Pope removes three from council of cardinals, including two in child abuse scandals
By Ed Adamczyk
(UPI) -- Pope Francis removed two cardinals, each involved in sexual abuse scandals, from his advisory council, the Vatican announced Wednesday.
The nine-person council, known as the C9, guides the pope on matters critical to the Catholic Church's future. Termination of services of Australia's Cardinal George Pell and Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, the former archbishop of Santiago, Chile, were announced, as well as that of Cardinal Laurent Monswegngo Pasinya of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pasinya is 79 and has not attended recent council meetings.
Pell, who is also the chief of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, faces charges of "historical child sexual offenses" in court proceedings that are under a gag order in Melbourne, Australia. News coverage has been blocked to avoid its influence on juries, until the trials end, likely in 2019. Errázuriz has been accused of covering up abuse of minors by former priest Fernando Karadima, and at 85, submitted his resignation from the council in May. Errazuriz is also the plaintiff in civil litigation in Chile.
Pell was given a leave of absence from his financial post to defend himself against the charges in his home country.
During a meeting of the C9 this week in the Vatican, the pope was asked to consider the "work, structure and composition of the council, taking into account the advanced age of some members." Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said on Wednesday that the pope had followed the cardinals' advice.
The three cardinals were sent a letter in October by the pope, to "thank them for the work they have done in these five years. Given the phase of the Council's work, the appointment of new members is not expected at present," Burke wrote on Wednesday in a statement on the convention.
During a visit to Chile in January, the pope defended the country's bishops against accusations of hiding abuse, remarks that angered sex abuse victims and their supporters. He later changed his position, sending his top sex abuse investigator to Chile. At a special meeting in Rome attended by all Chilean bishops, he accused them of mishandling child sexual abuse accounts. They all offered their resignations.
Cardinal George Pell convicted on child sex abuse
related charges
By Clyde Hughesrelated charges
(UPI) -- Cardinal George Pell, one of Pope Francis' closest advisers, has been convicted in an Australian court on five counts related to the abuse of two choirboys in 1996.
Pell, 77, currently on a leave from his post as the Vatican's economy secretary, was charged last year for "historical sexual assault offenses" by Australian police.
Tuesday, he was found guilty on the charges in a Melbourne court. The conviction was the result of a retrial for Pell, after a first jury in September couldn't reach a verdict for the former archbishop. The verdict makes him the highest-ranking Vatican official to face such a conviction.
Australian news media have been barred by a judge from reporting on the details of Pell's trial, fearing prejudice. Several outlets, including America magazine, reported the verdict. The Catholic News Agency, citing a source close to Pell, reported he was convicted Tuesday.
Pell was released on bail after his conviction. He will be sentenced in February. The clergyman is scheduled to face a second trial in early next year involving a different incident, possibly in February or March.
Wednesday, Pope Francis removed Pell from the Vatican's Council of Cardinals, but it wasn't clear if he still holds his economy secretary's post.
Two other members of the pope's council, retired archbishop Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, 79, and Chile's Francisco Errázuriz Ossa, 85, also were removed from the group. Ossa has been blamed for hiding abuse while serving as archbishop of Santiago.
Pope Francis had named Pell to the council, or Council of Cardinals, in 2013. Before that, he served as archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001 and Archbishop of Sydney from 2001 until moving to the Vatican in 2014.
2 suspended Buffalo priests returned to ministry;
2 others remain on leave
By Jay Tokasz Two Buffalo, NY area priests were returned to active ministry Friday after a diocese investigation cleared them of child sexual abuse allegations, while allegations against two other priests were upheld and sent to the Vatican for further review.
The Rev. Roy Herberger and Monsignor Frederick R. Leising have been returned to active ministry, the diocese announced late Friday in a news release.
The Rev. Fabian J. Maryanski and the Rev. Mark J. Wolski will remain on administrative leave as the Vatican office known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviews the diocese’s investigation into complaints of sex abuse against them.
Bishop Richard J. Malone made the determinations after considering the reports of investigator Scott F. Riordan and the recommendations of the Diocesan Review Board, a group of lay Catholic professionals appointed to examine and weigh abuse allegations.
Catholic Diocese in Alabama releases list
of priests accused of child sex abuse
WVTM 13 Digital
Danny Malloy, victim of pedophile priest video 1:36
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
The Catholic Diocese of Birmingham today released the names of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors.
