuse-allegations/

 

Changes in Awareness of Severe Abuse and Child Abuse Crimes Over Twenty Five Years Presenter: Neil Brick
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2018-conference/changes-in-awareness-of-severe-abuse-and-child-abuse-crimes-over-twenty-five-years/

 

Child and Ritual Abuse Conference Helps Educate Survivors and Their Helpers; Speakers included Dr. Randy Noblitt and Neil Brick
https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=227656

2 Bishops Resign in Minnesota Over Sexual Abuse Scandal, Vatican ex-envoy Wesolowski faces child sex abuse trial

2 Bishops Resign in Minnesota Over Sexual Abuse Scandal
By MITCH SMITH and LAURIE GOODSTEIN JUNE 15, 2015

CHICAGO — Two bishops in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis resigned their posts Monday, the second time this spring that American church leaders have stepped aside after complaints over their handling of sexual abuse claims involving priests.

In Minnesota, Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and an auxiliary bishop, Lee A. Piché, announced their departures less than two weeks after prosecutors in St. Paul accused the archdiocese of willfully ignoring warning signs of a pedophile priest. Their resignations followed the April exit of Bishop Robert W. Finn from the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, who had been convicted of a misdemeanor for failing to report a priest who took pornographic pictures of girls....

John J. Choi, the prosecutor in Ramsey County, Minn., said the resignations would not affect his office’s criminal and civil cases against the archdiocese, which accused church leaders of failing to intervene against a priest despite repeated complaints of misconduct. That priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, has since been defrocked and imprisoned on sexual abuse charges involving boys in his parish.

“While today’s resignation will be viewed as a positive development by many in our community, the pending criminal action and civil petition and the ongoing investigation will continue,” Mr. Choi said in a statement. “As we have said, the goals of our actions are to hold the Archdiocese accountable, seek justice for the victims and our community, and to take appropriate steps to ensure that what we have alleged and intend to prove about the past conduct of church officials will never be repeated.”....

The Minnesota and Missouri church leaders are hardly the first bishops to resign under scrutiny or accusations that they failed abuse victims. Since the papacy of John Paul II — now St. John Paul — began in 1978, 16 other bishops have resigned or been forced from office under a cloud of accusations that they mishandled abuse cases, according to research by BishopAccountability.org, an advocacy group in Waltham, Mass. Archbishop Nienstedt is the 17th, by that group’s count.

Archbishop Nienstedt had become one of the most embattled figures in the American Catholic hierarchy, under fire in the courts, in the pews and on newspaper editorial pages. He had refused to resign about a year ago after coming under sharp criticism from his own former chancellor for canonical affairs, Jennifer M. Haselberger, who charged that the church used a chaotic system of record keeping that helped conceal the backgrounds of guilty priests who remained on assignment....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/us/archbishop-nienstedt-and-aide-resign-in-minnesota-over-sex-abuse-scandal.html


Catholic Archdiocese in Minnesota Charged Over Sex Abuse by Priest

By MITCH SMITH JUNE 5, 2015

CHICAGO — Prosecutors in Minnesota filed criminal charges on Friday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, accusing church leaders of mishandling repeated complaints of sexual misconduct against a priest and failing to follow through on pledges to protect children and root out pedophile clergymen.

The charges and accompanying civil petition, announced by the Ramsey County prosecutor, John J. Choi, stem from accusations by three male victims who say that from 2008 to 2010, when they were under age, a local priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, gave them alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting them.

The criminal case amounts to a sweeping condemnation of the archdiocese and how its leaders have handled the abuse allegations — even after reforms were put in place by church leaders to increase accountability — and the charges are among the most severe actions taken by American authorities against a Catholic diocese....

Mr. Wehmeyer, 50, who was dismissed as a priest in March, was sentenced to five years in a Minnesota prison in 2013 for criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography. He also has been charged with sex crimes in Wisconsin.

The six criminal charges filed Friday, misdemeanors with a maximum fine of $3,000 each, accused the archdiocese of failing to protect children. Mr. Choi also filed a civil petition against the archdiocese that he said was intended to provide legal remedies to prevent similar inaction from happening again.

The 44-page criminal complaint states that concerns about Mr. Wehmeyer date to the 1990s, when he was in seminary and supervisors suggested that his past sexual promiscuity and alcohol abuse made him a poor candidate for the priesthood....

