#Catholicchurch reports on their criminal activity and how much it costs the faithful

Are all the pedophiles and enablers ashamed to turn around?

A self-audit of the US Catholic church shows a sharp spike in the number of sex abuse reports. There are more new claims (up 35% from prior year) from people abused in the 1960s, '70s and '80s but also claims of more recent abuse. Contrary to rhetoric from the church the abuse did not all happen in the distant past.  The audit showed that 838 people came forward from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, to say they had been sexually abused by priests, deacons or members of religions orders while they were children, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.  I wonder how accurate their figures are considering they are the perpetrators.

The report also found that US Catholic parishes and other orders spent $153.6 million on settlements, legal fees and other expenses related to claims of sex assault over the audit period, up 29 percent from $119.1 million a year earlier.  Similar patterns of abuse have since emerged at dioceses around the globe, undermining the church's moral authority and sapping its finances as it paid out billions of dollars in settlements. That’s a lot of coins in the collection basket – we know who pays for clergy crime – we do.

#NewYork businessman to spend $100,000 to stop #NYGovCuomo minions from derailing #ChildVictimsActGary

Gary Greenberg cares

Gary Greenberg, a New York businessman who was molested as a child in the 1960s will spend $100,000 or more against incumbent state senators from both parties who refuse to support legislation to help child sexual assault victims.  Greenberg told the Daily News that he can’t understand why the New York Legislature won’t pass laws to give adults who were victimized as children more time to bring criminal and civil cases against their abusers. 

Several bills are up for votes to address the problem of limited legal recourse for adults who were victimized as children.  Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) and Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), would do away with the age of 23 limit to bring a civil lawsuit. The bill would provide a one-year window for those victims, like myself, where the statute of limitation has run out to get some justice for the abuse I suffered by a catholic priest and nuns at St. Agnes in NY state.  All previous efforts to get this law passed have died in the Senate.

Greenberg would spend the $100,000 against senators in both parties who don’t act. The money could go toward campaign contributions to their opponents or for ads in their districts. He said he’s also prepared to work with other abuse survivors to hold public events to “tell the residents (of the districts) that their senator voted for perpetrators over survivors and victims of sexual abuse.”

There are other bills up for vote and Greenberg said he could support any of the bills that include the one-year window. The Daily News Editorial Board has offered its own suggestions to spur the do-nothings in Albany — including the elimination of the criminal statute of limitations entirely, and opening the courts for one year to those who say they were victimized and had previously been turned away.

Greenberg disagrees with the Catholic Church and other groups that say they could be financially ruined if there is a one-year window to sue for past victims. So all the catholic church worries about is the money, not the children although it is in no danger of ever going broke. If the flow of cash from the faithful parishioners ever dries up, Pope Francis or his successor can start selling the gold and art work in the cellars of the Vatican.

Greenberg said for many victims, it’s more about healing than the money. “Not everybody wants money,” he said. “The majority want to heal and want to find out the true facts. In a lot of cases, to get the facts, you have to sue. These are not frivolous lawsuits. They’re lawsuits so people can get healing and get answers.”  Let’s do it now New York lawmakers – stop listening to enablers and criminals.

#CardinalPell too sick to testify in Australian #ChildAbuse hearing wolfs down steak, chips and beer

Australia's most senior Catholic pictured strolling through Piazza Navona in Rome with a colleague before they sit down at the Caffe Domiziano restaurant to enjoy a beer.

Cardinal Pell pictured enjoying meal of steak and chips in Rome - washed down his food with a tall glass of beer.

Drink Up Cardinal Pell - on Parishioner's Money

Daily Mail Australia reports that Cardinal George Pell said he was too ill to fly home to Australia to face questioning at the Child Abuse Royal Commission. Pell, 74, submitted a two-page medical report in February which stated a flight to Australia to give evidence would severely impact his health and possibly lead to 'heart failure'. So he gave his testimony via video link. A few weeks later Pell was seen eating a heavy meal and drinking beer.

Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell is considered the number three in the Vatican and in charge of their finances. He heads the Vatican’s Secretariat on the Economy. Cardinal Pell was questioned by the abuse royal commission over pedophile priests in the Ballarat and Melbourne dioceses when he was serving there in the 1970s and 80s. He turned a blind eye to the abuse of children by members of the clergy. Pell admitted that his denials of a cover-up angered abuse victims who said he must have known.

Cardinal Pell was questioned about notorious Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, who was jailed on pedophile charges in 1994, and about other pedophile priests in the Ballarat and Melbourne dioceses. Pell admitted that, among other things, he knew first-hand a young boy was being abused by a cleric named Brother Edward Dowlan in 1974. Ridsdale was convicted between 1993 and 2013 of 130 incidents of child sexual abuse (including his own nephew) and indecent assault charges against children aged as young as four years. Pell said Ridsdale was “undoubtedly a capable man and was not someone people complained about to him at the time.”

Pell had to know what Ridsdale did. They were in seminary and working in parishes together for many years. In 1982, when Ridsdale had been abusing children for 20 years, a clergy committee (of which the then Father George Pell was a member) transferred Ridsdale away from Victoria to inflict victims in New South Wales. When detectives charged Ridsdale in court in 1993 he was accompanied to court by his support person, assistant bishop George Pell.

A mother of six children abused by a Ballarat clergyman 30 years ago says she was 'absolutely disgusted' when photos revealed Cardinal George Pell devouring a meal of steak and chips and drinking beer in a Rome restaurant. Mrs Lane's six children were all victims of abuse by family friend Brother Grant Ross, and her second son John took his life at age 19. 'He’s doing that even with a bad heart?' Mrs Lane told Daily Mail Australia.

Pell admitted to blatant accusations that he failed to act when he was told about one young girl who was made to kneel between the legs of a priest during weekly confession, and he claimed that the corroborated allegations of sexual abuse of young children against another priest were sad, but “weren’t of much interest to me.” In almost every case presented to him, and there were many, he explained away his inaction by victim blaming or offering what became his blanket excuse that “no one asked me” to intervene.

Pell has always refused to resign from his high-ranking position. 'I wouldn't resign as that would be taken as an admission of guilt,' Cardinal Pell said. Pell said he was in Rome trying to do with Vatican finances what he did to clean up pedophilia in Melbourne: which is nothing. He admitted that he would not point a finger at a cleric covering up abuse or committing it in Australia because he is a Vatican official and the problem is for Australian authorities to deal with.  Eat hearty, Cardinal Pell – your heart is already cold.

Who loves #NewYork? – #SOL makes it a safe haven for #childsexabusers

Pass Child Victim's Act in New  York

I wrote on my post (FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2015) about the difficulty getting justice for children murdered and abused by priests and nuns in New York.  High level political figures are very friendly with the catholic church. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of  New York (known for his cover-ups of pedophile priests), and several other high-ranking bishops socialize with Andrew Cuomo, Governor of  New York and other politicians at the Executive Mansion.  Cuomo said he “looks forward to continuing to work closely with them during his administration.”  

Basically, the State of New York belongs to the catholic church.  I know, and other victims of the catholic church know, how difficult it is to get justice for the crimes committed against us in New York. There is no separation of the catholic church and the state.  What’s true in NY is repeated all over the world. 

Tzedek tzedek tirdof, justice justice you shall pursue. (The Torah)

Rabbi Ari Hart, writing in the New York Daily News (5/1/16) knows it is time to stop the child abuse in NY and he is backed by more than 100 Jewish leaders. They have one voice: to declare their support for statute of limitations (SOL) reform for child abuse victims in New York State.

Rabbi Hart says, “After decades of denial, cover-ups and darkness, the light is finally shining on the scourge of child sexual abuse. Today, we better understand the high rate of its prevalence, the lasting and far-reaching damage caused by abusers, and the extreme difficulty survivors face in coming forward and seek justice. Tragically, New York State’s regressive laws prevent many victims from getting the justice they deserve and from stopping abusers from causing more harm.”

