All 15 Texas Catholic dioceses to name
CSA accused priests
By DAVID WARREN
DALLAS — All 15 Catholic dioceses in Texas will release early next year the names of clergy who have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor, the Diocese of Dallas said in a statement Wednesday.
Texas bishops decided last month to release the lists of names by Jan. 31 as part of their effort “to protect children from sexual abuse” while promoting “healing and a restoration of trust” in the church, the statement said .
Dallas Bishop Edward Burns said the investigation constitutes a “major project” because it will include all 1,320 Catholic parishes in Texas.
“My brother bishops and I hope this action can be a step that leads to healing for all those who have been harmed by members of the Church,” Burns said in the statement. “I add my sincere sorrow for the pain that has been caused for victims and the Catholic faithful.”
A spokeswoman for the Dallas Diocese did not return a message Wednesday seeking an explanation of what will constitute a credible accusation against a current or former priest.
Wednesday’s announcement came a day after Burns told parishioners that his diocese has hired a team of former state and federal law enforcement officers to review the personnel files of 220 priests now serving in the diocese. An investigation will review any accusation against a priest, not just ones relating to the sexual abuse of minors. The investigation could be expanded to include those who previously served.
It will be pretty useless if it doesn't!
“Opening our files to outside investigators and releasing the names is something I have been considering for some time,” Burns said in Wednesday’s statement. “Since I believe it is the right thing to do, the Diocese of Dallas has had outside investigators, a team made up of former FBI, state troopers and other experts in law enforcement, examining our files since February, and they still have work to do.”
The investigation comes after Burns, in August, revealed a former pastor, Edmundo Paredes, was accused of abusing three boys more than a decade ago. Paredes, who is also accused of stealing church funds, has not been heard from since about March and The Dallas Morning News reported that he may have fled to the Philippines, his native country.
This week’s developments also follow accusations made last week by a third person alleging a Houston-area Catholic priest, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, sexually touched him when he was a teenager. That probe has involved Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, who’s leading the American church’s response to sexual abuse.
DiNardo is already accused by two other people of disregarding their reports against La Rosa-Lopez, the pastor at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in the Houston suburb of Richmond. La Rosa-Lopez was arrested in September and charged with four counts of indecency with a child.
The move this week by the 15 Texas dioceses is consistent with efforts in other states, such as California and Ohio.
But the actions of the Dallas Diocese to employ a team of former law officers to investigate its priests appear to differ from elsewhere. For instance, a Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut announced last week it’s chosen a retired state judge to lead an investigation into sexual abuse of children by priests.
The recent developments follow Pope Francis’ removal in July of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for allegedly groping a teenage altar boy in the 1970s, and also the release in August of a lengthy Pennsylvania grand jury report that listed the names of more than 300 priests and outlined the details of sexual abuse allegations.
The investigation launched in Texas also differs from other states such as Maryland where that state’s attorney general is delving into records of the Baltimore archdiocese . Michael Norris, who leads the Houston chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, credited Texas church leaders with taking action but called for the Texas Attorney General’s Office to become involved.
“What I lack is trust,” Norris said. “When I hear they’re hiring a team of investigators, I prefer that it be totally independent.”
Retired Irish Bishop who led Church's response to CSA,
dies at 87, not without controversy
By Joe Little
Religious & Social Affairs Correspondent, RTÉ
The death has taken place of Bishop Laurence Forristal, the retired Catholic Bishop of Ossory. He was 87.
A native of Jerpoint, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Dr Forristal led the diocese for 26 years, resigning on age grounds in 2007. The diocese covers most of Kilkenny and parts of counties Laois and Offaly.
The current Bishop of Ossory, Bishop Dermot Farrell, said it was with great sadness that he announced the bishop's peaceful death in Saint Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny this morning. In a separate statement, the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, said he too was saddened by the news.
He said Dr Forristal was "well known as a humorous, gentle and wise pastor and as a caring and generous man," adding that "he possessed a love of humanity and for creation as well as a prodigious work rate."