The charging documents also say that archdiocese officials knew that Mr. Wehmeyer used a boys’ bathroom at a parish elementary school instead of the staff restroom; tried to give an elementary-age boy a tour of the rectory in violation of policy; and took camping trips with boys where some of the sexual abuse was said to have occurred.

The archdiocese placed Mr. Wehmeyer in a monitoring program for priests facing complaints of abuse or other problems, but prosecutors said in court documents that the supervision and follow-through was “lax or nonexistent.”....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/us/catholic-archdiocese-in-minnesota-charged-over-sex-abuse-by-priest.html 

Vatican ex-envoy Wesolowski faces child sex abuse trial
15 June 2015

The Vatican is to put its former envoy to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, on trial on child sex abuse and child pornography charges.

Pope Francis has also accepted the resignations of a US archbishop and his deputy, accused in Minnesota of having ignored a priest's child abuse.

Jozef Wesolowski is accused of sexually abusing children in the Dominican Republic from 2008 to 2013. He is under house arrest in the Vatican.

The trial is to begin on 11 July.

Wesolowski, 66, is also charged with possession of child pornography, dating from his return to Rome in 2013....

Wesolowski, who is originally from Poland, was recalled from the Dominican Republic in 2013, after allegations surfaced accusing him of abusing Dominican boys.

He had spent five years in the Caribbean country as the papal envoy.

He was defrocked in June last year after he was found guilty by a Church tribunal - he is the highest-ranking church official to be defrocked for such abuse.

He will now be tried by a Vatican criminal court....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33136393

SNAP’s clergy abuse victims mark 25 years and eye new targets

SNAP’s clergy abuse victims mark 25 years and eye new targets
By David Gibson Religion News Service July 29, 2014

When victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests first organized into a small band of volunteer activists in the late 1980s, reports of clergy molesting children were still new and relatively few. Most were minimized as anomalies or dismissed altogether — much the way the victims were.

But today, as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, marks its 25th anniversary at a conference in Chicago (Aug. 1-3), its members can take satisfaction in seeing that its claims have been validated, and a few (though hardly all) of its recommendations have been implemented by the church hierarchy.

And instead of facing constant verbal attacks and the occasional angry parishioner spitting on them at a protest, SNAP’s members today are far more likely to receive a handshake and a word of thanks, and maybe even a donation.

SNAP’s advocacy on the Catholic scandal also helped push the reality of sexual abuse into the public consciousness to the point that victims can regularly win in courts and get a hearing in the media, and they are much more likely to come forward to tell their stories, whether they were abused by clergy or by athletic coaches or Boy Scout leaders....

The group began life in the late 1980s, a couple of years after journalists — led by Jason Berry’s reporting on abusive clerics in Louisiana — began to pull back the veil of secrecy on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy.

As the reports came to light, Barbara Blaine, a lawyer and social worker who had been molested by a priest when she was growing up in Toledo, Ohio, started contacting as many other victims as she could find, posting ads and asking prosecutors and attorneys to put her in touch with other victims.

SNAP soon developed a core membership of a few thousand people, mainly victims, who met in small support groups while also trying to push the issue onto the public agenda. It was a tough slog in the face of public indifference or outright hostility.

Then in January 2002, The Boston Globe began its groundbreaking series of exposes on the widespread abuse of children by priests in the Boston archdiocese, and the cover-up by bishops. The story caught fire and led to similar revelations across the nation and to an unprecedented level of media coverage, prosecutions, lawsuits and billions in payouts by dioceses....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/snaps-clergy-abuse-victims-mark-25-years-and-eye-new-targets/2014/07/29/6bc92466-1752-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747_story.html

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

May 3, 2014 VATICAN CITY (AP) - Members of Pope Francis' sexual abuse advisory board said Saturday they will develop "clear and effective" protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.Victims groups have long blasted the Vatican for refusing to sanction any bishop or superior who covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They have listed accountability as one of the key issues facing Francis and a key test for his new advisory board....

Victims groups have long cited the case of O'Malley's predecessor in Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop after the sex abuse scandal exploded publicly there in 2002. But Pope John Paul II then appointed Law to the plum assignment as archpriest of one of the Vatican's four major basilicas in Rome. Even today, another U.S. bishop remains in office despite having been convicted of misdemeanor failure to report suspected child abuse....