  

Rabbi Hart, like other advocates for abuse survivors knows that people in their 40s, 50s and 60s (or even older) are only now coming to grips with what happened to them as children, and only now able to come forward. New York law fails these victims by giving a victim only five years from the time they enter adulthood to act. Rabbi Hart and his fellow Jewish leaders strive to be relentless pursuers of justice by calling on Albany to pass the Child Victim’s Act.

New York State has been ranked among the very worst, alongside Mississippi, Alabama and Michigan, for how the courts and criminal justice system treat survivors of child sex abuse.

Jewish law does not recognize the concept of a statute of limitations: If a wrong was committed, if someone has been harmed, they always have the right to seek justice. However, says Rabbi Hart, “… sometimes our religious institutions and leaders have been part of the problem. Too often, they have discouraged victims from going to the police. Too often, they have been enablers or even perpetrators of abuse.” Pope Francis and catholic leaders don’t have this morality like these courageous Jewish leaders to admit their guilt.

The victims have paid the price, now it is time for the abusers to do so.  “We must ask ourselves: to which bottom line are we accountable? Those of profits, of those of the prophets?” says Rabbi Hart.

The world has hit the limits of tolerance of the catholic church’s lies and the lies of any religion or any group that harms children. We need all religions, all people, to join together to eradicate child abuse all over the globe.

#Pope Francis to let #pro-Nazi Anti-Semitic Catholic group #SSPX back into #CatholicChurch

Pope Benedict lifts excommunication for pro-Nazi Bishop Richard Williamson of SSPX

The church still has Nazi ties.  Reporter Nicole Winfield wrote (9/16/11 Huffington Post) that Jewish groups were worried about the vatican’s relationship with a group of catholics, including a bishop Richard Williamson, who denies that Nazi gas chambers were used for mass killing and that the Holocaust ever happened. The group, the Swiss-based society of st. pius X  (SSPX) continues to believe and say that Christ's death was the fault of all Jews. Former #PopeBenedict tried for two decades, as pope and earlier as cardinal, to bring the pro-Nazi group back under the Vatican umbrella -- without having to give up all of their beliefs. In 2009 Benedict lifted Williamson’s excommunication.

SSPX had granted asylum as "an act of charity to a homeless man", to French Nazi collaborator and war criminal Paul Touvier and on his death, in 1996, said a Requiem Mass for him. On 16 October 2013, the Society offered to perform a funeral for Nazi war-criminal Erich Priebke, but the ceremony did not take place due to protests by some 500 people outside the Society's Italian district house in Albano, near Rome.

Benedict also expanded the use of the Tridentine mass – favored by Williamson. This mass includes a prayer that asks God to “lift the veil so they [Jews] may be delivered from their darkness.”  The real darkness is in the black heart of the pope and his #neo-nazi society.

This Nazi society is spreading its poison all over: they have six seminaries, three universities and over 100 primary and secondary schools around the globe. In addition to Williamson it has three other bishops, more than 589 priests in 37 countries and 220 priests in training.  It has 750 Mass centers, 163 priories, 103 religious brothers, 186 religious sisters, 7 nursing homes, 4 Carmelite convents.  Are they all training to incite another Holocaust?

SSPX is jumping for joy. Pope Francis may soon offer SSPX regular canonical status within the Church, and they still don’t have to follow the rules of the Second Vatican Council.  SSPX says, “perhaps only Pope Francis is able to take this step, given his unpredictability and improvisation” – in other words they think he is a push over.  They also said Francis’ church is, “gradually lowering its demands.”  Translated: SSPX can walk all over the church.

Under Pope Francis several moves have suggested a warming in relations between the Vatican and the SSPX.  Birds of a feather flock together.

In 2015, the Holy See sent a cardinal and three bishops to visit the seminaries of the SSPX. They were sent to become better acquainted with the society, and to discuss doctrinal and theological topics. Pope Francis announced in a September 2015 letter that during the Jubilee Year of Mercy the faithful can validly receive absolution of their sins from priests of the SSPX.  Do the faithful really want to confess to Nazis? It’s bad enough they give their hard earned money to a church that spends it on fancy houses and high paid lawyers to bail out their child rapists.