Bishop Robert J. Baker shared the following statement in a release:
"Today I am providing information about accusations of clergy sexual abuse of minors. The credibility of the accusations is either the result of an admission by the former priest, substantial evidence that we have gathered, or an independent investigation that substantiated the claims.
"The priests named were ministering in this diocese when they committed these deplorable acts. What they did, not only to the victims themselves but their families and friends, is inexcusable. In so many ways it has injured the very foundation of our Church family. Although there is nothing that one can say to right these wrongs, please know that we have spent a great deal of time and effort to see that such situations will not happen again. It is with heartfelt sorrow that I ask forgiveness of all the victims of these terrible crimes and of their family members who suffered as well.
"I want to take this opportunity to let you know what our diocese has been doing these past years in order to protect those most vulnerable."
Baker said none of the clergy listed below are in service anywhere.
PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE
Charles V. Cross (Deceased)
Ordained in 1960 (Mobile-Birmingham); served from 1969 in the new Diocese of Birmingham; removed from ministry in 1985; forced to retire without priveleges in 2002
John "Jack" Ventura
Ordained in 1968 (Patterson, New Jersey); 1974 Incardinated in Diocese of Birmingham; removed from ministry after allegations received in 1985
Charles Bordenca (Deceased)
Ordained in 1955 (Mobile-Birmingham); served from 1969 in the new Diocese of Birmingham; removed from active ministry in this diocese in 1989
Kevin Cooke
Ordained in 1978; removed from ministry in 2002
Jonathan "John" Franklin (Deceased)
Ordained in 1956 (Louisiana); rRemoved from ministry: mid-1980s
Roger Lott (Deceased)
Ordained in 1954 (Mobile-Birmingham); removed from ministry in 1997
"We will not tolerate such sexual abuse. We condemn it," Bishop Baker said. "We will continue to remain vigilant. We invite those who wish to participate in any of our programs to contact us. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Finally, we will continue to pray for all those affected in any way. We pray that individuals will have the courage to come forward with their stories and seek help with the pain they may still be suffering. May God guide our efforts to protect all those committed to our care."
Baker said any suspected child abuse involving someone within the diocese is asked to contact Deacon Frank Slapikas at 205-252-3954 or general counsel at 205-776-7118.
Sisters of Mercy - a dark misnomer in New Zealand
Dunedin survivor Steve revisits the former St Joseph's Boys Home, once run by the Sisters of Mercy, in Doon St, Waverley. Photo / Craig BaxterDunedin survivor Steve revisits the former St Joseph's Boys Home, once run by the Sisters of Mercy, in Doon St, Waverley. Photo / Craig Baxter
Otago Daily Times
By: Chris Morris
A Dunedin boy dumped at a Catholic orphanage by his father endured five days of violence at the hands of the Sisters of Mercy. Half a century later, he is still searching for answers. Chris Morris reports.
Age is slowly catching up with the old Catholic orphanage overlooking Otago Harbour.
Paint peels from doors, rust creeps across a warped iron roof and weeds sprout from cracks in a concrete courtyard, ignored by the tenants now occupying flats inside what was once St Joseph's Boys Home.
But age has not dimmed the memories for Steve, 61, as he walks around the grounds, taking in the contours of the imposing two-storey building he was once forced to call home.
He stayed for just five days more than half a century ago. But, even now, just a glimpse of the old building is enough to send a shudder through him as the memories come flooding back.
"It gets me every time I come up here," he says. "It's not my favourite place to be."
Steve was just 8 years old when he and his four younger brothers were delivered to the front door of the orphanage by their father in 1966. The boys were handed over to nuns from the Sisters of Mercy and quickly ushered inside, without a word of explanation, as their father drove away.
The next morning, when Steve's youngest brother — just 4 years old and "shell-shocked" — tried to climb a tree to escape over a fence, the violence began.
"The nuns pulled him back in and just whipped the s*** out of him with an electric jug cord."
It was the start of an ordeal for the brothers, who were crowded into an upstairs bedroom with 35 other boys, aged from infants to teenagers.
Days were spent on household chores, lessons, Bible studies and working in the farmland that once surrounded the orphanage. But physical and psychological abuse was never far away.
Steve said the violent outbursts erupted "multiple times a day" and could be triggered by the slightest infractions.
