Tuesday, December 30, 2008

After agreement, chruch still won't pay JPII Pedophile Priests victims

Sixteen months after agreement, church still won’t pay; Sex abuse victims respond

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home)

This is a pattern we’re seeing across the nation: Catholic bishops making then foot-dragging or reneging on agreements in clergy sex crimes and concealment cases. They’ve done it with victims, prosecutors, judges and attorneys general.

Bishops feign compassion toward victims when facing public scrutiny, then act callously when that scrutity fades.

Church officials would have you believe there is some genuine legal dispute here. There isn’t. It’s plain and simple: they agreed, under pressure, to compensate deeply wounded victims. Now, they’re not doing it. Their actions are deliberate, hurtful and inexcusable.

Victims respond to such hard-ball tactics in two ways. Some remain mired in shame, depression and hopelessness, convinced that nothing will ever change and that staying silent is the safest course. Others, however, finally summon up the strength and courage to come forward, outraged at how their brothers and sisters who’ve been assaulted are being mistreated. We grieve for those in the former situation, and appreciate those in the latter.

And we are deeply grateful that Larry and others are bravely speaking out today, and exposing the shameful betrayal perpetrated by Charleston Catholic officials.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Peter Isely (414-429-7259,) Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688), Mary Grant (626-419-2930), Mark Serrano (703-727-4940)


Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
www.snapnetwork.org

===========

More Settlements Announced for McCormack Victims

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home)

No amount of money can restore the stolen childhood and shattered trust and devastated faith these kids have suffered and will continue suffering. But we hope this decision will bring them and their families some healing and closure.

We also hope these settlements will deter future recklessness, deceit and secrecy by officials in the Catholic church and in other institutions that deal with kids.

Virtually every survivor shares the same goal: stopping horrific child sex crimes and cover ups.

These preventable and horrific crimes could have been prevented if only Cardinal George chose courage over cowardice and selflessness over selfishness. His cover up, recklessness and deceit regarding McCormack's crimes were recent, egregious and inexcusable.

Two earlier settlements involving McCormack, negotiated by other attorneys, were for $2 million and $2.5 million.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Pedophile Priests mock and riducule the Birth of Christ




As the Opus Dei clones of John Paul II, all Pedophile-Priests mock the Birth of Christ by claiming magic power of the Eucharist to be able change instantaneously the bread into the flesh of Christ -- thus overpowering the birth of Christ -- and the 9 months pregnancy of Mary.

Benedict XVI and the Opus Dei priests eternally mocks the Birth of Christ and Mary by claiming supowers in the Catholic Church, thus their demise is inevitable as predicted by the Third Secret of Fatima.


Pope John Paul II consecrated his 27 pedophiliac-papacy-years to Our Lady Mary....... with a Devil's tail encompassing 12,000 American little boys (and girls) sodomized by his JPIIPPA Pedophile Priests Army. He thought he was so holy he was embracing Our Lady everyday --- while he covered-up the worst evil committed against children under his Holy See of Peter. But Mary is no sweet-submissive woman under John Paul II's autocracy. In her Magnificat she proclaims:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree

One of those "mighty and proud" that God will soon scatter is John Paul II (together with his proud Marquis de Peralta.) It is only a matter of God's timing when Christ will turn the Vatican like the Temple of Solomon into rubbles because of the John Paul II Altar of Sodomy. Benedict XVI, his papal clone has just touched the first domino that will make the Vatican fall like a deck of cards domino effect.

Posted in honor of the feast of the Immaculate Conception and Christmas.

Monday, December 15, 2008

John Paul II's Jesuit pedophile John Powell were frenzy writers

The higher they are, the harder they fall. John Paul II the Great is the highest pope created by the Opus Dei and all his writings must be cited by every Catholic churches and schools throughout the world or else they face excommunication by the Vatican also run by the Opus Dei.

At the same time that John Paul II was so busy writing tons of books and encyclicals and homilies, he was ignoring his John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army as they feasted in sodomy and lusted on thousands of American altar boys and girls, not only in America but also around the world. The Opus Dei wanted an impeccable John Paul II papacy because he is the Mystical Husband of their Opus Dei founder St. Josemaria Escriva see the John Paul II MIllstone for details www.jp2m.blogspot.com

And so Opus Dei disregarded the victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army as they created endless papal brands of John Paul II Youth, John Paul II Priests Generation, the Culture of Life, the Culture of Love, etc. What the Opus Dei was hiding in secrecy was the CULTURE of PRIEST-PEDOPHILIA in the 20th century unique to the 26 years papacy of John Paul II!

At the same time that John Paul II was writing his papal library, the Jesuits also had their own famous author that matched John Paul II’s writing frenzy, John Powell, who now stands accused of pedophilia.

www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com Benedict XVI Ratzinger God's Rottweiler shows all the details of the pope's power in covering up the most heinous crime against children in Church history.

www.jp2m.blogspot.com John Paul II Millstone shows details the role of John Paul II in his 26 years papacy as he did NOTHING to stop the priest-pedophilia under his papal watch. John Paul II's papacy was controlled by the Opus Dei and therefore they also controlled the thriving of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army!


=====

Priest accused of sexual abuse
CHICAGO (IL)

The Phoenix
The Official Student Newspaper of Loyola University, Chicago

http://www.loyolaphoenix.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=705e02de-efbd-4125-a656-e7d14eb40219

As a Jesuit and a professor at Loyola University Chicago, the Rev. John Powell, S.J., built a reputation as a popular teacher and a best-selling religious author - and all of it was called into question again last month as he faced his third sexual abuse lawsuit since 2003.


