Church orders probe over child sex abuse

27 October 2007

The conviction of a Northampton church warden for child sex offences has prompted the Church of England to investigate records of thousands of clergy, dating back decades, in an attempt to uncover unchecked incidents of abuse.

According to the church, more than 2,500 letters will be sent to former bishops, archdeacons, bishops' chaplains and secretarial staff urging them to come forward if they have information or concerns about child sex abuse which were not followed up at the time.

The current files of 23,000 clergy in the Church of England will also be examined by diocesan bishops, while an independent reviewer will assess whether any 'causes for concern' remain.
Any urgent issues will be dealt with immediately by the relevant legal authorities.

The move comes six months after Derrick Norris, now aged 72, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at Northampton Crown Court for the sexual abuse of two children in the 1980s.

At his sentencing in April, the court heard Norris had confessed the offences to members of Weston Favell's Emmanuel Church in the late 1980s, but they had been 'brushed under the carpet' until one of the victims came forward, detailing the abuse, in June 2006."

Norris, of Dell Crescent, Overstone, pleaded guilty to three indecent assaults, six gross indecencies and two rapes of a girl as well as three gross indecency offences against a teenage boy.

Sentencing, Judge Charles Wide QC told him: "The expression 'an abuse of trust' does not do justice to the enormity of what you did."

A Church of England spokesman said it was a "belt and braces" approach to the situation.

"It's worth it. We've never done anything like this before. But there's only so far back we can go. We can't ask people who are dead and we can't do what can't be done."

The investigation is aimed at incidents that happened before 1995, the year the church published its first policy document on child protection.
Any new cases would still be covered by the guidelines and the process will begin early next year, with clergy officials having 18 months to conduct their review.

Hele dure cover -ups: kan de collecteschaal weer even door

VOTF National Survivor Support Working Group
Statement: San Diego Settlement

With the news of the San Diego settlement, we take a twin breath of both active concern and sadness.

First, in solidarity and with concern for them, we salute the courage of the survivors of the San Diego settlement and their steadfast dignity when they were used as ploys and pawns in a game of bankruptcy brinkmanship.

We express unremitting sorrow that our Church had to be pushed by the civil authorities into the arena of justice.

We eagerly hope the push extends into a wide arc of openness of financial accountability as a sign of respect for those who paid the diocese’s bills for generations and those who continue their financial contributions to the Church.

Settlements always have up and down sides. Victims do not have to go through the trauma of telling their stories in court and yet their stories remain untold, and in many quarters disbelieved, because they were not able to tell their stories in open court.

We vigorously urge all parties to disclose the documents in this settlement and to disclose them as quickly as possible. The truth lives in the documents. We cannot shield our eyes from it any longer.

DIOCESE IN TURMOIL
Church's path to penance is chided
Legal experts fault bankruptcy option
By Greg Moran and Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
September 10, 2007

It was February, just a handful of days before the start of Lent, the most sacred time of the year for Roman Catholics around the world. But in San Diego, leaders of the Catholic diocese were preoccupied with a looming crisis in the secular world of the courts:
Settle 144 cases of child sexual abuse by clergy for perhaps $1 million or more each. Or go to trial, where details of abuse and efforts over several decades to cover it up – as alleged in court documents – would come to light.
San Diego Catholic Bishop Robert Brom and his advisers chose a third way: Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection.

It was the best method, Brom would tell his nearly 1 million parishioners, to provide “fair and equitable compensation for all of the victims of abuse without disrupting the core mission of the church.”

Now, more than six bruising months later, the decision is widely seen as nearly disastrous for the diocese.

Legal experts who have followed the sexual abuse crisis in Catholic dioceses across the country said the bankruptcy process – intended to dispose of legal claims in a calm, ordered way – turned into a tumultuous, embarrassing ordeal for the church.

“This was to my mind the clumsiest bankruptcy of all the dioceses that have gone that way,” said Charles Zech, an economics professor who has followed the clergy abuse crisis from Villanova University, a Catholic school near Philadelphia. “They didn't gain a thing. And they lost a lot of credibility.”

Moreover, those involved in negotiations that led to Friday's announcement of a $198.1 million settlement of the lawsuits said Brom and the diocese would have been far better off financially if they had settled seven months earlier.
Several attorneys pursuing lawsuits against the diocese said their clients would have settled for as much as $50 million less than the San Diego diocese and its insurers will ultimately pay had they avoided bankruptcy and settled in February.
But chief diocese attorney Micheal Webb strongly disputed that, saying the $50 million figure was “very incorrect.”

Webb conceded that a February settlement would have been less costly, especially when the bills for the bankruptcy filing – already more than $5 million with more invoices to come – are factored in. The diocese is responsible for attorneys' fees for both sides in bankruptcy court.
After Friday's settlement, Webb reflected on the decision to seek Chapter 11 protection, concluding that the bankruptcy filing was worthwhile.

