St. Josemaria and Franco's last victims search for solace

John Paul II and his Mystical Bride St. Josemaria Escriva see the John Paul II Millstone http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html were cohorts of General Franco of Spain. The Opus Dei produced, directed and controlled the 26 years papacy of John Paul II and brushed under the Vatican carpet the victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army. St. Josemaria Escriva was obssessed with his own political and church titles he'd sleep with the Devil's brothers Franco and Pinochet see the John Paul II Millstone for details http://jp2m.blogspot.com/. It is no surprise that the priests during Franco's dictatorial regime also were pedophiles as it is now being revealed for the first time.

St Josemaria Escriva cared only for his own flock and ignored the victims of Franco and Picochet and so it is not a surprise that the Opus Dei also ignored the tens of thousands of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/ in the USA and worldwide!

St. Josemaria Escriva hated the Jesuits their Liberation Theology that fights against the likes of Pinochet and Franco and so the Opus Dei are now suppressing them by closing down the Vatican Observatory and expelling the Jesuits from the Vatican Radio and most of all silencing the Jesuits who work with the poorest of Christ Jon Sobrino see the Benedict XVI-Ratzinger God's Rottweiler for details http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/


Letter from Escriva to Franco

http://www.odan.org/escriva_to_franco.htm

In the following letter, Opus Dei founder, Escriva, congratulates Spanish dictator Francisco Franco on the union of church and state in Spain. According to Giles Tremlett [1], "Opus Dei's 84,000 members around the world deny [Escriva] actively supported Franco;" however, this document shows that at the very least Escriva admired Franco.

Opus Dei also denies that the organization has a political agenda, and claims that its members have complete freedom as well as personal responsibility for their actions. However, the following quote from Escriva's book The Way, which Alberto Moncada [2] describes as a summary of Escriva's "national catholicism," illustrates how difficult it would be for a member of Opus Dei to reconcile this personal freedom with his counsel:

"Nonsectarianism. Neutrality. Those old myths that always try to seem new. Have you ever bothered to think how absurd it is to leave one's catholicism aside on entering a university, or a professional association, or a scholarly meeting, or Congress, as if you were checking your hat at the door?"[3]


Letter from Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
to Francisco Franco, May 23, 1958

The following letter, translated from Spanish (original Spanish text found here) was published in the January-February, 2001 issue of Razón Española (magazine title means Spanish Reason). Copies of this and other letters from Msgr. Escrivá de Balaguer to Franco are kept in the Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco (National Foundation of Francisco Franco) (Marqués de Urquijo, 28, 28008 Madrid, Spain). The originals belong to Generalísimo Franco’s only daughter, Carmen.

To his Excellency Francisco Franco Bahamonde, Head of State of Spain

Your Excellency:

I wish to add my sincerest personal congratulation to the many you have received on the occasion of the promulgation of the Fundamental Principles.

My forced absence from our homeland in service of God and souls, far from weakening my love for Spain, has, if it were possible, increased it. From the perspective of the eternal city of Rome, I have been able to see better than ever the beauty of that especially beloved daughter of the church which is my homeland, which the Lord has so often used as an instrument for the defense and propagation of the holy, Catholic faith in the world.

Although alien to any political activity, I cannot help but rejoice as a priest and Spaniard that the Chief of State’s authoritative voice should proclaim that, “The Spanish nation considers it a badge of honor to accept the law of God according to the one and true doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church, inseparable faith of the national conscience which will inspire its legislation.” It is in fidelity to our people’s Catholic tradition that the best guarantee of success in acts of government, the certainty of a just and lasting peace within the national community, as well as the divine blessing for those holding positions of authority, will always be found.

I ask God our Lord to bestow upon your Excellency with every sort felicity and impart abundant grace to carry out the grave mission entrusted to you.

Please accept, Excellency, the expression of my deepest personal esteem and be assured of my prayers for all your family.

Most devotedly yours in the Lord,
Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
Rome, May 23, 1958


Franco's last victims search for solace




Uxenu Ablana, now 80, was taken from his parents in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, by the Franco regime


Uxenu Ablana grasps the rails of the rundown house that once was like a prison to him. He breaks into an irreverent version of Cara al Sol (Facing the Sun), one of the songs drummed into him as a child when he lived at this former orphanage. It is a bitter-sweet moment. This was the marching song of General Franco’s dictatorship.
For Ablana, the song symbolises a youth lost to the dictator’s regime. “My life stopped in 1936,” he says. “They robbed me of my childhood.”

Now 80, Ablana is one of an estimated 30,000 “stolen children” of Franco’s Spain.

These sons or daughters of Republicans were taken from their parents during and after the Spanish Civil War in a sinister programme under direct control of El Caudillo.

Many were too young to remember who their real parents were. Others were lured back from exile under the pretence that they’d be reunited with their families, only to be sent to live with adults sympathetic to the regime. The children’s identities were changed so that they could not be traced.


Emilia Giron was persecuted by the Nationalist Government as it searched for her brother-in-law, a guerrilla. One of her sons, Jesús, was taken from her in jail, shortly after he was baptised, in the early 1940s. For 67 years, she searched fruitlessly for Jesús. In an interview with Spanish documentary-makers before her death last year, she said: “I know I gave birth to him. They took him to be baptised but they never brought him back. I never saw him again.”

This campaign of indoctrination was the brainchild of Antonio Vallejo-Nágera, the head military psychiatrist. Vallejo-Nágera believed Marxism was a mental illness that needed to be eradicated from Spain. A prominent psychiatrist in the 1930s, the manual of his theories, The Eugenics of Hispanicity, sealed the fate of a generation of innocents, such as Ablana.

Today those innocents are pensioners, many still desperately searching for parents, brothers, sisters — and their own identities — before it is too late.

When Ablana returns to the orphanages where he spent his youth in Pravia, northern Spain, painful and vivid memories flood back. His mother was tortured to death by Franco supporters to gain information about his father, who was sentenced to death, reprieved, then jailed. His crime: lending a car to officials from the Republican Government.

Ablana was thrown into orphanages from the age of 5. He spent 13 years being abused by priests and indoctrinated with propaganda from the Falange, the right-wing party allied to the Franco regime. The aim was to transform him from the son of a “red” into a follower of the regime. “The priests would beat you if you wrote or ate with your left hand. They thought it was a sign of being a red,” he says.

Ablana was denied toys and made to clean shoes while the orphaned children of Franco supporters played outside. Then there was the abuse. “One priest told me to take my trousers off, he said he was going to clean my feet as Christ did. But his hands carried on up,” he recalls.

He escaped from an orphanage at the age of 18 and was found by his father. But after years apart, the two were distanced and soon lost touch. He became a travelling salesman, married and has children. But today he is still marked by what he suffered more than 70 years ago.

Antonia Radas, another victim, finally got to know her mother, albeit briefly. The two had been separated when her mother Carmen was forced to give her up after being jailed for her husband’s Republican links. Radas lived a comfortable life surrounded by lies; her adoptive parents told her that her real parents had abandoned her. Her name — Pasionaria Herrera Cano — after the communist civil war leader — was changed to stop her from being traced. “My new parents kept telling me that my real parents were undesirables and had sold me. It was poisonous,” she says. Mother and daughter were reunited through a TV show in 1993. Radas shared 18 months with her mother before she died.

Now a frail 75, Radas, from Málaga, has mixed feelings about the reunion with her. “We had time to get to know each other. But it has been difficult to deal with what happened to me,” she says. “My mother was destroyed by the pain caused by not being able to be with me. She lived for 60 years with my photo under her pillow.”
Others, desperate to find loved ones, embarked on searches, using DNA tests to find their families. María José Huelga, 84, paid for tests on five women in France, Belgium and Spain, to find her sister, Maria Luisa. She is still looking.

After Franco’s death in 1975, much of Spain’s past was brushed under the carpet. The new democracy wanted to ensure the transition from dictatorship did not falter. An amnesty law ensured those guilty of crimes committed during the Franco’s reign couldn’t be brought before the courts.

As countries such as Argentina and Guatemala dealt publicly with the fate of those who disappeared during their dictatorships, Spain stayed quiet. It is only relatively recently that the fate of victims such as the stolen children has come to light. As the mood in Spain changed, campaigners asked questions about the generation of “disappeared”. People such as Emilio Silva, who at the start of the decade became the first person to search for the body of his grandfather, shot and buried during the civil war. He inspired others to embark on similar quests. Now barely a week goes by without a mass grave being reopened.

Paul Preston, the British historian who has written a book called The Spanish Holocaust, says: “We know the names of 101,000 people. But there are at least 30,000 mass graves across Spain.”

Despite changes, many believe Spain has a long way to go and early judicial efforts to give coherence to the campaign have hit the buffers. Two years ago, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, introduced the Law of Historical Memory, which offered redress to victims or their relatives who were killed or “disappeared” during the Civil War and its aftermath. The law ordered the removal of symbols celebrating Franco. But the legislation failed to satisfy campaigners, who said it did not go far enough. For those on the Right, such as the opposition Popular Party, it served only to open past wounds.