Among the late bishop's contributions to Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, the primate highlighted Dr Forristal's "notable work in child safeguarding which included the 1996 publication of Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response."
Managing Allegations
In 1990, before any allegations of clerical abuse became public here, Bishop Forristal was appointed by the Irish hierarchy to chair an internal committee tasked with assessing the future legal implications of clerical child sexual abuse cases. The establishment of the committee was not announced publicly.
In 1994, the first in a long series of abuse scandals broke with the unmasking by UTV's Chris Moore of the serial paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth. That same year Dr Forristal's fellow bishops appointed him to the chair of the Irish Catholic Church's committee which drafted what became known as the "Green Book" and the 1996 Framework Document.
Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response was the first set of guidelines to be published here on how all Catholic authorities - in dioceses, orders and congregations - should handle allegations of child sexual abuse. And it stated that all credible allegations against priests should be reported to the gardaí and health authorities.
In 2009, a case which Bishop Forristal had mismanaged was dealt with by the Murphy Commission's investigation into clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.
It highlighted the failure by the Church authorities in Ossory and Dublin over a sixteen year period to report to the civil authorities that two Dublin mothers had alleged that one of Bishop Forristal's priests, who the Commission called "Fr Cicero", had sexually abused girls as young as eight in 1986.
This was at the beginning of Fr Cicero's prolonged secondment from Ossory to the Dublin Archdiocese. Bishop Forristal admitted to the Commission that he himself was mainly responsible for the delays in having the priest clinically assessed.
The Commission's report stated that, in his statement to it, "Bishop Forristal very fairly accepted responsibility for the delays in dealing with Fr Cicero in the late 1990s. He said that, on reviewing the history of his dealings with Fr Cicero: 'I have been deeply disturbed by my own delays and failures in applying the principles of our Church Guidelines, particularly that of the paramountcy of the safety of children'.
He went on to say that Archbishop Connell and his chancellors were continually urging him to take action. "Any delay was my doing and was in no way due to the Archbishop of Dublin or his staff."
However, the Commission said it was "extraordinary" that Bishop Forristal and the Dublin Archdiocese had allowed Monsignor Gerard Sheehy, Fr Cicero's superior at his workplace, the Dublin Marriage Tribunal, to have such an influence in determining how allegations against the abuser were handled. It underlined that Bishop Forristal and the Dublin Archdiocese had the power to have their wishes in respect of Fr Cicero implemented.
The Commission, which was chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy, noted that the failure to report Fr Cicero to the gardaí and the health authorities had been in breach of the Church's own 1996 guidelines.
The Commission's report also stated:
"Bishop Forristal told the Commission that he was "very slow in progressing the various steps which ought to have been taken". While he did not regard it as an excuse, he told the Commission that both he and Fr Cicero had extremely serious health problems around this time (1997-1999). The Commission is satisfied that these health problems may have contributed to the delay and that there was no active conspiracy to prevent Fr Cicero having the assessment and treatment, but it still regards the delay as unacceptable."
Bishop Forristal was treated for diabetes during much of his life. In retirement he lived in and ministered to many residents of Gowran Abbey Nursing Home in Co Kilkenny.
The former Catholic priest whose crimes were the catalyst for Australia's royal commission is guilty again
Joanne McCarthy
THE priest whose sex offences against children proved the catalyst for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been found guilty of offences against another victim.
John Sidney Denham, 77, was found guilty on Wednesday of four offences against a young boy at Taree in the late 1970s after a judge-alone trial at Port Macquarie.
The convictions mean Denham has now been found guilty of child sex crimes against 58 boys between 1968 and 1986, including students at St Pius X, Adamstown.
His victims range in age from 5 to 17.
Denham was charged in 2017 with three counts of indecently assaulting a boy aged under 12 at Taree where he worked as a parish priest in the late 1970s, and a fourth charge of buggery.
He is serving a minimum 19 years and five months’ jail sentence for current crimes and will not be eligible for parole until 2028. A sentencing hearing after he was convicted of the four latest offences will be held in Sydney in February.