The civil lawsuit, filed Nov. 6 by the plaintiff "Jane Doe 125," who has chosen to remain anonymous to the public, claimed that Powell held "private counseling sessions" with her during a religious retreat in 1967. During these sessions, said the official complaint, he forced her to kiss him and required her to remove her school uniform so that he could fondle her.


The lawsuit also named the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, as a defendant on counts of negligence and fraud, and stated that the Jesuits knew about Powell's pedophilic tendencies before the alleged incident and failed to act on that knowledge.


Powell, 83, now retired in Michigan, worked as a professor of theology at Loyola from 1965 until his retirement in 1996. During that time, he held spiritual retreats and wrote popular books such as Fully Human, Fully Alive, inspirational self-help manuals that blended pop psychology with Catholic theology and established him as "one of the best-selling spiritual authors of our time," according to Publishers Weekly.


"This guy sells books about sexually intimate relationships, and the Jesuits make millions off of them, and it's a fraud, a complete fraud," said attorney Marc Pearlman, who represents the anonymous plaintiff for the law firm Kerns, Frost and Pearlman. "The guy was sexually abusing his students and people who came to him for counseling."


He also, according to a number of accusers, used his position as a counselor and professor to abuse young girls. Throughout the years he was assigned to Loyola University, the lawsuit said, Powell held spiritual retreats that brought him into contact with minor children. It was during one of these retreats, held at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla., that he sexually abused the plaintiff, according to the lawsuit. She was "approximately 16 or 17," the suit said.


The lawsuit also claimed that Powell "engaged in a pattern and practice of sexually abusing Loyola University students." In 2006, a former Loyola University student, Diane Ruhl, named the Chicago order of Jesuits as the defendant in a civil lawsuit along with three other women. The lawsuit, which is still pending, claimed that Powell sexually abused Ruhl during private counseling sessions while she attended Loyola and also said that both Jesuit leaders and Loyola administrators received reports of Powell's alleged abuses and ignored them.


Powell has never been charged with a crime.


Pearlman, the attorney, represented four women in a 2003 sexual abuse lawsuit against Powell, which the defendant settled publicly in 2005. He said that he has dealt with a number of women who have come forward and claimed that Powell abused them, enough to convince him that there may have been dozens more.


"I really doubt the number is just six or seven or 13," he said. "We had a client, her sister went to Loyola and he was abusing her 13-year-old sister. He used to frequent the house, and he'd tell her parents he was going to tuck her in and bless her and read her confession, and then he'd abuse her. A 13 year-old."


Powell could not be reached for comment. A statement from the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus said he was in "extremely poor health, requiring 24-hour medical care and supervision."


Pearlman also said that in his experience, the Jesuits displayed a record of covering up sex abuse within their ranks.


"The Jesuits have a history of being horrible on these types of issues," he said. "They've had sex abusers in their ranks, they've known about them, they've covered it up, they've transferred them and ignored it, and Powell's not the only example. I really think the way they approached this sex issue was to sweep it under the rug."



Pearlman pointed to the case of the Rev. Donald McGuire, S.J., as an example. A public jury convicted McGuire in a 2006 criminal trial of sexually abusing two teenage boys in Chicago in the 1960s. Documents show that Chicago Jesuit leaders received alerts about McGuire's behavior dozens of times during his career, according to multiple news sources.


A spokesperson for the Jesuits' Chicago Province said he was not able to comment by phone. In an e-mailed response statement, the Rev. Edward Schmidt, S.J., Chicago Provincial of the Society of Jesus, said that the Chicago Province does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings out of respect for the judicial system.


"The Province takes allegations of sexual misconduct seriously," said the statement, "investigates them fully, and cooperates with authorities. We believe the individuals who have come forward deserve our understanding and prayers."


The statement also encouraged anyone who has been abused by a member of the Province to contact the appropriate law enforcement or child protection agency no matter what amount of time has passed since the abuse.


Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), agreed with Pearlman's estimate, calling the Jesuits "the worst in this country" in terms of religious organizations with a track record of concealing abuse. SNAP is a Chicago-based national advocacy and support group for survivors of sexual clerical abuse.

Blaine said that the 30 year span between the alleged incident and the lawsuit typified cases of clerical abuse based on her experience, especially so with cases involving Jesuit priests. She also said she was disappointed by Loyola University's lack of response to the claims of abuse by Powell.


"When you're raped by a teacher in your school," she said, "you're not really in a position to speak up or do anything about it. It takes years, sometimes decades of healing to withstand the scrutiny, especially because the Jesuits and Loyola do not make it easy for victims to speak up."


Steve Christensen, communications manager at Loyola University Chicago, declined to respond. He said that the university refers all questions about Powell and the alleged abuse to the Jesuits' Chicago Province and said that university officials would not comment on the lawsuit.


In an e-mail response, Ellen Kane Munro, vice president and general counsel at Loyola, said that the university "will not tolerate sexual abuse, or indeed sexual harassment of any kind, by anyone, including its faculty and the Jesuits."


Pearlman said the case might reach a settlement, but he promised to make the results public.


"If the Jesuits want to step up and settle the case," he said, "that's always better for the victims, but it will be public, whether it goes through the courts or not."



Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13

Displaying 1 - 13 of 13
Steve Smith
posted 12/05/08 @ 6:59 AM CST
The religious orders seem to be a cult whereby those that sexually abuse are "taken care of" by the brotherhood. Save the brotherhood - but rape the children. It is time for society to recognize the sicknesses called religious orders. Post a reply to this comment Steve Smith
posted 12/05/08 @ 7:03 AM CST
The religious orders seem to be a cult whereby those that sexually abuse are "taken care of" by the brotherhood. Save the brotherhood - but rape the children. It is time for society to recognize the sicknesses called religious orders. Post a reply to this comment

SMP TURLISH
posted 12/05/08 @ 8:25 AM CST
Of course this is an absolutely horrific story but is there no possibility of invoking federal Trafficking statutes against Powell?

What about conspiracy charges if it can be proven that Jesuit leadership had any knowledge of his sexually abusive behavior?

Here is an individual without integrity, character or conscience.

Marc Pearlman has said it well. Sad to say, John Powell's life was a complete fraud and disgraces all of us in ministry.

SMP TURLISH
maureenpaulturlish@yahoo.com Post a reply to this comment

tony
posted 12/05/08 @ 11:17 AM CST
That the Catholics turn a blind eye to these endless assaults speaks volumes about what religion does to the minds of those kneeling in the pews.

I have no middle man in my relationship with God.

X brainwashed Catholic Post a reply to this comment

Albino Luciani - MURDERED POPE
posted 12/05/08 @ 5:24 PM CST
www.bishop-accountability.org/abusetracker for daily verified & vetted coverage on the USCCB (Unremoved Sexual Criminal Cabal Bishops) & the Roman La Cosa Nostra Curia, who continue a scorched-earth, to the last laity dollar, of already multiple BILLIONS OF DIVERTED OFFETORY PLATE LAITY DONATIONS, in their CLEAR & PRESENT endangerment of hundreds of thousands of children, while aiding, abetting, enabling, perpetrating, racketeering, perjuring, obstructing justice, for thousands of hidden clergy pedophiles, with NO correction, no removal of many hundreds of GUILTY cardinals and bishops, & generally gross dereliction of duty, as well as wholesale FRAUD & EVIL.

THE SOLUTION? "Stop Donating Laity"! as St. Peter Damien correctly asserted.

The USCCB Credo & Motto Remains = ISAIAH 28:15!

There are over 100+ recently published empirical and factual books on the subject at: www.amazon.com, and FREE at your local public libraries.

Among the salient & cogent authors are: Roman Catholic Bishops Thomas Gumbleton (USA) and Jeffery Robinson (Australia), along with comments from Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan, Italy, in 'The Tablet' (UK).

Other factual authors include: Fr. Richard Sipe, Dr. Robert Grant, MD, Attorney & Scholar Marci Hamilton, Dr. Leon Podles, Jason Berry, David Yallop, Fr. Thomas Resse, SJ, Fr/.Dr. Howard Bleichner, SS, and Fr./Dr./Canon Lawyer Thomas Doyle, OP, to name only a few.

On film and DVD:

2006: US Academy Award BEST DOCUMENTARY nominated - 'DELIVER US FROM EVIL';

2007: Cannes Film Festival Winner 'VOWS OF SILENCE'

2008: Nationally Released In Movie Theaters This December 8th, 'DOUBT' Starring US Academy Award Winning BEST ACTRESS Meryl Streep & US Academy Award Winning BEST ACTOR Phillip Seymor Hoffman

St. Paul to the Ephesians, 5:11, reminds each of us: "Do not deal in fruitless deeds of darkness, but expose them!";

Edmund Burke correctly states: "The only condition for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing!"

No Curia Accountability Or Removal? NJO LAITY MONIED! It Is THAT Simple!

Fiat Lux & Vertias!

Albino Luciani,

MURDERED POPE,

NOT Smiling, From Heaven

Post a reply to this comment

Amos
posted 12/05/08 @ 5:51 PM CST
What I do not understand is why these sexual abuse crimes against those who have not attained their majority are not considered under the more generic and appropriate terminology of "Crimes Against Humanity?" Such crimes are not subject to criminal or civil statutes of limitation. Where prevalence of such sociopathic behavior is identified, legal argumentation for such redefinition is not outside the realm possibility. Post a reply to this comment

Andrew
posted 12/06/08 @ 1:11 AM CST
As far as the Jesuits taking sex abuse seriously, one poor example is Fr. Thomas Smolich (arguable now one of the top Jesuits in the USA) made a Jesuit permanently live in the same building as a Jesuit who allegedly sexually assaulted him, Br. Charles Connor (who was part of an unrelated $7 million Jesuit sex abuse settlement). Post a reply to this comment

Robin
posted 12/06/08 @ 7:11 AM CST
Fr. Powell's books helped me tremendously during my high school and college years in the 1970's. The allegations against him do nothing to detract from the benefit I've received from my reading and reflection on his writings. In fact, being fully human reminds all of us to acknwledge that we sin as part of the human condition. My belief in the teachings of Christ and personal experience have taught me and our family to choose to practice forgiveness and discover the freedom and healing it brings to live life to the fullest. We could all feel more "fully alive" if we'd learn to practice detatchment and forgiveness. Imagine if we were more curious and less certain that we really know what's in the heart and mind of these accused priets today, years after these alleged events took place. We might discover that just like you and me, they are good people who in their human frailty likewise sinned. Why would any of us want to define our current identity, worth and value on our past? . . . Because that would be fraud! Post a reply to this comment

tilton60115
posted 12/06/08 @ 12:43 PM CST
Someone in YOUR family commits a crime, do you abandon them? Would Christ abandon him? Well, a religious order becomes family once you enter and all are called to be Christ-like.

