Curia’s Response Team investigating another priest for sexual abuse

Amplify’d from www.independent.com.mt

Curia’s Response Team investigating another priest

The Curia’s Response Team is investigating another priest over involvement in sex abuse at St Joseph’s Home, Lawrence Grech, one of the sexually abused victims, told this newspaper yesterday.

“I was recently informed that Mgr Charles Scicluna (the Vatican’s sex crime chief prosecutor) has asked the Curia’s Response Team to investigate Fr Conrad Sciberras’ behaviour when he stayed at St Joseph’s Home around 20 years ago.

“Last October, we victims received a letter, signed by Fr Louis Mallia, the regional superior of the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP), informing us that the allegations against this priest are founded.

“I remember that this priest didn’t live permanently at the Home, but since he was a friend of Mr Pulis, he would come over and stay at the Home in summer. His duties revolved around supervising young boys.

“He is being accused of fondling four boys, on separate occasions, in the sea in Marfa, which is where he used to take us to swim in summer. His actions were witnessed by two other former residents of the Home, who have recently recounted to Mgr Scicluna what they saw happen,” Mr Grech said.

When the cases of long-running sexual abuse at the St Joseph Home were made public in 2003, this priest, thought to be in his 50s, was alleged to have fled to Italy before the police charged the now defrocked Charles Pulis, Fr Godwin Scerri and Brother Joseph Bonett (since deceased) with sexually abusing up to 11 boys.

When The Malta Independent published his name a few months ago, the priest in question wrote a letter, through his lawyer, informing this newspaper that he was never contacted by the police, that there are no criminal charges pending against him and that he had never fled to Italy. He also threatened legal action against this newspaper if he is again implicated in the sex abuse crimes which took place at St Joseph’s Home.

He added that he was serving in Rome years before the accusations first surfaced, where he has continued to be based. He added that he comes to Malta regularly and is constantly in touch with the MSSP, of which he is a member.

A week ago, Mr Pulis, 65, and who recently resided at St Agatha Convent in Rabat, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of abusing nine boys.

Fr Godwin Scerri, 76, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after the court found him guilty of sexually abusing two boys.

The Curia’s PRO could not be reached yesterday for comment. Questions sent to his e-mail address also remained unanswered.

The MSSP superior was also unreachable. Read more at www.independent.com.mt

 

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Vatican’s probe of fourth priest is still ‘pending’ for sexually abusing young boys in their care

Amplify’d from www.timesofmalta.com

Vatican’s probe of fourth priest is still ‘pending’

Response Team established allegations were ‘founded’

by Christian Peregin

The Vatican is still reviewing the case against a fourth Maltese priest who was implicated in the scandal that has seen two priests being sentenced to prison last week for sexually abusing young boys in their care.

Fr Conrad Sciberras was implicated in the testimonies and reports submitted by some of the victims who used to live at St Joseph Home, Sta Venera, and grouped together to expose the abuse.

Fr Sciberras was never brought to justice because the allegations made against him were time-barred, according to the victims’ lawyer, Patrick Valentino. Fr Sciberras was not interrogated by the police either.

In the case of the other two priests – Charles Pulis, who has since been defrocked, and Fr Godwin Scerri – some of the claims were recent enough to tie all the allegations together.

There was a third cleric, Bro. Joseph Bonnet, from St Joseph Home, who faced court charges but died before the Vatican or the courts concluded their cases.

“The case against Fr Sciberras is still pending,” sources at the Vatican said yesterday, without giving any more details.

Fr Sciberras had been mentioned in a letter to the abuse victims by the Missionary Society of St Paul. The letter said the allegations were investigated and the Response Team established they were “founded”.

Like the other priests involved in the scandal, as a precautionary measure Fr Sciberras was immediately prevented from working with children as soon as the allegations surfaced.

Although he had been thought to have fled Malta not to face charges, his superior general, Fr Bernard Mangion, had explained last year he had been serving at Casa Generalizia, on the outskirts of Rome, since 1999, four years before the accusations first surfaced. Fr Mangion said Fr Sciberras denies the allegations.

But Lawrence Grech, one of the victims who reported abuse by Fr Sciberras, has challenged him to face his alleged victims. “He’s saying the allegations are untrue. We are ready to meet and challenge him.”

Mr Grech called for the Church to conclude its investigations for the victims to be able to get the closure they need.

Questions about Fr Sciberras’s case sent yesterday to the Vatican, the Church in Malta and the police remained unanswered. Efforts to contact Fr Mangion proved futile. Read more at www.timesofmalta.com

 

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Pope Benedict XVI has often been critical of financiers, blaming them for helping to the start the global financial crisis.

Amplify’d from news.ph.msn.com

Vatican banker slams Europe, US over debt crisis

The head of the Vatican bank criticised "harmful" European bailouts of debt-stricken economies and "self-limiting" US policies to promote growth through debt, in interviews published this week.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Institute for Works of Religion, the Vatican state bank which manages the accounts of major Catholic religious orders, said private savings should be used to boost growth instead of cutting debt.

