Legal Civil

German Catholic church agrees payout plan

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:22:49 +1100

Tag: germany

The Catholic church in Germany has put forward a plan to compensate victims of sexual abuse by its priests, offering payments of up to €5,000 to those whose cases are too old to bring to court.

It announced the plan at a meeting of a government-appointed panel today set up to address compensation for victims of abuse in foster homes in Germany, both those run by the state and by the Catholic and Protestant churches.

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Higher compensation would be awarded in "particularly serious cases", it said without setting out guidelines.

The German Church said it would also set up a €500,000 fund to prevent abuse inside and outside of the church and offer to compensate victims up to 50 hours of individual therapy.

The Catholic church has faced similar scandals in several other countries in Europe and in the United States.

In 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $660 million to 500 victims of sexual abuse dating as far back as the 1940s, the largest compensation deal of its kind.

Pope Benedict met victims of abuse by priests during his April 2008 visit to the United States.

The US church has paid $2 billion in settlements to victims since 1992.

A group representing abuse victims from schools run by the Jesuit order of priests called the German church's plan "presumptuous", but applauded it for putting an "idea" on the table.

"It's cheap how the world's richest church is trying to get itself out of the scandal," Square Table victims' group speaker Matthias Katsch told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

The offer falls short of the €5,000 lump sum the German Jesuits will pay their abuse victims.

The German Bishops' Conference called the plan a "quick and unbureaucratic solution", adding it "understood the rising impatience of abuse victims".

In December, victims' groups criticised the government panel and the German Catholic and Protestant churches for not offering compensation to abuse victims on par with other wealthy nations.

The panel proposed a €120 million fund for an estimated 30,000 victims of abuse in state- and church-run foster homes, and said the size of the fund could grow if more victims filed claims than expected.

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Another civil suit planned against archdiocese

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 23:35:29 +1100

Tag: usa

By John P. Martin, Inquirer Staff Writer

Lawyers say they will file a new lawsuit Monday accusing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, its leaders, and employees of conspiracy and fraud for failing to help a former sacristan who claimed he was abused by a priest.

The claim would be the second of its kind since a Philadelphia grand jury last month charged four priests with molesting boys or concealing the attacks, and said archdiocesean attempts at reform had fallen short.

"This is yet another case in which the victim's assistance program didn't really do what it was supposed to do," said Marci Hamilton, one of the lawyers for the plaintiff.

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A spokesman for the archdiocese declined to comment.

Hamilton declined Friday to detail the allegations until the suit was filed or to identify the accused priest in the latest case, except to say he is no longer a priest and had been named in the 2005 grand jury report of abusive priests.

A news release about the lawsuit described the defendant as a former pastor at Our Lady of Calvary Church. The 2005 report said one former pastor there, the Rev. Stanley Gana, "sexually abused countless boys."

Hamilton said that the lawsuit would name the plaintiff only as a John Doe, but that the plaintiff was considering publicly identifying himself during a news conference scheduled for Monday. Other abuse victims will also attend, she said.

Similar suits failed in the past, largely because of the statute of limitations. But the attorneys say they believe the grand jury's searing conclusions have given them new legal standing to pursue civil claims against the archdiocese.

Among other things, the panel concluded the church's victim-assistance program has at times appeared to be less interested in helping victims than in protecting priests and church leaders.

In the weeks since the grand jury report, church officials have acknowledged failings in the system, apologized, and pledged to improve. Cardinal Justin Rigali also announced new positions and procedures for handling abuse allegations, and hired a former sex-crimes prosecutor to review dozens of old claims.

Hamilton said the report has also stirred more victims to come forward. Asked if more lawsuits were looming, she said: "Many, many more."

Contact staff writer John P. Martin

at 215-854-4774 or jmartin@phillynews.com.

http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-05...ms-priests ...

Part-time chaplain & former dean at St. Joe's defendant in '99 sexual harassment suit

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 03:23:02 +1100

Tag: usa

By Sam Koch '11

A press release from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) sent early yesterday afternoon leveled accusations against Saint Joseph's University for the recent re-hire of Thomas Gleeson, S.J., a part-time chaplain in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.

Gleeson was the target of a civil sexual harassment lawsuit in California in 1999 which alleged that he and two other priests at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley had harassed John Bollard, a former seminarian.

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In the suit, Bollard alleged that Gleeson, who was president of the seminary at the time, asked him to masturbate with him and made other verbal sexual advances. The suit also alleged that the other Jesuit priests, Drew Sotelo and Anton (Tony) Harris, sent Bollard sexually explicit emails with pornographic pictures, as well as asked the then-25-year-old to cruise gay bars.

The case made its way to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which provided a groundbreaking ruling that determined that sexual harassment against religious institutions must be treated the same as any other harassment claims.