Then, earlier this year, the Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, who rose to fame when he tried to arrest the Chilean dictator General Pinochet in 1998, launched an investigation into the fate of the “lost children”. But just as Spain seemed about to confront this dark chapter, Judge Garzón was forced to concede jurisdiction of the case to lower provincial courts. They are unlikely to pursue such a complex and controversial case.

Campaigners, however, refuse to give up. They are to take to court the case of Beatriz Soriano Rui. In 1964 she was taken from her mother while still in hospital and disappeared. Her sister, 44-year-old Mar Soriano Ruti, says: “I hope one day to set eyes on my sister.”

--

The lost children of Franco-era Spain

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8219250.stm

Watch the film in full
Sue Lloyd Roberts
BBC Newsnight, Spain

Seventy years after the end of the civil war in 1939 in which more than 350,000 people were killed, Spain is still divided over how to deal with what the country calls its "historical memory".

Many people, especially the older generation, say that it has been so long since the war took place that now it is time to forget.

General Franco



General Franco ruled Spain as dictator for 36 years

However, those related to victims of the Franco era, and the younger generation, say that it is necessary to know about the events of that time, that they owe it to those who died.

Old battle lines are being redrawn.

When Franco died in 1975, there was an agreement between his friends and foes, often dubbed the "pact of forgetting", in which both sides agreed a mutually beneficial amnesty to paper over their divisions in order to move forward to a modern, democratic Spain.

Unlike South Africa, Spain has never had a truth and reconciliation commission, so only now are long-repressed aspects of Spain's dark past coming to light.

Young volunteers

The dead on the losing side of the war had been thrown into unmarked, mass graves, but people have not forgotten where they are.

the priest who, when we were sitting at the table, either eating or writing, had a cane and he would whip us on the neck if we used our left hand

Uxenu Ablana

In pictures: Spain's dark past

Exhumations are now taking place all over Spain. In Malaga, just metres away from Spain's famous Costa del Sol, teams of young volunteers work alongside academics and forensic scientists.

They are watched by old men who, as children, remember seeing their fathers rounded up by the Fascist troops.

"My father was assassinated," says 72-year-old Antonio Perez Ruiz. "Not killed because he deserved it. He was killed by those who in those days went around calling themselves nationalists. But who were these people? Do 'nationalists' go around killing fellow Spaniards, supporters of a democratically elected government?"

'Important work'

The young volunteers, working in t-shirts under the hot August sun, are as indignant as the old men.

Nuria complains that she was not told the truth about the civil war at school and she now wants to know:

"It's a bit late, but better late than never," she says. "The work we are doing here is important. We mustn't forget these people."

Woman working on grave exhumations in Spain

Exhumations are now taking place all over the country



As students and academics alike dig away at Spain's past, other horrific stories about the Franco era are emerging.

As people begin to talk about this period, we are finding out that some 30,000 children were forcibly removed from their parents, given to childless pro-Franco couples or put into institutions where they were brainwashed and cruelly abused.
We met Uxenu Ablana in Pravia, in northern Spain. He says his life came to an end in 1936 when, at five years old, he was taken from his parents.

His father had been a government driver and was imprisoned. His mother died and Uxenu spent 12 years in four different orphanages run by the Church and by the dictatorship.

'Armed priest'

Uxenu took us back to the first orphanage where he was called "son of a red" by the priests, whom he says had a fanatical hatred of anything left wing.

We all agreed to forget these things when Franco died.

Milagros residents

He told us about "the priest who, when we were sitting at the table, either eating or writing, had a cane and he would whip us on the neck if we used our left hand".

"On two occasions as he leant over, a gun fell out of his robes and fell to the floor and we realised that he had a weapon he could kill with," he said.

He was interned with his three brothers, all of whom died of tuberculosis.
The priest in charge, he says, used to abuse them sexually:

"The priests collaborated completely with the Falangists who had overthrown the government. They were paedophiles and they converted me to atheism - they were bad and I refused to believe a word they said."

'Nonsense' claims

In another orphanage, run by the Auxilio Social, the main welfare institution in Franco's Spain, Uxenu and the other children were made to sing Falangist hymns celebrating the godliness of Franco's followers.

Dr Felix Morales



Dr Felix Morales says people like Uxenu are lying

Uxenu says that at the Auxilio Social orphanage he would endure serious punishments and go for up to 15 days without a meal at night.

"I complained, I cried, but there was no-one who cared. I never received any affection," he says.

Dr Felix Morales, vice-president of the Franco Foundation says people like Uxenu are lying:

"These people can say what they like, but it is not true. I don't know anything about these stories about what the priests and nuns did or any such nonsense.

"As all the people you spoke to well know, there was a department set up - the Auxilio Social - to look after poor children and war orphans."

Reluctance to talk

He goes on to claim that he had testimonies from children looked after by the Auxilio Social who went on to do well in life. And he claims that Franco's effect on Spain was positive:

Republican prisoners at gunpoint



Many still find the events of 70 years ago too inflammatory to discuss

"In 1936, when the war began, Spain was a poor country. I am old and I remember. It was a backward country. Franco left a different country - the eighth most industrialised in the world with a proud middle class."

Another exhumation is taking place in Milagros, in central Spain in an area which was pro-Franco during the conflict.

It is said to be still sympathetic to the dictator, so I am not surprised when my attempt to talk to local people about the digging down the road, was met with reluctance:

"We all agreed to forget these things when Franco died," they remind me. "It's been too many years," says one woman.

Only one local, born well after the war, was prepared to go further:

"I'll get the butcher to talk to you," he said. "He knows everything in the village".
But, after a few minutes, he came out explaining that the butcher would not talk because the subject was "incandente" that is, more than 70 years after the war, it is still an inflammatory subject.

You can watch Sue Lloyd Roberts' film on Franco's missing children on Newsnight on Tuesday 25th August 2009 at 10.30pm on BBC Two.

Listeners to BBC Radio 4 will also be able to hear a report on the PM programme at 5.00pm. Viewers of BBC World can also see her documentary Spain's Dark Past in the Our World series from Wednesday 26th August 2009.

John Paul II Pedophile Priest in Rhode Island

For immediate release: Monday, August 24, 2009

Accused predator priest ousted; Victims blast bishop
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)
For almost six months, Bishop Tobin and his staff recklessly and callously chose silence over warning, and opted to alert no one about a credible allegation of child sexual abuse against a Catholic priest. That is inexcusable. Six months is a long time to intimidate other victims, threaten witnesses, destroy evidence, and fabricate alibis.
Regardless of what law enforcement does or doesn't do with this case, Tobin had a moral and civic duty to promptly warn the public and his parishioners about this serious allegation.
That he chose self-serving secrecy over simple prudence is very disturbing.
We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered this cleric's crimes will find the courage to call police, get help, start recovering and protect others.
(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 21 years and have more than 9,000 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), Peter Isely (414-429-7259) Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688)

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_wpri_pawtucket_priest_kevin_fisette_suspended_child_abuse_allegations_20090824_nek

Pawtucket priest accused of sex abuse

Diocese says priest has resigned amid allegations

Updated: Monday, 24 Aug 2009, 11:32 AM EDT

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) - A priest from a Roman Catholic Church in Pawtucket resigned as pastor amid allegations of sexually abusing a minor more than 20 years ago, the Providence Diocese confirmed Monday.
Under the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Father Kevin R. Fisette, of St. Leo the Great on Central Ave., has also been placed on administrative leave as a result of the "credible allegation," church officials said.
“I am saddened by this unfortunate news, however, the Diocese of Providence takes seriously this allegation,” said The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence. “I offer my prayers and support for the individual who came forward with this allegation and his family during this time, Father Kevin Fisette and his family as well as the faithful of St. Leo the Great.”

The Diocesan officials said they notified authorities in March when the allegations first surfaced. State police informed them last week no criminal charges would be pursued at this time. However, the investigation is ongoing.

Parishioners of St. Leo's were notified about the allegations during Sunday Mass.
Bishop Tobin will soon appoint an administrator for the church. He also plans on celebrating Mass with the parish in the near future, in an effort to provide members with spiritual support.

The Diocese of Providence urges anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse or with credible knowledge of such abuse by any member of the Church to report the information to local law enforcement or the Diocesan Office of Education and Compliance at 401-941-0760.
Copyright WPRI 12

http://www.abc6.com/news/54543132.html
Pawtucket Priest Resigns After 20 Year Old Sexual Abuse Allegation
Chris Boardman


Story Updated: Aug 24, 2009 at 11:38 AM EDT

(PROVIDENCE, RI) - In accordance with The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and diocesan policy, the Diocese of Providence today announced that Father Kevin R. Fisette has resigned as pastor of St. Leo the Great in Pawtucket and has been placed on administrative leave as a result of a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor more than 20 years ago. This is the only allegation the diocese has received relative to this individual priest. According to Father Kevin Fisette, no criminal charges will be filed at this time.

The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence, will soon appoint an administrator for St. Leo Parish. The Bishop plans to celebrate Mass at St. Leo's in the near future to provide parishioners spiritual and pastoral support.

