According to the reports, priests were photographed fondling and kissing trainee priests and pornographic images were found on the seminary computers. The school director and his deputy have resigned.

It also reported that a police investigation had uncovered as many as 40,000 images and videos - some allegedly including child pornography - on computers at the seminary.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3887033.stm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040712.waust0712/BNStory/International/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/12/seminary.porn.ap/index.html

Catholic Church officials say they won't help Interpol find molester

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9146833.htm
http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=2034955

Managua, Nicaragua-AP -- A Costa Rican priest fleeing sexual molestation charges apparently has entered Nicaragua and is being sought.

National Police spokeswoman Miriam Torres says the Reverend Enrique Vasquez is being sought on an Interpol warrant on behalf of Costa Rican officials.

The Dallas Morning News profiled Vasquez in June as part of a series following a yearlong investigation of runaway Roman Catholic priests.

Vasquez fled Costa Rica after a criminal complaint was filed by the mother of a boy he allegedly molested.

Catholic priests in weekly abuse claims

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1259687,00.html

LONDON (Reuters) - An average of one Roman Catholic priest every week is accused of sexual abuse in England and Wales last year but none has been prosecuted and all but two are still in their jobs, a report has said.

A further 10 allegations were made of physical, emotional or other abuse by priests, volunteers and employees of the church, bringing total complaints for the year to 62, according to the report by the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children

There were also 51 reports of "inappropriate behaviour" towards children which were dealt with internally by the church after consultation with police and social services.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3193801

Between 1995 and 1999, 21 of the 5,600 Catholic priests in England and Wales were convicted of offences against children.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/13/nabus13.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/13/ixhome.html

The Roman Catholic Church admitted yesterday that 62 allegations of child abuse were made against its clergy and workers last year.

The disclosure came from the unit set up to combat paedophile activity among Catholic priests in England and Wales after a series of scandals shook the Church.

The 62 complaints - mostly concerning alleged sexual abuse - were referred to the police after they were made about priests, members of religious orders, employees and volunteers.

In addition, 51 reports of "inappropriate behaviour" towards children were dealt with internally by the Church after consultation with police and social services.

Fugitive Catholic brother in United States faces charges but not extradition

http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040713/CPA/55928029

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - A Roman Catholic brother living in the United States who faces child sex charges in Newfoundland will be arrested immediately should he ever return to Canada.

But Canadian prosecutors are not seeking the extradition of Gerald Chumik, who has been identified by a U.S. newspaper as one of 30 fugitive priests, brothers and other religious workers living in the U.S. facing sex abuse accusations in other countries.

Chumik, who lives in a Catholic religious complex overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, Calif., was charged in 1990 with two child sex offences dating back to the 1970s.

Roman Catholic Church Lawsuit

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=22,33264
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9138197.htm

A lawsuit filed against the Catholic church in South Dakota alleges clergy abused hundreds of students at Native American boarding schools.

The students say they were beaten, even tortured by priests and nuns who ran the schools.

The allegations of abuse span decades, from the 1930s until about 1975.

The lawsuit filed today involves the St. Paul school on the Yankton Sioux Reservation and the St. Francis School on the Rosebud Reservation.

Group calls for nuns to address sex abuse

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--nuns-sexabuse0713jul13,0,1069488.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Religious orders of nuns need to do more to root out sexual abuse by their members, help victims and set up safeguards to prevent future sexual misconduct, according to an advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, delivered a letter Tuesday to a national nun organization calling for more attention on abuse by women in the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the recent abuse scandals have focused on male clergy members.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2035102&nav=3YeXOkuH

Three cases against Tucson diocese dismissed

http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB-20040713-dsbp-diocese.2f612bef8.html
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=071204a1_diocese

Thousands of parishioners in the Catholic Diocese of Tucson got the official word for the first time from their priests at Mass yesterday and Saturday that bankruptcy appears likely for the diocese.

Chapter 11 protection is being considered by the diocese, which faces an unknown amount of present and future damage claims alleging sexual abuse by its priests and other employees, according to Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2025443
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/29618.php

Abuse victims say church offer to pay for therapy has strings

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/9145210.htm

PHILADELPHIA - Almost a decade after he was allegedly sexually abused by a priest at his Roman Catholic high school, Arthur Baselice hoped he was on the way to recovery when church officials sought him out, apologized, and offered to pay for him to see a therapist.

But within months, Baselice said he began to see strings attached to the offer.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia asked him to select his therapist from a list approved by the church. He was told to sign a waiver authorizing his caregivers to discuss his progress with a church administrator. Finally, Baselice said he was pressured to settle all legal claims against the church for $50,000.

Instead of signing, Baselice sued, claiming that the counseling offer was a thinly veiled attempt to buy his silence.

Catholic Priest Accused of Swindling Elderly Parishioner

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_071304_priestheist.html

(Upper East Side-WABC, July 13, 2004) — A Manhattan priest is facing a major lawsuit today. He is accused of using his spiritual influence to swindle an elderly parishioner out of nearly half a million dollars.

Eighty-eight year old Rose Pale was a devoted parishioner. She attended mass every day. The lawsuit says the monsignor at Saint John The Martyr Church on the Upper East Side betrayed her trust.

The lawsuit says that Monsignor John Wolsey had Pale sign over $495,000 dollars in cash and stocks over three years. He also advised her on her stock portfolio, convincing her to drop her broker of 20 years and use his brokerage firm. All the while, he allegedly told Pale not to tell family and friends.

The suit alleges Wolsey received $100,000 dollars for a Jersey Shore condo. It also says that he took church donations and used them for personal use.

Priest orgy scandal hits Catholic church

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/07/14/2003178944

The powerful Austrian Catholic church was plunged into its second big sex scandal in a decade on Monday when a seminary run by arch-conservatives was alleged to be the site of orgies among young priests and their teachers.

The seminary in St Polten, west of Vienna, comes under the authority of the conservative Bishop Kurt Krenn.

The Vienna news magazine Profil has published pictures of priests and students engaged in sexual acts, prompting an uproar, emergency meetings of the church leadership, and calls for Bishop Krenn's resignation.

Victims' group wants friar accused of abuse out of church housing

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/9146618.htm

Los Angeles-AP -- Church abuse survivors called on Cardinal Roger Mahony today to remove from the Santa Barbara Mission in California an elderly friar who is accused of molesting a teen in Canada.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests demanded Franciscan friar Gerald Chumik, who is 69, be sent back to his native Canada to face charges of enticing a teenage boy to perform oral sex.

