- Support victims of abuse by clergy and religious within the Catholic Church and their families by working toward their healing, honoring their rights and working for due process for the accused;
- Support and recognize priests, religious and people who have spoken truth to the darkness of abuse in the Church;
- Support and promote policies and programs within the Church to protect our children and vulnerable adults.
Court Finds Priests Can Be Seen As 'Employees' Of The Vatican
PORTLAND (OR)OPB News
BY KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL
Portland, OR March 5, 2009 6:01 a.m.
LawCourt Finds Priests Can Be Seen As 'Employees' Of The Vaticanyers who've been suing churches over the sexual abuse of children, are buzzing with a new court ruling that the Vatican can be sued over the behavior of priests. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.
NAPSAC Documentaries Airing on PBS This February
Twin Cities VOTF recommends viewing two NAPSAC documentaries which are airing on all 6 tptMN stations simultaneously Feb 27 and 28:
Diane Knight Named New Chair of The National Review Board
WASHINGTON—Social worker Diane Knight of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been appointed the next chair of the National Review Board (NRB) by Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The retired Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and member of the National Review Board since June of 2007, Ms. Knight will succeed its current chair, Judge Michael Merz, at the conclusion of his term following the June 2009 meeting of the USCCB. In making the appointment, Cardinal George stated that he is very grateful that Ms. Knight, with her dedication to the mission of the Church and her experience in the protection of children and young people, has agreed to serve as the chair of the NRB. Ms. Knight spent the first 20 years of her career in social work directly involved in child protection and related services for Milwaukee County. She currently serves on the Community Advisory Board, which, along with the Archdiocesan Review Board, advises the Milwaukee Archbishop on child and youth protection and victim outreach, and on the Milwaukee Area Review Board, which advises orders of Catholic religious men and brothers in the area of child and youth protection. She also served on the Code of Ethics Task Force of Catholic Charities USA. Ms. Knight holds a master's degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Maine bishop threatens to punish vocal activist
By DAVID SHARP
The Associated Press
Monday, December 29, 2008
PORTLAND, Maine — The leader of Maine's Roman Catholics has taken the unusual step of threatening to punish an outspoken advocate for people who were sexually abused by priests, possibly by denying him communion. ...
Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer and former dean of Duquesne Law School, said he had never heard of a bishop using church law, in this case the threat of an "interdict," against activists.
"It's extremely unusual," said Cafardi, who was an original member of the National Review Board, the lay panel the U.S. bishops created in 2001 to monitor their response to the abuse scandal.
The Rev. Tom Doyle, a Virginia priest and advocate for victims who is representing Kendrick, said the church has threatened to prevent Kendrick from receiving Holy Communion if he doesn't comply. Doyle said he can't find any basis for the diocese's actions, but he said church leaders have been angered by the aggressive tactics of some activists. Doyle said his work with abuse victims cost him a promising career as a canon lawyer in the church.
To read the full story click on this url: http://www.dailyadvance.com/news/nation/ maine-bishop-threatens-to-punish-vocal-activist-338909.html
To hear Paul Kendrick on NPR follow this link: http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNews/tabid/ 181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/1858/ItemId/8740/Default.aspx
Church Critic Told to Keep His Distance
PORTLAND (ME) - Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
By his own admission, he's long been a thorn in the side of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. But in all the years he's spent lambasting the church hierarchy on behalf of those sexually abused by its priests, Paul Kendrick never thought it would come to this.
"Over the past years, it has become apparent that you are unwilling to cease from publicly slandering and defaming (Bishop Richard Malone's) character," stated a recent letter to Kendrick from the Rev. Andrew Dubois, the diocese's vicar general. "This is a cause of great scandal, which may impede (Malone's) effective ministry."
It was not an idle observation. Attached to Dubois' letter was a "canonical precept," or order, from Malone mandating that Kendrick "abstain from all verbal and written communication and physical contact with me."
Malone's precept also prohibits Kendrick from being "present in the same building with me (or) within 500 feet of me in public places."
To read the full story click on this url: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=230213&ac=PHnw
Priest was among first to address abuse issue
Integrity award will strike a new note for the priest best known as the founder of the Basilica Block Party.
By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune
The Rev. Michael O'Connell has gotten plenty of public acknowledgment for launching the Basilica Block Party, a concert designed to raise awareness and money for the Basilica of St. Mary that in the process has turned into an annual musical highlight.
Now he's finally getting accolades for something he did in private. On Sunday afternoon at the basilica, he will receive a Priest of Integrity award for leading the charge in dealing with clergy sexual abuse issues, not only in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis but also nationwide.
"It was through his efforts that this archdiocese was one of the first to have a policy on education of all church leaders as well as clear steps for reporting any abuse," said the Twin Cities chapter of the Voice of the Faithful, a Roman Catholic lay group, in nominating O'Connell for the award. "Had other dioceses moved as quickly and openly, perhaps the abuse would have been mitigated much sooner than it was."
more
Suffering in silence: 3 women tell story of sex abuse by nun
Fri Sep 26, 2008
Decades after they were allegedly sexually abused by a nun, three women announced Thursday they have reached a settlement with the Sisters of St. Francis in Rochester. The women -- Karen Britten of... more...
Recent Developments Regarding Clergy Child Abuse: How They Reveal Both Good and Bad News
How They Reveal Both Good and Bad News About the Chances of Getting Justice for Abuse Survivors and Preventing Future Abuse
List of accused clergy from Diocese of Davenport, Iowa
DAVENPORT (IA)
The Catholic Messenger
BishopAccountability.org
List released of accused clergy
The Catholic Messenger
July 17, 2008
The Diocese of Davenport has prepared the following list of clergy who have been found to have credible allegations of sexual abuse against them. The list is being released as part of the diocese's non-monetary undertakings of its bankruptcy settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
U.S. Bishops Accused of Abuse
UNITED STATES
Bishop Accountability
U.S. Bishops Accused of Abuse
In the sexual abuse crisis, attention has focused on priests who have
sexually abused children; the problem of bishops and major superiors who
abuse has not received systematic scrutiny. Yet a bishop who is himself
guilty of child abuse, or who has other violations of celibacy to conceal,
has compromised his role in the formation of his priests and in assigning
them properly. Bishops who sexually abuse seminarians, as Anthony J.
O'Connell has admitted doing, may establish a generational pattern of
