Archdiocese: Embezzlement inquiry has no effect on World Meeting

David O'Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer Last updated: Saturday, May 30, 2015, 1:07 AM Posted: Friday, May 29, 2015, 1:03 PM The Vatican archbishop in charge of overseeing the World Meeting of Families, to be held in Philadelphia this year, is under investigation for possible embezzlement, according to several European news organizations. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, reportedly bought the 14th-century San Girolamo castle in Umbria, Italy, at an artificially low price with the intention of reselling it at market value. "The alleged scam" would have netted a profit of about $4.4 million, the London newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported Friday. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which is hosting the eighth triennial World Meeting in September, issued a statement Friday saying the investigation of Paglia did not appear to affect the meeting. "I assure everyone that matters facing him do not impact our plans for September," Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said in the statement. "We continue to work without interruption and joyfully anticipate welcoming our Holy Father and the world to Philadelphia later this year." He said he was praying for Paglia. Pope Francis is scheduled to be in Philadelphia for two days at the close of the six-day gathering. Paglia was bishop of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia from 2000 to 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI named him head of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Vatican office promotes the Catholic Church's teachings on family and is responsible for organizing the World Meetings. According to news sources, the San Girolamo castle belonged to the township of Narni, whose municipal government sold it to Paglia and others four years ago for the equivalent of $1.9 million, or one-third of its true value. "Prosecutors . . . suspect that the alleged conspirators planned to manage it for a few years, either as an upmarket guesthouse or for religious purposes," and then sell it for $6.1 million, the Daily Telegraph reported. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Italian prosecutors are investigating Paglia "on allegations of criminal conspiracy and fraud" in connection with the sale of the castle. Funds belonging to the diocese "were allegedly used illegally, and money was found to be missing from diocese funds," AFP reported. Paglia has denied any wrongdoing. "I remain at the disposition of the investigating authorities and I have full confidence in the justice system," he said in a statement. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's chief spokesman, said, "We at the Vatican have nothing in particular to say about this affair. We trust that the magistracy will do its work well." The World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia 2015, a nonprofit entity created by the archdiocese to raise the estimated $45 million needed for the event, issued its own statement Friday. "Although the news received today regarding Archbishop Paglia is troubling, it does not affect the World Meeting of Families," it said. "Our partnership is with the Pontifical Council for the Family and not any individual from that office." "Planning for the event is progressing positively and without interruption. It is important to note that the World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia 2015 is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from both the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Pontifical Council for the Family," it continued. "All fund-raising for September's events is done through the World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia 2015, with funds held in separate and distinct accounts from the archdiocese and the Pontifical Council for the Family. "We have been - and remain - committed to ensuring that financial best practices are employed at all levels of the organization," it said. Paglia, 70, visited Philadelphia in March to promote the World Meeting, at which time he publicly sampled milkshakes at a Potbelly sandwich shop in Center City. The one he chose, a vanilla and shortbread butter cookie flavor, became the official milkshake of Francis' visit. Proceeds from the sale of the milkshakes - 50 cents of the $3.90 price - were to flow to the World Meeting as part of the local fund-raising effort. "I'm excited to see good friends and to taste," Paglia said as he sipped on the shake. "You are in a beautiful and splendid city and now I am one of you." The newspaper Corriere Della Sera in Milan, Italy, reported that prosecutors have said Paglia appears to have been "one of the instigators" of the alleged fraud. AFP said the Terni diocese is also "one of the most indebted" dioceses in Europe, with a deficit of about $27 million. Nine other people are under investigation, including the former mayor of Narni and two employees of the diocese. They, and the archbishop, have 20 days in which to present a defense. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pope/305482131.html#BRyUruKbdzYKKFeO.99

As teachers reject offer from Philly archdiocese, union leader seeks papal intervention