Denham is one of Australia’s most notorious priests after he was convicted in 2001 of crimes against a boy, in 2010 when he was convicted of crimes against another 39 boys, in 2015 after crimes against another 17 boys and on Wednesday for crimes against the boy at Taree.
In 2015 Sydney District Court Judge Helen Syme slammed Denham whose “offending was such that sexual, sadistic abuse of vulnerable children was a lifestyle choice for him’’.
In 2016 Denham appealed against her maximum sentence of 25 years, saying it was “plainly unjust” and had given insufficient weight to his lack of offences since 1986.
Denham argued Judge Syme also erred in finding his crimes at St Pius X, Adamstown were aggravated because they were “part of a planned or organised criminal activity” that included the late school principal and priest, Tom Brennan.
But the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Denham’s arguments. He was guilty of 109 mostly cruel and violent offences at “the very high end of the scale” of child sex abuse, it found.
In July, 2012 the suicide of a former St Pius X, Adamstown student and victim of Denham’s, Belmont North fireman John Pirona, was the catalyst for the Newcastle Herald’s campaign for a royal commission on institutional child sexual abuse.
Alberta pastor accused of sexual misconduct
while serving in Vancouver
By Slav Kornik
Web Producer Global News
An Alberta pastor has been withdrawn from his duties after being accused of sexual misconduct, the Archdiocese of Edmonton announced on Wednesday.
The Archdiocese of Edmonton said it was informed by the Archdiocese of Vancouver that it had received allegations of sexual misconduct towards a child and an adult by Father Peter Hung Cong Tran, while he was the associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Vancouver from 1998 to 2003.
Tran was an associate pastor at St. Vincent Liem Parish in Calgary from 2003 to 2007, a pastor at Queen of Martyrs Parish in Edmonton from 2007 to 2016 and most recently a pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Calgary, according to the Archdiocese of Edmonton.
The Archdiocese said Bishop William McGrattan of Calgary has withdrawn Tran from the Calgary parish and has prohibited him from “exercising any priestly ministry in the Diocese of Calgary.”
“We are bringing this matter to the attention of the parish so that anyone who may be aware of other instances of misconduct can be encouraged to bring the information forward,” the Archdiocese’s statement read.
The Vancouver Police Department told Global News they had no information regarding the matter. The Calgary Police Service said it had not received any reports and was not investigating the matter, but encouraged anyone who may have been victim of sexual assault to report it.
Edmonton police did not immediately respond to a request from Global News.
The Archdiocese of Edmonton released the information surrounding the allegations against Tran on the same day Archbishop Richard Smith addressed new guidelines to protect children from sexual predators in the church, released by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The church said its document, Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse: A call to the Catholic Faithful in Canada for Healing, Reconciliation, and Transformation, puts the interests of victims and their families first, and calls on all bishops to act on allegations of abuse “with a commitment to transparency and accountability.”
“What you’ve experienced should never have happened and we’re very, very sorry,” Smith said. “We know that such abuse leaves a long and lasting scar, not only on you, the individual victim, also on your family.”
You need to stop talking in the past tense - This is still happening!
The standards include tougher background checks, lifting gag orders and ending internal investigations of abuse.
Smith said it’s also important the church listens to sexual abuse survivors “with careful attentiveness and deep respect. The archbishop said if the archdiocese learns about sexual abuse involving clergy, police will be informed immediately. The archdiocese would also conduct a preliminary investigation by an expert in the field as well as a review by a committee to ensure “no one would have a chance of covering up,” Smith said.
“We’ll be reviewing our practices and protocols in light of the 69 recommendations in this document to make sure that they’re the best that they can possibly be,” he said.
Three sexual abuse cases involving children
investigated by Malta police
by David Hudson, Malta Today
Three substantiated cases of child abuse were registered by the Curia's Safeguarding Commission, according to the commission head Andrew Azzopardi.
Addressing a press conference on the commission's annual report for 2017, Azzopardi said that the cases had been perpetrated by a diocesan priest, a religous priest, and a layperson, all of whom are being investigated by the police. Restrictions on their pastoral activities were also imposed, Azzopardi said.