“If you look at the Chapter 11 from the beginning, it was progressing very well,” Webb said. “We were on track to conclude the process.

“Granted, the order to show cause on why the case should not be dismissed was a setback.”

In fact, federal Judge Louise DeCarl Adler was on the verge last week of kicking the diocese's case out of bankruptcy court.
Webb downplayed that threat, as well as Adler's earlier order to send 42 of the abuse lawsuits back to state court for trial, as being high-pressure prods to reach a deal.

“The settlement was not a direct result of (Adler's actions),” said Webb, who was chastised by Chief U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez last month for misstating an order she made in the case during an interview published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“I agree, there was some pressure on the diocese, but it was not only that,” Webb said. “We had an energetic and highly intelligent judge (federal Magistrate Judge Leo Papas) who kept working with us and was able to do what other mediators could not over the previous years.”

Terry Giles, a Houston attorney representing 150 clergy-abuse plaintiffs in California, including 13 in San Diego, also lavished praise on Papas and Adler for bringing the case to conclusion.

But Giles took issue with Webb's assessment of the benefits of the bankruptcy filing.

“The reason Mr. Webb is taking the position that this bankruptcy was a good thing is that he has been the architect of all the scorched-earth actions taken by this diocese up to now,” Giles said.

“This case never would have settled if it hadn't been for Bishop Brom finally taking the ball away from Mr. Webb,” he said. “They got nothing out of this bankruptcy except to be kicked around by the judge in court and humiliated in the press.”
The diocese filed for bankruptcy Feb. 27, one day before the first of the lawsuits was set for trial in San Diego Superior Court.

The bankruptcy immediately halted all litigation, a plus for the church. But almost from the start, one misstep after another dogged the diocese in bankruptcy court.

Formal reports of all church assets, required by federal law, were deemed incomplete and had to be amended four times.

Adler, whose handling of the case was widely praised by lawyers and experts, called the diocese's accounting system “byzantine.” She ordered a forensic accountant to examine the nearly 900 bank accounts for the diocese.

That turned into a crucial event in the case, experts said.

A report by financial expert R. Todd Neilson, a former FBI agent, found that the diocese had claimed the assets of its 98 parishes as its own in applications to banks and bond markets. But in bankruptcy court, the church asserted the parish funds were separate and could not be tapped for any settlement.The diocese also was not reporting accurate values for its properties, failed to keep parishes from hiding money from the court and was not properly accounting for all its money, Neilson found.

Several bankruptcy experts said the diocese might not have been prepared for the kind of scrutiny its internal operations would receive once it moved from the insular world of the church to the wide-open forum of federal court.
“In church law, the bishop is in complete control,” said Fred Naffziger, a business law professor at Indiana University South Bend who has studied the four other Catholic bankruptcies that proceeded the San Diego filing. “So they exist in this environment where the bishop is never questioned. And sometimes they have difficulty when they have to shift into an environment where they have to disclose things.”

Scott Ehrlich, a professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego, said he was optimistic at first that the Chapter 11 filing would work well for the diocese. He soon changed his mind.

“They had an excellent opportunity to begin the whole settlement process back in February, but they did not do that,” he said. “They just used the bankruptcy process to prolong things.”

Ehrlich and others said Adler's firmness was a key factor in resolving the case.

“I give her an A-plus,” he said. “No bankruptcy judge likes to have debtors who are not forthright and not cooperative. The whole nature of the proceeding is when you put yourself in front of the court, you have to be honest and cooperative.”
As painful as it was, Naffziger said, one good thing came out of the process: the settlement of all the lawsuits. That should not be overlooked, he said, even though it will be a “tremendous financial blow to the diocese.”

That high cost will be felt by Catholics in San Diego, the nation's largest diocese to declare bankruptcy, and across the nation.

“They kept shooting themselves in the foot,” mused Zech, the economics professor. “They hurt the credibility of every diocese in the country.”
Greg Moran: greg.moran@uniontrib.com

Caritas International voert campagne tegen honger
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans 10 sep '07

BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) - Van 11 tot 22 september voert Caritas International campagne tegen de honger onder het motto ’Honger is een noodloot. U kunt er iets aan doen!’. De katholieke internationale hulporganisatie focust op drie prioritaire programma’s in DR Congo, Ethiopië en Niger

Honger is weliswaar een complex probleem, maar oplosbaar als we de verschillende oorzaken aanpakken, stelt de organisatie. Caritas International heeft dan ook een breed gamma van hulpprogramma’s op verschillende domeinen (landbouw, gezondheid en onderwijs), aangepast aan de lokale context. ....verder lezen

foto:James Nachtwey, Hunger.
Nachtwey: "I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated. "

Armen en misdeelden zoeken water en het is er niet, hun tong is door dorst verdroogd. Ik, de heer, zal hen verhoren; Ik, de God van Israël, verlaat hen niet.