The suit was ultimately settled out of court in 2000 by the Jesuits with no acknowledgment of wrongdoing through a private settlement for an undisclosed amount. The 1999 lawsuit sought one million dollars.

The case was featured on "60 Minutes" and represented the first sexual harassment suit by a former seminarian against the Jesuits, according to SNAP's release. Bollard subsequently withdrew from the seminary and is currently employed at the University of California-Los Angeles as an administrator.

In 2009, SNAP also protested Gleeson's presence on the Board of Trustees at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. Gleeson has also sat on the board of Alvernia College in Pennsylvania and Georgetown Preparatory School.

In the 1970s, Gleeson served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Joe's. According to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, "[Gleeson] provides Grace and Blessings [sic] at alumni functions, represents the University at funerals and celebrates [and] concelebrates Mass at some alumni events."

Yesterday's press release from SNAP ultimately called for a protest that day at noon outside of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's offices in Center City. The release also stated that "SNAP wants Cardinal Justin Rigali and St. Joseph [sic] officials to suspend Gleeson and investigate allegations."

Saint Joseph's University President Timothy Lannon, S.J., sent separate emails to students and staff regarding Gleeson's employment at the university and the allegations leveled against him late yesterday afternoon. Both emails indicated that the university was made aware of Gleeson's past by a recent letter from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

"According to a letter recently received by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, afterward [Gleeson's tenure as dean], and while living in Berkeley, California, Father Gleeson was accused of sexual harassment by a former seminarian," Lannon's email said.

However, in a Philadelphia Daily News article published this morning, Assistant Vice President for University Communications Harriet Goodheart stated that "we were aware of the allegations of 11 years ago, which he denied, and was cleared for assignment."

Phone calls to Goodheart's office were not returned by press time.

Harris, one of the other priests involved in the 1999 lawsuit, arrived at Seattle University in 2001 as an assistant to President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., overseeing the Office of Mission and Ministry. When reports of the 1999 lawsuit surfaced in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Oct. 6, 2006, Harris resigned from his position as vice president one week later.

Tag: snap

http://www.sjuhawknews.com/news/part-...-1.2067326 ...

Sex abuse lawyers plan ad campaign

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:27:23 +1100

Tag: usa

Lawyers representing victims of clergy abuse in the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese announced Thursday that they are launching a monthlong media campaign to encourage others who have been sexually abused in the archdiocese to come forward.

At a news conference at the Pfister Hotel, lawyer Jeff Anderson said that because the archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy protection, there will be a short time frame for survivors of abuse by priests to come forward and make their claims.

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Lawyers representing victims of clergy abuse in the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese announced Thursday that they are launching a monthlong media campaign to encourage others who have been sexually abused in the archdiocese to come forward.

At a news conference at the Pfister Hotel, lawyer Jeff Anderson said that because the archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy protection, there will be a short time frame for survivors of abuse by priests to come forward and make their claims.

Therefore, he said, he and other lawyers representing survivors are mounting an unusual outreach campaign through television and radio ads, print ads, the Internet and social media to encourage those who may have been abused by clergy or others working for the archdiocese to come forward now.

"You can get help if you were abused, and if you come forward your name will remain private and confidential," he said.

The bankruptcy court has not yet determined the cutoff date for victims to come forward and make claims.

"A website, AbusedinWisconsin.com, also is being launched, the lawyers said.

Standing with the lawyers were four people who said they had been sexually abused as children and who urged others to come forward.

Gary Smith, 60, and Arthur Budzinski, 62, both said through signing interpreters that they were abused as children by the late Father Lawrence Murphy at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis.

"Now is the time to speak up," Smith said.

Murphy's case has been widely reported.

Karen Konter said she was abused by a priest at St. Adalbert Catholic Church, 1923 W. Becher St., when she was in grade school in the 1960s. She said that the priest is now dead, and that his name had not been released. She especially urged female victims to come forward.

"Few women have chosen to stand and hold perpetrators accountable," she said. "There is help for female survivors, and it's important for other children that the abuse stops."

Billy Kirchen, 44, said he was abused by the music director at St. Catherine's at N. 51st and W. Center streets between the ages of 11 to 15. Although at 16 he brought the matter to authorities, he said, no charges have been filed. He said the man remains active as a choir director in a church out of state.

Jerry Topczewski, the chief of staff to Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said the diocese had done outreach to victims of clergy abuse since 2002 through print ads, bulletins and other avenues.

"We've always asked for people to come forward," he said. "At the end of the day, until a person comes forward, we can't work with them on healing and resolution."

Although Anderson has been working with victims of clergy abuse for 27 years, he said he's never conducted a public outreach campaign before because in other church bankruptcy cases he's been involved in, he was able to depose church officials and others and get information out to the public.

But two days before former Bishop Richard Sklba, who served under several archbishops, was to be deposed, the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, and that information gathering was short-circuited, he said.