Don't think that Catholics don't abhor what has gone on, we do. And we know what we have to do about it. Post a reply to this comment

Barbara
posted 12/07/08 @ 8:13 PM CST
I do not mean to diminish the horrible sex abuse, however does the media think ONLY Catholic priests (a small minority at that) are abusers? No rabbis, no ministers, no imams, no Mormons? People, please know this, the vast majority of priests are truly men of God. The main problem is that some of the 'top dogs' of the various doiceses covered this up! The abusers should have been tried & judged in an American criminal court. This is NOT abandoning your 'family' member! If your relative was abusing children (or any other serious crime), I would hope you would turn him in to the proper law authorities. Post a reply to this comment

blues
posted 12/08/08 @ 12:09 AM CST
Most comments on this topic typically fall into one of two groups, either the priest and church are horrific or the Church is good and there are few bad apples and all should be forgiven.

My take is with each abuse there are two crimes. One is the actual abuse, which in of itself is unforgivable. The second is committed by Church officials, the whole chain of command from the local to the vatican. As an institution the Catholic Church basically provides a pimping service for the predators. Historically they have bailed the priest out only to put them in position to continue their behavior elsewhere. The goal is to protect the institution at any cost.

For all the high morals one would think would be attributed to the religious it's surprising that there haven't been any whistle blowers on the inside. All seem complicit in ongoing abuse. They really have lost their way as an institution. Post a reply to this comment

Mediator
posted 12/08/08 @ 6:41 AM CST
Our current look at the "abuse crisis" through 21st century eyes and understanding of sexuality and law would suggest that bishops in the 1950's - 1990's "should have known. . . yadda, yadda, yadda."

A reality is that MOST did their best with the knowledge, information, and counsel they recieved from thier advisors (among them were lawyers and law enforcement.) Their intention was to do good for both victim and priest for whom they had dual responsibility. A prevailing belief in the last half of the last century was that sexual acting out was an affliction similar to alcoholism. Alcoholic priests were sent to rehab and then re-assigned, hoping that the change in environment and 12-step meetings would give them a fresh and sober start. I believe Bishops in general meant well, yet were ignorant about psycho-sexual matters, didn't know what they didn't know, and fearful of what they didn't know until reality hit the fan in the 80's.

Today (and especially in the last 20 years) we know more scientific information than ever before about sexuality, what's treatable and not treatable; what's pathological vs behavioral; and the consequences of ignorance on both sides of the abuse crisis issue.

Victims advocates and some lawyers would have us beleive we can/should judge past behavior by today's legal standards and understanding of sexulaity, which in my opinion is misguided. The reality is, that most Bishops and dioceses since the 1990's have changed their approach in accord with current understanding of law and science.

Hindsight is 20/20 and the Monday morning quarterback always gets it right! I say, let's give enlightened and better informed church leadership the benefit of the doubt in 2008.

Signed,
Advocates for Mediation NOT Litigation Post a reply to this comment


ann
posted 12/08/08 @ 10:55 PM CST
it is so true about religous orders getting away with more, for they have no set Bishop. there also is another big order in chicago called the AUGUSTINIANS, now they are close in similar problems to the jesuits. but as for a religious order they are, it appears, most overlooked. myself, i was a victim of a major augustinian leader from chicago area. no justice there served me. mine very similar to this jesuit story. Post a reply to this comment

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Pedophile Priests ridicule the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Benedict XVI and Opus Dei Priests and the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army mock and ridicule the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Every year on December we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary who was the only creature to be created WITHOUT original sin so that she alone would be worthy to carry to full term and be the Mother of God Jesus Christ.

It took her about 16 years before she got was impregnated by the Holy Spirit as announced by the Archangel Gabriel in Nazareth and then she was married to Joseph…

Jesus was carried to full term in Mary’s sinless womb for 9 months and then he grew to be a normal boy for 30 years in Joseph’s carpentry shop before he started his ministry at age 30. Then for 3 years he was a preacher with his 12 Apostles. He was crucified at age 33.

And now Benedict XVI and the Opus Dei priests who are ALL SINNERS and who covered-up the most heinous crimes of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army claim to stem-cell and clone in an instant the REAL flesh of God Jesus Christ -- in the Eucharist!

Benedict XVI and Opus Dei priests ridicule the Immaculate Conception by claiming to be sinless like Mary when in fact they are the worst of sinners because they led the cover-up of John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army in the 20th century!

Christ said that anyone who causes children to sin shall have a millstone tied to his neck and cast to the sea. That is why John Paul II is now in the depths of the sea of Hell and Benedict XVI his clone is also walking with an invisible Papal Millstone also around his neck.

The John Paul II Pedophile Priests all mocked the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Everyday they said Mass and ate the flesh of God and everyday they sodomized the altar boys who assisted them at Mass.


Benedict XVI and the Opus Dei are chanting Latin Masses in a language that Christ never spoke…and which the Immaculate Conception Mary also never spoke.

Benedict XVI and the Opus Dei are Catholic cannibals of the flesh of God in the Eucharist forever ridicule and mock the sinless Mother of God.

Satan tempted Eve and Adam to eat of the fruit of the Good and Evil and now he tempts and perpetually Benedict XVI and Opus Dei priests obey Satan by eating God’s flesh…which they create through the black magic of the Eucharist.