Op kale plekken laat Ik beken ontspringen, en bronnen midden in de vlakten. Van de woestijn maak Ik een aterplas, het dorre land in de woestijn wordt een waterader.

Ik plant ceder en acacia, mirte en olijf; Ik zal in het dorre land cypressen zetten, olmen en buksbomen, alles bijeen.

Jesaja 41,17-20

En de volgende miljoenenschikking: 11 zaken, 8 priesters en 15 miljoen$

Ga niet meer slapen
De ochtendbries heeft geheimen
en wil ze kwijt aan jou.
Ga niet meer slapen.
Vraag wat je werkelijk wilt.
Schaduwen lopen heen en weer over de drempel
waar de twee werelden elkaar raken.
Daar is het gat van de deur,
hij staat open voor jou.
Ga niet meer slapen.

Rumi (1207 – 1273)

SAN BERNARDINO - The Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino has agreed to pay more than $15 million to settle 11 cases of alleged sexual abuse of a minor by a priest, it announced Friday.

The "agreement in principle" is San Bernardino's share of a massive $198 million settlement by the Diocese of San Diego to resolve the 144 cases it faces.

Under the agreement, the diocese does not admit guilt in any of the 11 cases, which involve eight priests.

"In one way, we may think that there is some conclusion to this sad and horrible part of the history and the life of the church of the United States and in the Diocese of San Bernardino," Bishop Gerald Barnes read from a prepared statement.
"However, healing is a continuous process, and we beg God to help us on this path."

Church officials announced the settlement on Friday afternoon at a press conference at the Pastoral Center in San Bernardino.
The bishop read a three-minute statement and then abruptly left the press conference, leaving his spokesman the Rev. Howard Lincoln to answer any questions from the media.

A significant amount of the settlement will be paid by insurance, with the balance to be funded by diocesan reserve funds, assets and possibly by financing, church officials said.

The diocese, with more than 1.2 million Catholics, also does not anticipate the agreement will result in any staff reductions or the closure of any diocesan facilities.
"We will be able to continue the overall mission of the church without a reduction in services," Lincoln said.

The settlement averages about $1.4 million per claimant, which is slightly higher than what plaintiffs received in other California settlements, according to the Associated Press.

"We shouldn't have had to go through all this," said Betty Schneider, 62, of Temecula, who claimed she was molested when she was 10 and a member of her church choir. "I have grandkids the same age I was, and I hope all this helps kids to be protected better than we were protected."

the millstone-project

Weekly donations made by parishioners will not be used to pay off the settlement, according to a diocesan statement.
The settlement resolves all but five cases, which were filed after 2003, facing the San Bernardino diocese.
Of the priests involved in the 11 settled cases, three are out of the ministry, one is incarcerated and one is retired out of state.
Additionally, one is deceased, and two are still in active ministry, church officials said.

The diocese does not believe the allegations against the two priests who are in active ministry are credible, Lincoln said.
San Bernardino and Riverside counties were part of the Diocese of San Diego until November 1978.
The Diocese of San Diego agreed to assume liability for cases involving alleged abuses that took place before San Bernardino became a separate diocese.

Church officials outlined several efforts, such as fingerprinting, training, a toll-free hot line, counseling and monthly retreats to victims to restore faith and prevent further abuse of children.
"The Diocese of San Bernardino will continue to create a safe environment in our parishes and throughout the diocese, to educate children and parents to recognize dangerous situations and behaviors, and to work diligently to heal and care for those who have been abused by ministers of the church and others," Barnes said.

The agreement with the San Diego diocese came after two days of intense talks before a federal magistrate judge between the diocese, attorneys and some alleged victims, according to The Associated Press.

It caps more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts and comes six months after the diocese abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before the first of 42 lawsuits alleging sex abuse was scheduled for trial.

The diocese has been under pressure to reach a settlement.
It sought to shield its assets by declaring bankruptcy, but a judge recently threatened to dismiss the diocese's case if an agreement with sex-abuse plaintiffs was not struck by Tuesday, the AP reported.
The San Diego diocese had initially offered about $95million to settle the claims as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Claimants had sought about $200 million.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese settled 508 cases for $660million in July, two days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the first of 15 trials involving 172 abuse claimants.
The Diocese of Orange agreed to settle 90 claims for $100million in 2004 after a judge promised to set trial dates and begin the discovery process if settlement talks collapsed.
With nearly 1million Catholics and holdings throughout San Diego County, the diocese is by far the largest and wealthiest of the five U.S. dioceses to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the shadow of civil claims over sexual abuse.