"I am saddened by this unfortunate news, however, the Diocese of Providence takes seriously this allegation," said Bishop Tobin. "I offer my prayers and support for the individual who came forward with this allegation and his family during this time, Father Kevin Fisette and his family as well as the faithful of St. Leo the Great."

Father Kevin Fisette's faculties, or permission to serve as a priest, have been suspended in accordance with the charter. The full content of the charter may be accessed through a link found on every page of the Diocese of Providence's website at www.dioceseofprovidence.org.

Father Kevin Fisette was ordained to the priesthood on November 21, 1981 and has served in the following assignments: Rhode Island Hospital chaplain 1981-1982; St. Mary, Cranston, 1982-1985; St. Catherine, Warwick, 1985-1990; St. James, West Warwick and Bishop Hendricken High School 1990-1993; Pawtuxet Valley CYO spiritual director 1990-1993; Saints Peter and Paul, West Warwick, 1993; and Holy Name of Jesus, Providence 1997-2004. He was appointed pastor of St. Leo the Great in 2004.

Upon receiving an allegation of sexual abuse in March, the diocese promptly reported the information to law enforcement authorities who investigated the matter. Diocesan officials were last week informed through the State Police that criminal charges would not be pursued at this time. The diocese is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation and remains committed to addressing all credible allegations of abuse. Parishioners of St. Leo's were notified of the allegation that prompted the resignation yesterday at Mass.

The Diocese of Providence urges anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse or with credible knowledge of such abuse by any member of the Church to report the information to local law enforcement or the Diocesan Office of Education and Compliance at 401/941-0760.

-from the Providence Catholic Diocese

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

John Paul II Pedophile NUNS Army

The John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army in the USA is far from over...and his John Paul II Pedophile Nuns Army rise from his grave and is now being unearthed! Ireland's John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army is out and now the nuns too are out. Oh, what hypocrisy John Paul II the Great left behind!

The Opus Dei is in a hurry to canonize John Paul II so that they can cite his writings together with St. Josemaria Escriva, their founder. The only obsession of the Opus Dei is their own OD glory and they have no care for the poor and the victims of the 26 years papacy of John Paul II which they controlled to the letter. The Opus Dei hate the Jesuits to the core as we have exposed in the Benedict XVI-Ratizinger God's Rottweiler weblog www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com and the John Paul II Millstone weblog www.jp2m.blogspot.com. The Opus Dei has no sympathy for the tens of thousands of victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army and now his JP2NUNSArmy! Oh when the saints go marching in....the saints of the Opus Dei in the Vatican saint-factory in Rome...

Article published August 03, 2009
Stepped-up probe sought by activists

Group says sex scandal not over




From left, Ohioan Ginny Hoehne, Dan Thiel of Upper Sandusky, former Toledoan Barbara Blaine, and Kris Ward of Dayton prepare to distribute flyers after Mass at Rosary Cathedral Sunday. A sign is lettered for the demonstration outside the cathedral. The organizer says nearly 300 members of the SNAP group were abused by nuns.
( THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT )


By NEENA SATIJA
BLADE STAFF WRITER

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090803/NEWS16/908030327

The sexual abuse scandal that tore apart America's Catholic churches is far from over, area church activists said Sunday.


One such activist is Barbara Blaine, who heads the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. She was among a group of about a dozen protesters who stood outside Rosary Cathedral, calling for Catholic leaders to step up their investigations of sexual abuse by priests - and nuns too.

The protesters called for their claims to become part of a nationwide investigation of church activity or be treated as a separate matter, but to be taken seriously either way.


"I don't see any evidence of real change," Ms. Blaine, a Toledo native who now lives in Chicago, said. "Most victims have gotten no adequate response."


Ms. Blaine organized the protest after finding out Bishop Leonard Blair reportedly will send surveys to more than 400 religious institutes and congregations across the country as part of doctrinal investigation of nuns.




A sign is lettered for the demonstration outside the cathedral. The organizer says nearly 300 members of the SNAP group were abused by nuns.
( THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT )


"If he's going to investigate the sisters, he's going to investigate sexual abuse," said Kris Ward, who heads the National Survivor Advocates Coalition and came from Dayton.She was referring to sexual abuse not just by clergymen, but also by nuns.

Ms. Blaine said that nearly 300 members of SNAP have been victims of sexual abuse by nuns. "No one wants to believe it," she said.

She cited no local cases involving nuns.

Most victims come forward decades after they were abused. Ms. Ward said the delay is even longer for those abused by women.

She said those brave enough to do so are often met with contempt and pain.
"Victims ask, 'Why come forward?' Because many of them came forward and were abused again," Ms. Ward said.

Some protesters questioned if Bishop Blair is the right person to lead a doctrinal investigation of American nuns, an assignment the Vatican gave him in April.
"We don't feel he's a just person to be doing that," said Dan Thiel, president of United Parishes, who traveled from Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

The diocese declined comment on the allegations, spokesman Sally Oberski said.
Ms. Ward said parishioners "have been very gracious."

"Whenever there is public information, there are always survivors that come forward, and there is awareness that is raised," she said.

Mr. Thiel said that priests guilty of sexual abuse were put on paid leave or retirement on diocesan money, with families of victims agreeing not to talk as part of their settlements.

"I've talked to some of the priests [accused of abuse], and they basically think that they're above the law," Mr. Thiel said.

Protesters asserted that there were still local instances of sexual abuse in the Catholic church that were going unreported.

"I think it would be naive to assume that there's not," Ms. Blaine said.
Contact Neena Satija:
nsatija@theblade.com
or 419-724-6272.

Links: www.jp2m.blogspot.com

www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com

John Paul II's Convicted pedophile priest talks to investigators in LA probe

John Paul II's Convicted pedophile priest talks to investigators in federal probe of L.A. archdiocese

Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles whom we have exposed many times in the John Paul II Millstone www.jp2m.blogspot.com tried to cover up HUNDREDS of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests in Los Angeles. Now one of those priests is speaking up on how he informed Mahony of the reality of the JP2 Pedophile Priests Army 20 eyars ago. See also the General of the JP2Army Benedict XVI-God’s Rottweiler www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com. Slowly but surely, from his clones Mahony to Cardinal Law, the truth will be revealed that John Paul II and the Opus Dei knew and covered-up the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army for over 26 years! But the Opus Dei were too busy in their obsessions against the Jesuits and too occupied in silencing the Jesuits who work with the poor like John Sobrino in El Salvador and the Jesuits at the Vatican Observatory in Rome -- that they couldn't care less about these thousands of victims of the John Paul II Pedophile priests Army.


Convicted priest talks to investigators in federal probe of L.A. archdiocese
Grand jury, investigating if church officials committed fraud, talks to Michael Stephen Baker, who said he told church leaders 20 years ago that he sexually abused children.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-church-probe15-2009aug15,0,3086011.story


By Richard Winton

August 14, 2009 | 9:47 p.m.

A former Los Angeles priest convicted of molesting two boys has been called before a federal grand jury investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony handled priest abuse cases, a source told The Times.

Former priest Michael Stephen Baker said he informed Mahony two decades ago that he sexually abused children, but he was allowed to remain in the ministry and victimized others.

In 2007, Baker was sent to state prison for 10 years for molesting two boys. Although he continues to serve time in state prison, he is now in federal custody as a grand jury witness, said a source who requested anonymity because the case is ongoing.

The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles has launched a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of molestation by priests in the archdiocese, sources have told The Times. The probe is aimed at determining whether Mahony, and possibly other church leaders, committed fraud by failing to adequately deal with priests accused of sexually abusing children, sources said.

Mahony's attorney, J. Michael Hennigan, said the cardinal was not a target of the federal inquiry. Mahony has apologized repeatedly for the church's sex scandal, and said Baker's case is one of those that "troubles me the most."

Baker said he told Mahony in 1986 that he had molested young boys. "I told Mahony I had a problem," Baker said in a 2001 interview with The Times. Mahony allowed him to remain active in the archdiocese and did not alert police, law enforcement records show.

Instead, he sent Baker to a New Mexico treatment center and later assigned him to other parishes, where according to court records and interviews he victimized other boys.

In 2000, a lawyer for two brothers told the archdiocese that Baker molested them until 1999.

The archdiocese and Baker settled the matter out of court for $1.3 million, the boys' lawyer said. The cardinal acknowledged that he did not tell police of those allegations at the time.

In December 2007, Baker was convicted of molesting two boys in the 1990s, including one of the brothers. That same year, the archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to people who accused priests of sexual abuse.


Former Long Beach priest testifying in probe of L.A. Archdiocese

By Gillian Flaccus, The Associated Press

Posted: 08/14/2009 12:29:41 PM PDT

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_13104469?source=rss
LOS ANGELES - A former Roman Catholic priest and ex-Long Beach resident imprisoned for sexually molesting children has been called to testify before a federal grand jury investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles handled claims of abuse, a person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Friday.
The person, who requested anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing, said former priest Michael Baker was transferred into federal custody at least three months ago and took the Fifth Amendment before the grand jury.

The person did not know if Baker was still in federal custody but said one other former priest was also involved in the inquiry.