The commission met on the eve of a U.N. committee meeting in Geneva in which the Vatican is expected to come under a second round of criticism for its handling of abuse. A U.N. committee monitoring implementation of a key treaty on children's rights blasted the Holy See earlier this year, accusing it of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence.

It recommended the Vatican immediately remove any priest suspected or known to have abused children, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the cases over to law enforcement.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/03/vatican-sexual-abuse/2128958/ 

Notorious pedophile priest convicted again, The Shame of the Church

Notorious pedophile priest convicted again  8 Apr 2014

More than half a century after he started sexually abusing the sons and daughters of his parishioners, Australia's worst pedophile priest has learnt he is likely to die in jail.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale, 79, was given an eight-year sentence after pleading guilty to 30 new charges against 14 boys and girls between 1961 and 1980, conduct described by the judge as "evil hypocrisy."

But the notorious pedophile, already serving time for a campaign of abuse dating back to 1961 when he was ordained, will not be eligible for parole until April 2019.

The protection of the Catholic church, which moved him from parish to parish throughout his career, meant his offending spanned three decades.

He abused 53 children in that time.

They included children of parishioners, wards of the state, altar servers, twin brothers and a girl as young as four-years-old.

It wasn't until 1993 that he was de-frocked.

Two years later, he was jailed for 18 years....

Ridsdale portrayed himself as the "friendly priest", luring his victims with inducements such as lollies and money to gain their trust.

He befriended victims and set up an after-school boys gathering, which was the setting for crimes against five children.

Many of Ridsdale's victims were extremely vulnerable - some being wards of the state or from broken homes....

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/04/08/notorious-pedophile-priest-convicted-again 


The Shame of the Church
By Retro Report March 30th, 2014

Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been making headlines for years. Some priests have been punished, but what about the bishops who shielded them?
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002794204/the-shame-of-the-church.html 

Sex Abuse Scandal at Lackland Air Force Base, Bishops Told Pedophiles Lie, Victims Must Be Heard

Why Won't Congress Investigate the Sex Abuse Scandal at Lackland Air Force Base?  Soumya Karlamangla The Nation July 17, 2012

Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, has become the center of the nation's biggest military sex abuse case in years. Over the past several months, a widespread sexual crime epidemic that began in 2009 has been uncovered at the camp, with twelve of 475 of the base’s instructors accused of either rape, sodomy and aggravated sexual assault, among other offenses, and thirty-one female trainees identified as victims.

Now dozens of lawmakers are calling for a Congressional hearing to investigate the incidents at Lackland. But there’s no sign that one will happen anytime soon.....

At a hearing last month, two female former trainees told a courtroom that they were pressured to have sex with two of their male instructors. The men called them over the intercom under false pretense and asked them to leave their dorm rooms, then led them to a supply closet where one of the men had sexual intercourse with one of the women, while the other woman performed oral sex on the other male instructor....

According to the Department of Defense, one in four women who join the military will be raped or sexually assaulted. And according to a report released last year by the department, 71 percent of women and 85 percent of men who experienced unwanted sexual contact chose not to report it. http://www.thenation.com/article/168918/why-wont-congress-investigate-sex-abuse-scandal-lackland-air-force-base


Call over the intercom led to Lackland sex tryst
By Sig Christenson Saturday, June 2, 2012
Two former Air Force trainees said Friday they were lured into a sexual tryst by a pair of trainers on their last night in San Antonio. Testifying at an evidentiary hearing, the women said Staff Sgt. Kwinton Estacio called over an intercom two days after they graduated from basic training last fall and asked them to leave the dorm and meet them. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Call-over-the-intercom-led-to-Lackland-sex-tryst-3602350.php

2010 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members Overview Report on Sexual Assault http://www.sapr.mil/media/pdf/research/DMDC_2010_WGRA_Overview_Report_of_Sexual_Assault.pdf


Bishops Told Pedophiles Lie, Victims Must Be Heard NICOLE WINFIELD   02/7/12

ROME — Priests who rape and molest children lie when confronted with an accusation but victims usually tell the truth, psychologists told Catholic bishops at a symposium Tuesday, advising them to listen first to the victims....

Survivors of clerical abuse have long said that once they summoned the courage to denounce their abusers to church leaders, Catholic bishops often dismissed their accusations and instead accepted the word of their priests, whom bishops consider their brothers and sons in the priesthood.

That pattern led to decades in which bishops shuffled pedophiles from parish to parish, protecting the church's reputation at all costs, while victims were left to feel like they were to blame for the abuse.

