Frenchman takes groping complaint against AB to Vatican
VATICAN CITY — One of a half-dozen men who have accused the Vatican’s ambassador to France of groping them said Wednesday he plans to take his legal complaint directly to the Vatican, alleging the Holy See had invoked diplomatic immunity for the high-ranking churchman in a French criminal probe.
Mathieu De La Souchere filed a police report in Paris earlier this year accusing Archbishop Luigi Ventura of touching his buttocks repeatedly during a Jan. 17 reception at Paris City Hall. De La Souchere met with one of Pope Francis’ sex abuse advisers about the allegations Wednesday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into alleged sexual aggression. The Vatican said Ventura was cooperating with the investigation. But De La Souchere said the French case was essentially stalled over the immunity question.
“The French government’s request to the Vatican to lift the diplomatic immunity remained unanswered,” he told The Associated Press.
De La Souchere said his lawyer plans to file a complaint with the Vatican City State’s criminal tribunal next week. The tribunal largely follows the Italian penal code and is separate from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex abuse-related crimes under the Catholic Church’s canon law.
“This new judicial step here in the Vatican, we hope, will be one more step toward the trial that we all the victims in France are waiting for,” De La Souchere said after meeting with the Rev. Hans Zollner, a founding member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
De La Souchere met with Zollner and another man who has accused Ventura. Catholic online site Crux has said as many as a half-dozen men have accused Ventura of unwanted groping over the course of his diplomatic postings, which have included Canada and Chile.
Ventura has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. His French lawyer, Bertrand Ollivier, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The archbishop’s whereabouts are unknown, but he attended a meeting at the Vatican last month of all the Holy See’s apostolic nuncios, or ambassadors.
Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Ventura “has fully and voluntarily cooperated with French judicial authorities who are in charge of his case, and will continue to do so.” He didn’t immediately respond when asked about the status of Ventura’s immunity.
Ventura did agree to investigators’ request to take part in a “confrontation” with his accusers in May, according to French media reports. All accused him of putting his hands on their buttocks, sometimes repeatedly, or making other inappropriate gestures.
Speaking to one alleged victim, identified as Benjamin G., Ventura first claimed he didn’t remember the incidents in question and then said Benjamin misinterpreted his actions, according to French newspaper Le Monde.
The Vatican has previously recalled its diplomats when they get into trouble during overseas postings, as is common for governments with diplomats serving abroad.
In the most high-profile case, the Vatican recalled its ambassador to the Dominican Republic and prepared to put him on trial in the city state’s criminal tribunal for allegedly sexually abusing young boys. But he died before trial started.
I'm sure he didn't miss-out on his trial!
More recently, the Vatican convicted a diplomat from its U.S. embassy (2nd story on link) for possession and distribution of child pornography and sentenced him to five years in prison.
The Vatican also invoked immunity during the recently-concluded trial in France that convicted French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of failing to report an admitted pedophile to police. Also accused in the case was a Vatican official, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, who now heads the Vatican office in charge of handling sex abuse cases.
The Vatican invoked Ladaria’s immunity as a public official of a foreign sovereign — the Holy See — and he was not prosecuted. Barbarin enjoyed no such immunity as the archbishop of Lyon and was convicted and given a six-month suspended sentence (3rd story on link).
Francis recently named a temporary administrator to run the Lyon archdiocese after Barbarin stepped aside pending his appeal.
Catholic Church allowed Brother John Laidlaw to keep teaching after abuse, court hears
By Karen Percy
John Laidlaw used a walking stick as he entered the County Court of Victoria this morning. (ABC News)
A teenager molested by Christian Brother John Laidlaw in the 1980s has told a Melbourne court he thought he was being "punished by God" when he was sexually assaulted at his family home.
The man is one of six victims sexually assaulted by Laidlaw from 1963 to 1984 when he taught at a number of Catholic schools, including St Joseph's in Warrnambool and Parade College in Bundoora.
Brother Laidlaw taught all six boys who were aged between 12 and 17 when they were assaulted.
In a victim impact statement read to the County Court, the victim known as Master 16 said he lost his innocence when Brother Laidlaw forced him to perform oral sex when he was home sick one day.
"He broke me in a million pieces," he said. "I trusted him. I respected him. He made a conscious decision to betray that trust. I thought I was being punished by God."
Laidlaw pleaded guilty to seven charges including indecent assault and sexual penetration.
The court heard he abused his role as a teacher and as a sports coach, using the boys' injuries as an excuse to offer sports massages, which became abuse.
"He was scared and confused as to why the offender was touching his genitals," prosecutor Diana Piekusis told the court about Master 13.
Laidlaw wrote letters to victims
One complainant was 12 years old when he was assaulted by Laidlaw after being injured during a football game.
Six years later, the complainant told his father of the assault, the court heard. But the court heard that his father, who was also a police officer, laughed at him.
You can't imagine what it is like to go to a parent with something you think is important, and they just laugh at you.
Master 17 addressed the court, saying he had flashbacks of the time and that his mother struggled with learning "what she suspected".