Baker, 61, pleaded guilty in 2007 to molesting two boys and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Baker, once a priest at St. Lucy in Long Beach and St. Linus in Norwalk, has been accused of molesting nearly 20 children over more than two decades and is considered one of the archdiocese's worst pedophiles and thorniest problems for Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has previously acknowledged making mistakes in how he handled Baker.
Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan said in January that federal prosecutors told him Mahony is not a target of the investigation.Thom Mrozek, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman, declined to comment Friday.

Baker told Mahony in 1986 at a priests' retreat that he had molested two young boys from 1978 to 1985, according to church documents. Mahony did not notify police but sent Baker to a residential facility that treated priests for sexual abuse problems.

In the years that followed, Baker was assigned to nine parishes but barred from having one-on-one contact with minors. He violated those restrictions three times, according to church personnel file summaries released by the archdiocese.
Mahony removed Baker from the ministry in 2000 after two men filed a lawsuit alleging Baker sexually molested them between 1984 and 1999. The archdiocese settled the lawsuit for $1.25 million.

Baker was then charged in 2002 with 34 counts of molestation involving six victims, but those charges were dismissed a year later after the U.S. Supreme Court voided a California law that allowed the prosecution of cases involving acts that occurred before 1988.

In January 2006, the former priest was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from a vacation in Thailand.

Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, and Donald Steier, Baker's attorney, did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Vince Finaldi, a civil attorney, said he learned that Baker was participating in the federal inquiry when he sought to take the ex-priest's deposition in a pending sex abuse lawsuit against Baker and the archdiocese.

He said he couldn't locate Baker in the state prison system and was told by an official at the U.S. Marshal's Office that Baker was under the agency's protection as a material witness in the federal investigation.


===


Source: Imprisoned priest called to testify to grand jury

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_13093235?source=rss

By Gillian Flaccus The Associated Press
Posted: 08/14/2009 03:06:25 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES - A former Roman Catholic priest imprisoned for sexually molesting children has been called to testify before a federal grand jury investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles handled claims of abuse, a person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person, who requested anonymity because the probe is ongoing, said former priest Michael Baker was transferred into federal custody at least three months ago and took the Fifth Amendment before the grand jury.

The person did not know if Baker was still in federal custody but said one other former priest was also involved in the probe.
Baker, 61, pleaded guilty in 2007 to molesting two boys and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Baker has been accused of molesting nearly 20 children over more than two decades and is considered one of the archdiocese's worst pedophiles and thorniest problems for Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has previously acknowledged making mistakes in how he handled Baker.

Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan said in January that federal prosecutors told him Mahony is not a target of the probe. Thom Mrozek, a U.S. attorney's office spokesman, declined to comment Friday.

Baker told Mahony in 1986 at a priests retreat that he had molested two young boys from 1978 to 1985, according to church documents. Mahony did not notify police but sent Baker to a residential facility that treated priests for sexual abuse problems.
In the years that followed, Baker was assigned to nine parishes but barred from having one-on-one contact with minors. He violated those restrictions three times, according to church personnel file summaries released by the archdiocese.
Mahony removed Baker from the ministry in 2000 after two men filed a lawsuit alleging Baker sexually molested them between 1984 and 1999. The archdiocese settled the lawsuit for $1.25 million.

Baker was then charged in 2002 with 34 counts of molestation involving six victims, but those charges were dismissed a year later after the U.S. Supreme Court voided a California law that allowed the prosecution of cases involving acts that occurred before 1988.

In January 2006, the former priest was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned from a vacation in Thailand.
Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, and Donald Steier, Baker's attorney, did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Vince Finaldi, a civil attorney, said he learned that Baker was participating in the federal probe when he sought to take the ex-priest's deposition in a pending sex abuse lawsuit against Baker and the archdiocese.

He said he couldn't locate Baker in the state prison system and was told by an official at the U.S. Marshal's Office that Baker was under the agency's protection as a material witness in the federal investigation.

"I said, `Why are you guys holding this guy? He was charged and convicted in a state case. He's supposed to be in state prison,"' Finaldi recalled. "He said, `He's a material witness in a federal case."'

Finaldi said he was finally able to depose Baker at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on July 21.
It was unclear, however, whether Baker was still in federal custody.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons had no record of Baker in its online inmate locator. State prison officials did not return calls on Friday, a state furlough day because of budget cuts.

Finaldi said he believed Baker was being held at a state prison in San Bernardino County but was under the care and protection of federal marshals. A spokesman for the marshals did not immediately return a call.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office launched its own investigation into the archdiocese several years ago but hasn't filed any criminal charges.
Mahony handed over the confidential personnel files of Baker and another priest, George Miller, to local prosecutors after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed arguments that the papers were protected materials.

The Los Angeles archdiocese paid a record-breaking $660 million in July 2007 to settle more than 500 claims of sexual abuse.

LINK of John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army in USA and Ireland

The Achilles Heel of John Paul II and the John Paul II Millstone www.jp2m.blogspot.com will cost his imminent canonization by his clone Benedict XVI and the Opus Dei can be seen in this link between his John Paul II Pedophile Priests Armiy in USA and Ireland.

See www.pope-ratz.blogspot.com Benedict XVI Ratzinger - God's Rottweiler

A Search For Links Between U.S., Irish Church Abuse

LISTEN NOW http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/12/catholic-abuse By DEBORAH BECKERPublished August 12, 2009

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BOSTON — When the Irish government recently released its report after investigating the abuse of children in Catholic-run institutions there, many questions arose on this side of the Atlantic about whether similar abuse happened here.

The almost 3,000 page Irish report, known as the Ryan Report, said rape and abuse were endemic in Ireland’s church-run schools and orphanages from the 1930s until most of the facilities were shut down in the 1990s.

There were dozens of similar facilities in Massachusetts that were run by religious groups at that time, so the Waltham-based group BishopAccountability.org, which gathered information on the clergy sex abuse crisis and lists some 3,000 abusive clergy members, is now investigating this.

Terry McKiernan, the head of BishopAccountability.org, is creating a database of U.S. church-run institutions where there have been similar allegations.

“We have certainly noticed that abuse has occurred at residential facilities, but we hadn’t really put it in that category and realized there were a number of residential facilities and that it added up to a lot of vulnerable children,” McKiernan said, “and that priests who liked to do this kind of thing would likely target those vulnerable populations.”

“When the Ryan Report came out,” he said, “it all came together for us.”

McKiernan’s group has documented similar abuse at dozens of Catholic-run institutions in the United States and he expects that hundreds more facilities will be identified. McKiernan said he’s been inundated with claims from alleged victims, some of whom have never before come forward.

Fifty-one-year-old David Wescott of Oklahoma grew up in Massachusetts, but when his family couldn’t care for him he was sent to the Sacred Heart Academy boarding school in Andover, and an affiliated summer camp during the late 1960s.

“I was sexually abused a number of times over the years,” Wescott said. “Not only at the school itself but also at their summer camp.”

Both the school and the camp were run by the Catholic religious order the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, and Wescott said abuse was rampant.

“Basically what they would do is they would come to you and, knowing you were young children desperate for attention, they would tell us how much they loved us and how much they cared for us,” Wescott recalled.

“This one brother in particular, I remember he would sit me in a chair and he would start talking to me and asking me how my day was,” Wescott said. “And then he would get up behind me and start rubbing my shoulders. He’d put his head next to mine and whisper in my ear and tell me how much he loved me. And then it would just be a matter of minutes before his hands would be down my pants.”

The Brothers of the Sacred Heart said records from its two boarding schools in Massachusetts are difficult to find and not very detailed. Brother Robert Croteau, a spokesman for the order, was advised by the group’s attorney not to comment on tape for this story, but he did say they are aware of abuse allegations at the Massachusetts schools and the order has offered to pay for counseling for alleged victims.

Jerry Sears, 76, is now in counseling for alleged abuse that occurred at another Brothers of the Sacred Heart boarding school in Sharon. He now lives in Colorado, but, while he was growing up in Massachusetts, his father left and his mother could no longer care for him, so she sent him to the school, where Sears said the brothers would exploit children.

“The most significant technique is finally just to show some friendship in return for sexual favors,” Sears said. “Of course I was devoid of a male, had no father in my life, I had no father figure, so some adult male that would show me some attention would be welcome.”

Sears said it is still difficult for him to talk about what happened then, and it took him decades to even acknowledge that he was abused. “I just blanked it out, you know, I was this little estranged kid, alone. Really, really alone,” Sears said. “But I guess fortunately the human mind does that for us – there were so many that I don’t remember them.”

Neither Sears nor Wescott ever pursued legal action, and their alleged abusers have never been charged. The Brothers of the Sacred Heart spokesman, Brother Robert Croteau, said these allegations are particularly difficult because both of the orders’ Massachusetts boarding schools closed in the 1970s.

Many of the brothers involved are dead and many of the alleged victims were very young children. The ’60s and ’70s were also a time of transition for how the state handled children in its care. There was no Department of Social Services and the state was moving away from putting kids in large institutions and orphanages into placing them in smaller homes and foster care.