By Bill Hangley Teachers in the region's Catholic high schools have rejected an "early bird" contract offer from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, setting the stage for a possible strike during the pope's highly anticipated visit to the region this fall. Rita Schwartz, the president of the Association of Catholic Teachers, said her members don't want to strike. But if they do, she hopes Pope Francis will understand. "He just spoke not too long ago with the Italian Catholic teachers union, and he told them how much he respected them, and how underpaid they were," Schwartz said "So I wrote to him and I asked to meet with him while he's here in Philadelphia in September." Schwartz said she hoped any strike would be over by then. "I hope I'm not meeting him outside -- I'd rather meet him inside," she said. And while she insisted that she wasn't trying to use the pope's visit for the World Meeting of Families as leverage to get a better deal, she did say she was encouraged by the pontiff's expression of support for organized labor and teachers alike, calling the Italian teachers' low salaries "an injustice." Details of the latest proposal aren't available. But Schwartz said that the "early bird" offer from the archdiocese -- in which the parties agree to limit negotiations to only salaries and benefits -- would have represented a net loss for her members. "If they're going ask us to pay more for medical, we understand that," said Schwartz. "But we also need a salary increase to pay for that. We can't go back to school at a loss. We can't." Archdiocese officials didn't want to comment, but did release a statement saying they remain "committed to a contract agreement that respects the needs of not only our teachers but also our school families who sacrifice to provide a quality Catholic education for their children." The archdiocese says it will continue to bargain in good faith in hopes of finding a deal that is "fair to all parties while recognizing that the needs and expectations of our students and school families are paramount." Negotiations between the union and the archdiocese will continue through the summer. The Catholic school teachers last struck for two weeks in 2011, winning a pay raise of about 8 percent. A total of about 13,000 students attend the archdiocese's 17 high schools in the five-county region. Above is from: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/82490-as-teachers-reject-offer-from-philly-archdiocese-union-leader-seeks-papal-intervention

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U.S. and the World - Pope Francis Ends Vatican Control of U.S. Nuns’ Group - AllGov - News

 

After three years of negotiations, Pope Francis has ended the administration of the U.S. nuns’ leadership group, handing control back to the nuns themselves.

Under Pope Benedict, the Vatican initiated the takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), whose members represent about 80% of U.S. nuns. Some thought the group was going outside church teachings by hosting speakers and publishing materials that conflicted with Catholic doctrine on such matters as the all-male priesthood, birth control and sexuality, and the centrality of Jesus to the faith, according to Laurie Goldstein of The New York Times. A sister spoke of “moving beyond the church” and even beyond Jesus. That talk was, according to the Vatican, “a serious source of scandal” that promoted “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

The Vatican’s concerns about LCWR were documented in a “doctrinal assessment” (pdf) that was published in April 2012. Three bishops were charged with looking into LCWR and resolving the matter within a five-year time frame.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was named to head the group investigating LCWR, met with the nuns and the two sides eventually collaborated on a rewrite of the group’s statutes. The document clarifies that the Leadership Conference is “an official entity established by the Holy See under canon law,” he said, “centered in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the church.”

The group is as independent now as it was before the investigation. The Vatican approved the new language and its supervision of the group ended two years early.

It’s unclear whether Pope Francis, who took over the church in the middle of the investigation, had anything to do with the final outcome. However, he did invite LCWR leaders for an audience, meeting with them for about an hour, “an extravagant amount of papal time,” according to Eileen Burke-Sullivan, a theologian and consultant for women’s religious orders and vice provost for mission and ministry at Creighton University.

“That was the surprise of it all for me. It was a conversation,” Sister Marcia Allen, LCWR president-elect, told the Times in reference to the papal audience. “It was a back and forth of concerns and ideas. I was prepared for him to speak to us. But he was interested in what we were thinking.”

-Steve Straehley

U.S. and the World - Pope Francis Ends Vatican Control of U.S. Nuns’ Group - AllGov - News

Vatican to Recognize Palestinian State in New Treaty - NYTimes.com

 

ROME — The Vatican said Wednesday that it had concluded a treaty to recognize Palestinian statehood, a symbolic but significant step welcomed by Palestinians but upsetting to the Israeli government.