"If you were slow at doing something, you would get a whipping, and if it wasn't with an electric jug cord it was with a ruler — the old three-foot wooden ruler — or slapped around the ear, or pulled by the ears. It was just horrific ... That place was just hell on Earth for the people in there."
Initially, the nuns targeted Steve's youngest brother to try to keep the older boys in line, he said.
The St Joseph's Boys Home overlooking Otago Harbour.
But when Steve tried to intervene, the nuns shifted their attention to him. "I got double what he got. At 8 years old, you've got no real defence mechanism against that sort of thing."
Sadly, it was not a new experience for Steve, who came from a sometimes-violent family setting and had already experienced the nuns' harsh discipline at St Bernadette's School, beginning as a 5-year-old.
The school was the kind of place where the nuns forced left-handed boys to work with their right hand, which was tied behind their back, as happened to one of Steve's brothers. "Left-handed people were sinners, according to the Catholic Church."
But at the Doon St orphanage, violence was "at the forefront of everything that was going on up there", he said.
"The nuns up there were supposed to be the Sisters of Mercy, but they were anything but ... They were supposed to be the brides of Christ, but they were more like the brides of Frankenstein."
Their father finally returned five days later to collect the boys, although he was to maintain his silence about why they had been left there for decades to come.
Steve's youngest brother, in particular, was deeply traumatised. "He'd never wet the bed before going there, and afterwards it took Mum six months to get him out of wetting the bed," Steve said.
But the brothers' experience was far from unique.
The St Vincent de Paul Orphanage for Girls in South Dunedin.
In Dunedin, two fell under the umbrella of the Sisters of Mercy — the Doon St orphanage and the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage for Girls in nearby South Dunedin.
And life at the South Dunedin orphanage could be just as brutal as at Doon St, according to former Dunedin woman Anne Frandi-Coory.
Frandi-Coory, 70, who now lives in Australia, was placed in the South Dunedin orphanage as a young child when her parents' relationship crumbled in 1949. She was there initially with her two brothers, but the boys were moved to the Doon St orphanage once they turned 5.
Frandi-Coory remained at the South Dunedin orphanage for seven long years, and recalled a life dominated by religious education, threats of God's vengeance and work — scrubbing floors, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry and cooking in "huge kitchens". It was, she said, the life of a "virtual slave".
"We suffered from gross neglect, lack of hygiene and emotional abuse. We were never taught to clean our teeth, wash our hands, and very seldom had a bath."
And hanging over them all was a sense of dread. Corporal punishment by the nuns was common, and involved being strapped, being pulled by the hair or being locked in a cupboard "for hours".
Also common were "petty hatreds" doled out by certain nuns.
Nuns from the Sisters of Mercy in Dunedin cared for generations of children, but violence could also be a hallmark of the experience for some of their charges.
When oranges were handed out, and a young Frandi-Coory found hers to be black and rotten inside, she showed it to a nun. "Her reply was 'Well, that's your bad luck, isn't it?"'
Frandi-Coory said her abiding memory was of crying children who did not know how to smile.
The nuns had been "unfit" to care for children, and the physical, emotional and psychological torment had left her traumatised for decades, battling anxiety, nightmares and fears of abandonment.
She remained a "virtual recluse" to this day, and although counselling, education and writing a book about her experiences had all helped, the memories remained.
"I especially remember the nightmares, of burning in hell. It has taken me almost my entire lifetime to overcome the impact that spending all my formative years in a Catholic institution has wrought on me."
It is a dark past acknowledged by the leadership of Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.
Sr Sue France, in a written response to questions by ODT Insight, said the organisation accepted "that in some times and places our care of vulnerable children entrusted to us fell short".
"We feel great sadness that any child may have suffered at the hands of any of our sisters, who should have provided care and protection for children in her care."
However, she did not answer specific questions about the number of complaints received relating to the mistreatment of children, the number of payouts made as a result, or the potential for more in future.
Instead, she would only say the organisation welcomed the expanded royal commission into historical abuse, and expected the inquiry "will likely give voice to some of those we may have failed, who for whatever reason have yet to be heard".
Anne Frandi-Coory, aged 7, during her placement at St Vincent de Paul Orphanage for Girls in South Dunedin.
Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse also scrutinised the Sisters of Mercy.
It found 174 complaints of child sexual abuse — involving both nuns and non-ordained male perpetrators within the organisation — had been received by the Sisters of Mercy between 1980 and 2015.