Boston College history professor James O’Toole said officials learned that those types of facilities were not best for children. He also said that just because the abuse happened in those institutions in Ireland, it doesn’t mean it happened here.

“It’s important I think to recognize that, though there is this hierarchical structure, for the most part, in orders like this, things stop at the water’s edge,” O’Toole said. “So these sorts of institutions in Ireland are entirely different –organizationally, legally and otherwise separate – from institutions here.”

But Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org said that after the clergy sex abuse scandal, the government here has an obligation to investigate the evidence that her group is compiling.

“We’re gonna start by focusing on Massachusetts and New England and expanding our database of residential institutions where we believe children were abused or where there’s public documentation,” she said. “We would assemble enough evidence that the attorney general might be compelled to say, ‘This is unbelievable that these resident Catholic orphanages and boarding schools right here in our state were hell holes for children.’ ”

The Massachusetts attorney general did conduct a lengthy investigation of the Boston Archdiocese after the clergy sex abuse scandal, but never filed charges.

Filed under: Boston · Religion
Your Comments REPORT BY IRELAND’S COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE

I am thoroughly saddened, disgusted and angered at yet another sweeping indictment of individuals and church authorities including the leadership of both male and female religious communities.

In 2004 it was the “report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.”

Today it is the commission set up by the Irish government and headed by High Court Justice Sean Ryan that has released the 2,600-page report, which capped a nine-year investigation.

It reinforces the conclusions many have come to in the United States especially since 2002; that the problems of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church have been both systemic and endemic over decades and generations in countries around the world.

It is not an American problem as some cardinals and highly placed Vatican officials argued a few years back. Neither is it caused by the presence of homosexually orientated men in the priesthood.

It is not a conspiracy by the newspapers in the United States or by anybody to bankrupt the institutional church.

It is not the “Know Nothings” of an earlier era in the United States.

It comes from within the institution not from the outside. The institution, the Roman Catholic Church as we know it, has done it to itself.

Clericalism is the all encompassing problem in the church today, that widespread abuse of authority, that lack of accountability and transparency which the United States bishops promised in 2002 but which they have been short on delivering since and should have been practicing all along the line anyway.

The all encompassing mantra that allowed, permitted and enabled this horror to happen, was and is the widespread abuse of power and authority in the Roman Catholic Church starting at the highest levels. It can be see in the reports and documents coming out of the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts in 2002, in dioceses in California like the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and in investigations and reports like the Grand Jury Report on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2005.

This is why in Delaware we removed all statutes of limitation regarding the sexual abuse of children with the signing of the 2007 Child Victims Law which includes a two year civil window for bringing forward previously time barred cases of sexual abuse by anyone, if it happened in Delaware.

New Yorkers of all religious stripes and none are well advised to support the Markey/Duane bill on the sexual abuse of children. It is unconscionable for the Archdiocese of New York and the New York Catholic Conference to be opposing accountability and transparency in regard to childhood sexual abuse.

The Irish Report was done by governmental authorities unlike the 2004 report in the United States which was commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and for that reason it’s figures especially should be considered suspect.

It is unconscionable that the Irish government actually made a deal with the institutional church to allow no prosecutions for these heinous crimes against humanity. It is equally despicable that the religious order known as the Christian Brothers brought suit and barred the release of any names of any of these known sexually predatory priests to the public.

It is immaterial whether they are living or dead. If the Christian Brothers religious community knew them to be credibly accused, if they had records in church files of these individuals molesting others over the years they should have made these names public for the physical, spiritual and psychological well being of those who were abused, raped, sodomized, etc.

How could they not think of the children before all else?

How could the institutional Roman Catholic Church think of the children before all else?

Sodom and Gomorrah suggest anything?

These crimes against children are in direct violation of and in contradiction to the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child to which the Holy See was an original signatory, notwithstanding the fact that no periodic compliance reports have ever been submitted by the Holy See.

Might this suggest a course of action?

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victms’ Advocate
New Castle, Delaware
__________________

Sister Maureen Turlish is a member of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition. In addition, she is a Delaware educator and victims’ advocate who testified before the Delaware Senate and House Judiciary Committees in support of Delaware’s 2007 Child Victims Law.

E-mail Sister Maureen Paul Turlish at
maureenpaulturlish@yahoo.com

Posted by Sister Maureen Paul Turlish, on August 12th, 2009 at 7:44 am Thank you to Bishop Accountability for providing the data which helped identify what some call “the most dangerous Catholic boarding school in the nation.” The Crosiers – the Order of the Holy Cross – had 7 (SEVEN) credibly accused sexual abusive on staff at the school at the same time in 1981.

Here is a brief look at one of the top officials of the school: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXMUdejQAZY

If you or a loved one has been harmed by this false cleric, contact me – I will help you!

Bob Schwiderski
skibrs@mchsi.com

Posted by Bob Schwiderski, on August 12th, 2009 at 8:08 am How about gaining knowledge about the TOP OFFICIAL of the boarding school? This credibly accused sexually abusive false cleric was also the school “Councelor” wereby he is “alledged” to have abused troubled boys sent to him in his office at the school. THIS GUY RAN THE SCHOOL FOR A DECADE! The boys never had a change!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxlCwqZY9QA

Bob Schwiderski
skibrs@mchsi.com

Posted by Bob Schwiderski, on August 12th, 2009 at 8:16 am THE SOLUTION? “STOP DONATING LAITY” as St. Peter Damien correctly asserted & was canonized for.

There is no middle ground on this subject laity, you are either financially contributing to a pervasive CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER pedo curia cult, that remians unpunished and unremoved, or you are not.

HOW WILL YOU ANSWER YOUR MAKER?!

To date, over 140,000 documented children have been raped and sodomized. on the current curia’s watch, while they continue enabling, aid & abetting, perpetrating, racketeering, obstruction of jusitce, etc, in the past 30 years, just in the USA, costing laity at least $4.5 Billion Dollars in diverted offetory monies and squandered laity paid for assets and counting.

Edmund Burke reminds each of us: “The only condition for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing.”

St. Paul to the Ephesians, 5:11: states: “Do not deal in fruitless deeds of darkness, but expose them!”

Amoung the overtly criminal curia guilty in the many hundreds are: Beppe ‘Red Shoes’ Ratzinger, Bill ‘Darth’ Leveda, Rog ‘Mahal’ Mahony, Bernie Law (less), Claudio ‘Lie With Statisitcs’ Hummes, George ‘Where Are The Fresh Seminary Boys?’ Pell, Eddie ‘What Palamony Gay Priest Lover AIDS Wrongful Death Lawsuit?’ Egan, Sean ‘No Shoes’ O’Malley, Francis ‘Boys Club’ George, Tarscio ‘Ben Over Boy’ Bertone, Angelo ‘Rump Ranger’ Re, Noberto ‘There Is No Crime In All Of Mexico Or The Church’ Rivera, Ray ‘Burn’m All At The Stake’ Burke, Aunt Ted McCarrick, Charlie ‘Off The Reservation’ Chaput, Tod ‘Gay Boys’ Brown, Robert ‘Donkey Show’ Brom, etc.

Fiat Luz & Veritas,

Albino Luciani,
MURDERED POPE

Posted by Albino Luciani, on August 12th, 2009 at 10:12 am When I was child in the 1960’s, my parents sent me and my brother to Sacred Heart Academy summer camp in Sharon Ma. The physical abuse of the children there was horrific. Here’s what I remember;

The brothers would go around at night, after bedtime, and shine flashlights in your eyes. If your eyelids moved, you were accused of being awake and you were beaten…either in the dormitory or in a back room. Of course,all of kids would wake up in fear when this happened. My heart would be pounding..I only hoped to God they didn’t think I was also awake.

One night a couple of kids had a pillow fight after lights went out. They were taken to a back room and beaten for several hours. All night long the kids laid there in fear…many kids called there parents and asked to be brought home after that. Back then, however, you would never tell your parents what happened.

There were many more incidents of beatings, but these are the ones I remember most.

The years go by and the memories fade, but it’s hard to ever forget what happened there. I will say however, that I never experienced or saw sexual abuse, but many of the brothers gave you a very creepy feeling…it’s just a kids intuition.

Years later when my brother and I told me mother about this, she was angry that we didn’t let her know what was happening at the time. I told her that back then, kids wouldn’t talk to parents about this kind of stuff.

Posted by JC, on August 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am As an advocate for hundreds of clergy abuse survivors, I am aware of sexual abuse by religious in several camps and residential institutions. Camp Marist in New Hampshire had sexual abusers. The football chaplain of a Catholic high school in Boston used to go to summer camp with the team and engage in bizarre abusive behaviors in Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. The boy scout camps in upstate New York were havens for pedophiles. The Chicago Jesuits just settled a case of Jesuit abuse in a boy scout camp in the Adirondacks. A survivor of a New York Archdiocesan priest recently visited the boy scout camp off the Northway where he was abused. The Newton, NJ, camps sponsored by Catholic orders were havens for abuse too. A “retreat” center in the Paterson, NJ diocese on an idyllic lake was the scene of abuse by a priest or priests.