Dioceses in Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; and Tucson, Ariz.; have already emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Davenport, Iowa, diocese, which faces claims from more than 150 people, is still in proceedings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact writer Mike Cruz at (909) 386-3880 or via e-mail at mike.cruz@sbsun.com.

En alweer een prachtig PR praatje en 2 priesters als knap kostbare herders nog steeds aan het werk. Alles liever dan een rechtszaak waarbij de informatie mbt die kerkelijke hierarchie wel op tafel komt.
Dan maar liever gelovigen die geloven dat hun "herders" kennelijk niet helemaal goed snik miljoenen over hebben en dus schikken.

En die slachtoffers?
Fasinerend hoe die in alle openheid steeds meer blijken te kunnen kiezen niet opnieuw slachtoffer te worden, van verzekeringen die de rechtszaken nodig hebben, of die kerk die die rechtszaken wenst te voorkomen, maar hun eigen doelen houden.

Er is veel bereikt.
Er is heel veel van door en met elkaar geleerd!

"wacht maar", zei Thomas Doyle, een paar jaar geleden, "wacht maar, tot Californie naar buiten komt"


"....I hope all this helps kids to be protected better than we were protected."

Weer een schikking ter voorkoming van rechtszaak: $198,100.000 Bisdom San Diego

$198.1-million settlement in San Diego priest abuse claims
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- After years of negotiations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego today announced a $198.1-million settlement with plaintiffs who said they were sexually abused by priests.

The agreement comes after several years of at times bitter negotiations between attorneys for the diocese and for 144 people who filed suit, claiming they were abused. At the end, negotiations were overseen by a federal judge.

The settlement came two months after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced it was settling more than 500 abuse cases for a total of $660 million.

The settlement is more than twice what the San Diego diocese offered before filing for bankruptcy protection in February, and is in line with the average settlement of about $1.3 million per victim in Los Angeles.

For months, San Diego diocese lawyers insisted the diocese did not have the insurance coverage or assets to make a larger settlement without crippling the church's spiritual and social-service efforts.

"This is a huge victory for brave, deeply hurt victims," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "Because of their courage, kids are safer today. Without their courage, dozens of predators might still be in parishes."

Asked about the dollar figure, Clohessy said, "No settlement is equitable. No amount of money can restore shattered dreams or stolen childhoods."

As part of its bankruptcy filing, the San Diego diocese had offered a settlement of about $95 million. But claimant attorneys protested that the figure was insultingly low and that the diocese had purposely underreported its financial worth.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge had threatened to throw out the diocese's bankruptcy filing as "forum shopping" and accused the diocese of trying to use the bankruptcy process to settle with victims for as little as possible.

Judge Louise De Carl Adler said that the diocese settlement offer of $95 million was "far below the historic statewide average" of payments made to victims of clerical abuse. She also criticized the diocese's financial record-keeping as Byzantine.

Adler ruled two weeks ago that 42 of the lawsuits could go to trial, which was seen as a prod to the diocese to settle.

The diocese, with nearly 1 million Catholics, had filed for bankruptcy protection on the eve of the first such trial.

Filing for bankruptcy protection put the lawsuits on hold; claimants said the diocese was trying to shield Bishop Robert Brom from testifying.

"We pray that this settlement will bring some closure and healing to the years of suffering experienced by these victims," Brom said in a statement.
tony.perry@latimes.com


washingtonpost:

Diocese Settles Abuse Claims for $198M

SAN DIEGO -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed Friday to pay nearly $200 million to 144 people who were sexually abused by clergy members, the second-largest payment since the U.S. abuse scandal erupted five years ago.

The $198.1 million agreement capped more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts and came six months after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before the first of 42 lawsuits was scheduled for trial.

Victims expressed relief that a settlement was reached _ but also anger that it took so long.
"They knew all along that I'd been molested, so to put me through this is unconscionable," said Michael Bang of Atlanta.

The diocese had sought to protect its assets in bankruptcy court, but quickly found it a rough venue before a judge who criticized the church for bookkeeping practices, undervaluing real estate holdings and failing to disclose facts.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler recently threatened to dismiss the case if an agreement was not struck by Tuesday in a last-ditch round of talks before a federal magistrate judge. Several victims also participated in the negotiations.

The San Diego diocese initially offered about $95 million to settle the claims. The victims were seeking about $200 million. verder...

Archdiocese seeks a settlement as 500 sex abuse cases head for trial - Los Angeles Times

Na jaren obstructie door Mahony van zovele zaken is het dan haast zover, en is het de vraag: worden er deals met de slachtoffers gesloten of komt het tot rechtszaken.