“I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity,” Pope Francis wrote. Francis says the SSPX is Catholic and he would not condemn it, and that he wishes to extend the faculties of its priests. 

So while Pope Francis “friends” the Nazis, the faithful should rise up and refuse to confess to SSPX who hate Jews, support Nazis, and want to run the Vatican their way.  Is Pope Francis losing his mind?

NY Assembly democrats won’t allow showing of #Spotlight to help Markey fight #childsexualabuse

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey plans to fight her chamber's leadership for permission to show the film "Spotlight" at the Capitol complex in May.

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) fights to get Statute of Limitations laws changed but her own party hinders her.  Assembly Democratic leaders say the Oscar-winning film Spotlight can’t be shown on government property.  Markey’s office has a permit to show the film and will continue to push for the screening to follow a May 4 roundtable on child abuse issues.

Three times in the past decade the Assembly has passed a bill sponsored by Markey that would not only make it easier for victims to sue, but would also grant a one-year window for those whose statute of limitations had expired to bring a civil lawsuit. The last time the bill cleared the Assembly was in 2008. 

But under pressure from the Catholic Church and other religious organizations, the Senate failed to take up the matter each time. Republicans, who control the Senate, don’t see that changing this year. 

The roadblock to justice for countless sex abuse victims in New York is the continued handiwork of Senate Republicans more concerned about the rights of perverts than their accusers — or too busy to even consider reforms.

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan through his staff wouldn’t even discuss the matter this week despite repeated requests from the Daily News. “We aren’t going to discuss it until after the (state) budget is settled,” Flanagan spokesman Scott Reif said.

Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco, a retired Syracuse lawyer, said the current law strikes a fair balance.  What he said sounds like a direct quote from the catholic church leadership in NY state: He said,

“I believe that there’s a purpose for a statute of limitations,” DeFrancisco said. “The further back the case is, the more difficult it is for anybody to defend themselves. Witnesses are gone. That’s why a statute of limitation is there.” That goes for both criminal and civil cases, he said.

We need more politicians like Assemblywoman Markey and no politicians like those democrats and republicans who can be bought off by the catholic church.

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#Spotlight was then, Ring Around the Collar is now: #childsexualabuse in #Catholicschools worldwide

Teja Arboleda*

Dan Kiley*

The story of child sexual abuse as told in the movie Spotlight continues today, and is explored in our movie Ring Around The Collar, a documentary exposing ongoing child sexual abuse and rape by Catholic priests and clergy in Catholic schools around the world.

Tens of thousands (if not millions) of victims and survivors of all ages need to be heard and Teja Arboleda and Dan Kiley, both survivors and the producers of this film will be their voice. The documentary also includes the critical and expert analyses by renowned international experts on sexual predators and victims, such as trial lawyer Eric MacLeish (who was characterized in the movie Spotlight); internationally renowned psychiatrist and trauma specialist, Bessel van der Kolk; investigative reporter Joe Bergantino, NECIR (New England Center for Investigative Reporting); Simon Scott, International News Reporter; regional Catholic diocese public relations teams; school officials and non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests).

Many survivors keep silent, in fear of retaliation by the predators, school administrators, local diocese and the Catholic Church itself. Many Catholic clergy in Catholic schools, even when implicated, are moved to other communities and countries where they continue to abuse and rape children. The evidence is damning - from recent Amnesty International demands for the Vatican to open records on harboring criminals and pedophiles, to Pope Francis’ admittance to the seriousness of the issue of child rape and mental torture, and the sheer number of cases of sexual predatory practices within Catholic schools around the world.

Eric MacLeish

The documentary will cover stories in various locations including the US, Canada, Japan, England, Australia, Chile and Ireland. Funding will cover all aspects of production, from research, writing and pre-interviews, to international travel, filming, editing and distribution. The film will have an active on-line presence through which communication and connections can be made by survivors, victims and supporters. In addition, the documentary will be matched with a committed and appropriate distributor such as PBS. 