A Paterson, NJ priest took boys to his family’s vacation house on Long Island, and this same priest had a camper in which he took many boys “fishing.”

A former bishop has admitted that boys were being abused by the priest with whom he shared a house at the Jersey shore. The priest abused boys in the house while the bishop slept, but the bishop knew nothing about the abuse. Yeah, right!

A young man reported abuse at a former Catholic military boarding school in the Hudson Valley of NY. That same school sponsored summer camps.

My point: abuse at residential schools, parishes, day schools, summer homes of priests, camps, YOU NAME IT…abuse took place.

What we need is USA government study of sexual abuse of children in Irish institutions. And, I as a survivor of abuse in religious life and the priesthood, I am offended by the comments of Professor O’Toole of Boston College who hasn’t a clue about the extent of abuse in the USA. To not compare the abuse in the USA Church (essentially founded and modeled after the Irish church by Irish clerics or descendants of Irish clergy) with that in the Irish Church is naive, at best.

Fr. Bob Hoatson
Founder and President, Road to Recovery, Inc.
West Orange, New Jersey
Member, National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Posted by robert m hoatson, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:03 am Sorry about the mistakes in the previous e-mail. I mistakenly hit the submit button before proofreading. I should have said we need a USA government study of AMERICAN Catholic institutions, modeled after the Ryan Report, because the American Church was modeled after and has mirrored much of the Irish Church since the beginning.

Posted by robert m hoatson, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:09 am This is happening across the globe – same processes, same horror – no need to ask a question we all know the answer to.

The real question is do you want to put forward an appropriate response – we have – its the only one available anywhere in the world as far as we know http://www.september12009.com/ – only worth a visit from those wanting to put an end to the global clergy abuse crisis. We can match any horror story on this topic on the planet – we choose not to simply because we prefer to apply what we have learned and to take a stand against the global rape of women, children, nuns and priests and our children – if that is not enough motivation then we suggest you look elsewhere or simply give us a not of your support. See if you are eligible for the money we have on offer.

Posted by JohnB, on August 12th, 2009 at 5:22 pm I have the privilege of knowing David Wescott, one of the survivors in the story. His courage in coming forward is remarkable, and should help others who may be suffering. His experience was nightmarish with one particularly sadistic, sick brother.

Religious orders have generally been obstructive and recalcitrant when dealing with survivors. Brothers of the Sacred Heart have a nasty record in New Hampshire, my home state, and it remains to be seen how responsive they will be going forward. The focus is so often on secrecy about lawsuits and settlements, when the disinfectant of sunshine is what is really needed instead.

Br. Croteau acknowledges they are aware of abuse. That is some indication of truthfulness, but how forthcoming are they about naming “alleged” abusers? Survivors need the truth to heal. Those in institutions were trapped 24/7, with no recourse or escape. Totally vulnerable.

I agree Prof. O’Toole’s opinion that all stopped at the water’s edge is naive at best. Spiritual formation practices and the charisms of religious orders were not rationed by geographic boundaries, and indeed the impact of Irish spirituality on the American church is widely recognized. International transfers are also a feature of religious orders.

Because abuse happened in Ireland, doesn’t mean it did not happen here as well. That is for careful investigation to determine, not mere supposition. More than hierarchical structure is shared in the various branches of orders; a whole ethos and culture is perpetuated, even if a host nation’s legal procedures are different.

Witness the Christian Brothers’ rampant abuse in Mt. Cashel in Newfoundland, and in Australia, far from Ireland’s shores.

Posted by Carolyn Disco, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:48 pm I thought once a judge orders a “Writ” to disclose records of information they have to obey the court order? At least that’s what happens in the “real” secular world!
Didn’t Exon and other major companies who were owned by shareholders have to?
Couldn’t parishoners be considers share holders of the Catholic Church, seeing that it is their money inwhich funds this Conglomerate that sells us this bill of goods called a higher morality?

Posted by Deanna Leonti, on August 13th, 2009 at 12:31 am Thanks once again to Bishop Accountability for researching and doing the tedious detective work to support survivors and show the world what has taken place, supposedly in the name of God. It is a worldwide disgrace that the church has not taken responsibility for their actions. This just reinforces the notion that they are a corporation first, who try to cover-up their criminal acts and avoid culpability at all costs. Well, almost all costs as they never counted on the groundswell that rose up around survivors to support them in their grief. I never felt more “one with God” than when I stood OUTSIDE the church with survivors. That is the true holy ground. I know it was God working through all of us to make his own statement. Ironically, it is through seeing the church in this horrific light and talking with those abused that I have come to a very spiritual place, one that does not include the Catholic church or its inhabitants.

Posted by Laura Breault, on August 13th, 2009 at 6:18 pm Thank you bishopaccountability and WBUR for this investavative coverage of sexual abuse in our American Institutions.
Several of us here in Boston met a group of courageous deaf citizens a while back. About 18 of them vigiled with us in front of the Cathedreal of the Holy Cross. Their accounts of sexual and physical abuse were chilling.
Several weeks ago a woman stopped by to tell us that her son had been taken away from her at a young age and sent to the Nazareth School (orphanage?)in the Boston area. She said that he left a video of what happened to him and that she keeps this video in her drawer – “It’s too painful to watch” she said. She went on to say that her son subsequently took his own life.
I do believe that our US Institutions need to be invistigated especially those Institutions who took in our native American Indians.
Ruth Moore, a STTOP Coordinator

Posted by Ruth Moore, on August 13th, 2009 at 10:18 pm Thank you BA! In my psychotherapy office and as an advocate I continue to hear heart wrenching acoounts of the abuse of girls and boys in Catholic orphanages and “homes” for children. I am certain that your list will get very long as you compile this data.

Posted by Ann Hagan Webb, on August 13th, 2009 at 10:51 pm Bernie(the out)Law said it was only one or two isolated cases when the story broke in Boston.
A Roman Catholic Lie.
B.C. professor James O’Toole said just because it happened in Ireland it doesn’t mean it happened here.
A Roman Catholic Lie.
The conference of catholic bishops promises of openness.
A Roman Catholic Lie.
Testimony by any bishop: “I don’t know anything about that”.
Yet one more Roman Catholic Lie.

Posted by Bob Sidorowicz, on August 14th, 2009 at 10:29 am The problem of sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church has become just a “way of life” for so many pervert priests and religious orders. Because no one was held to account, Satan took over. I told Cardinal Keeler of the Archdiocese of Baltimore this several years ago. I said: “Because you have ordered, allowed, and promoted this horrific crime for so long, your heart has been hardened to your sin. After a while God’s truth will not penetrate a hardened heart. As the book of Revelation so clearly states in chapter 2 “they are given over to sexual immorality but they do not repent.” So don’t hold your breath looking for a change of behavior on their part. I don’t believe they think it is even a sin anymore. Kurt Gladsky, Founder: Christian Brothers Sexual Abuse Survivors Network

Posted by Kurt Gladsky, on August 14th, 2009 at 10:44 am The Catholic Institution has “No Shame to Their Game!”.

Posted by Deanna Leonti, on August 14th, 2009 at 10:59 pm

John Paul II pedophile priests in Canada

John Paul II went to Canada in 1984 and his last World Youth Day was in Toronto in 2002 -- where he proudly refused to address the priest-pedophilia erupting in Boston. The Opus Dei wanted to paint a 26 year papacy as John Paul II the Great but his pedophiliac Achilles Heel is now being revealed in John Paul II Millstone www.jp2m.blogspot.com

The Opus Dei are holy fathers of lies with their founder St. Josemria Escriva as the biggest father of lies of all married mystically to John Paul II -- see details in the John Paul II Millstone!

Canadian diocese pays millions to abuse victims

August 7, 2009

(AFP) - Antigonish diocese in Canada's Nova Scotia province has agreed to pay millions of dollars in compensation to victims of a priest who sexually abused children, CBC news reported Friday.

Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey issued a formal apology to the victims and their families in front of television cameras and announced the diocese would pay compensation worth 13 million Canadian dollars (12 million US dollars).

"I want to formally apologize to every victim and to their families for the sexual abuse that was inflicted upon those who were entitled instead to the trust and protection of priests of the Church," he said.

"Money can never compensate fully, but we are trying throughout this process to be fair, responsible, respectful, and most of all, compassionate. Above all, we want to do the right thing," Lahey said.

He added that the money would be raised by the diocese's parishioners.

The priest responsible for the abuse died in 2004, shortly after his actions were revealed.

========
Antigonish Diocese Priest Sexual Abuse Class Action Settlement



In 2004 Ronald Martin and other survivors filed lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish, and Bishop Raymond Lahey, seeking compensation for sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Hugh Vincent MacDonald, a former priest of the Antigonish Diocese.


Class Action Lawsuit Filed


In January 2009 Ronald Martin filed a class action against the Diocese of Antigonish, and Bishop Raymond Lahey, on behalf of all persons who were sexually abused by priests from the Antigonish Diocese between 1950 and 2009. The claim included survivors who were sexually abused by Father Hugh Vincent MacDonald, Father Clair Richard, Father Claude Richard, Father James Mombourquette, Father Frank MacNeil and Father Michael MacNeil as well as any other priest employed by the Diocese of Antigonish.