"If resources have to be taken away from families, why not immediately use them to promote economic growth? Why use them to reduce debt?... It is 1,000 times better to use them for growth," Gotti Tedeschi told Vatican radio.

In another interview with the Vatican official daily Osservatore Romano on Monday, Gotti Tedeschi criticised the European bailouts as "inflationary manoeuvres to reduce debt and uncertainty" that were ultimately "harmful".

"By using for example 10 percent of family savings in a country for healthy and market-leading medium-sized businesses... it would be possible to put major capital at the disposal of tens of thousands of companies," he said.

The pope's banker also criticised the United States for its policy of "keeping gross domestic product growth high by supporting it with debt."

Major economic powers should agree "that only a period of austerity, managed with integrity, can be the real key towards restoring growth," he added.

Pope Benedict XVI has often been critical of financiers, blaming them for helping to the start the global financial crisis. Read more at news.ph.msn.com

 

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Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during 'MAG✠S,' organized by Jesuits

via inquisitionnews.amplify.com

Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during ‘MAG✠S,’ organized by Jesuits

Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during ‘MAG✠S,’ organized by Jesuits

Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during 'MAGIS,' organized by Jesuits

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:



Magi \Ma"gi\, noun pl. [L., pl. of Magus, Gr. ?; of Per. origin. Cf. {Mage}, {Magic}.] A caste of priests, philosophers, and magicians, among the ancient Persians; hence, any holy men or sages of the East.



The inspired Magi from the Orient came. --Sandys.



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



magus



noun



1: a magician or sorcerer of ancient times



2: a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persians [also: {magi} (pl)]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



Magi



noun: (New Testament) the sages who visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph shortly after Jesus was born; the Gospel According to Matthew says they were guided by a star and brought gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh; because there were three gifts it is usually assumed that there were three of them [syn: {Wise Men}]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



magi See {magus}



magisterial



adj

1 commanding; authoritative

2 domineering; dictatorial

3 of or relating to a teacher or person of similar status

4 of or relating to a magistrate

(C17: from Late Latin magisterialis, from magister master)

♦ magisterially adv

♦ magisterialness n



English Collins Dictionary - English Definition & Thesaurus

Amplify’d from www.romereports.com

Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during 'MAGIS,' organized by Jesuits

August 9, 2011. (Romereports.com) Roughly 1.5 million people are expected in this year's World Youth Day. But before that big event there's a smaller gathering leading up to the big one in Madrid. It's called MAGIS and it's organized by the Jesuit Order. It kicked off in the Sanctuary of Loyola in Spain, which is the birthplace of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits. More than 3,000 youths from 50 countries attended the opening ceremony which included a spectacle of dance, music and special effects. Then Adolfo Nicolás Pachón, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus celebrated Mass with the young crowd. The word MAGIS means 'more' in Latin, which is meant to represent the generosity and selflessness required when serving those in need. This week the group will spread out across 100 locations in Spain and Portugal, where it will take part in activities that deal with social service, art, spirituality, ecology, faith and culture. It's a way to instill values in the young adults while also helping those in need. On August 15th the group will arrive in Madrid, just in time for World Youth Day, which runs from the 16th to the 21st. KLH MAGIS JM BN Read more at www.romereports.com

 

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Thousands of youths get ready for WYD during 'MAGIS,' organized by Jesuits

Amplify’d from opinion.inquirer.net

Jesuit superior general in Tondo slum

By: Denis Murphy Philippine Daily Inquirer

FORTY YEARS ago the late Jesuit Fr. Joe Blanco and I had the honor of taking Fr. Pedro Arrupe, then the Jesuit superior general, to Tondo. We met the Zone One Tondo Organization leaders and Fr. Arrupe and the poor people discussed, among other matters, Marxism, armed struggle and the role of the Church in fighting poverty.

At that time in the Zone One area there were four priests helping the poor to organize their own people’s group. There was also a small convent of the Religious of the Good Shepherd who helped the organizing and took care of most other problems of the people. Now there are no priests or sisters in the urban poor area, except perhaps for Mass on Sundays.

We met Fr. Arrupe at the old Institute of Social Order on Padre Faura. Two Jesuits were sent with him by the Jesuit provincial, who, it seems, didn’t quite trust Fr. Blanco and me. We asked the two to wait at the ISO. Fr. Arrupe was excited as a boy on a picnic. He had been in meetings since he arrived in the country and was happy to be free to move around the city. He even enjoyed our mad dash to Tondo down Roxas Boulevard behind a careening bus that spouted so much foul exhaust it finally disappeared altogether in a black cloud.

Fr. Blanco arranged things in the ZOTO office while I took Fr. Arrupe around the area: Slip Zero, Pier Dos, Isla Puting Bato and Bonifacio Village (now called Parola). Some 30,000 poor families lived in Tondo at that time. I felt I was with a TV superstar, though few people had any idea of who Fr. Arrupe was, or what a Jesuit was for that matter. They saw a jolly man in his 60s, his thinning gray hair flying in the harbor breeze, with one of the most radiant, joyful smile anyone had ever seen. They crowded around, especially the children. He stopped to talk to people and was able to communicate with them in a mixture of Spanish and English. He held on to their hands while he talked to them. He had been a medical student in Madrid before he entered the Jesuits, so he took notice of the malnourished children, stagnant pools of water, the garbage everywhere—all speaking of disease.