Jarenlang heeft Mahony iedere mogelijkheid gebruikt om geen files openbaar te hoeven maken. Het zou om persoonlijke informatie gaan.
Er werd getracht het Grand Jury onderzoek te boycotten, maar stap voor stap werd in rechszaken afgedwongen dat die files er moesten komen.
Tot uiteindelijk nog jarenlange uitstel door Mahony welke dit over de laatste 16 files uitvocht tot aan het Hoogste Gerechtshof aan toe.

Hij verloor.
Met Mahony verloor de Kerk behalve kapitalen aan advocaten en procedures vertrouwen.

Al jaren terug voorspelde Father Thomas Doyle: wacht maar, tot LA in de openbaarheid komt. Daar verbleekt de situatie rond kardinaal Law bij.

En nu al is, niet in de laatste plaats door het Grand Jury onderzoek en Mahony's laatste gevechtsjaren om de uitspraken van het Hoogste Rechtscollege, dat hij ook daarin gelijk te krijgen.

Jarenlange druk en minachting voor slachtoffers, ( en daders! ) onder het mom van persoonlijke files, voor een cover-up van dat wat duidelijk moet maken wat de kerk en de verantwoordelijke hierarchie wist. Hoe het mogelijk werd gemaakt, regelmatig tientallen jaren, dat misbruikers hun gang konden gaan, overgeplaatst werden, er gezwegen werd, er nieuwe slachtoffers gemaakt konden worden.
Stapje voor stapje werd Mahony, door slachtoffers en verzekeringen, juridisch gedwongen tot openheid.

En nu zijn het opnieuw de slachtoffers die onder zware druk worden gezet.
Door de Kerk, die - KASSA - weet dat zij alle belangen heeft bij het sluiten van deals, daar na jaren obstructie en minachting van dat wat slachtoffers nodig hebben, haast probeert achter te zetten.

Afkoopsommen of worden het toch rechtszaken en daarmee de openbaarheid en de langverwachtte en gehoopte openheid en duidelijkheid over wat de Kerk wist?

-De verzekeringen hebben alle belangen bij de rechtszaken,
-(een deel van) de kerkelijke hierarchie, waaronder zeker kardinaal Mahony over zijn rol en die van zijn voorganger, bij deals
-slachtoffers,uit het verleden en die toekomst, zelfs daders en het Recht , volgens velen in de Kerk ook die Kerk, hebben alle belang bij de rechtszaken en de duidelijkheid, dus de maatregelen die hiermee gevonden kunnen worden voor de toekomst.
- En op de achtergrond nog steeds die vraag naar de kennis, betrokkenheid en verantwoordelijkheid van Rome. Daarmee naar de juridische aanprakelijkheid.

En wat kost de Rooms Katholieke Kerkelijke moraal ? de algemen vraag geworden.

Toen Doyle (1985) met zijn alarmerende rapport aan de bisschoppen kwam, hen dit daarmee voorrekendend,
werd hem lacherig gemijterd duidelijk gemaakt dat het toch ondenkbaar was dat slachtoffers de Kerk een proces zouden aandoen.
Dat ondenkbare is mogelijk gebleken.
Dat ondenkbare groeit, nog steeds. Als je niet uitkijkt komt het mbt. de VS zelfs van verveling m'n neus uit.

Wat er rond LA , Mahony en diens voorganger(s), de komende maanden, ongetwijfeld naar buiten zal komen, is, helaas, niet meer ondenkbaar.
Het zal ongetwijfeld de reeds bekende zaken en patronen slechts bevestigen.
O'Grady's verhaal, de rechtszaak en de documentaire Deliver us from Evil hebben een al bekend patroon al zo duidelijk gemaakt, zoals de zaak tegen Sylvester, Geoghan en zovele anderen.
Het Grand Jury rapport.
Krankzinning en sinister jezelf af te vragen of je er nog geschokt door zal zijn....

Inmiddels is ook de vraag naar de kennis en verantwoordelijkheid van Rome niet meer ondenkbaar. De vraag lijkt alleen nog maar: hoe en wanneer? En dan?

Maar waar deze individuele slachtoffers,hun families en gezinnen, na al die jaren van minachting, het meest belang bij zullen hebben?

Uiteindelijk zijn zij degene die -en dat al jaren en jaren lang- het meest betalen!
En dat is, met of zonder deal, met of zonder rechtzaak, diep en diep misdadig!
*******************

The payout could go as high as half a billion dollars, the largest in the country.
'The day of reckoning is near,' says a lawyer for plaintiffs.
By Joe MozingoTimes Staff Writer
July 9, 2007

After more than four years of negotiation, pressure is mounting fast to settle some 500 claims that the Los Angeles Archdiocese failed to protect children from clergy abuse, before the first trial begins this month.
"We know it's soon. We know it's inevitable. The day of reckoning is drawing near," said Jeffrey Anderson, a Minnesota lawyer who represents hundreds of alleged victims of clergy abuse in California and elsewhere.
The potential payout is staggering, at more than half a billon dollars by far the largest of any diocese in the country resulting from the Roman Catholic Church abuse scandal.