At the end of his speech, he turned to Laidlaw in the back of the court and said: "I genuinely forgive you. Shalom." Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace.
The court heard Laidlaw took a sabbatical in the US in the early 1990s, to get his life in order, undertaking a 12-step program to deal with alcohol abuse and his sexual addiction.
It was during that time Laidlaw wrote letters of apology to two of the boys. Each letter praised the boy's courage and honesty, and apologised for "the hurt you have been caused".
Makes it sound like it wasn't he who caused that hurt.
In 2017, when he was interviewed by police over the charges, the court heard he downplayed the letters, saying he did not recall many of the acts he was accused of.
Laidlaw continued to teach after being found 'unfit'
The court was told the Catholic Church received a "visitation" report in 1973 after Laidlaw left St Patrick's College in Ballarat.
That report determined that Laidlaw was "unfit for the job" after "revelations of improper conduct" and "serious acts of indiscretion."
Laidlaw taught at at least eight more schools before retiring in 1993.
Defence lawyer Simon Moglia admitted that by the 1980s Laidlaw's "conduct had clearly escalated leading to charges of a more serious nature".
He also acknowledged the fact the boys had to "continue in school each week to deal with Brother Laidlaw added to the harm and the difficulties caused to them".
"It is a shame to all of us that the community and those around the victims have not understood that and have not heard complaints as they should have been heard," Mr Moglia told the court.
"[Laidlaw] too at the time of the offending did not appreciate — like many of us — the gravity of the consequences of these actions."
He said his client admitted there was a "clear breach of trust ... clear indecency and sexual assault".
Judge Peter Berman will sentence Laidlaw on July 18.
Head of top Catholic school stands down
after damning report
after damning report
Inspection found Ampleforth college failed to meet child protection standards
Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
England’s most prestigious Catholic school, Ampleforth college, is facing a new leadership crisis after an inspection found it was failing to meet child protection standards.
The college confirmed its acting head, Deirdre Rowe, was stepping down after just 10 months in the job, and an interim head would be appointed.
The move follows an unannounced inspection to monitor progress, carried out in May at the request of the Department for Education. According to a report in Catholic journal the Tablet, the highly critical inspection report found the school did not meet standards for safeguarding, leadership, behaviour, combating bullying and complaints handling.
The north Yorkshire college was founded more than 200 years ago by Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey. Its former pupils include Julian Fellowes, the Conservative peer and creator of Downton Abbey, the actor Rupert Everett and the sculptor Antony Gormley. Its fees are more than £35,000 a year for senior boarders.
Rowe was appointed as acting head last August after five years in charge of safeguarding at the college. She will hand over to a new interim head, before a permanent head is appointed later this year.
A spokesperson for Ampleforth College said: “We have recognised that a small number of incidents, where our robust policies have not been followed, have led to the judgment from the inspectors that we have not yet met all of the required standards. Each incident has been, or is being, investigated and addressed with the authorities and the students and parents involved.
“Given the investment that has been made in our academic curriculum, governance and staff training, we know our school deserves world-class leadership. As a result, we aim shortly to appoint an interim head, to begin in post by September 2019, and we have advised the DfE of this plan. They will bring considerable change management and safeguarding expertise to the role, before we make an announcement on the appointment of a permanent head by the end of the year.”
The leadership changes mean that, by the end of 2019, the college will have had four heads in just over a year, according to the Tablet.
Last August, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse published a highly critical 211-page report on Ampleforth and another Catholic school, Downside in Somerset.
Ampleforth Abbey has been managed by a lawyer appointed by the Charity Commission since April 2018 after its abbot, Cuthbert Madden, was removed from post following allegations that he indecently assaulted pupils. Madden has denied the claims.
Ex-priest goes on trial for decades-old child sexual abuse in El Paso, Texas
By: Jim Parker Madeline OttilieKVIA
EL PASO, Texas - Opening arguments and initial testimony took place Tuesday as the trial of a former El Paso Catholic priest accused of child sexual assault got underway in court.
Miguel Luna, 68, is charged with aggravated assault of a child in a case that dates back to the 1990s while he was still an active priest; the alleged victim is now a 36-year old woman.
He's pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts against him.
Prosecutors on Tuesday compared Luna to a "wolf in sheep's clothing." But the defense played off that analogy, saying Luna was like "a wolf in nature," claiming he was faithful to the church.
Luna started working as a priest in the 10-county Diocese of El Paso in 1982, but was later removed from ministry in 2013.
The victim took the witness stand Tuesday, essentially testifying to details she told investigators that were outlined in court documents previously reported on by ABC-7.
The victim testified she was an alter server at Corpus Christi church and only eight years old at the time, when Luna began kissing her "passionately" during confessionals. Between the ages of 10 and 13, Luna allegedly touched her breasts and sexually assaulted her.
The victim recalled Luna telling her "remember this is confession so whatever happens in here stays in here."
When she was 12 years old, the victim said Luna moved to another church, but he stayed in contact with her — even picked her up from school.
She choked up in court as she told jurors about how he would take her back to his new church, where he is alleged to have forcefully sexually assaulted her. The woman testified he also took her to a motel in Mexico.