By the end of 2017, the commission concluded risk assessments on another 16 complaints brought to its attention. Ten of these, Azzopardi said, were unsubstantiated. A further three were found to be unfounded while three were not related to abuse but were still referred to other entities for appropriate action.
The commission was founded in 2015 and is responsible for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. In May 2016 it had pushed for there to be a committee specifically in charge of investigating cases of abuse on minors and vulnerable individuals. Azzopardi revealed today that the government is currently working to put this proposal into effect.
Another issue that has been challenged over the years by the commission, Azzopardi said, is time-barred offences in relation to minors. "Prescription on matters of child abuse should be done away with," he said. "Most of the time, people realise that they were abused when they were children when they reach adulthood. And it takes longer for these people to gather the courage to speak out."
At present, the commission is carrying out risk assessment on a further 12 complaints. Azzopardi said that the work carried out by the Safeguarding Commission also includes specialised training to around 2,000 Church personnel in an effort to foster awareness.
By the end of 2017, the commission also concluded a pilot project with six Church entities to evaluate the measures in place and to consider new practices in the field of prevention of abuse.
San Bernardino diocese lists priests
credibly accused of sex abuse
Catholic News Agency
Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino, Calif. Credit: Farragutful via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
A list of 34 priests credibly accused of abuse in recent decades was released Monday by the Diocese of San Bernardino. The local bishop has apologized to victims and said the failure to protect children has led to “new awareness” about the “terrible scourge” of sex abuse.
“When we read this list we are pained to think of the many lives that were impacted by the sinful and unlawful acts of those priests who committed them,” Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernardino said. “Some will recognize names on this list, more will recognize the parish communities where they served. It makes this crisis more local to us, and may increase our feelings of sadness and outrage.”
From CNN:
The status of the 34 accused priests is as follows:
• Fourteen are dead.
• Five were removed from the priesthood
• Fourteen were permanently banned from the diocese.
• One left the diocese 25 years ago, and his whereabouts are unknown.
The list can be found here.
He encouraged victims of sex abuse by a Church minister or those who know victims of such sex abuse to “please come forward and report it.” He offered his apologies and deepest regrets to the victims of those listed and to the Catholic faithful, “who have been scandalized by this shameful chapter in our Church’s history.”
“Apologies, at this point, can seem hollow and I regret that because I can imagine how painful this has been in the lives of many victims,” Bishop Barnes said. “Still, I do want to state my sincere apology.”
The list, released Oct. 8, draws from diocesan records and files documenting abuse reports made to diocesan personnel. The records include follow-up reports to priests and Diocesan Review Board discussions.
In the most recent cases, credibility of an accusation was determined by the Diocesan Review Board. In older cases, credibility was determined from facts reported by diocesan personnel at the time of the accusation, an admission from a priest, or from police or legal documents.
The diocese characterized the list as a “good faith effort” to “disclose the names of all priests with credible allegations.” Any additional credible allegations in the future will be added to the list. The latest allegation is from 2014, which was reported to child welfare authorities. Of those priests listed, 29 of the 34 names are “already in the public domain.”
John Andrews, communications director for the San Bernardino diocese, said those six not previously named had been reported to the police, but hadn’t been reported in the press nor were letters read to the faithful about these priests. He said the diocese had responded to the allegations responsibly.
Six of the priests on the list have been convicted in criminal court. All but one priest on the list have been dismissed from the clerical state, permanently banned from ministry in the diocese, or have died.
The whereabouts of the one priest who left the diocese in 1993, Paul Nguyen, are unknown. He had been incardinated in the Diocese of Oslo and served at St. Francis de Sales in Riverside from 1992-1993. The allegations against him were made known to the diocese in February 1993. He was also suspended and reported to the police.
Before 1978, the territory of the diocese was part of the Diocese of San Diego, which has released a similar list. Credibly accused priests who served in parishes of San Bernardino or Riverside counties from before that time are included on the San Bernardino diocese’s list.
There are presently about 1.6 million Catholics in the diocese out of a population of 4.9 million. About 1,900 priests have served in the diocese’s territory.
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