Already, the archdiocese, insurers and several Catholic orders have agreed to pay more than $114 million to settle 86 claims.If the remaining cases go to trial, jury awards could be much larger, particularly when claimants seek punitive damages.
A jury in New York, for instance, ordered the Diocese of Rockville Centre in May to pay $5.9 million to one victim and $5.5 million to another. If an agreement can be reached before trial in Los Angeles, victims are expected to garner an average of slightly more than $1 million each, based on the cases that have been settled so far.

Going to trial would also force top officials, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, to testify publicly about what they knew about the abuse and what, if anything, they did to stop it.

Mahony is expected to be called to the stand in the first trial, involving two decades of alleged abuse by the late Father Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987, two years after Mahony became archbishop in Los Angeles. Thirteen more trials are scheduled to begin by January.

"It's still my goal to reach an agreement before the first trials begin, but many, many pieces have to come together before that can happen," said J. Michael Hennigan, who represents Mahony and the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

Hennigan declined to give details or comment further about the case because it "might have an impact on the ongoing discussions.

"Mahony has waged a protracted court battle to keep church personnel documents from victims, their lawyers, prosecutors and the public. But the courts ruled in a Los Angeles case that grand juries investigating crimes and civil lawyers preparing for trial were entitled to the information.

Attorneys for the accusers say any settlement agreement would include a stipulation that the church release the files publicly. However, individual clergy could contest the disclosures on privacy grounds.

Settlement negotiations have been complex, with more than 60 attorneys seeking differing sums for more than 570 claims of abuse occurring over 70 years by 221 accused perpetrators.

The church has blamed its insurers for failing to pay the major share of the settlements.

The insurers, in turn, have questioned whether Mahony willfully withheld information about the abuse from them and say they don't have to pay if the church officials' actions were criminal.

"This could be a Katrina moment for the insurers," said Pamela D. Hayes, an attorney who served on the National Lay Review Board, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to study the abuse scandal. "They're fighting
to the very end.

"In Orange County, insurers and the Diocese of Orange ended a similar standoff in 2005 when they agreed to split a $100-million settlement for 90 victims roughly 50-50.

But in San Diego earlier this year, Bishop Robert H. Brom announced that his diocese would file for bankruptcy rather than go to trial, putting the cases there on hold while a judge examines diocesan finances.

A Times analysis published in December 2006 showed that the Los Angeles Archdiocese has vast wealth, owning at least 1,600 properties with an estimated value of $4 billion.

Victims groups blame the Los Angeles church for continuing to stonewall.
"The fact that this trial [Hagenbach] would be the first ever priest-pedophile abuse trial in Los Angeles is very telling," said Mary Grant, Western regional director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

"I think if there is a way to delay this trial, we believe Cardinal Mahony will use whatever tactics he can to keep the crimes hidden to keep him from having to testify in open court about what he and church officials knew and what they failed to do to protect kids from predators," Grant said.

Tod Tamberg, Mahony's spokesman, said, "The vast majority of these cases predate Mahony, and many of them have nothing in their files."
In the case of Hagenbach, he noted that Mahony moved from the Stockton Diocese to Los Angeles in 1985, less than two years before the priest died.
"There were 2,000 priests back then," Tamberg said. "He didn't know any of these guys. And the first complaint about Hagenbach came in 2002."

Tamberg said that the archdiocese has been working to settle the cases but that their sheer number and the complexity of the litigation in Los Angeles are far greater than in any other diocese in the nation.

He noted that it is not yet clear even what the exact number of claims against the church is.
"Complex negotiations do take time, yes, especially when you're a Catholic church with limited resources," he said.
Mahony wants to minimize any loss of services to parishioners, Tamberg added. "Our parishes and schools are not there to produce revenue for us. They're there to educate children and provide spiritual welfare for the Catholic people.
"Many observers expect a settlement before or during the Hagenbach trial, either a so-called global settlement for all the cases or the first of a string of settlements. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz last week pushed the trial back a week, saying there were not enough potential jurors after the Fourth of July holiday.

But the delay prompted some observers to speculate that the parties were on the verge of a settlement and needed a few more days.
Jury selection is set to begin July 17.

Anderson, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said he doubted Mahony would want to wait for opening arguments."That's an opportunity for us to lay out a long, sordid scenario," said Anderson. "Their exposure is extraordinary."