She added that Luna continued having sex with her until she was 17 years old. The former priest reportedly had a close relationship with the victim's mother — and the woman said the assaults ended when she finally moved away.
Luna sat in court relatively quiet and expressionless during the opening statements and his alleged victim's testimony.
The Diocese claims that Luna admitted to the assaults when church officials first became aware of the allegations and looked into it.
Buffalo, NY Diocese still investigating priest
more than a year after abuse accusations
more than a year after abuse accusations
Buffalo News
Fourteen months after a Lockport man accused Monsignor John M. Ryan of molesting him in the 1980s, Bishop Richard J. Malone has yet to decide whether Ryan committed the abuse and should be further punished.
The man's May 8, 2018 application to a Buffalo Diocese program that compensates victims of clergy abuse prompted Malone to suspend Ryan, 89, last July from publicly celebrating Masses and other priestly functions.
This past May, the diocese received a second complaint about Ryan from a Pennsylvania woman who said the former superintendent of Catholic schools repeatedly molested her in the late 1950s when she was a parishioner at Queen of Heaven Church in West Seneca. Her lawyer notified the diocese in a letter.
Both accusers said they plan to sue the diocese in August under the Child Victims Act, which allows a one-year window for childhood sex abuse victims to pursue civil cases from years ago that were time-barred under statutes of limitations.
Ryan served as superintendent of Catholic schools from 1975 to 1981, overseeing more than 42,000 students in about 150 elementary and high schools in eight counties at the time.
Ryan’s lawyer, Rodney Personius, said Monday that the priest adamantly denies the abuse allegations.
Ryan, who remains on administrative leave, declined to comment when contacted by phone.
“I’m not going to say anything. I’m just waiting for what I’m sure will be a positive result from the board. That’s all I have to say,” he said before hanging up.
There is considerably more to this story on the Buffalo News
Chile removes statute of limitations on child sex abuse amid Church crisis
World Reuters
By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera signed into law on Thursday a bill to remove the statute of limitations on sex crimes involving children amid a sex abuse crisis that has rocked the country's Catholic Church and claimed more than 200 victims.
The law, which first was proposed in 2010, ends impunity in cases that would have previously had a statute of limitations that varied between five and 10 years, depending on the nature of the crime. The new law is not retroactive.
"Beginning today, the passing of time will never more be an accomplice to those who abuse our children, nor an ally of impunity," Pinera said.
The centre-right Pinera revived the nearly decade-old bill last year, following a visit to the South American nation by the pope that brought to the surface a string of abuse allegations now being investigated by prosecutors.
Chile's Public Ministry says it is investigating more than 150 cases of sexual abuse or cover-up involving the Catholic Church.
The new law applies to crimes of rape, sexual abuse, the production of pornographic materials and prostitution involving children and adolescents.
Melbourne judge slams Catholic Church over
handling of paedophile priest Robert Claffey
Amber Wilson
A Melbourne judge who will soon sentence a repeat offender pedophile priest has condemned the Catholic Church for prioritising "the sinner" over children.
Robert Claffey, 76, is already serving more than a decade in prison for sexually abusing 12 children as young as five, between 1969 and 1992.
Claffey was a priest at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Wendouree during the 1980s.
The church became aware of his behaviour in the 1980s, but moved him "parish to parish" throughout western Victoria, at one point even installing him as a replacement for notorious pedophile Gerald Ridsdale.
In 2016, Claffey was jailed for a minimum of 13 years and four months.
But on Monday, Claffey admitted he abused another two boys in Ballarat during the 1980s, following fresh allegations.
One of the victims was aged between 12 and 15 at the time, while the other was aged six to seven.
Defence lawyer Alan Hands has asked County Court Judge Paul Higham to consider Claffey had already been "vilified" by the media and community, and shouldered the burden of his offending for years.
"He was moved from parish to parish," Mr Hands said on Friday. "For a number of years, he was hunted around the western district."
He noted Claffey had become a lay priest at his own request in 1994. But the judge wasn't convinced the pedophile was vilified or burdened by guilt.
"Some parents had got up the courage to challenge the church. I don't see how we make the leap from that to vilification. Being held accountable for your actions is not vilification," he said.
While noting the Catholic Church was "not in the dock", Judge Higham added the church did not report Claffey to police, but simply moved him around.
"Their priority was to bring the sinner back to the church rather than protect the children," he said.
"The church did not report him to the police and he did not report himself to the police. Where is the evidence that he had this matter hanging over him...over the decades?
"Where is his sense of guilt?"
Judge Higham noted Claffey initially contested the allegations he is now in jail for, only confessing in 2016.
Also on Friday, one of Claffey's victims told the court he had lost faith in the church.
"I felt I could not tell anyone and if I raised or complained about what happened to me, I would not be believed, I would be sinning," the man said.
"I have lost my faith in the church...for many years I was a broken person."
Judge Higham thanked the man for attending court. "I reassure you that your voice is heard in this court," he said.
The court is waiting to receive one more victim statement before Claffey is sentenced for his Ballarat crimes on July 18.
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