Bessel van der Kolk

 Please help us save lives and bring these criminals to justice by sponsoring this important film.

Simon Scott

Joseph Bergantino

For more information on how to support this film, please contact Dan Kiley:       dankiley51@gmail.com

Info On Twitter:  @RACmovie 

Link to:  IndieGoGo fundraiser: 

 http://igg.me/at/ringaroundcollar     Video Clip

*THE PRODUCERS

Producer: Teja Arboleda M.Ed. is an Emmy Award and two-time Telly Award winning PBS documentary producer and editor. Arboleda is also a professor and public speaker. He is a survivor of abuse at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo, Japan.

Producer: Dan Kiley is an educator. He is a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of Fr. James Porter (Massachusetts) at 11 years old, and has appeared on The Today Show, The CBS Morning Show, The Jenny Jones Show, and numerous other television and radio programs to speak about the case. 

A SPECIAL THANKS TO JEAN & GEORGE BARILLA 

Whistleblower #priests and #nuns turn in #catholicchurch sexual predators

Most church insiders who have witnessed sexual abuse have chosen not to report it. BishopAccountability.org has put the first database of church whistleblowers - priests, nuns, church employees and volunteers --  who reported colleagues to church or civil authorities and fought their superiors’ concealment of abuse. These whistleblowers listed below are remarkable exceptions to those in the church who are enablers of worldwide child sexual abuse. 

Clergy and Religious Whistleblowers

Rev. Felix Alarcon | Rev. John Bambrick | Marianne Benkert | Rev. Thomas Bolte | Msgr. Lawrence Breslin | Sr. Sally Butler OP| Rev. Daniel Clayton | Sr. Jeanne Christensen | Rev. Patrick Collins | Rev. John Conley | Rev. James Connell | Rev. Donald Cozzens | Bishop John M. D'Arcy | Rev. Tom Doyle OP | Rev. Thomas Economus | Jim Fitzpatrick | Rev. Joseph Fowler | Rev. Terence German SJ | Rev. James Gigliotti, T.O.R| Bishop Thomas Gumbleton | Rev. Gary Hayes | Rev. David Hitch | Sr. Jane Kelly | Rev. Bob Hoatson | Sr. Peg Ivers | Msgr. Kenneth Lasch | Rev. Ron Lemmert | Jane Levikow | Rev. Michael Lipareli | Rev. James A. "Seamus" MacCormack| Rev. John McNamee | Rev. John Minkler | Msgr. James Molloy | Sr. Catherine Mulkerrin | Sr. Joyce Newton | Rev. Joseph Okonski | Lynette Petruska | Msgr. Michael Picard | Rev. Richard Reissmann | Msgr. Phillip Saylor | Fr. James Scahill | Sr. Joan Scary | Rev. Edward Seagriff | Richard Sipe | Claire Smith, OSU | Rev. Robert Smoot | Rev. Stephen Stanbery | Rev. Joseph Starmann | Rev. Tim Stier | Rev. Frederick E. Sweeney | Rev. Bruce Teague | Sr. Janice Thomas | Sr. Maureen Paul Turlish | Juan Vaca | Patrick Wall | Rev. Robert Williams |

Lay Catholic Whistleblowers

Linda Briggs-Harty | Anne Burke | Joelle Casteix | Elizabeth Cucinotta Sorvillo | Donna Cox | Robert Fontana | Connel Friel | Frank Keating | Theresa Gerstner | Jennifer Haselberger | Jim Jenkins | Margaret Mata | Larry Probst | Barbara Westrick |

You can see their photos and stories at:

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/Whistleblowers/   http://www.bishop-accountability.org/Whistleblowers/

See also:  "Church Whistle-Blowers Join Forces on Abuse," by Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times, May 20, 2013.

Many of the whistleblowers have experienced retaliation and grief:  defamation, job loss, career derailment, ostracization, pressure by superiors to admit to mental illness, and in at least one case, suicide, according to Bishop Accountability.   

I thank Bishop Accountability for their continued dedication to survivors and children.  The most important thing that catholic parishioners can do is to open their eyes and close their wallets.