The group alleged the Chumik case is an example of a larger church policy of secrecy and foot-dragging in response to allegations of clergy abuse.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1089630064988&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968705899037
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/071204dnprochumik.1e4a9.html

Priest Faces Sex Charge in Luzerne County

http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=2032582&nav=5ka4OjUF

A Roman Catholic priest in Luzerne County is accused of propositioning a young man for a sex act.

Police said it happened early last month in Hazleton. They said Reverend Samuel Perrins, 47, a priest at Most Precious Blood Church in Hazleton, approached a young man on Mine Street and offered money for oral sex. The man declined and, according to investigators, Reverend Perrins made a second proposition. Again the man declined and then called police. Perrins was later arrested.

The priest was removed from his position at the church after diocesan leaders learned of the arrest.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/9139870.htm

That is all for July 13, 2004.

Kalamazoo Catholic Diocese priest on administrative leave

(Kalamazoo, July 14, 2004, 5:00 p.m.) A priest in the Kalamazoo Catholic Diocese has agreed to go on administrative leave while church officials investigate some "financial irregularities."

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2039825&nav=0RceOn8U
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1089732286194500.xml

Defrocked Catholic priest sentenced to 20 years in prison

http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=2036792
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/071404dnnatpriest.e879.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA071404.1B.ProbationRevocation.74a781b.html

San Antonio-AP -- A former Catholic priest serving probation for molesting four high school seminary students is going to prison.

A state district judge in San Antonio has revoked Carlos Lozano's the ten-year probationary term and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Judge Phil Kazen acted after porn was allegedly found on Lozano's home computer hard drive.

Bishop in Austrian sex scandal refuses to quit

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4876612.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/529416.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4310595,00.html
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/9151638.htm

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - An official with the Archdiocese of Vienna urged the Vatican on Wednesday to oust a Roman Catholic bishop in charge of a seminary where candidates for the priesthood hoarded child pornography and photos of themselves kissing and fondling each other.

The cleric, Bishop Kurt Krenn, dismissed the photos as part of a ``schoolboy prank'' and accused critics of exaggerating the case - the worst church scandal in Austria since allegations of pedophilia brought down a cardinal nearly a decade ago.

Police examined hard drives on computers seized at the seminary in St. Poelten, 50 miles west of Vienna, as part of a child pornography investigation.

Officials said the discs contained some 40,000 photographs and numerous videos, including child pornography and photos of young seminarians kissing and fondling each other and their older instructors and engaging in sex games.

Allegation causes principal to stand aside

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10143591%255E1702,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1154212.htm
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/14/1089694428263.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1154094.htm

A Catholic priest has stood aside from his position as principal of a Port Pirie Catholic school in South Australia because of an allegation of abuse made against him.

Catholic Education South Australia says it was made aware of the allegation against Father Michael Aulsebrook two weeks ago.

It says Fr Aulsebrook stood aside as principal of Saint Mark's College immediately.

Ex-nun convicted in molestation of child

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=BRF%20Nun%20Sex%20Abuse
http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=2040556
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--nun-sexabuse0714jul14,0,5367289.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=2038414&nav=23iiOmSh

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A former nun was convicted Wednesday of molesting a 10-year-old fifth-grader at a Catholic school 35 years ago.

Eileen M. Rhoads, 65, entered an Alford plea to taking indecent liberties with a child and enticement of a child. Under the plea, a defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction without admitting wrongdoing.

Rhoads faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 22. She will remain free on bail until then.

The crimes took place during the 1969-1970 school year at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School. Court documents show Rhoads took part in illicit behavior with at least three male students and a female student, or encouraged the children to engage in illicit behavior with each other.

That is all for July 14th, 2004.

More calls for Austrian bishop's ouster

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1089886448115&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037

VIENNA, Austria — Two influential Roman Catholic organizations today joined other groups demanding the resignation of a bishop in charge of a seminary where officials uncovered a massive stash of child pornography.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3897449.stm

The bishop in charge of an Austrian diocese at the heart of a sex scandal is resisting calls to resign.
Several pressure groups have called on Bishop Kurt Krenn to quit, after child pornography was allegedly found at a Catholic priests' training college.

Bishop Alois Schwarz urged the Vatican to intervene, saying only the Church itself could resolve the crisis.

As many as 40,000 sexual images were allegedly found, but Bishop Krenn has dismissed them as a "schoolboy prank".

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040715_813.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0407150295jul15,1,2965179.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Hearing opens today on more than 150 sex-abuse cases

More than 150 lawsuits against Catholic dioceses in Northern California have been bundled into a litigious mega-case filed on the behalf of men and women who say they were sexually abused by priests when they were growing up decades ago in Catholic churches from Santa Rosa to Monterey.

Today, dozens of lawyers with their own stake in those claims will gather in Oakland when Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw hears key pre-trial motions.

The combined lawsuits are known as "Clergy Three." "Clergy One" and "Clergy Two" represent hundreds of additional abuse claims that have been filed and combined in Los Angeles and San Diego.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/15/BAG3C7LGP01.DTL

Former nun convicted of 2 felony sex crimes

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A former nun was convicted yesterday of molesting a 10-year-old Grade 5 pupil at a Roman Catholic school 35 years ago. Eileen Rhoads, 65, entered a plea of taking indecent liberties with a child and enticement of a child. Under the plea, a defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction without admitting wrongdoing.

MALE, FEMALE STUDENTS

Rhoads faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 22. She will remain free on bail until then.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/07/15/543252.html
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=12348265&PAG=461&rfi=9
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/9157760.htm
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=73070&ran=98275

That is all for July 15th, 2004.

Support your local pedophile - join the Catholic church.

Your salary tithe buys the perfect gift for the catholic church - the silence of a dozen young boys.

Church abuse case moves closer to trial

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/9171532.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-abuse16jul16,1,5670754.story?coll=la-news-state
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/crime_courts/9168941.htm

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw ruled Thursday that the first of what could be dozens of Northern California Catholic Church sexual abuse cases may proceed to trial.

Sabraw's tentative ruling -- the first indication as to the fate of scores of new child abuse lawsuits against Catholic Churches from Santa Rosa to Monterey -- denied an attempt by attorneys representing the Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco to block a jury trial in the case of five alleged victims from Concord.