Victims - Attackers - Responsible Leaders

Pearl Harbor - 3,000 victims - 170 planes - Admiral Yamamoto

WTC & 9/11 attacks - 5,000 victims - 19 Muslims - Osama bin Laden

USA Priest Pedophilia - 12,000 victims - 5,448 priests - John Paul II + Benedict XVI + Opus Dei (the new Roman Catholic Trinity! the Vatican Trinity)

Saturday, December 06, 2008

John Paul II Pedophile Priest in LA admits molesting boys

Oh when the saints go marching in it is the John Paul II the Great Pedophile Priests Army who are marching in!!!

www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com Benedict XVI Ratzinger God's Rottweiler shows all the details of the pope's power in covering up the most heinous crime against children in Church history.

www.jp2m.blogspot.com John Paul II Millstone shows details the role of John Paul II in his 26 years papacy as he did NOTHING to stop the priest-pedophilia under his papal watch. John Paul II's papacy was controlled by the Opus Dei and therefore they also controlled the thriving of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army!
=====

From the L.A.Daily News, 12.3.2008

Priest admits molesting boys

By Aron Miller aron.miller@dailynews.com 818-713-3756 Staff Writer

Updated: 12/03/2008 12:54:37 AM PST


Ending another case of priest sexual abuse, a former member of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who worked at a Pacoima church pleaded guilty Tuesday to molesting a boy 20 years ago.

George Miller, 70, also admitted molesting three other victims whose cases can’t be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations, prosecutors said.

Miller, who has been free on bail since his July 2007 arrest, faces three years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 30. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Miller, who lives in Oxnard, had been charged with molesting a boy he met while assigned to the Guardian Angel Church in Pacoima. He befriended the boy’s mother and became a frequent guest at their home, police said.

The molestations occurred between March 1988 and March 1991, when the victim turned 12.

The Miller case was just one of dozens involving Archdiocese of Los Angeles priests. The cases culminated in 2007 with a record $660 million settlement involving 508 victims.

In a 2002 interview with the Daily News, one of the accusers said Miller had molested him at a Malibu beach house that priests used as a retreat.

That case was dismissed in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a law extending California’s statute of limitations for sex crimes.

Miller was ordained in 1963 and served at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Santa Clarita, San Buenaventura Mission Church in Ventura and St. Philomena in Carson before arriving at Guardian Angel in 1973. He served at the Pacoima parish until 1984, the last three years as pastor, before being transferred to Santa Clara Church in Oxnard. He went out on sick leave in 1996, and retired a year later.

John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army 59 victims in Springfield MA paid 4.5 Million by Diocese

www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com Benedict XVI Ratzinger God's Rottweiler shows all the details of the pope's power in covering up the most heinous crime against children in Church history.

www.jp2m.blogspot.com John Paul II Millstone shows details the role of John Paul II in his 26 years papacy as he did NOTHING to stop the priest-pedophilia under his papal watch. John Paul II's papacy was controlled by the Opus Dei and therefore they also controlled the thriving of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army!


===
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield pays $4.5 million to 59 clergy abuse victims

by The Republican Newsroom
From MassLive.com
Tuesday December 02, 2008, 12:28 PM

By STEPHANIE BARRY
sbarry@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced Tuesday it has paid $4.5 million to 59 clergy abuse victims after a lengthy arbitration process.

The settlements ranged from $5,000 to $200,000 and were paid Nov. 20, according to a statement released by the diocese. Victims who agreed to participate in arbitration were asked to fill out confidential questionnaires detailing their abuse and the impact on their lives.

The abuse claims date back to 1948, a diocesan spokesman said. Among the claims were 31 new ones against defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne, who has been identified as a serial abuser during waves of lawsuits since the 1990s.


File photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanA complaint against former Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, shown in this photo from 2004, was among 59 settled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Nov. 20.

Also, a new complaint was settled against former Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, who resigned abruptly in 2004 after the Republican questioned him about two men who previously accused him of sexual abuse during the 1970s.

Those men received payments after this negotiation, according to the diocese. Dupre personally contributed to a portion of those, diocesan spokesman Mark E. Dupont said.

The arbitration followed an $8 million settlement between the diocese and its insurance carriers, which had resisted covering millions of abuse claims.

More details in The Republican tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Abuse and Cover Up, Must Read, Friends and Partners, Church Culture, Finances and Ownership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



COMMENT
Robert M. Kelly Says:

December 6, 2008 at 5:25 am
good people,

Barb Dorris has hit the nail on the had. The victims, by coming forward and sticking with it, have given us more than we know. We owe them a great debt.

Dupre’s legacy lives on in the Diocese.

The more that I study this case, the more I see that the basic direction and playbook of management has not changed since around July of 2002, when the claims began to overwhelm the diocesan system. Dupre was a canon lawyer by trade and a notorious hair-splitter as well as a master manipulator. He was never wrong, and complaints against clergy abuse were always someone else’s fault throughout his 9 years at the top - until the day he resigned.

Bishop McDonnell also plays hardball, but he has a better arsenal of pitches, learned no doubt during his baby bishop years in the Big Apple.

Denial and self-preservation among clergy are very strong here. Until the Diocese learns to act better, instead of being always watchful, wary and reactive, the laity here will continue to suffer.

But with such a noble example of redemptive suffering that the victims have given us, how can we give up now?