Marie Collins, who was assaulted as a 13-year-old by a hospital chaplain in her native Ireland, told the bishops that dynamic led to multiple hospitalizations later in life for anxiety and depression. She told her story of abuse and how the church's response to it – refusing to believe her, telling her it was her fault and taking the priest's word over hers – made the initial trauma even worse....

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a psychologist who for a decade ran a U.S. treatment center for abusive priests, told the conference Tuesday that just like alcoholics or drug addicts, sexually abusive priests often lie when confronted with allegations. They manipulate, they con, they deny, he said.

"There are false allegations to be sure" and it's critical to restore a priest's good name when he has been cleared, Rossetti said in his prepared remarks. "But decades of experience tell us that the vast majority of allegations – over 95 percent – are founded."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/bishops-told-pedophiles-l_0_n_1259416.html

BishopAccountability.org Data on the Crisis The Human Toll

BishopAccountability.org  Data on the Crisis  The Human Toll                                             

Thousands of Catholic clergy and religious have raped and sodomized tens of thousands of children—perhaps more than 100,000 children—since 1950. These crimes were committed in secret, and bishops nurtured that secrecy. Nearly 15,000 survivors have broken through the silence, and their accounts have created an in-depth picture of the crisis....

The U.S. bishops have reported receiving allegations of abuse by 6,115 priests in 1950-2011, or 5.6% of the 109,694 U.S. priests active since 1950....

Richard Sipe estimates that 9% of U.S. priests have offended, which extrapolates to 9,872 priests nationally....

Approximately two-thirds of sitting U.S. bishops were alleged in 2002 to have kept accused priests in ministry or moved accused priests to new assignments....

Fewer than 2 percent of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church appear to be false.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/data.htm

Vatican Recalls Ireland Envoy, Ritual Abuse Conference Scotland, Caylee's Law

Vatican Recalls Ireland Envoy Amid Abuse Uproar
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON 07/25/11

VATICAN CITY -- Chafing under extraordinary criticism, the Vatican made the rare move of recalling its ambassador to Ireland on Monday following accusations that the Holy See sabotaged efforts by Catholic bishops to report clerical sex abuse cases to police.

A Vatican spokesman said Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza was recalled to help prepare an official response to Irish complaints, but that the decision "does not exclude some degree of surprise and disappointment at certain excessive reactions."

The spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, acknowledged the recall of an ambassador was a measure rarely used by the Holy See, underlining "the seriousness of the situation."

The deepening crisis follows a July 13 report that the Irish diocese of Cloyne failed to act on complaints against 19 priests from 1996 to 2009. It further alleged the Vatican encouraged bishops to ignore child-protection guidelines including the requirement that abuse claims be reported to civil authorities....

Prime Minister Enda Kenny denounced to lawmakers last week what he called "the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism – and the narcissism – that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day."

It was the first time in the past 17 years of pedophile-priest scandals in Ireland that parliamentarians have taken on the Vatican rather than local church leaders. Revelations of widespread abuse have eroded Catholic authority in a nation where the church still owns most schools and several hospitals, and state broadcasters still toll a twice-daily call to Catholic prayer....

A confidential 1997 Vatican letter – originally published by The Associated Press in January – instructed Irish bishops to handle child-abuse cases strictly under terms of canon law. It warned bishops that their 1996 child-protection policy, particularly its emphasis on the need to start reporting all suspected crimes to police, violated canon law.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/vatican-recalls-ireland-envoy_n_908462.html


10TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE ON RITUAL ABUSE
Host organisation IZZY’S PROMISE
Location DUNDEE, Scotland
November 3, 2011 09:30 AM

Izzy’s Promise is hosting a conference for survivors, support workers and organisations on the subject of RITUAL ABUSE IN THE UK 10 YEARS ON. Izzy’s Promise formerly (Tayside Ritual Abuse Support and Helpline Project TRASH) has been up and running for 10 years. It was started in 2001 by volunteers and service users out of a direct demand for services by survivors of ritual/organised abuse.

The main speaker will Laurie Matthew, who has 30 years of experience working with ritual abuse survivors. The charges are £50 for statutory/funded organisations, £25 smaller charities and £10 for survivors.