"Evidence presented creates a triable issue of fact whether the church had a practice in the early 1960s of reassigning (but not removing) priests who may have been accused of molesting children,'' Sabraw said in a written decision.

Restricted Catholic priest has started new ministry

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/9170635.htm

MILWAUKEE - A Roman Catholic priest "restricted from all priestly ministries" after an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse, has opened an Independent Evangelical Catholic Church congregation in the town of Sullivan.

The Rev. S. Joseph Collova, 56, was among 43 priests listed last week by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as having been restricted.

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/3537953/detail.html
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/jul04/244052.asp

A Roman Catholic priest defrocked over sexual abuse allegations has started his own church in western Waukesha County.

Just last week, the Milwaukee Archdiocese listed Joseph Collova (pictured, right) on its restricted priest list.

At the same time, however, the Milwaukee Archdiocese said his ordination in another religion severs all ties Collova once had with the Roman Catholic Church.

Milwaukee's Roman Catholic Archdiocese removed Collova from parish duties after a young man accused him of repeated sexual assaults.

Another sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Spokane diocese

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Church%20Abuse%20Lawsuit

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A former altar boy has sued the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, alleging he was sexually assaulted and molested by a monsignor at his Walla Walla parish in the 1980s.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the "John Doe" plaintiff alleged the then-Spokane bishop knew the Rev. Arthur Mertens was a dangerous child molester, yet failed to report his activities to authorities.

Mertens served as pastor of St. Patrick parish in Walla Walla before he was removed from ministry in 1989.

Scranton priest arraigned on sexual molestation charges

http://www.weny.com/News-Regional.asp?ARTICLE3890=7682

A suspended Roman Catholic priest has been arraigned in Pittston and in New York city on charges that he sexually molested an altar boy while serving as a parish priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Duryea.

The Reverend Albert Liberatore Junior of Scranton was charged after a young man told police he had been in a sexual relationship with the clergyman when in high school.

Court to hear appeal in church abuse case

http://www.wmtw.com/Global/story.asp?S=2048368&nav=7k6rOrM8
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/040716appeal.shtml

PORTLAND (AP) -- A memo from a Roman Catholic Church official, acknowledging concerns about a priest who was later accused of sexually abusing a teenager, is at the center of an appeal pending before the Maine supreme court.

Michael Fortin of Sidney sued the Rev. Raymond Melville and the church in 2000, claiming that Melville sexually abused him for seven years, beginning in 1985 when Fortin was 13.

Another lawsuit filed against priest

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=2048412
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=2048203&nav=1sW7OrGv

DAVENPORT (AP) -- A judge has denied attempts by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport to dismiss two of 16 civil lawsuits. The church claimed the plaintiffs failed to file the suits alleging decades-old sexual abuse by priests before the statute of limitations expired.

Judge C.H. Pelton made his ruling yesterday in the lawsuits which allege sexual abuse by the Reverand James Janssen, the Reverand Francis Bass and the Reverand Theodore Geerts more than 30 years ago.

Seven file lawsuit alleging abuse by priest, two nuns

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2045982&nav=0RZFOq6s
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/07/15ky/update-abuse.html
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/9164178.htm

Seven people sued a local order of Roman Catholic nuns yesterday, alleging sexual abuse by a priest and two nuns at an Anchorage orphanage run by the order in the 1950s and 1960s.

The lawsuit names the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth as the defendant and alleges abuse at the St. Thomas-St. Vincent Orphanage, which closed in 1983.

The plaintiffs include five biological sisters who say they were sexually molested by Monsignor Herman J. Lammers, a resident chaplain at the home. One sister also says a nun, Sister Mary Ann Powers, abused her.

That is all for July 16th, 2004.

Calif. Roman Catholic bishops endorse challenge to abuse claims law

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=2053365
http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2276081,00.html

San Francisco-AP -- California's Roman Catholic bishops are endorsing a legal challenge to a state law that lets alleged victims of abusive priests sue the church -- even when the claims date back decades.

The Bishops are supporting a case in San Diego federal court that asserts the California law is unconstitutional because it singles out the church. They announced their position yesterday.

The law allowed alleged victims to file claims during 2003, even if the statute of limitations had ended. More than 700 suits were filed, some dating back 70 years.

Former Hopewell priest defrocked

http://www.hopewellnews.com/HOPEWELLNEWS/sites/HOPEWELLNEWS/0650edition/myarticles1011747.asp?P=1011747&S=585&PubID=16382

One local resident who wished to remain anonymous said she was shocked when she learned that Andrew Krafcik, a former St. James Catholic Church priest, had been defrocked by the Vatican for abuse charges from nearly 20 years ago.
"I was just flabbergasted," said the resident. "My sons used to be alter boys while he was here."
Krafcik served as an associate priest at St. James from 1968 to 1970.
According to an Associated Press story, the Vatican defrocked the 76-year-old priest who was charged with child abuse two decades ago and afterward served for nearly a dozen years at a Fairfax parish.
Krafcik, who was charged with child abuse in Henrico County in 1984, was "dismissed from the clerical state" Saturday, according to Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.

Priest sex scandal angers Austria chancellor

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7FF3E72F-D769-4CDA-B7E9-76ECA4226338.htm
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=548899§ion=news

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has demanded an explanation from priests at a seminary who are under investigation for sexual impropriety and possible possession of child pornography.

"We have separation of church and state in Austria, so I have no right to take a position as chancellor," Schuessel said in an interview on Austrian radio on Saturday. "The authorities are investigating. But as a believer and as Catholic, I want a quick and frank explanation."

The scandal, which has shocked Austria's predominantly Catholic public, erupted after the Austrian weekly news magazine Profil published photographs showing leading clerics of the seminary fondling and kissing the male student priests.

Poll: Austrians Want Bishop's Resignation

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/9179229.htm

VIENNA, Austria - A poll released Saturday showed 72 percent of Austrians want the resignation of a bishop who oversees a Roman Catholic seminary where a vast cache of child pornography was discovered.

Bishop Kurt Krenn, in charge of the St. Poelten diocese, about 50 miles west of Vienna, has been under intense pressure to resign since the news magazine Profil earlier this week revealed that 40,000 photographs and numerous videos, including child pornography, had been found on seminary computers.