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Clergy sexual abuse settlements

Geen financiële steun Kerk meer voor Amnesty International

Wegens pro-abortus houding
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans wo 13 jun '07 om 14:27u

VATICAANSTAD (RKnieuws.net) - De mensenrechtenorganisatie Amnesty International moet niet langer meer rekenen op financiële steun van de rooms-katholieke Kerk omdat de organisatie is toegetreden tot het kamp van de voorstanders van abortus. Dat heeft het Vaticaan vandaag medegedeeld.


Het Vaticaan heeft de katholieken ook opgeroepen de mensenrechtenorganisatie niet langer financieël te steunen.


Amnesty zelf zegt in een reactie nooit financiële steun van het Vaticaan te hebben gekregen.

Kardinaal Martino, voorzitter van de pauselijke raad Rechtvaardigheid en Vrede, verklaarde dat de maatregel het "onvermijdbare gevolg" is van de recente beslissing van Amnesty International om de toegang tot abortus te promoten voor vrouwen die het slachtoffer werden van verkrachting of waarvan de gezondheid in gevaar is door zwangerschap. Kardinaal Martino zei niet welke bedragen de Kerk eerder aan de mensenrechtenorganisatie heeft geschonken.

In 1996 nam het Vaticaan een soortgelijke maatregel tegen Unicef, het kinderfonds van de Verenigde Naties, eveneens wegens promotie van abortus.

Tot dan kreeg Unicef jaarlijks 2.000 dollar van het Vaticaan. (tb)


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Amnesty zet zich sinds 1961 in voor de bescherming van mensenrechten wereldwijd. Duizenden slachtoffers van vervolging, discriminatie en marteling putten hoop uit de acties van Amnesty. Amnesty is onpartijdig en onafhankelijk.

Daarom neemt de organisatie ook geen geld aan van regeringen of politieke groeperingen, of van bedrijven waarvan niet zeker is of die de mensenrechten respecteren. Daarom zijn wij voor ons werk afhankelijk voor mensen zoals u.

Word daarom nú lid. Als lid betaalt u contributie (bijvoorbeeld € 4,50 per maand, maar andere bedragen zijn ook welkom). Na aanmelding ontvangt u een welkomstpakket.

Vrouwen actief voor mensenrechten

Wereldwijd verzetten vrouwen zich tegen het geweld dat hen wordt aangedaan.

Zij richten organisaties op om vrouwen op de vlucht voor huiselijk geweld, verkrachting en seksueel (oorlogs)geweld op te vangen en te begeleiden. Vrouwen zijn prominent in de campagne tegen hiv/aids, racisme en politieke onderdrukking.

Vrouwenbesnijdenis wordt aan de kaak gesteld en overal ter wereld komen vrouwelijke advocaten op voor politieke gevangenen.

Vrouwenactivisten maken zich niet alleen sterk voor de rechten van vrouwen, maar zij verzetten zich bijvoorbeeld ook tegen corrupte rechtssystemen, milieuvervuiling en slechte arbeidsomstandigheden.

Behalve dat het activistenwerk zwaar is, boeken de vrouwen ook vooruitgang. In vele landen worden wetten tegen huiselijk geweld aangenomen.

Verkrachting tijdens conflictsituaties is door toedoen van de internationale vrouwen- en mensenrechtenbeweging als misdaad tegen de menselijkheid erkend.




Verkrachting als wapen in Darfur

Verkrachtingen van vrouwen en meisjes in Darfur blijven voortduren.

Dit ondanks herhaaldelijke internationale beloftes een eind te maken aan de misstanden in deze Sudanese regio.



Dat zegt Artsen Zonder Grenzen vandaag in een rapport over seksueel geweld.

Vluchtelingenkampen
Ruim twee miljoen mensen zijn inmiddels door het aanhoudende geweld gevlucht uit hun geplunderde steden, op zoek naar veiligheid. Maar ondanks werkbezoeken van wereldleiders en hulporganisaties hebben de vluchtelingen in de kampen veelvuldig te maken met aanhoudend geweld, waaronder verkrachtingen.

Om in hun levensonderhoud te voorzien moeten families af en toe het vluchtelingenkamp verlaten om hout te verzamelen, het land te bewerken of om water te halen. Vrouwen nemen hierbij het risico zichzelf en hun kinderen bloot te stellen aan het gevaar van verkrachting en ander geweld door, hoogstwaarschijnlijk, Arabische milities.

Verkrachtingen vormen een ernstige bedreiging voor de gezondheid van de vrouwen, temeer omdat adequate gezondheidszorg grotendeels ontbreekt.

Artsen Zonder Grenzen
Tussen oktober 2004 en februari 2005 hebben dokters van Artsen Zonder Grenzen bijna 500 verkrachtingsslachtoffers in Darfur behandeld.