He asked them about their incomes and other problems and their hopes in life for their children. He wasn’t shocked by the terrible poverty. Earlier in his life he was one of the first people to go to Hiroshima after the A-bomb attack. He had been stationed outside Hiroshima in the Jesuit novitiate. I thought I saw deep in his eyes traces of the horror he saw that day and the huge act of faith it took to believe God would someday renew this world.

I had some business in a nearby area, so I missed the beginning of the meeting with the ZOTO leaders, Trining Herrera, David Balondo, Pedro Timbolero and others. Fr. Blanco introduced Fr. Arrupe as a close friend of Pope Paul VI. The people met the Pope a year earlier in another part of Tondo. Later whenever the people wrote President Marcos about their problems, they sent the Pope a copy (“Copy furnished the pope,” they wrote at the bottom of their letters). Sometimes when Malacañang responded, they also added “copy furnished to pope.” Somewhere in the Vatican these old letters in Tagalog are filed away. Did anyone ever know what to do with them?

When I arrived in the ZOTO office, I found Fr. Arrupe and the ZOTO people discussing revolution and armed struggle. He wanted to know what ordinary urban poor people thought of these matters. He wanted to know what kind of world the poor people wanted. He gave the people his full attention and told stories of people he had met in other countries, especially in Latin America. The Tondo folk said they were open to armed struggle since nothing else seemed to work. They admired young people who joined the rebels.

When the people asked about Pope Paul, Fr. Arrupe was full of praise for him, though a gap was already opening between Pope Paul and himself  (and later between him and Pope John Paul II). Some Vatican officials thought Fr. Arrupe and the Jesuits were going beyond Church orthodoxy in several matters—for example, in their openness to the use of Marxist analysis.

We ate food the people brought from the local turo-turo and then a big crowd walked us out of the area. Fr. Arrupe shook every hand and kissed the children. We took him back to the ISO where the father provincial’s car was waiting.

Fr. Blanco and I arrived late at the airport on the day he left the country. When he saw us, he left the circle of Jesuit superiors and bishops he was with to hurry down to us. He told us to keep doing what we were doing in Tondo.

Fr. Blanco is dead. I am still working in the very same streets I walked with Fr. Arrupe that day. I sometimes think he is walking along with me, with his gracious smile for everyone we meet.

Fr. Arrupe had a stroke in 1981 and resigned as Jesuit superior general. He was able to speak until 1983, but the last eight years of his life were spent in silence.

His name is not mentioned often now. Perhaps 50 years from now, Fr. Arrupe’s memory will be revived and also the spirit of optimism and openness to change of Vatican II. Some consider him the very image of a Vatican II priest. They see in him the essential spirit of Vatican II.

Fr. Arrupe’s visit was in 1971. After that came martial law and 25 years of democratic government.

Denis Murphy works with the Urban Poor Associates. His email address is upa@pldtdsl.net. Read more at opinion.inquirer.net

 

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Nine Salvadoran ex-soldiers face extradition over Jesuits killings

Amplify’d from channel6newsonline.com

Nine Salvadoran ex-soldiers face extradition over Jesuits killings

SAN SALVADOR (BNO NEWS) -- The El Salvador Supreme Court will soon decide whether to extradite nine retired military officers who have been accused of the killings of Jesuit priests in 1989 during the country's civil war, Salvadoran media outlet El Faro reported on Tuesday.

On November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran Army allegedly killed Spanish national Ignacio Ellacuría who was dean of the Central America University (UCA). In addition, six other Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were also murdered. Five of the priests were Spaniards.

Spanish judge Eloy Velasco indicted 20 military officers for their roles in the slaughter in May, accusing them of eight counts of murder and one count of crimes against humanity. The nine suspects turned themselves in at a military base on Sunday afternoon as Salvadoran police were preparing to arrest them on an extradition order issued by Interpol.

The Defense Ministry subsequently handed the arrested suspects over to Salvadoran justice authorities to start the proper procedures against them. One of the suspects, former General René Emilio Ponce, died in May, but his case has not been dismissed yet because the Spanish court has not received his death certificate.

Spanish judge Eloy Velasco has criticized the previous trials against the soldiers in 1991 saying it was a fraud. The two prosecutors assigned to the case in 1991 later resigned and then claimed that the Attorney General had asked them not to investigate the responsibility of military high rank officers in the slaughter, El Faro reported.

The murders of the Jesuits priests were part of an estimated 75,000 people who were killed during the 12-year civil war between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

Human rights groups have welcomed the move by the nine former military men but said they hold out little hope that the Salvadoran Supreme Court will extradite them to Spain. Read more at channel6newsonline.com

 

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