Class Action Settled


After 8 months of difficult negotiations the class action has been settled. The Diocese of Antigonish has agreed to create a private compensation process to evaluate the claims of sexual abuse survivors. The Diocese has agreed to pay for a compensation fund of more than 13 million dollars to pay compensation to persons who suffered sexual abuse by any priest who was employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish between 1950 and 2009.



Settlement Subject to Court Approval


The class action settlement is still subject to approval by the court. On September 10 and 11, 2009, Justice MacAdam of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court will hear a motion to certify the class action and to review the settlement agreement to determine whether it is fair and reasonable and in the best interest of class members.


Private Compensation Process


The settlement agreement creates a private, out of court resolution process to evaluate and settle claims by anyone who suffered sexual abuse by a priest employed by the Diocese of Antigonish.


Fair and Impartial Process


The settlement process was negotiated by Ron Martin and the Antigonish Diocese in order to provide a fair, impartial and respectful process to evaluate the claims of sexual abuse survivors that avoids the necessity of having to file public lawsuits or testify in court.



Who Is Covered?



Any person who was sexually abused between 1950 and 2009 by a priest employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish.



Currently, we have been retained by survivors who allege abuse by several priests from the Antigonish Diocese including:

* Father Hugh Vincent MacDonald;
* Father Claire Richard;
* Father Claude Richard;
* Father James Mombourquette;
* Father Frank McNeil; and
* Father Michael McNeil.


However, the class action settlement is not limited to abuse by these priests. It covers sexual abuse by any priest employed by the Antigonish Diocese between 1950 and 2009.




“Where Can I Get More Information?”



You can get more information about the class action by contacting class counsel, John McKiggan, toll free (in Atlantic Canada) at (877) 423-2050 or at (902) 423-2050. You can also look at the class action website which can be found at www.dioceseclassaction.com. All inquires are confidential.


"Who is John McKiggan?"



John McKiggan is one of the founding partners of Arnold Pizzo McKiggan, Trial Lawyers. John's practice is dedicated to representing persons who have suffered serious personal injuries as a result of medical malpractice, accidents and institutional negligence. He has a special interest in representing victims in civil claims for childhood sexual abuse.

John represented Nora Bernard and filed the first class action against Canada on behalf of Indian Residential School survivors. He represented over 500 former residents of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in a claim for compensation for childhood physical, sexual and racial abuse and loss of cultural identity.

John was part of the steering committee of the national class action, Baxter vs. Canada - a claim brought on behalf of 70,000 aboriginal children across Canada. The National Indian Residential Schools class action settlement was the largest class action settlement in Canadian history and the largest historical redress settlement in the world.


“Do I Have to Go to Court?”



No. The class action creates a private, confidential, and respectful compensation process that will allow legitimate sexual abuse survivors to receive compensation without having to file a lawsuit or testify in court.



“Do I Have to Talk to the Police?”



No. It is not necessary for the sexual abuse to have been reported to the police in order to qualify under the compensation process. It is not necessary for the priest to have been criminally charged or convicted in order to qualify under the settlement process. It does not matter if the priest is currently alive or dead.



“Why Should I Join the Class Action?”



Typically, sexual abuse survivors who sue for compensation must do so by filing a lawsuit, which is a public document. The survivor may have to testify publicly in court about what happened to them. The class action settlement creates a private process where a survivor’s claim is evaluated and compensation paid, without having to testify in court about the abuse that you suffered.



“How Do I Apply for Compensation?”



You can receive claim forms by contacting class counsel, John McKiggan or by calling toll free at (877) 423-2050, or locally at (902) 423-2050 or by downloading a claim form from this website.



“Do I Need a Lawyer?”



The compensation process created under the settlement agreement is less complicated, less expensive, less time consuming and less adversarial than traditional litigation. However, the compensation process still requires the survivor to provide a great deal of detailed information. The claim process will deal with complicated legal issues of liability, credibility, and issues pertaining to calculation of non pecuniary damages and economic damages.



If you are awarded compensation, the Diocese will contribute certain amounts to help pay your legal fees and expenses. The judge will review the retainer agreement between you and your lawyer to ensure that it is fair and reasonable.



This type of compensation process can be overwhelming for survivors and we would encourage anyone who is considering submitting a claim under the compensation process to retain legal counsel.



We have been representing sexual abuse survivors in civil claims for compensation for more than 15 years. We have been representing Ron Martin and the other survivors of the Antigonish Diocese for more than 5 years. If you have any questions about the class action settlement we would be happy to assist you.



“How Does the Compensation Process Work?”



There are a number of steps in the compensation process:

* Submit a Claim Form:



The class member or their lawyer completes a claim form and sends it to the lawyers for the Diocese of Antigonish. Claim forms are available on this website. The claim form is complicated and requires a great deal of detailed information. If the claim form is not properly filled out it will have a negative effect on your claim. We encourage everyone who is considering submitting a claim for compensation to retain legal counsel. While you are not required to do so we believe it is in your best interest to have proper legal advice when you submit your compensation claim. We have already been retained by more than 30 former survivors. If you would like to retain our services to assist you with your class action compensation claim please contact our office toll free in Atlantic Canada at (877) 423-2050 or locally at (902) 423-2050.

* Investigation and Research:



Lawyers for the Diocese will investigate your claim. Class members may have to collect and submit certain documents to support their claim. These documents could include records of medical or psychological treatment or counseling, workers compensation records, income tax information, employment records and education records. The information will be used to evaluate and document your compensation claim.

* Possible Psychological Evaluation:



The class member may be asked to undergo an evaluation by a psychologist to evaluate the effects that the sexual abuse had on their life. The parties to the agreement have agreed to retain a number of nationally recognized experts in the effects of childhood sexual abuse to conduct the evaluations.

* Economic Expert Report:



If you claim that the sexual abuse had an effect on your ability to earn income of hold a job, your lawyer or the Diocese’s lawyers may retain an economic expert to calculate the economic effects of your sexual abuse. The report will be used to prove whether or not you suffered any economic or income loss as a result of the sexual abuse and to calculate the amount of your income loss claim.

* Negotiation and Settlement:



Lawyers for the Diocese may agree to negotiate a settlement with the class member without a hearing. In such cases the class member can choose to accept the negotiated settlement or have a hearing. If the parties are not able to agree to a negotiated settlement then there will be a hearing to determine the value of the class member’s claim.

* Private Hearing:



A hearing will be held before a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. The hearing is private and confidential and not open to the public. During the hearing the class member will have the opportunity to tell their story and describe what happened to them and how it affected their life. Witnesses, and experts may also give information to the judge and answer questions. Class members will not have to come face to face with the person who abused them!

* Decision:



The judge then makes a decision on the amount of compensation that the class member is entitled to receive.



Frequently Asked Questions



Q: What is the class action settlement process?



A: The class action settlement process is a private out of court process to resolve claims of sexual abuse by priests who were members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish. Anyone who was sexually abused by a priest who was a member of the Diocese of Antigonish may be eligible for compensation through the class action settlement process.



Q: How long do I have to file a claim?



A: Applications for compensation will be accepted during the claim period which is 180 days from the date that the class action settlement is approved by the court. The class action settlement is the only way that a sexual abuse survivor can pursue a claim for compensation for sexual abuse unless he/she has opted out of the class action settlement agreement. Compensation under the class action settlement will be paid by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish following evaluation and validation of the claim by a neutral and independent retired judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.



Q: Who is eligible for compensation?



A: The class action settlement was created to compensate any person who was sexually abused by a priest that was a member of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish between 1950 and 2009.



Q: How does the class action settlement process work?



A: The class action settlement process is a private, non-adversarial process to evaluate and resolve individual sexual abuse claims. The class member completes a detailed claim form. The claim form is submitted to lawyers for the Diocese. The claimant will also submit certain documents in support of the claim. The Diocese will then research the claim. Alleged perpetrators may be contacted about the abuse allegations. They have the right to provide a statement if they wish. The claim can be resolved through negotiation without the need of a hearing. If the class member and the lawyers for the Diocese cannot agree to a settlement the class member attends a private hearing and answers questions for a neutral adjudicator who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. In some cases, the class member may be asked to take part in a medical or psychological assessment.



Q: Do I have to hire a lawyer?



A: You do not have to hire a lawyer to submit a claim. However, it is strongly recommended that class members hire a lawyer to help them through the compensation claim process. Although the claims process is less complicated than court, the process is still complex and involves legal concepts and processes that may not be familiar to most class members.



If you hire a lawyer and are awarded compensation, the Diocese will contribute certain amounts to help pay your legal fees. The Diocese will also contribute a fixed amount of $500.00 to help pay some of your out of pocket expenses for submitting a claim. After the compensation hearing the judge will also review your retainer agreement with your lawyer to ensure that the fees charged to you by your lawyer are fair and reasonable.



Q: What is the role of the judge in the claims process?