I’ve been following this story for a while, and indeed it is a tangled tale that goes back to the days of Bishop Weldon (1950-1977). In fact most accounts put the peak years of abuse at 1965-1975.
I invite you to join me at the web site below for more information.

The last link here is a post I made about 2 weeks ago, when there was a large blank space on the Diocesan web site - since then, information about the settlement was recently filled by a press release.

peace

the blog:http://westernmassachusettscatholics.blogspot.com

the diocesan press release: http://www.iobserve.org/rn1126a.html

the post about settlement:http://westernmassachusettscatholics.blogspot.com/2008/11/d42-settlement-day.html
===
For immediate release, Tuesday, December 2
Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director for SNAP, 314-862-7688
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests


We commend these brave men and women who found the strength to speak up, expose predators, protect kids and finally secure some measure of justice. No settlement or money, of course, can repair their stolen childhoods and shattered lives. But we are grateful they were brave enough to come forward, wise enough to take legal action, and persistent enough to endure years of delay by Catholic officials. We hope they will feel some pride and comfort in this resolution.

Through this settlement, Dupre has essentially admitted his crimes. Sadly, like ten or twelve of his brother bishops who’ve molested kids, he remains on the payroll shrouded in secrecy.

Now, the burden is on Springfield Catholic officials to more aggressively reach out to others who were hurt by these predators and seriously monitor the predators. We urge them to post the names, photos and whereabouts of these dangerous men on the diocesan website, in parish bulletins and in the weekly diocesan newspapers. That’s the quickest, cheapest and most effective way to protect kids, warn parents and alert neighbors.

Contact

David Clohessy, National Director, 314-566-9790

Thursday, December 04, 2008

JP2 clone Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland followed orders to cover-up John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army

www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com Benedict XVI Ratzinger God's Rottweiler shows all the details of the pope's power in covering up the most heinous crime agaisnt children in Church history.

www.jp2m.blogspot.com John Paul II Millstone shows details the role of John Paul II in his 26 years papacy as he did NOTHING to stop the priest-pedophilia under his papal watch.

* * *
From CBS 58 WDJT-TV Milwaukee News, 11.20.2008.

This story - click here http://www.cbs58.com/index.php?aid=5267 with Video - asks the key question: Was retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland following church orders, from the pope in Rome, in covering up sex crimes (rape, molestation, sodomy) against children? The answer is clear: yes, he was–as was every bishop in the Roman Catholic Church who wanted to keep his job. Job security and being obedient to their superior, the pope, was more important to these Church officials than reporting crimes to law enforcement authorities, more important than the safety of future children.

New videotape released http://www.cbs58.com/index.php?aid=5267

MILWAUKEE - New videotape has been released of former Archbishop Rembert Weakland.

Weakland implies when he hid pedophile priests he was following church orders.

CBS 58's Veronica Griffin has the latest stunning revelation on a sex scandal that won't away.

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http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/charliesykes/34386719.html

FLASHBACK: THE SHAME OF REMBERT WEAKLAND

By Charlie Sykes

Nov 13, 2008

Dramatic admission from the former archbishop.....

Retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland admitted in a video deposition released Wednesday that he transferred priests with a history of sexual misconduct back into churches without alerting parishioners.

The former archbishop acknowledged that he did so because "no parish would have accepted a priest unless you could say that he has gone through the kind of psychological examination and that he's not a risk to the parish."

**
I'm reposting a column I wrote in 2002:

The shame of Rembert Weakland
Milwaukee archbishop tolerated and protected priestly sexual abuse


By Charles J. Sykes


Even years later, he's haunted by the casual greeting: "Hi, Greg."

He was lying in bed, the bed of a Catholic priest. The priest, Father Dennis Pecore, had gotten up and answered the knock at his door. He stood in the doorway in his bathrobe, talking with another priest, who had come to his room. The visitor could see the boy lying in the bed. "Hi, Greg," he said to the boy.

"Nothing else was said or asked of me," recalls Greg. He was 14 years old.

Greg is just one of hundreds of young men who were sexually abused by priests they trusted. But his case casts a shadow over the Milwaukee archdiocese and the legacy of Archbishop Rembert Weakland.

It should. Because Weakland's handling of this case stands as his most shameful moment.

By the mid-1980s, it was an open secret that Pecore was using Greg, a student at the Mother of Good Counsel School, as a sex toy. Greg says that other priests knew, as well as teachers and school officials. "My mother used to call up at the rectory and they would say that I was not there, and she would ride by and see my bike out front and know I was at the rectory."

In July 1984, one of the school's teachers had become so alarmed that he wrote a letter informing Archbishop Weakland that a priest at the school was taking young boys to his private bedroom, one at a time, suggesting that he was abusing the youngsters. He urged Weakland to do something "before it goes public."

Weakland's response: a threat. He wrote that "any libelous material found in your letter will be scrutinized carefully by our lawyers."

Frustrated, the teacher and two others continued to warn about Pecore's behavior. All three teachers were fired. In a lawsuit filed several years later, the three teachers say they were fired because they had tried to warn Weakland about what was happening at their school.

There is no evidence that Weakland took any other action in response to the warnings. Instead, the teachers later said, the church "conspired to silence this situation and to terminate" the whistleblowers.

In early 1987, Father Pecore was charged with sexual assault. He was later sentenced to a year in jail. (Several years later, after he was charged with molesting another boy, he was given a 12-year prison sentence.) The archdiocese also agreed to pay Greg and his family $595,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Weakland insisted that the agreement be kept secret. "It was the archdiocese's idea to seal it," Greg later wrote a Milwaukee judge, "and when our family saw the clause in the agreement that it was to be sealed, we strongly objected."