The commission also heard evidence of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse children suffered at the Australian orphanages, and that some children were punished by the nuns after confiding in a priest about being sexually abused while in care.
Some children had even been abused by priests who would visit Sisters of Mercy orphanages despite having no "formal responsibility" for the children there.
At St Joseph's Boys Home in Dunedin, priests were also regular visitors. One of them, Steve said, was Fr Magnus Murray.
In 2003, Murray was convicted of historical sexual offences against four Dunedin boys dating back to between 1958 and 1972. He has since been implicated in further offending, including suggestions of at least 15 victims on the Taieri alone, but in the 1960s he was still a respected parish priest.
Steve told ODT Insight he never saw Murray at the orphanage, nor did he encounter sexual abuse while there.But other boys he knew from his time there, whom he remained in contact with, told a different story.
One remembered Murray as a regular visitor to the orphanage, and said he took particular interest in certain boys from his parish. "He remembered Murray coming up there and taking particular boys aside."
He also suspected the nuns' violence was motivated by "sexual frustration". "They took a vow of chastity. If they couldn't get their rocks off that way, they were getting their rocks off by hitting us."
It was just one of the threats Steve was to face, even after leaving the orphanage, as he navigated the Catholic education system in Dunedin.
As well as the violence doled out by nuns at the orphanage and St Bernadette's School, he had to endure the violent acts by Christian Brothers running St Edmund's School and St Paul's High School.
A series of brothers and teachers at both schools were later implicated in "horrendous" acts of violence and sexual abuse of pupils.
That included Br Desmond Fay, blamed for abusing one boy and driving him to suicide, and Ian Thompson, accused of abusing at least 16 boys at St Paul's before taking his own life.
Steve encountered both men but managed to avoid their sexual advances, despite Thompson trying to "more or less march me across" to his cottage for a visit one day. "I said 'No, it ain't gonna happen'."
He even escaped the attentions of Murray, despite serving as his altar boy at St Bernadette's Church in 1967, although others with him were not so lucky. "A couple of my fellow altar boys ... they were attacked by Murray," he said.
It was only decades later, with his father on his deathbed, that Steve began to confront his experiences, including unpacking the mystery of why he and his brothers had been taken to the Doon St orphanage in 1966.
His parents were both staunch Catholics, but his father had been violent towards his mother, and they were eventually convinced to go to the Holy Cross seminary in Mosgiel for marriage counselling.
And the man who convinced them to leave their children behind in the Doon St orphanage was a familiar face — Murray.
Steve eventually met Sr France, of the Sisters of Mercy NZ, in Wellington in 2015. Soon after, he received a written apology from the order for the "difficult and traumatic experience" he and his brothers had endured.
But Steve said the apology now appeared "just token, really". "It was to placate me, basically. It doesn't make me feel any more comfortable, knowing that what they did is still eating away.
"We went up there as innocents and I came out broken."
And all five brothers continued to feel the effects to this day, he said. "We're all alcoholics, broken marriages, strained relationships. I tried committing suicide when I was 20. I've only just now started seeking counselling. It has been a lifelong burden, basically."
Now, 52 years on from his experience in the orphanage, he wanted compensation from the Sisters of Mercy.
But he also wanted the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin to answer for the extent of the violence and sexual abuse that occurred under former Dunedin bishop John Kavanagh, the man in charge at the time.
The first step should be to rename Kavanagh College, as Bishop Kavanagh's inability to stamp out offending meant the buck should stop with him.
"All this happened under his watch. He was part and parcel of the whole abuse system in Dunedin."
Former St Gregory’s College dorm master convicted
of historic child sex abuse in Australia
Kayla Osborne, Illiwarra Mercury
A man who was sexually abused by his dorm master while boarding at Campbelltown’s St Gregory’s College in the 1980s has finally spoken about his lifelong struggle for justice.
Joe* was sexually assaulted by his year 8 dorm master Ross Francis Murrin over a nine-month period in 1985.
Murrin was convicted in 2010 of horrific penetrative sex crimes against Joe.
On Friday the pedophile faced Campbelltown District Court for sentencing related to historic child sex offences against a different victim.
Having [Murrin] convicted was not a silver bullet
– this is something I still have to confront every day of my life.
The former Marist brother was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a five month non-parole period for indecent assault of another young student at St Gregorys College in 1985.