Website http://www.izzyspromise.org.uk
Enquiries josephlumbasi@aol.com
http://www.thirdforcenews.org.uk/2011/07/10th-anniversary-conference-on-ritual-abuse/


Lawmakers will study Wyoming 'Caylee's Law'
By JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Public outcry following Casey Anthony’s acquittal has prompted Wyoming lawmakers to explore legislation that would punish parents who fail to report missing children within a certain time frame.

The Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Interim Committee will study the need for a “Caylee’s Law” when it meets next month in Sundance, a committee chairman said.

More than 20 states are considering versions of Caylee’s Law, which would make it a felony for parents or guardians to wait more than 24 hours to notify authorities of missing children. Other states are also contemplating making it a felony to wait more than an hour to report a child’s death.

An Oklahoma woman proposed the legislation in an online petition created after a jury acquitted Anthony of murdering her daughter, Caylee. Anthony waited a month before reporting her daughter missing.

The online petition has collected more than 1.25 million signatures. Many state lawmakers have also received emails from constituents urging passage of a Caylee’s Law in Wyoming, said judiciary co-chairman Sen. Drew Perkins. Instead of individual lawmakers pursuing a bill, the Legislature’s Management Council assigned the judiciary committee to study the issue.

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_8c07f961-0e6b-5af0-995d-b83bd396333f.html

Wikipedia founder tries to remove alleged kiddie porn, Vatican to court

Wikipedia founder tries to remove alleged kiddie porn, then gives up editorial privileges May 16, 2010 Paul Boutin [Update: Jimmy Wales tweeted me to say the change to his editorial status is " A purely technical matter. I am not stepping down or pulling back from anything."....Fox News reports that Jimmy Wales, cofounder of do-it-yourself encyclopedia Wikipedia and a member of its board, has given up his administrative privileges on the site in response to a Wikipedia community backlash against his removal of thousands of images deemed pornographic by Fox last month....

In April, Fox reported that Wikipedia cofounder Larry Sanger, who left the project in 2002, had sent a letter to the FBI specifying his concerns that at least two categories of the Wikimedia Commons archive — one for pedophilia and another for Japanese lolicon comics — contained dozens of images of child sexual abuse, in violation of Federal law.

Wikimedia Commons is used to host images and videos displayed on Wikipedia....Fox News claimed that Wikimedia officials did not respond to reporters' requests for comment. That may have been a bad move. The brazenly conservative news agency went after the Wikimedia Foundation's corporate sponsors, sending links to the controversial content to Microsoft, Google, Best Buy, the Ford Foundation, Yahoo, USA Networks and dozens of other companies and organizations.

Last week, a purge of thousands of Wikpedia images still left Fox with plenty of pictures to wave around. Now, Fox claims, it turns out that Wales had unilaterally begun deleting images and recruiting other editors to assist him, against the wishes of other editors who felt the content was acceptable. Wales, whose personal page on Wikipedia speaks of "Doing The Right Thing," allegedly began the purge himself despite opposition from many editors. http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/16/wikipedia-founder-gives-up-control-of-site-over-fox-news-kiddie-porn-scandal/

Vatican to court: Priests are not our employees
Attorney outlines defense ahead of filing Monday in sex abuse case
By NICOLE WINFIELD May 16, 2010 VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed defense yet against claims that it is liable for U.S. bishops who allowed priests to molest children, saying bishops are not its employees and that a 1962 Vatican document did not require them to keep quiet, The Associated Press has learned.

The Vatican will make the arguments in a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds filed in Louisville, Kentucky, but it could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37182162/ns/world_news-europe/


Other articles on Wikipedia:

Wikipedia – Bomis and online pornography
http://www.childlaw.us/2010/04/congress-reacts-to-wikipedia-f.html

problems with wikipedia
http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/problems-with-wikipedia/


Wikipedophilia, Wikipedia child abuse misinformation
http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/wikipedophilia-wikipedia-child-abuse-misinformation-clergy-abuse-suit/

ritual abuse pages blacklisted by wikipedia
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritualabuse-us-blacklisted-by-wikipedia/

Vatican details U.S. sex abuse defense, Justice for Child Abuse Victims

Editorial - Justice for Child Abuse Victims May 14, 2010 The Catholic Church is working against the interests of child abuse victims in state legislatures around the country. In recent weeks, lobbying by the church has blocked measures in Wisconsin, Arizona and Connecticut intended to widen the legal window for victims to file lawsuits against hidden predators.