The magazine also published photos of candidates for the priesthood kissing and fondling each other.

Priest removed from post during porn investigation

http://www.theadvertiser.com/news/html/55DE5E29-EB76-4485-835A-DEF34BCF1221.shtml

LAFAYETTE — A Roman Catholic priest has been removed from his post in Arnaudville pending an investigation into suspected pornography on a rectory computer that has been seized by the FBI, church officials said Friday.

The Rev. Jules Arceneaux, who served at St. Francis Regis Church and St. Catherine Church, was removed soon after a complaint was made about pornography found on a computer in the St. Francis Regis rectory, said Monsignor Richard Greene, Diocese of Lafayette spokesman.

Greene said FBI investigators took the computer from the rectory Tuesday.

“What’s being investigated is Internet pornography, a charge of that,” Greene said.

That is all for July 17th, 2004.

One I missed from the 16th:

Bishop allegedly approved pedophile trips to Disneyland

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/45/news-arellano.php

"[According to a lawsuit, accused priest Kevin Barmasse] rented a condo in San Diego in 1988 after spending the day at Disneyland with a 17-year-old Tucson boy. Court papers describe how the priest 'invited the plaintiff to have evening prayer one night alone in his room.' ... according to an Aug. 22, 2002, Yuma Police Department report, [priest Juan Guillen] allowed a group of altar boys to sleep in his room at Immaculate Conception Church in Tucson during the summer of 1994 before they took a bus to Disneyland the next morning. During the night, Guillen stripped a 14-year-old boy and 'attempted to anally penetrate [the victim]. He tried in several positions but was unable to and finally stopped and put [the victim's] pants back on.' Two weeks after the Disneyland trip, the report continued, Guillen 'masturbate[d the victim] with one hand. Guillen gave oral sex to [the victim] until [the victim] ejaculated in his mouth.'"

Another one I missed. Dang, I'm getting sloppier than a Catholic priest at a disneyland condo and... whoa! Not going there!

Charge priest in 'sleep sex'

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/212632p-183151c.html

"A Pennsylvania priest who claimed he unknowingly engaged in 'sleeping sex' with a boy on an overnight trip to Manhattan was charged yesterday with abusing the teen, prosecutors said. Albert Liberatore, 40, of Lackawanna, Pa., allegedly sodomized the 17-year-old boy during a booze-fueled romp in a Greenwich Village hotel in 2002. The priest, who already faces indecent assault charges in Pennsylvania, apologized to the boy and his mother, saying he must have committed the sex assault during a semiconscious state similar to sleepwalking. But prosecutors are not buying the bizarre excuse and hit Liberatore with sodomy and sex assault charges... The boy and his mother agreed at first to keep quiet about the incident when Liberatore and another church official told them it would be 'un-Christian' to turn him in. But the boy decided to talk to cops after another boy came forward to accuse Liberatore of a similar incident in Pennsylvania."

What do you propose be done, Johnson, in response to these crimes perpetrated under the guise of 'faith'? Or have you no solution? I imagine not, for your intent is obviously to slander the Catholic faith. This thread stays only because of the informative articles on the crimes of certain members of the church. Otherwise it would be promptly trashed. Your asinine remarks are unnecessary. This is the highbrow section, not a sandbox.

The commentary that exists in the highbrow forums under the guise of intellectual enlightenment is infact asininity combined with semantics. :p

Actually, my motive for posting this is not one of a slanderous agenda, but rather my disgust at the efforts of the Vatican higher-ups to protect these criminals and cover up these cases. Of course this thread is offensive, it should be as offensive as those molestation cases which it documents.

I don't offer a solution due to the fact that I'm not Catholic. However, a theory could be presented that:

1. Homosexuals are drawn to the priesthood partly due to the fact that you are not allowed to be married. (Note: Latin rite. Eastern rite Catholic clergy are allowed to marry.) In the Orthodox Church, if you aren't married by the time you're ready to be ordained, they will get suspicious. I think homosexuals feel more comfortable in the Catholic clergy because there is absolutely zero pressure on them to be heterosexual - just celibate. Sexuality is simply not an issue, or, failing that; a totally personal one. Some of them can maintain themselves, the rest cant.

2. Predators are drawn to the priesthood because it guarantees them a source of victims, namely altar boys.

---

Former Catholic brother arrested over historic sex abuse complaints

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2976623a11,00.html

Upper Hutt police have arrested and charged a former Catholic Brother in relation to a complaint of historic sexual indecencies on a male student.

The allegations relate to incidents at Hato Paora College near Feilding in 1984.

The Upper Hutt man is no longer at the school and will appear in Upper Hutt District Court next week, Detective Constable John Fagan said in a statement.

Police want to talk to people who attended the school in 1984 and who may have information that could help with the investigation.

Pope to probe porn scandal

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1559440,00.html

Vienna - Pope John Paul II will personally examine a sex and pornography scandal engulfing the Austrian Catholic church, said the mass-circulation Kronen Zeitung on Sunday.

The newspaper said Vatican officials would submit documents concerning the scandal to the pontiff following his return from holidays in the Aosta Valley and resumption of duties on Monday.

The scandal revolves around some 40 000 pornographic photos and a number of films discovered on computers at a seminary in St. Poelten, west of Vienna.

Former priest extradicted to Maryland

http://www.lincolncourier.com/news/04/07/17/a.asp

Maryland police took custody of Francis Benham from Logan County authorities about 10:30 a.m. Friday for his extradition to Prince George’s County, Md., where the former priest faces 25-year-old sex charges.

Benham – who served as a priest at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Prince George’s County from 1975 until 1979 – is wanted on second- and third-degree sex offenses that allegedly took place inside his parish church between 1977 and 1979.

The arrest warrant for the second-degree offense alleges Benham sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl two to three times a week, beginning in 1977 and continuing until 1979.

A Maryland man told authorities in May that Benham also sexually molested him in the church when he was 15 years old on six different occasions between July 1977 and April 1978.

Church's sex abuse shame

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/mercury/tm_objectid=14438587&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=church-s-sex-abuse-shame-name_page.html

The chilling scale of child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic church can be revealed by the Sunday Mercury today.

Last week, a report published by a top level anti-abuse agency revealed that it had passed on 62 cases to police in the past year.

A further 51 have been dealt with internally by the church - and nearly half of the cases involve priests.