Ton Koene is coördinator van de noodhulp in onder andere Darfur, vanuit Nederland begeleidt hij sinds een jaar het project van Artsen Zonder Grenzen. Onlangs was Koene in Darfur waar hij onderstaande foto’s maakte.

Grote schaamte en angst bij de slachtoffers van seksueel geweld leidt er volgens Koene toe dat de vrouwen zelden medische hulp zoeken. Artsen Zonder Grenzen schat het totale aantal slachtoffers van verkrachting dan ook veel hoger in.


De leeftijd van de slachtoffers, sommigen zelfs hoogzwanger, varieert tussen de 12 en 45 jaar oud, de gemiddelde leeftijd is 27.

Bijna negentig procent van de slachtoffers zegt te zijn verkracht buiten een dorp of stad. Ruim één op de vier is meer dan een keer verkracht en veelal door meerdere daders.

Tijdens de verkrachtingen krijgen de vrouwen ook te maken met excessief geweld: ze worden geslagen met stokken, riemen en bijlen. Sommige vrouwen werden ontvoerd, enkele dagen vastgehouden en meermalen verkracht.

"Het gebeurde in augustus toen we de stad uitgingen om op het land te werken. Vijf Arabische mannen kwamen op ons af en vroegen waar onze mannen waren. Ze vertelden ons dat we seks met ze moesten hebben. Toen we weigerden sloegen en verkrachtten ze ons.

Nadat ze ons misbruikt hadden, zeiden ze dat we nu Arabische baby's zouden krijgen. En als ze nog meer zwarte vrouwen zouden zien, worden ook zij verkracht om de huidskleur van de kinderen te veranderen", aldus één van de verkrachte vrouwen in het rapport.

Daders
De daders zijn bewapende mannen, meestal militairen van het Sudanese leger. Veel slachtoffers melden dat familieleden of vrienden werden geslagen en naar de verkrachtingen moesten kijken.

De gevolgen: naast gebroken botten en het gevaar van HIV-besmetting blijven de vrouwen nog vele jaren getraumatiseerd. Daarnaast worden de vrouwen veelal gestigmatiseerd door hun eigen gemeenschap en soms verbannen uit het dorp.

“In een islamitisch land als Sudan is sex voor het huwelijk een groot taboe. Daarom worden vrouwen die zijn verkracht veelal uitgesloten en gestigmatiseerd door de eigen gemeenschap,” aldus Koene.

Slachtoffers zeggen bang te zijn om naar de politie of de lokale autoriteiten te stappen. Vrouwen vrezen, in plaats van steun te krijgen, gestraft te worden voor illegale zwangerschap.

Meer aandacht
Een aantal organisaties, waaronder Artsen Zonder Grenzen, vraagt nu meer aandacht voor de verkrachtingen om de regering van Sudan onder druk te zetten.

Lokale autoriteiten dienen deze vorm van geweld niet meer te tolereren en moeten ervoor zorgen dat de daders niet meer ongestraft blijven. De (medische) zorg voor de slachtoffers wordt uitgebreid en er moet een eind komen aan de sociale uitsluiting van de slachtoffers.

Artsen Zonder Grenzen behandelt volgens Koene de wonden van de slachtoffers en artsen proberen de medische zorg uit te breiden. Hieronder valt ook de behandeling tegen SOA's als HIV en het verstrekken van morning afterpillen.
Bron: Artsen Zonder Grenzen










AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

6 juni 2007 Gedetailleerde satellietbeelden zijn Amnesty's nieuwste wapen in de strijd voor veiligheid van de burgers in Darfur. Op de website Eyes on Darfur kan iedereen 24 uur per dag de situatie in 12 dorpen in de regio in de gaten houden.

Het project Eyes on Darfur is een nieuw onderdeel van Amnesty's wereldwijde campagne om de mensenrechtenschendingen in Darfur tot een halt te brengen.

In 2003 en 2004 publiceerde Amnesty als een van de eersten ooggetuigenverslagen uit de regio die waarschuwden voor een op handen zijnde humanitaire ramp.

Het onthullen van de extreme gewelddadigheden leidde tot wereldwijd bewustzijn over de crisis in Darfur.

Satelliet
Het nieuwste wapen in de strijd voor bescherming van de burgers van Darfur is een satellietcamera die kwetsbare dorpen in de regio monitort.

Amnesty roept iedereen op om op de website Eyes on Darfur de situatie in de 12 dorpen te bewaken en zo de Sudanese overheid het signaal te geven dat de schendingen in Darfur niet langer ongezien blijven.

Meer informatieLees het Engelstalige persbericht. Meer over de situatie in Darfur vindt u in het landendossier Sudan.