A: Under the class action settlement process if the parties cannot agree to a negotiated settlement the claim is evaluated by an adjudicator who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. The judge was selected by agreement of both Ron Martin, on behalf of class members, and counsel for the Diocese of Antigonish.



The judge’s job is to establish a comfortable, non-threatening environment in which abuse survivors, and other witnesses, can safely tell their story. During the hearing process the judge will work to ensure that there is a relationship of trust that is created to make it possible to discuss what may be emotionally challenging and painful memories.



The judge has the responsibility to review compensation claims and preside over hearings. The job of the judge is to assess, in an objective and impartial way, the allegation that are set out in the survivor’s claim and to determine at the end of the hearing whether the claim is compensable and, if so, how much compensation the survivor should receive.



Q: How will the judge determine if my claim is valid?



A: There are certain documents that are required to be submitted for each claim. Medical and financial records are usually supplied. This information provides important background to assist the claimant in telling their story. They also provide information for the judge to test the reliability of the survivor’s testimony. The survivor’s own evidence usually forms the main basis for the claim. Witnesses can be called by other parties to support or refute the survivor’s compensation claim.



Q: How will financial compensation be decided?



A: Financial compensation is decided by the judge based on existing case law. In other words, the judge will look to the compensation paid to other sexual abuse survivors who suffered similar abuse in similar cases.



The judge may also consider expert evidence regarding whether the survivor suffered an income loss as a result of the abuse. The judge can determine the amount of the economic or income loss. The compensation process places a cap of $300,000.00 on the maximum amount of compensation that a survivor can receive for income loss.





Q: How do I make a claim in the class action settlement process?



A: You or your lawyer must fill out and submit a claim form. You can receive a copy of the claim form by contacting class counsel, John McKiggan, by downloading one from this website, or by calling our office toll free in Atlantic Canada at 1 (877) 423-2050 or locally (902) 423-2050.

http://www.apmlawyers.com/lawyer-attorney-1471537.html

John Paul II pedophile priest in St. Louis- right now

James Patrick Grady



James Patrick Grady, 57, Pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel, leaves the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse with his attorney J. Martin Hadican on Friday afternoon. (Erik M. Lunsford/P-D)

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/8B8A45E462F7671386257604000F9DFE?OpenDocument

By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/31/2009

UPDATED: 2:58 p.m. Friday
ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis priest arrested on a sex charge this week was released on bond Friday afternoon and ordered to reside in a Jefferson County treatment facility.

James Patrick Grady, pastor of St. Raphael The Archangel in south St. Louis, was arrested Wednesday night by local police and the FBI after he showed up at a secret location somewhere in St. Louis County. Grady, 57, had been exchanging e-mails with an undercover investigator, and had agreed to pay $80 for oral sex from a 16-year-old girl, court documents allege.

On Friday, he appeared in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Buckles, who ordered Grady released on $10,000 bond. Buckles, in a stern voice, also told Grady that until trial, he would have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his location and stay in the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer.

There, Grady will be supervised around the clock. He will have no access to the internet or vehicles and is forbidden from leaving the property without an approved reason and without supervision. He also may have to undergo sex offender evaluation and treatment, Buckles said.

Grady is the third man arrested in an FBI sting targeting customers of child prostitutes. The other two men were also released on bond.

Three of Grady's longtime friends also came to court.

Carolyn Roettger, who first met Grady at Assumption-Mattese parish in south St. Louis County in the summer of 1983, was in tears after the hearing.

“I love him. I forgive him. I know in my heart that that was a moment of weakness,” she said. Roettger said that Grady was a good friend of the whole family, having concelebrated Mass at her daughter's wedding and baptized her grandchildren.

She also said that Grady is a devoted son who called his father daily before his death and still took car trips with his mother.

Kathy Dunn, who first met Grady at St. Ferdinand's Parish in 1988, said that Grady was “In tune with people's pain. In tune with their struggles.”

Another friend, who declined to give her name, said that Grady was active in the parish but not outgoing.

They all expressed their concern about how Grady would fare in court.

Grady, who was wearing a gray Polo-type shirt, white shorts and loafers in court, left with his lawyer, J. Martin Hadican, about an hour after appearing in front of Buckles.



Earlier story: ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis priest arrested on a sex charge this week was released on bond Friday afternoon and ordered to reside in a Dittmer, Mo. treatment facility.

James Patrick Grady, Pastor of St. Raphael The Archangel in south St. Louis, was arrested Wednesday night by local police and the FBI after he showed up at a secret location somewhere in St. Louis County. Grady, 57, had been exchanging emails with an undercover investigator, and had agreed to pay $80 for oral sex from a 16-year-old girl, court documents allege.

On Friday, he appeared in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Buckles, who ordered Grady released on $10,000 bond. Buckles, in a stern voice, also told Grady that until trial, he would have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his location and stay in the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer.

There, Grady will be supervised around the clock. He will have no access to the internet or vehicles and is forbidden from leaving the property without an approved reason and without supervision. He also may have to undergo sex offender evaluation and treatment, Buckles said.

Grady is the third man arrested in an FBI sting targeting customers of child prostitutes. The other two men were also released on bond.

Grady, who was wearing a grey Polo-type shirt, white shorts and loafers in court, left with his lawyer, J. Martin Hadican, about an hour after appearing in court.

EARLIER STORY:
ST. LOUIS — The arrest of a Catholic priest in an FBI pedophile sting is a "black eye" for all priests, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson said Thursday.

Charges against the Rev. James Patrick Grady, pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Church in south St. Louis, spurred a few parishioners to meet privately with archdiocesan officials and Carlson, who promised to celebrate Mass there on Saturday.

Grady, 57, showed up Wednesday at a house used as an FBI trap after arranging to pay for a sex act with a 16-year-old girl, federal court documents say.

After spotting an online ad offering "young females of an indeterminate age," Grady and an undercover investigator exchanged e-mails, and the officer sent Grady a digitally altered picture of a 16-year-old girl, according to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Cynthia Dockery.

Grady agreed to pay $80 for 30 minutes and was told the girl was just 16, Dockery wrote. He asked for a massage and was turned down, then asked for kissing and oral sex, the document says.

By phone, Grady got directions to a secret location in St. Louis County, Dockery wrote. He showed up with the money but became suspicious and had turned to leave when he was arrested.

Grady admitted sending the e-mails and said he went to the house because he was "curious," the affidavit says. He also said he was a priest.

Later, FBI agents later went to the parish during a Knights of Columbus meeting and seized Grady's personal computer, Carlson said he was told.

Grady was indicted Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on a charge of attempting to obtain a minor for a commercial sex act, which carries a potential penalty of 10 years to life in federal prison.

Prosecutors asked that Grady be held until trial, saying the offense is considered a crime of violence and that he is a "threat to the community."

In a news conference, Carlson said Grady is suspended pending the outcome of the case. As long as the charges remain only allegations, Carlson said, the archdiocese will pay Grady's legal bills and post bail if it's set.

Carlson said church officials are working on arranging a "secure," monitored location if Grady is released.

He also said Grady's file has "nothing in it to indicate anything of this nature."

Carlson said the accusation represents "a serious fracture in the trust relationship" between parishioners and priests. He also said it damages the reputation of priests and triggers an examination of, "What more should we be doing that we haven't done?"

He pledged to send letters and e-mails to notify the parish community and ask all the parishes where Grady served for information about him.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis was rattled by the same kind of sexual abuse accusations against priests that swept the country early this decade. Carlson is new here, taking charge just seven weeks ago.

He said a routine recent examination of parish computers found no inappropriate material. He did question why Grady needed his own computer when the parish had them.

Carlson said he was told the priest "tended to be a quiet individual."

Grady was ordained in 1977 and served in parishes across the area, including Little Flower in Richmond Heights, Assumption in South County, St. Ferdinand in Florissant and the Cathedral Basilica and Holy Family in St. Louis. He became pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Elsberry in 1995, Holy Innocents in St. Louis in 2001 and St. Raphael in 2005.

About six parents of children at the parish school met with Monsignor Richard Hanneke, the archdiocesan director of priest personnel, and other officials Thursday afternoon.

Ann Perryman, the school board president, emerged saying, "It was a completely isolated incident, I believe." She added, "I think he had a moment of weakness."

To Tom Magee, a parent and past president of the school board, the news was like "a kick in the stomach." But he said that St. Raphael is a strong parish. "We'll survive."

Earlier Thursday, parish school board member Michael Foley, said, "I am shocked. Speechless." He said Grady is a "very quiet man, kept to himself and always seemed very pious."

Grady was the third man arrested in an FBI sting that began in early July.

The allegations against the others were similar — that they responded to an online ad to seek sex with one or more underage girls.

Matthew S. Nichol, 43, responded to the ad on July 13 and eventually agreed to pay $200 to have sex with two girls, charging documents claim.

David P. Hawkey, 25, was arrested Monday after showing up at the house after agreeing to pay $80 for sex with a 14-year-old girl, court documents say.


Archbishop Robert J. Carlson speaks at a press conference at the Catholic Center regarding the arrest...see the John Paul II Millstone www.jp2m.blogspot.com for details about the Bishops-clones of John Paul II who covered-up the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army.