Greg rejects the idea that the secrecy was designed to protect him: "If the archdiocese wanted to protect me, they would have not put me through all the hassles they did."

Weakland, however, wanted the last word. In a column published in the archdiocese's newspaper, the archbishop suggested that the adolescent victims were not so "innocent" after all. "Some of them," Weakland wrote at the time, "can be sexually very active and aggressive and often quite streetwise."

Even back in 1988, prosecutors were stunned by Weakland's victim-must-share-the-blame attitude. The head of Milwaukee's sensitive crimes unit said he was "disappointed and saddened" by Weakland's comments, noting that Milwaukee 's archbishop was either "failing or choosing to ignore the obvious power differential that exists between a priest and child."

Then-assistant district attorney (and now judge) John DiMotto said that he had never known a case where a child had enticed a priest.

To this day, Weakland's actions and words still carry the power to wound.

"To me, looking back on it now," says Greg, "how could he even suggest that? I was so young at the time. I couldn't make a decision like that."

He's still disgusted by the secrecy. "I wanted to tell my story to everyone," says Greg. "I wanted to get this out. I wasn't afraid to tell what happened to me. And I felt bad for the teachers who lost their job, the principal at the school, who had to leave because of this. I wanted this out in the open."

Greg believes the teachers fired by the archdiocese "were trying to protect me, trying to help me. The teachers who lost their jobs were 100% behind my family through this whole thing."

Milwaukee 's archbishop, however, has been a different story. Rembert Weakland has nothing to say about Greg or his case. The church's secrecy, tolerance and denial of sexual abuse has become a cancer on the church.

In Milwaukee , the archbishop carries into retirement the burden of his silence.

COMMENTS:

Wednesday, Nov 26 at 12:43 AM Armistead wrote ...Archbishop Weakland isn't alone. Pope Benedict himself, as right hand man to the John Paul II, was in a position to know plenty about the American bishops and their coverup of priestly pederasty. There are outstanding law suits attempting to force him to testify. As this issue continues to fester, the questions swirl around Pope Benedict's possible involvement, knowledge, and actions as the highest ranking Vatican bureacrat at the time.

Sunday, Nov 16 at 4:11 PM Superheater wrote ...When Rembert Weakland was busy using his office to advance various left-wing causes and liturgical novelties-he was a cause celeb in the secular world because of stubborn refusal to be governed by theological norms. Now we see he wasn't just seperated from the Church on liturgical norms,but moral ones as well.

Sunday, Nov 16 at 8:02 AM greg wrote ...Please separate the condemnation of the person who sinned and the Church which is the body of Christ and therefore perfected. The priest sinned, the Church who gives us the Eucharist will stand the test of time and this scandel. We can still receive Jesus no matter how evil a human is! A human cannot corrupt Jesus.

Sunday, Nov 16 at 8:00 AM Belinda wrote ...As with each one of us, we have to fight the tendency to be a "pharisee" in the world. Our bishops and priests will be held as more accountable than us since they are standing as leaders to us. This bishop has much to repent and I'm concerned that he sounds like a pedophile in his attitude of "blame the victim". This is what pedophiles think, that the children are seducing them!!!!! How distorted and evil!!! The priest has the power and must not abuse it or children!!!

Friday, Nov 14 at 3:07 PM Tom from DC wrote ...As a non-practicing Catholic I would rather see the Church go bankrupt than the Big 3 or any other industry. I can't survive on mea cuplas and one host per day. The Catholic church has been out of touch with reality since they forced me to go to Mass 5 days a week for 8 years. I claim Caholic as my religion but I don't need the Church or a priest to tell me whats right and wrong. My saint of a mother did that. I live my life to respect her more than the preaching of the Catholic church. Amen

Friday, Nov 14 at 10:34 AM Amy P. wrote ...Russ - I'm 25, and consider myself "young" - you know what's a waste of my time? Going to a church that says anything I do - sinful or not - is okay. If it just reaffirmsm my choices, what's the point? You're right that young people can see phoniness which is why REAL, ORTHODOX, CONSERVATIVE Catholic parishes and religious orders have significantly higher numbers of youth than aging, hippy parishes. Look at Call to Action, a liberal Catholic group, and 99% of its members are over age 55.

Friday, Nov 14 at 6:46 AM Russ wrote ...To Amy-Some Bishops and above, think that you need to kiss something other than their ring, because the are above God's Law. They are out of touch with the reality of how young people think and can see through their guise of pomp and circustance. The liberal decisions that they make together as a collective group are not always on target and they can't understand why that is. The old thinking needs to consult with Vatican II decendents.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 8:01 PM Steve wrote ...It is not logically possible that one could believe that Catholic teachings are true, and allow this to happened. It does not appear that the Archbishop believed that there were souls at stake, for example. Nor that he even had a shred of decent humanity. The damage that he did is incalculable.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 2:21 PM Gabe wrote ...I have so much sympathy for Greg. Although I am a victim of sexual abuse by a sister, every time I read one of these stories about the evil of the Catholic church's hierarchy, I am stunned!! I taught junior high and high school students for over 30 years in Catholic schools, and not once did I EVER see a young boy "seduce a priest.' I know that the "bishop" is trying to rationalize his own acts, but he is just adding more evil to his deeds. How could this man handle the Body/Blood of Jesus?