The catalogue of shame includes:

* Five priests being suspended;

* Twelve priests sent for psychiatric assessment to see whether they are fit to continue to work with children;

* Seven priests removed from parish duties to keep them away from kids;

* Two priests having to resign;

* Six voluntary youth workers sacked and three risk-evaluated;

* Five parishioners dealt with after they were found to have convictions for child abuse.

That is all for July 18th, 2004.

What do you propose be done, Johnson, in response to these crimes perpetrated under the guise of 'faith'? Or have you no solution? I imagine not, for your intent is obviously to slander the Catholic faith. This thread stays only because of the informative articles on the crimes of certain members of the church. Otherwise it would be promptly trashed. Your asinine remarks are unnecessary. This is the highbrow section, not a sandbox.What is untrue in this thread?

What is untrue in this thread?

I don't believe Mike was questioning the authenticity of these reports, but rather:

1. My motive for posting these stories and,
2. A possible agenda,
3. IE: slander of the Catholic faith.

Also: my off color joke about the condo story which I will admit was tasteless, but which does not reflect my true intentions for the exposing of corrupt catholic clergy.

Well whatever you think of me Johnson keep up the good work here. Bout time someone put all this crap together.

Wait till you get 95 of them and nail them to the door of NY's catholic cathedral :D.

An interesting fact about the Reformation, now that you hint to it, was that the final score in the debate pro/con the granting of Indulgences was Luther - 95 Catholic Church - 94.

Luther won by just one point.

Former orphans suing Catholic charity for molestation

http://www.kystandard.com/articles/2004/07/19/news/news01.txt

"Six women and one man filed suit Thursday against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth for alleged sex abuse they said occurred during the 1950s at St. Thomas-St. Vincent Orphanage in Anchorage, Ky... the seven plaintiffs name two sisters, Mary Ann Powers, SCN, and Alma Stuecker, SCN, and one priest, the Rev. Herman J. Lammers - all now deceased - as the alleged abusers... Helen Martine Edwards, now 61, claims Lammers forcibly sexually molested, abused, battered and assaulted her, resulting in pregnancy at the orphanage. Her sisters, Myrtle Darlene Kustes, now 55, and Carol Ann Gilbert, now 52, and Alicia Lynn Sinnott, now 52, similarly claim Lammers raped and molested them too... David V. Summers, 58, claims Stuecker forcibly sexually abused him, at times using a Crucifix in sexual acts."

Catholic Missions in Canada Appoints "Pro-Abortion" Former Cabinet Minister to Leadership

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jul/04071901.html

TORONTO, July 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a press release today, Catholic Missions In Canada (CMIC) said it was "pleased to announce that former member of Ontario provincial parliament, Tina Molinari, has joined the senior professional team of Catholic Missions In Canada as national director of development." However, LifeSiteNews.com has learned that during her political tenure, Molinari was listed as "pro-abortion" by the pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition.

CMIC, a charitable organization mandated by the Vatican to support the Canadian missions established in 1908, will distribute close to $4-million in grants, loans and bursaries in 2004. The CMIC release notes that "As national director of development, Molinari will be responsible for all aspects of development and promotion in both the private and corporate sectors to ensure the growth and expansion of Catholic Missions In Canada's fundraising efforts."

Bishop D'Arcy calls for new screening for priests

http://www.wndu.com/news/072004/news_36392.php

Bishop John D'Arcy is calling for changes in the screening process for priests. The Fort Wayne and South Bend bishop says the church must improve its screening process to keep homosexuals from being ordained in the priesthood.

The bishop made the comments to the Boston Globe over the weekend. He says he hope the US Conference of Catholic Bishops will take a firm stance against homosexual men serving as priests.

Bishop D’Arcy says heterosexual priests must embrace celibacy

Alleged Victims Of Abuse By Nuns Speak Out

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2058174&nav=0RZFOw93

(LOUISVILLE, July 19th, 2004, 5:30 p.m.) -- On Monday a half-dozen women came forward to speak about horrific crimes they say they suffered at a Catholic orphanage in Anchorage in the 1950s. They are now plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the sisterhood that ran the orphanage. WAVE 3's Dina Kaplan reports.

Five of the alleged victims are sisters, who were reunited recently for the first time in years after living in different areas of the country. When they began talking about the days they spent at the St. Thomas/St. Vincent Orphanage, they realized each of them had their own tale of abuse -- and one of the sisters says she was impregnanted by a priest at the orphanage, and that the nuns there knew exactly what was going on.

Plaintiff Helen Edwards says she miscarried during her pregnancy. She says one of the nuns told her "'I'm taking you to the hospital, you are not to say nothing. I will do all the talking.'"

Darlene Kustef says the abuse "wasn't just sexual. It went on from fondling ... the extremes that it went. It was also the physical abuse that we were put through."

Trainee priest on porn charges

http://www.guardian.co.uk/austria/article/0,2763,1265011,00.html

27-year-old trainee priest at an Austrian seminary has been arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography, prosecutors said yesterday.
Authorities say some 40,000 photos and numerous videos, including child pornography, sadomasochistic sexual acts and pictures of trainee priests kissing and fondling each other and their older instructors, were found at the seminary in St Poelten, 50 miles west of Vienna.

The suspect, who has been expelled from the seminary, was charged under new federal child pornography law that came into effect in May, increasing the maximum penalty from six months in prison to two years and a fine.

Clergy abuse victims seek out some peace at The Farm in Ky.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/19/clergy_abuse_victims_seek_out_some_peace_at_the_farm_in_ky

CRESTWOOD, Ky. -- Tom Weiter is a straight-talking truck driver with a sarcastic streak, a former altar boy, and the nephew of two nuns. He said he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest four decades ago.

Canadian Friar Accused of Sex Abuse Hides in California

http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8549

Dallas newspaper recently brought to light a case in which a Canadian priest accused of sexually abusing minors was moved by the Catholic Church to the United States. This case is the latest reported by the Dallas News, which is publishing the results of a special year-long investigation of priests accused of sexually abusing minors, and the Catholic Church’s implications in moving them abroad to avoid prosecution.

That is all for July 19th, 2004.

Molesting orphans... the one true church indeed...

Lawsuit alleges abuse by retired priest

http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9196879.htm

SIOUX FALLS - Five women have filed a lawsuit against the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese and a retired priest who they say sexually abused them 40 years ago.