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Mediation under way in Eddie Long case

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:26:20 +1100

Tag: usa

By Shelia M. Poole The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The first mediation session in the sexual misconduct lawsuits against Bishop Eddie Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has ended, a church lawyer said.

Barbara Marschalk, who represents the Lithonia-based church and its LongFellows Youth Academy mentoring program, said additional mediation sessions, in which all parties attempt to reach a settlement, could be held.

She declined to discuss details.

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Thomas Arthur, a professor in Emory University's School of Law, said it is not unusual to have more than one mediation session. "It depends how much is at stake," he said.

The idea, he said, "is to keep going if they might actually reach an agreement."

B.J. Bernstein, who represents the four men who have accused the popular pastor of coercing them into having sexual relations, declined to comment on the proceedings.

"I appreciate the interest and concern by the public for my clients, and just as in any case, court-ordered mediation is a process that occurs in private and shall remain so," she said in an e-mail this week.

The four plaintiffs are Spencer LeGrande, Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg and Jamal Parris. LongFellows Youth Academy is named in three of the suits.

Long has denied the accusations and has vowed to fight. The lawsuits were filed last year in DeKalb County. If no resolution is reached, they could go to trial later this year.

Recently New Birth laid off two full-time employees and cut salaries by 10 percent. Spokesman Art Franklin blamed the economy for the cuts.

When asked about the mediation, he said, "On advice of legal counsel we are unable to comment about the case."

http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/mediat...61090.html ...

Episcopal church fights sex abuse lawsuit

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:33:59 +1100

Tag: usa

A Paducah church that sponsors a Boy Scout troop has responded to a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a former adult leader.

Attorney Richard Walter filed a response on behalf of Grace Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky on Feb. 18.

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In responding to a lawsuit by a man who had been a Scout in the 1970s, the defendants deny all allegations and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. Among the 16 grounds for dismissal, the church cites the statute of limitations.

The suit was filed Feb. 2 on behalf of a now 49-year-old Paducah man who claims abuse by his former scoutmaster, who is named in the complaint, but not as a defendant. The plaintiff says he was sexually abused during Boy Scouting activities.

Other defendants in the lawsuit are the Boy Scouts of America and the Shawnee Trails Council.

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/new...ex_ab.html ...

German Bishops Offer Cash To Abuse Victims

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:46:43 +1100

Tag: germany

By Niels Sorrells Religion News Service

BERLIN -- Germany's Roman Catholic Church is offering cash payments of up to 5,000 euros ($6,925) to victims of child sexual abuse in a yet unknown number of cases, some dating back decades.

The German Bishops' Conference made the announcement on Wednesday (March 2) as a special commission continues months of work on abuse prevention and reimbursement. Church officials said they could wait no longer.

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Noting that the commission's work had no end in sight, the church "felt itself obligated to immediately offer quick and non-bureaucratic assistance.

"We understand the growing impatience of those affected," the bishops' conference said in a statement.

Many victims groups said the offer is insufficient, especially in light of an offer by Germany's Jesuits last year to give 5,000 euros to each affected person.

"It's shameful, how the richest church in the world is trying to get out of this affair," Matthias Katsch, a spokesman for a victims group, told the Frankfurter Rundschau, a German newspaper.

The bishops' offer includes higher payments for victims of especially serious crimes. Other funds will be made available to pay for psychotherapy and couples counseling for victims. Additionally, a 500,000-euro prevention fund will be created, the bishops said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03...30979.html ...

Yarmouth diocese settles more abuse cases

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:54:32 +1100

Tag: canada

Bishop's residence, bowling alley to be sold

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth has settled five more cases of sexual abuse from the 1950s and 1960s.

The cases went through a mediation process last week in London, Ont. The victims of Adolphe LeBlanc and Eddie Theriault, two priests in southwest Nova Scotia at the time, will share a compensation deal of about $1 million.

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Fourteen of 22 sex abuse cases have been settled, with payments totalling more than $2.6 million, the diocese said in a statement Wednesday.

In January, about $1.5 million went to six victims who were between the ages of three and 15 when they were abused by LeBlanc and Theriault. Both priests are now dead.

The diocese said it has borrowed money to make the payments, but expects to have enough in savings to cover the interest and some of the capital.

The bishop's residence, bowling alley and other non-essential properties will be sold to raise the rest of the money.

"If this plan works, it will be possible to protect the parish churches, halls and cemetery funds," spokeswoman Marilyn Sweet said in the statement.

Eight other sex abuse claims are pending.

The Archdiocese of Halifax has promised to pay $605,000, since two cases occurred before the Yarmouth diocese was formed in 1953.

The Yarmouth diocese said more than $500,000 has already been paid in legal fees.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-sc...cases.html ...