We urge the New York State Legislature to rise above intense lobbying by the New York State Catholic Conference and Orthodox Jewish officials and pass the overdue Child Victims Act. Like a similar measure enacted in 2003 by California, it would create a one-time, one-year suspension of the statute of limitations for bringing civil lawsuits over the sexual abuse of children. Once that window closes, people alleging abuse would have until age 28 to bring a claim. Current law sets the limit at 23 in most circumstances.

The measure recognizes that it typically takes many years before victims are ready to come forward. The measure also recognizes the Catholic Church's history of intimidating victims and burying abuses in church files, creating a shroud of secrecy that extended in many cases until victims were in their 30s or older, well beyond existing time limits for prosecutions or civil lawsuits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/opinion/16sun2.html

Vatican details U.S. sex abuse defense By NICOLE WINFIELD, AP May 16, 2010 VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., in a motion that could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See in American courts, The Associated Press has learned.

In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds, the Holy See is expected to argue that a key Vatican document calling for secrecy in church trials for sex abuse cases was not, as victims' lawyers say, proof of a Vatican-orchestrated cover up. The Vatican's U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said Sunday there was no evidence the document was even known to the archdiocese in question - much less used. http://www.kboi2.com/news/national/93891519.html

bishops fight sex abuse bill, implicated in coverup, complaints 'unpunished'

Connecticut bishops fight sex abuse bill Jamie Guzzardo, CNN April 11, 2010 Hartford, Connecticut (CNN) -- A bill in Connecticut's legislature that would remove the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases has sparked a fervent response from the state's Roman Catholic bishops, who released a letter to parishioners Saturday imploring them to oppose the measure.

Under current Connecticut law, sexual abuse victims have 30 years past their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit. The proposed change to the law would rescind that statute of limitations.

The proposed change to the law would put "all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk," says the letter, which was signed by Connecticut's three Roman Catholic bishops.

The letter is posted on the Web site of the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference, the public policy and advocacy office of Connecticut's Catholic bishops. It asks parishioners to contact their legislators in opposition of the bill.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/11/connecticut.abuse.bill/index.html

Ex-St. Catharines bishop implicated in coverup By GRANT LAFLECHE, QMI AGENCY 4/12/10 As local Catholics puzzle Friday over the sudden resignation of their bishop, his predecessor was implicated in the coverup of sexual abuse by a priest in Pembroke. Former St. Catharines bishop John O'Mara was named by former Pembroke bishop Joseph Windle in a 1993 letter to the Vatican's ambassador in Ottawa. O'Mara was named as part of a group of Ontario bishops who backed Windle's recommendation that the abuse of minors by a Pembroke priest be kept silent. The priest in question, Father Bernard Prince, had been shipped off to Rome and became a friend of then Pope John Paul II.

In his letter, Windle was deeply concerned that if the Vatican graced the priest with any attention or honours, it would expose the abuse and create a scandal....Prince was convicted in 2008 of sexually molesting 13 boys between 1964 and 1984, and was formally defrocked by Pope Benedict XVI last year. He was sent to Rome and became a Vatican official in 1991 after church officials in Canada first heard from a victim of his crimes. In his letter, which became public Friday as part of a civil case against the Pembroke Diocese and Prince, Windle supported the move even in light of the seriousness of the allegations. "I would not object to him being given another chance since it would remove him from the Canadian scene," Windle wrote. By 1993, further allegations against Prince surfaced. Windle explained in his letter there were four or five known victims and at least one of them was asking pointed questions about how the church was handling the situation. Still, Windle believed the Church could keep the situation secret because the victims were unlikely to go to the police or the press. http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2529871


Paedophilia complaints 'unpunished' April 13, 2010 BELGIAN bishops have failed to punish any clergy over 300 complaints of paedophilia brought to their attention in the 1990s, claims a priest who helped many victims. ''We brought forward between 1992 and 1998 more than 300 complaints from victims of abuse committed by priests, but only 15 ended up with admissions'' of guilt, Father Rick Deville told the Flemish dailies De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad yesterday.

''A priest accused would most often be moved, but was never punished,'' he complained. Founder of the group Human Rights in the Church, which defends victims of abuse, the 65-year-old Father Deville deplored the lack of support from the Belgian Catholic hierarchy. ''Very few bishops helped us,'' he said. In most cases the victims were told that their actions were ''unfortunately banned''. In some cases the victims themselves were accused of defamation, he said. AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/world/paedophilia-complaints-unpunished-20100412-s4e9.html


Vatican Clarifies Its Policy on Reporting Abuse VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican on Monday responded to allegations it long concealed clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and clerics worldwide should report such crimes to police if they are required to by law.
The policy, spelled out in a guide for laymen and posted on the Vatican's Web site, matches the policy worked out by U.S. bishops after an explosion of sex abuse cases in 2002.