The women, who are not identified in the lawsuit, said the abuse occurred from 1961 to 1963 when they were growing up in the Yankton and Platte areas.

Named as defendants are the Sioux Falls diocese and the Rev. Bruce MacArthur, who has not served a parish in South Dakota since 1973 and retired in 1992. His last known residence was in the Texas-New Mexico area.

Nix nups by priest in scandal

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/213885p-184170c.html

A big, fat Manhattan wedding won't be the same this Sunday because the couple's favorite priest, Msgr. John Woolsey, will not be performing the ceremony.
The scandal-scarred cleric bowed out of the nuptials because he feared his presence would turn the private event into a public circus, one of the bridegroom's sisters said yesterday.

Anthony Santorelli - son of wealthy, self-made businessman Leonard Santorelli - planned his wedding to Noelle Turini for more than a year.

Woolsey, the charismatic pastor of St. John the Martyr Catholic Church on the upper East Side, was asked to step down while prosecutors investigate allegations that $1 million in church funds went missing on his watch. He's also accused in a lawsuit of swindling an elderly parishioner out of $500,000.

Siblings Sisters share accusations against priest and others

http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/07/20ky/B1-abuse0720-6328.html

Recently reunited after 50 years, five sisters clasped hands and choked back tears yesterday while recounting what they allege was a childhood of physical and sexual abuse at a Roman Catholic orphanage in eastern Jefferson County.

They told of a widely admired priest who they said raped and molested them after telling them their parents didn't want them and that only he thought they were "special."

They told of nuns who they said beat and molested them, and locked them in dark rooms and deprived them of food.

Diocese warns it could go bankrupt

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/20diocese_a1a01_a1_mainstreeta.html

The Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese has been unable to settle 10 sexual abuse lawsuits and could be forced into bankruptcy by "adverse verdicts" if some of the cases go to trial, the diocese attorney said Monday.

"The amounts are staggering," attorney Dan Galvin said, referring to claims by alleged child sex abuse victims in the range of $2 million to

$4 million a case statewide.

Santa Rosa, which already has paid $8.6 million in settlements to victims, has 10 remaining cases among about 115 lawsuits consolidated in Oakland.

That is all for July 20th, 2004.

Former priests plead not guilty to sex offences

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1159409.htm

Two priests formerly from Burnie's Marist Catholic College in Tasmania's north-west have pleaded not guilty to alleged sex offences.

Gregory Lawrence Ferguson, 66 and 68-year-old Roger Michael Bellemore both now live in Sydney and were not required to appear in the Burnie Magistrates Court this morning.

Pleas of not guilty were entered on their behalf by defence counsel Greg Walsh.

Bellemore is charged with three counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person and one of indecent assault, while Ferguson is charged with five counts of indecent assault, one of attempted indecent assault and one of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person.

The charges date back to the late 60s and early 70s.

Springfield diocese settles abuse suit

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-040721priests,1,7038756.story?coll=chi-news-hed

SPRINGFIELD -- The Catholic Diocese of Springfield recently settled a lawsuit brought by eight men who said they were sexually abused by a former priest in the 1970s.

Diocese spokeswoman Kathie Sass said Wednesday the men will share $1.2 million.

Five of the men filed suit against the diocese in Madison County in September 2003. The lawsuit alleged abuse by former priest Walter Weerts between 1973 and 1980 when he was pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Villa Grove. Three other men were added during the mediation process.

Weerts pleaded guilty in 1986 to three counts of sexual abuse in a case brought against him in Adams County. He served six years in prison and was removed from the priesthood in March 1989.

Priest criticised for Christ comparison

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/21/1090089223757.html

A mother who attributes her son's drug-related serious illness and life punctuated by imprisonment to sex abuse by a Salesian priest criticised the accused Catholic cleric yesterday for comparing his case to that of a wrongly accused Jesus Christ.

"It is an insult to God, never mind Catholics," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

Her son received a $35,600 settlement from the Salesians in 2000, with denial of liability, over alleged abuse at the Salesians' Rupertswood college in Sunbury during 1978 and 1979.

"How dare he compare himself to Jesus . . . I find the whole thing extraordinary," she said.

The woman said all Christians should be outraged by the use of Christ's name in the abuse scandal.

She also condemned the Salesians in Rome for giving the accused priest, Father Julian Fox, a job at their headquarters.

"He obviously has delusions of greatness," she said, accusing Salesians in Rome of protecting the priest.

Confession may clear accused Arnaudville priest

http://www.dailyworld.com/html/9E8510B9-CF43-4D6A-AD63-CB6A1EB1E17B.shtml

Priest to be sentenced for public indecency

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0721priestweb.html

DAYTON | The Rev. Thomas Kuhn was sentenced Wednesday to five years' probation and fined $10,250 on 11 misdemeanor charges of public indecency and providing alcohol to minors.

The offenses occurred at Kuhn's former home in Miami Twp. between November 2001 and January 2002 and involved four boys and one girl, all 18 or younger.

That is all for July 21st, 2004.

Plaintiffs' lawyers unhappy with talks in OC priest abuse cases

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/9220509.htm?ERIGHTS=-7143343487856852758mercurynews::nopass@nopass.com&KRD_RM=6psusrstnqotpnurnmmmmmmmmn|Troglodyte|N

LOS ANGELES - Lawyers representing alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse on Thursday asked a judge overseeing settlement negotiations to allow them to start moving toward trial in nearly 100 cases against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, a lead attorney said.

The move came amid an apparent setback in negotiations that have been under way for nearly two years. The plaintiffs' attorneys claimed that there was an impasse precipitated by the diocese's insurers, but a diocesan spokesman said they were not aware of any breakdown in talks and were ready to continue.

The Vatican's big secret

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10215795%255E28737,00.html

In August last year, a German-based chaplain with close ties to the Vatican found and leaked a 42-year-old papal instruction to US lawyers who say it is explosive evidence of a Vatican "ratline" to shield accused child abusers.

Called Crimine Solicitaciones, marked confidential and bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII, its English title reads: "On the manner of proceeding in cases of the crime of solicitation."

Sent to every bishop in the world in 1962, it outlines procedures for dealing with sexual abuse in the church - specifically the crime of using the privacy of the confessional for acts of sex abuse or to solicit sexual favours.