US judge allows clergy abuse lawsuit to proceed against Los Angeles, Mexican cardinals

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:47:48 +1100

Tag: usa

By: Gillian Flaccus, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A Mexico City man can proceed with a clergy abuse lawsuit filed in U.S. court against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, even though the alleged abuse occurred in Mexico and the priest and plaintiff are Mexican citizens, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton Tucker on Friday denied a motion from church attorneys who had sought dismissal of the case by arguing U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction.

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Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the archdiocese, said the case has no merit and would ultimately be dismissed.

The unusual lawsuit was filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and alleges that recently retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and his counterpart in the Mexican Diocese of Tehuacan conspired to protect the priest and help him avoid authorities on both sides of the border.

Jeff Anderson, the plaintiff's attorney, said Monday that the priest abused as many as 60 children in Mexico, including the plaintiff, after fleeing U.S. authorities who wanted to arrest him in 1988 for suspected molestations in Los Angeles.

The head of the Mexican diocese, then-Bishop Norberto Rivera, has since been elevated to cardinal for the Archdiocese of Mexico City.

The complaint lists 10 causes of action, including rape and crimes against humanity under the 222-year-old law. The Tehuacan diocese, Mahony and the Mexican cardinal are also listed as defendants.

The case involves the Rev. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera, who was sent from Mexico to Los Angeles for a temporary assignment in 1987. Less than a year after his arrival, two altar boys accused Aguilar Rivera of molestation, but the priest fled to Mexico just days before U.S. authorities charged him.

The lawsuit states that in 1987 the Mexican bishop contacted Mahony and asked him to take Aguilar Rivera in for a year due to family and health reasons.

The bishop later introduced the priest to Mahony with a letter that mentioned Aguilar Rivera had been brutally attacked in his Mexican parish, possibly because of problems of homosexuality that had not been proven, according to the lawsuit.

Mahony has said he never received letters from the Mexican bishop explaining the priest's history.

Aguilar Rivera was defrocked in 2009 and remains at large in Mexico, where he was believed to be living out of his car in Puebla, in central Mexico. He has been wanted by U.S. authorities on 19 felony counts of lewd conduct since he returned to Mexico.

The ruling in Los Angeles could allow more of Mexican plaintiffs who allege abuse by Aguilar Rivera to file lawsuits in U.S. courts, Anderson said.

"This does open a door that has never been opened before," he said.

The judge was not required to consider the facts of the case when making her ruling about jurisdiction and limited her analysis to a narrow range of legal issues, Hennigan said. Church attorneys will file new court papers seeking dismissal on other legal grounds, he said.

Mahony was not aware the priest had a history of sexual abuse when he accepted him in Los Angeles and he asked the Mexican bishop for help in finding the priest once he was a fugitive, the attorney said.

"We think the court is suggesting — and we agree — that this needs to be addressed on the merits of the case and we will attempt to do that," Hennigan said.

A spokesman for Cardinal Norberto Rivera, who is no relation to the priest, said the Mexican archbishop had done nothing wrong.

Judges have thrown out two previous lawsuits filed against him in the U.S., saying a Mexican citizen cannot sue another Mexican citizen in U.S. court. Mahony settled his portion of an earlier lawsuit in 2007.

"We have responded to U.S. courts. We did it once, we did it twice (and) we do not intend to continue doing so," said Rev. Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico. "Cardinal Rivera has already said he did not cover up for this priest."

____

Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

http://www.abolishsexabuse.org/index....Itemid=181 ...

Human rights law can be used in clergy sex abuse suit, judge rules

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:57:32 +1100

Tag: usa

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

St. Paul lawyer's attacks on church show increasingly international reach

A federal law that allows U.S. courts to hear lawsuits involving human rights violations in other nations can be used in a case involving Catholic clergy sex abuse, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Monday.

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The decision by U.S. District Judge Josephine S. Tucker appears to be the first time the 200-year-old Alien Tort Statute has been used to pursue a sex abuse claim against the Catholic Church. And it illustrates the increasing international reach of victims attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who is suing the Vatican and has opened a practice in London to pursue cases in the United Kingdom. Anderson represents a number of victims in civil fraud cases against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

"This is huge, very significant," said Anderson, who filed the case on behalf of a Mexican boy after seeing the law used to bring cases involving Japanese women conscripted as sex slaves in World War II.

Attorneys and a spokesman for retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony did not immediately return calls.

In her ruling Monday, Tucker denied a motion to dismiss by lawyers for Mahony, arguing that the federal court did not have jurisdiction. The lawsuit also names as defendants Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera and Father Nicholas Aguilar Rivera.

Aguilar is accused of molesting 60 children in Mexico before he was sent to Los Angeles, where he is accused of molesting 26 others. He returned to Mexico, where he allegedly molested four more children - including Juan Doe 1 named in the Alien Tort Statute case - and his whereabouts are unknown, Anderson said.

http://www.jsonline.com/features/reli...08133.html ...