Unlike the American norms, however, the Vatican guide contains no call for ''zero tolerance'' for priests who rape and molest children, and victims immediately criticized it as insufficient.
The Vatican insists it has long been the Catholic Church's policy for bishops, like all Christians, to obey civil reporting laws. But such an explicit policy had never been spelled out -- until Monday. ''Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed,'' said the newly posted guideline.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/12/world/AP-EU-Church-Abuse.html

former pope knew of abuse, Bishops Reinstate Accused Priests, 'ritual beatings'

also: Papal ally accused of 'ritual beatings'

1963 letter shows former pope knew of abuse By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP) – 4/1/10 LOS ANGELES — A newly released letter to then-Pope Paul VI indicates the Vatican was aware of clergy abuse in the U.S. nearly five decades ago. In the 1963 letter released Wednesday, the head of a Roman Catholic order that oversaw treatment of pedophile priests tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry. The letter is a summary of the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests that appears to have been requested by the pope after Fitzgerald's 1963 visit to the Vatican. Fitzgerald headed the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete. The letter was released in Los Angeles by attorneys for California clergy abuse victims who obtained the document during litigation. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9O9pDzoOP4MhFpu2FhO326s_y8wD9EPRTI02



U.S. Bishops Quietly Reinstate Accused Priests by Barbara Bradley Hagerty March 31, 2010 While the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal unfolds in Europe, the Catholic Church in the U.S. is under renewed scrutiny. In the wake of its own scandal almost a decade ago, the U.S. church says it has reformed its policies for handling sexual abuse allegations and will remove from ministry every priest who is credibly accused of abuse. But some of those priests are now being quietly reinstated....

Juan Rocha was 12 years old when he says he was molested by his parish priest, the Rev. Eric Swearingen. He eventually brought his complaints to the bishop of Fresno, Calif., John Steinbock. When Steinbock said he didn't find the allegations credible, Rocha sued the priest and the diocese in civil court. In 2006, the jury found 9 to 3 that Swearingen had abused Rocha. But it could not decide whether the diocese knew about it. Rather than go through a new trial, the two sides settled. At the time, Steinbock said he thought the jury got it wrong, and that while the Catholic Church should protect children, "doing this cannot be done in such a manner as to punish innocent priests."....Today, Swearingen serves as priest at Holy Spirit parish in Fresno, where he also oversees the youth ministry. Swearingen did not return phone calls, and Steinbock declined requests for an interview....Swearingen's case is not an isolated one, says

Anne Barrett Doyle, who works with the watchdog group BishopAccountability.org. She says that recently, bishops have started quietly returning to ministry priests who previously have been accused of abuse. Doyle and others have identified about a dozen clergy who have been accused, arrested or sued for abuse and returned to ministry. She says the process for investigating priests is secret, and often the diocese says nothing about the charges against a priest when it returns him to ministry. In 2003, a criminal-trial jury convicted the Rev. Michael Fugee, a priest in Newark, N.J., of molesting a teenage boy. Later, an appellate court overturned the verdict because of the judge's instruction. Rather than undergo a new trial, the prosecutors and the Archdiocese of New Jersey agreed to keep Fugee away from children. When officials at a local hospital where Fugee was serving as a volunteer chaplain — saying Mass and ministering to families — learned of the criminal trial in his past, they were horrified.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125420225


Papal ally accused of 'ritual beatings' German bishop accused of hitting child with carpet beater at church-run home By Tony Paterson in Berlin 1 April 2010 The child abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church widened yesterday as a leading German bishop personally appointed by Pope Benedict was accused of ritually beating and punching children at a church-run home during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Five former residents of the St Josef's home in Bavaria submitted written statements to Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper claiming the Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, a controversial conservative churchman appointed by the Pope in 2005, used to hit and degrade them during punishment sessions at the home....Bishop Mixa is renowned for being a member of the hardline conservative group of German Catholic Church leaders, to which the Pope belonged before his appointment to the Vatican.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/papal-ally-accused-of-ritual-beatings-1932764.html