What it commands is the utmost secrecy among those involved, on pain of excommunication, and, lawyers argue, promotes a culture of keeping abuse problems in-house. Alarmingly, the 69-page instruction spells out procedures for shifting accused clerics to new postings.

Marist Fathers plead not guilty to sex offences

http://www.cathnews.com/news/407/131.php

Two priests formerly from Burnie's Marist Catholic College in Tasmania's north-west have pleaded not guilty to alleged sex offences.

ABC Tasmania reports that Gregory Lawrence Ferguson, 66, and Roger Michael Bellemore, 68, both now live in Sydney and were not required to appear in the Burnie Magistrates Court this morning.

Pleas of not guilty were entered on their behalf by defence counsel Greg Walsh.

Bellemore is charged with three counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person and one of indecent assault, while Ferguson is charged with five counts of indecent assault, one of attempted indecent assault and one of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person.

The charges date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Bishop Defends Delay On Abuse Allegations

http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_204222212.html

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Diocese of Scranton learned in early 1999 that it might have a problem with a young priest who had been living at a Catholic boarding school for boys.

Scranton Bishop James Timlin's account of his handling of the case is included in hundreds of pages of records made public this month as part of a civil lawsuit.

In a letter marked "Confidential," a senior church official in Switzerland warned that the Reverend Carlos Urrutigoity had twice been accused of sexual misconduct before transferring to northeast Pennsylvania.

After investigating, Timlin decided not to take action.

$1.2 million will be paid in abuse suit

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/30663.asp

The Catholic Diocese of Springfield has agreed to pay $1.2 million to eight men who alleged that a priest sexually abused them as youths in the 1970s.

And in a separate case involving the diocese, a Madison County judge last month dismissed a lawsuit in which a Georgia woman accused a priest of abusing her as a child. The woman, Virginia Galloway, filed court papers last week indicating she will appeal.

Neither of the priests serves in the diocese any longer. The Rev. Richard Niebrugge, Galloway's alleged abuser, died in 1983. The lawsuit claimed that Niebrugge sexually abused her for 16 years and made her pregnant in 1977.

The eight men who settled with the diocese accused the Rev. Walter Weerts of abusing them between 1973 and 1980.

Later, in 1986, Weerts pleaded guilty in Adams County to criminal charges of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting he performed sexual acts on three teenage boys ranging in age from 13 to 16. Those victims were separate from the claimants who just settled.

Diocese OKs $7 million clergy abuse settlement

http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1090533817256980.xml

SPRINGFIELD - Concluding more than two years of legal wrangling, a more than $7 million settlement was struck between 46 alleged clergy sexual abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield today.

A memorandum of understanding, outlining the settlement, was signed by lawyers representing both sides this afternoon.

The deal, which includes $7 million in cash and proceeds from future sale of two diocesan properties, has a variety of non-monetary provisions.

The 46 alleged victims, all of whom are represented by Greenfield lawyer John J. Stobierski, have 14 days to decide whether to enter into binding arbitration that will determine individual settlement amounts, according to a diocesan statement issued last night. If they choose not to enter the binding arbitration, they could pursue individual suits in court.

Three men file suits against priest

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9219295.htm

PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - The Rev. David C. Sicoli's Sea Isle City beach house was the lair for the priest to sexually molest teenage boys, three Levittown men charge in suits filed Thursday.

The molesting, fueled by alcohol the priest bought for the youths at a nearby Wildwood bar, occurred in the early 1980s, the suits in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court allege.

At the time, Sicoli served at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Levittown, where the teens had been altar boys and students.

The suits claim that Sicoli's abuse of boys in the parish was known and reported to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by the principal or other Immaculate Conception officials but that no parents or children were ever warned about it. The suit said Sicoli repeatedly was transferred from parish to parish after his ordination in 1975.

Sicoli took leave as pastor of Holy Spirit Church in South Philadelphia July 1, and his whereabouts are not known publicly.

Priest gets 5 years' probation

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/22/loc_priestsentence22.html

DAYTON, Ohio - Saying she saw no remorse, no acknowledgement that he had done anything wrong, a judge sentenced the Rev. Thomas Kuhn to spend five years on probation and pay a $10,500 fine.

Kuhn, 63, was convicted last month for providing alcohol to minors and engaging in public indecency at his home in suburban Dayton.

Probation was better than the alternative sentence - a maximum of 18 months in jail - because authorities could keep a closer eye on Kuhn and force him to seek treatment, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Katherine Huffman said.

That is all for July 22nd, 2004.

Court Orders Arrest of Catholic Priests

http://allafrica.com/stories/200407230686.html

AN Imo StateHigh Court sitting in Okigwe has ordered the immediate arrest and detention of two Catholic priests, Rev. Fr. John Ekeogu and Rev. Fr. Joachim Lechukwu, for refusing to respond to contempt charges preferred against them in the court.

Justice Ngozi Opara gave the order yesterday at the resumed hearing of contempt proceedings instituted by Mr. Collins Okpara against the two Catholic priests and 11 others. Other defendants in the matter are Mrs. Lucy Ekeogu, Dominic Ekeogu, Fabian Udenkwo, Emeka Udenkwo, Ngozi Ekeogu, Mrs. Cordelia Udenkwo, Mrs. Edith Udenkwo, Emmanuel Aaron Okpara and Mrs. Susan AaronOkpara.

Vatican probe into porn scandal

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/24/1090464897532.html?oneclick=true

A Vatican investigation into the discovery of a vast cache of child pornography at a Roman Catholic seminary in Austria could take all summer, the Archdiocese of Vienna has said.

The church probe, which also is examining photos of candidates for the priesthood kissing and fondling each other and their older religious instructors, is likely to last another six weeks, said Erich Leitenberger, a spokesman for Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.

Austrian Bishop Klaus Kueng began his inquiry on Wednesday, a day after Pope John Paul II appointed him as an "apostolic visitor" to deal with a scandal that has deeply embarrassed the Roman Catholic Church.

Kueng has been interviewing students, teachers and diocesan officials in St Poelten, about 80 kilometres west of Vienna, where authorities uncovered some 40,000 lurid photos and numerous videos, including child pornography.