5 months in prison!!! That's like a reward!
Murrin, 63, remained calm and silent as Judge O’Brien handed down his sentence.
It's a wonder he could restrain himself from jumping with joy.
Joe was in court to watch the sentencing of his abuser. He spoke to the Advertiser outside court and said he was disappointed with the outcome of the case.
“It’s devastating to see that happen – is five months all that a 12-year-old’s innocence is worth?” Joe said. “The lasting psychological effects on the victims are what the court doesn’t see.”
And, apparently, don't care about!
Joe said he was just 12 years old and a year 8 boarder at St Greogry’s when Mr Murrin began assaulting him. “When I was 38 years of age I had a nervous breakdown and was forced to see a psychologist,” he said.
“My marriage was breaking down, my businesses was suffering and I was depressed but I just couldn’t find a reason why. Due to some of my behavioural issues my therapist asked me if I had ever been abused.
“She said part of my therapy would be to confront my abuser. That’s when I decided to come forward – I wanted him charged.”
Murrin served five years in jail after he was convicted in 2010 of six counts of homosexual intercourse with Joe, one count of attempted homosexual intercourse with Joe and two counts of assault with act of indecency against Joe.
Judge O’Brien said on Friday Murrin’s latest offences were ‘less serious’ than the crimes he was jailed for in 2010.
“He has been assessed as having a low risk for re-offending and shown remorse for his conduct,” he said. “He poses little to no ongoing threat to the community.”
Joe said he knew of students who had been abused by Murrin who had attempted or committed suicide. “I suppose I am one of the lucky ones because I got some closure and [Murrin] was punished for his crimes against me,” he said.
“Having [Murrin] convicted was not a silver bullet – this is something I still have to confront every day of my life.”
Another forrner St Gregorys College dorm master, Marist brother and teacher, Graeme Mundine, 58, was also sentenced for historic sex offences in Campbelltown District Court this week.
Unfortunately, I cannot find any reports on Graeme Mundine.
Priest abuse investigation: Shredded documents,
hundreds of files seized in Houston
Most files are only identified by a last name, but among the few full names listed, at least six are priests who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct.
Author: Jeremy Rogalski, Tina Macias, KHOU11
HOUSTON -- Bags of shredded documents, electronics and hundreds of files were among the items investigators seized from a Montgomery County treatment center as part of its sexual assault investigation into a local priest.
Listed among the items taken from the Shalom Center in Splendora in September are files for at least 200 people, according to an evidence log filed in the case and obtained by KHOU. The vast majority of the files are only identified by a last name, but among the few full names listed, at least six are priests who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct.
It’s unclear how many of the other people listed are priests or why they were seeking treatment. The Shalom Center offers residential, sabbatical and outpatient programs for priests, deacons and male and female members of a religious order.
The center has 20 residential beds and treats more than 400 people a year, according to the Official Catholic Directory. It offers treatment for, “psychological difficulties, interpersonal conflicts, emotional or sexual problems, grief and loss issues, stress and exhaustion, transitional trauma, sexual abuse, addictions,” according to its website.
Former Conroe priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, who’s facing four counts of indecency with a child, was treated at the Shalom Center in 2001, and documents about the center found in La Rosa-Lopez’s bedroom reference one of his accusers, according to the search warrant.
It’s unclear which items seized at the Shalom Center are about La Rosa-Lopez, because his full name is never mentioned in the log.
But among the full names listed was at least one publicly accused priest from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Stephen Horn. Horn was removed from ministry in 2008 after an Archdiocesan review board found allegations against him credible.
The other priests who have been publicly named for child sexual abuse or child pornography, either through lawsuits, news reports or a listing on watchdog group BishopAccountability.org are: Matthew Bagert, Diocese of Dallas; John Feminelli, Diocese of Corpus Christi; and out-of-state priests from three religious orders -- Deusdedit Mulokozi, Missionaries of the Precious Blood; Louis Perrault, Congregation of the Holy Spirit; Freddy Washington, Congregation of the Sacred Heart.
Also seized in the search was at least 16 computers and shredded documents that were found in bags in four different locations.
Everything was seized as part of the wide-reaching investigation into La Rosa-Lopez, which has also included searches of his former churches in Conroe and Richmond, along with the Archdiocesan chancery. La Rosa-Lopez faces four counts of indecency with a child.
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