Thursday, Nov 13 at 12:13 PM Josh D wrote ...I agree entirely with Amy. Everywhere where dioceses have strong, orthodox programs, attendance numbers are up as are seminarians and ordinations. Add to this the fact that in virtually everyone of those dioceses, the sex abuse scandal is quite low. Liberal dioceses like Boston and Milwaukee and those who allowed that theology in their parishes and seminaries will answer to God.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 11:55 AM Patrick wrote ...Rembert Weakland was the darling of the liberal media as long as he was fighting to distroy traditional Catholic life in his archdiocese. When he was discovered for what he was they were quick to abandon him because he was no more use to them. I am glad he's out of the picture!

Thursday, Nov 13 at 11:27 AM Bob F wrote ...If you really want to find Weakland's most shameful moment, as him about payoffs to Paul Marcoux

Thursday, Nov 13 at 8:51 AM Amy P. wrote ...No, Russ. The theologically liberal folks in the Catholic Church - who despise things like the all-male, celebate priesthood, devotion to orthodoxy, and the Traditions (big T) of the Church are a sorry lot. Read "Goodbye, Good Men" by Michael S. Rose - the fault of the abuse and the fallout lies with theologically illiterate, self-centered, liberal folk who harrassed, persecuted, and blacklisted faithful young men out of the seminaries and priesthood to "remake" Catholicism in their own image.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 8:50 AM JP wrote ...And yet they wonder why church attendance is down.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 8:18 AM Al wrote ...Matthew 18:6 Look it up, Rembert.

Thursday, Nov 13 at 6:37 AM Russ wrote ...This shadow thinking of not telling the whole truth is why young people stay away from the Sunday services. It's like a political promise--hallow in meaning. Our children learn by example and the Catholic Church is a sorry lot.

http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/charliesykes/34386719.html

John Paul II Pedophile Priests abused 40 and 100 times...altar boys

Benedict XVI was the Chief Enabler of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army - see details in Benedict XVI Ratzinger-God's Rottweiler www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com

======

Priest abuse trial to start Wednesday

By Sam Hemingway • Free Press Staff Writer • December 1, 2008

Another clerical sex-abuse trial -- the third this year -- is scheduled to get under way Wednesday, this one involving claims by a former Burlington altar boy that he was molested by the Rev. Edward Paquette twice in the late 1970s.

The victim, who was 12 at the time, said the incidents occurred at Christ the King Church in Burlington and that he quit being an altar boy after Paquette molested him the second time, according to court papers in the case.

• Priest-abuse cases

The former altar boy, now a businessman living in Hyattsville, Md., is suing the state's Roman Catholic diocese for damages, alleging it knew Paquette was a child molester when it hired him. The man is seeking an undisclosed amount of monetary damages for the abuse.

The diocese does not dispute the man's molestation claims but contends his case should be dismissed because he waited too long to file his lawsuit. Paquette, who is retired and lives in Westfield, Mass., is not a defendant in the case.

Both trials earlier this year involved similar molestation claims, although the alleged victims in those cases said Paquette molested them, in one case, between 40 and 100 times and, in the other case, between 20 and 50 times.

The earlier trials also had dramatically different results. The first, in May, ended with an $8.7 million jury award to the victim. The second, in August, was declared a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict after 16 hours of deliberation.

This week's trial will be the first one to be presided over by Judge Dennis Pearson. Judge Matthew Katz handled the two earlier trials this year and Judge Ben Joseph presided over a 2007 case involving a different priest that required a second trial when the first one was declared a mistrial.

Pearson, in a set of rulings last week, signaled that he may be less willing than Katz or Joseph to allow lawyers for the molestation victims to introduce evidence about the diocese handled molestation claims involving other priests since the late 1970s.

Attorneys Jerome O'Neill and John Evers, representing the 28 alleged victims of priest sexual abuse who have filed cases against the diocese in Chittenden County Superior Court, have contended such evidence is important because it shows an ongoing coverup of the abuse by diocesan officials.

"I'm not sure how any post-1978 conduct is probative of negligent supervision in the 1976 to 1978 period," Pearson told the lawyers during a pre-trial hearing.

"It shows a continuing pattern and practice by the diocese," O'Neill responded.

Pearson later decided to limit testimony about some of the diocese's actions connected with its handling of molestation claims involving the Rev. Alfred Willis in 1980.

This week's trial could also feature testimony from Bishop Salvatore Matano, who has headed the diocese since 2005.

Matano has attended all of the clerical sex abuse trials in Burlington but has never taken the witness stand. O'Neill disclosed during last week's hearing that Matano recently underwent a deposition, or formal interview, with lawyers in the case.

A jury for Wednesday's trial is scheduled to be selected Tuesday. Should the case settle prior to trial, one of two back-up cases involving similar Paquette molestation claims will take its place.

Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at hemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

Priest-abuse cases How recent Vermont civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Vermont were resolved. The Free Press does not disclose the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent:

Alleged victimPriestResolutionYearMichael
BernierJames McShane$120,000
#2004 Robert DouglasAlfred Willis$170,000
#2004 Michael GayEdward Paquette$965,000
#2006 Neil MorrissetteGeorge Paulin$135,000
#2007 James TurnerAlfred Willis$15,000*
2007J ohn PerrotteAlfred Willis$170,000
#2008 Undisclosed Edward Paquette$8,700,000
*2008 "John Doe"Edward Paquette$250,000
#2008 UndisclosedEdward Paquette$170,000
#2008 # -- settlement
* -- verdict

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