Insurers Stymie Church Sex Abuse Settlements

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3247785
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/9228156.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-priests23jul23,1,1673169.story?coll=la-editions-orange

Lawyers for alleged victims and the Roman Catholic dioceses in Southern California say they are increasingly concerned that insurance companies could hold up settlements in nearly 700 lawsuits that accuse clergy of sexual molestation.

Plaintiffs lawyers and church officials say insurers are the main obstacle to settling nearly 100 claims, despite intense negotiations.

Lawyers fear that the same thing could happen in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the dioceses of San Diego and San Bernardino, where talks have not progressed so far.

The role of insurers has been important throughout the US clergy abuse crisis, sparked three years ago by the conviction of a Boston priest and the subsequent accusations of widespread cover-up of sex abuse allegations around the nation.

Federal Complaint Alleges Racketeering By Roman Catholic Church

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=2082806&nav=14RTP8T2

It's a new take in the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. A Tucson man is suing the catholic church claiming it's involved in racketeering.

As a seminarian, Philip Hower claims he spurned a priests sexual advances.

"He made two passes at me sexually. He's known among his brethren as a homosexual and a pedophile priest," said Hower.

He claims he was forced to leave the seminary, and he alleges the church covered up for the offending priest, something Hower and his attorney say is part of a pattern within the church, worldwide.

Priest used drink on boys: victim

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/23/1090464864785.html

Boys at a school run by the Catholic Salesian order were allegedly given drugs, alcohol and cigarettes and shown pornographic movies by a pedophile priest who was later jailed.

The account comes from a victim of David Rapson, a priest who earlier this year was defrocked by the Pope for what the Australian superior of the order, Father Ian Murdoch, has described as horrible offences.

The Tasmanian victim, who was 14 and 15 at the time of the abuse, was paid $80,000 by the Salesians in connection with repeated abuse during 1983 and 1984 by Rapson at the Salesians' St Dominic's College in Hobart.

He alleges the Salesians wanted to settle to keep the abuse secret and later protected Rapson from him by declining to provide contact details.

Former clerical brothers with the order and many former students have confirmed to The Age a culture of extreme physical violence and some sexual abuse at a number of Salesian institutions in the past and say that, in cases, young boys were given alcohol by sexual predators.

Attorney asks judge to force disclosure of Diocese documents

http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2082464

IOWA CITY, Iowa Plaintiffs suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport over sexual abuse charges want a state judge to force the release of documents church officials have fought to keep private for more than a year.

The plaintiffs, citing growing impatience and frustration, requested that District Judge C.H. Pelton require the diocese to hand over priest files and documents. That's according to a motion filed this week in Scott County District Court.

The request marks the third time attorneys for the plaintiffs have sought judicial leverage in obtaining the papers.

Springfield Diocese settles with accusers of clergy sex abuse

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--churchabuse-sprin0723jul23,0,223311.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- No amount of money ever will heal the pain Andre Tessier feels.

He says he was abused by a Catholic priest growing up in Springfield in the late 1960s and early 1970s, abuse that has caused him 30 years of "guilt and shame," made him feel abandoned by the religion he was raised in and almost cost him his marriage.

But in an effort to move on, the Connecticut man said Thursday, he will accept his slice of a more than $7 million settlement agreed on between the Springfield Diocese and 46 people who accused priests of molesting them.

"I can't deal with them anymore. I don't care if I get $10," said Tessier, 45, who said he no longer is a Catholic.

More sexual abuse lawsuits filed against Allentown Diocese

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b5_5diocese-rjul23,0,6236388.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

The Allentown Catholic Diocese is the target of three new lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests, two of whom were accused in previous actions and one who has died in a Texas prison.

The new suits — two filed in Lehigh County and one in Schuylkill County — bring the total number of lawsuits against the diocese to 13, involving nine priests.

Named in the suits are the Rev. Francis J. McNelis, who retired in 2002 and is residing in Holy Family Villa in Bethlehem; the Rev. Francis Fromholzer, who taught at Allentown Central Catholic High School; and the Rev. Edward R. Graff, who left the Allentown Diocese in 1988 and was jailed in Texas in October 2002 on charges of molesting a teenage boy.

Graff died in jail a month later.

Diocese settles sex-abuse suit, but details remain confidential

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Jul/23/ln/ln20a.html

The Catholic Diocese of Hawai'i has settled a sex-abuse lawsuit that said two boys were molested by a priest.

Details of the settlement, filed in Circuit Court in June, will not be made public, however.

"The settlement agreement specifically says that the parties can only state that the case was settled and that the lawsuit will be dismissed with prejudice," said Stephen Dyer, attorney for the diocese.

Pastor resigns

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/south/231syt7.htm

The pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church resigned last week after Chicago police found him in his car with a prostitute.

Ex-priest facing sex charges free on bond

http://www.lincolncourier.com/news/04/07/22/b.asp

Francis A. Benham - an ex-priest who was extradited from Lincoln to Prince George's County, Md., where he faces second- and third-degree sex offenses, posted bail Saturday and was released on conditions of the court.

According to Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivy, Benham appeared in a Maryland courtroom Saturday where a magistrate set a $10,000 bond for the second-degree offense and a $1,000 bond for the third-degree offense.

Maryland authorities allege Benham, 67, committed the sex offenses with a 13-year-old female and a 15-year-old male at Holy Family Catholic Church between 1977 and 1979 while he served as the parish priest.

Archdiocese seeks dismissal of abuse lawsuit

http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2080176

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa The Archdiocese of Dubuque has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former altar boy alleging he was sexually abused more than 40 years ago.

The archdiocese says the claims are barred by the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit, which was filed in June, alleges the former alter boy was assaulted by the Reverend William Roach, a priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and other unnamed priests on two occasions in 1962.

4 accuse archdiocese of shielding abusers

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/9220785.htm

A Berks County law firm filed four lawsuits yesterday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, claiming that church leaders failed to protect its clients from sexual assaults by two parish priests decades ago.

The suits, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, allege that the Rev. John Cannon and the Rev. David Sicoli repeatedly abused the plaintiffs, but do not name the priests as defendants.

Instead, the suits name the archdiocese and its leaders for "fraudulently concealing their involvement in protecting and reassigning priests" who were "known sexual abusers."

All four plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.

That is all for July 23rd, 2004.

Best the investigation into that Austrian thing last until the press moves onto something else, then all involved will be quietly ratlined elsewhere.

I have to admit. This is one of the funniest threads in the history of The Phora. :p