Formal recognition of a Palestinian state by the Vatican, which has deep religious interests in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories that include Christian holy sites, lends a powerful signal of moral authority and legitimacy to the efforts by the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, to achieve statehood despite the long paralyzed Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Israel has grown increasingly alarmed about the increased international acceptance of Palestine as a state since the United Nations upgraded the Palestinian delegation’s status in 2012 to that of a nonmember observer state. A number of European countries have also signaled their acceptance of Palestinian statehood.

A statement from a joint commission of Vatican and Palestinian diplomatic officials, posted on the Vatican news website, said “the work of the commission on the text of the agreement has been concluded,” and that it would be submitted for formal approval and for signing “in the near future.”

Hanna Amireh, head of a Palestinian committee on church affairs, said the treaty was a broad one regarding the Vatican’s interests in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, including the standing of churches and church courts and taxes on church charities, institutions and lands, as well as other cultural and diplomatic matters. He said it had been under negotiation for about a year.

“The Vatican is the spiritual capital of the Catholics, and they are recognizing Palestine, that’s the chief importance,” said Mr. Amireh, who is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee. The move counters an image of Palestinians as militants or terrorists, he added, as a “recognition of the Palestinian character that has a clear message for coexistence and peace.”

A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under diplomatic protocol, said Israel was “disappointed to hear” about the Vatican’s use of the term “state” in its new treaty.

”This step does not advance the peace process and pushes the Palestinian leadership further away from returning to a direct and bilateral negotiation,” the official said in a statement, echoing Israel’s reactions to a series of recent parliamentary resolutions on Palestinian statehood in European nations. “Israel will study the agreement and consider its next steps accordingly.”

Pope Francis, the leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics, has long signaled his wish for a Palestinian state. For the past year, the Vatican had informally referred to the country as “state of Palestine,” in its yearbook as well as in its program for Francis’ 2014 visit to the Holy Land.

During that visit, Francis gave an additional boost to Palestinian sovereignty by flying directly to Bethlehem from Amman, Jordan, rather than stopping first in Israel as his predecessors had done. Francis later hosted the Palestinian and Israeli presidents in a prayer for peace.

 

It is not the first time Francis has shown a willingness to offend political sensitivities in the name of doing what he thinks is right. Exactly a month ago, for example, the pope angered the Turkish government by calling the 1915 slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks a genocide. Turkey recalled its Vatican ambassador in response.

A Palestinian spokesman, Xavier Abu Eid, said 135 nations now recognize…

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Vatican to Recognize Palestinian State in New Treaty - NYTimes.com

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Adelman invites mediation over archdiocesan cemetery trust

 

A federal judge has scheduled a Thursday hearing to gauge interest in trying to settle a contentious lawsuit over the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's now $66 million cemetery trust.

The trust is a key element in the archdiocese's plan to emerge from its 4-year-old bankruptcy in that it would be tapped both to compensate clergy sex abuse victims and fund the church's ongoing cemetery operations.

"There's always interest in settling litigation," said attorney Timothy Nixon, who represents Archbishop Jerome Listecki as the sole trustee of the trust. "However, we are just one part of a much larger picture."

James Stang, who represents the creditors committee, declined to say how it would view an offer of mediation. But he did say that any talks on the cemetery trust would likely be a de facto mediation in the bankruptcy case overall.

"The cemetery trust is the main moving part at this point," Stang said. "I can't imagine the parties going into a room to talk about that and not talk about the entire Chapter 11 case."

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman called the hearing to inquire whether the parties have any interest in mediation, according to the court record.

If they are, it would be the third attempt at a mediated settlement since January 2011, when the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to address its sexual abuse liabilities going back decades.

The cemetery trust lawsuit was remanded to Adelman's court in March by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appellate court ruled that the archdiocese could not use the First Amendment and a 1993 law aimed at protecting religious liberty to shield the fund, and that U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa — whose decision it overturned — should have disclosed that he has family members in a cemetery maintained with funds from the trust.

The case could ultimately return to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley's court. But the parties are awaiting a decision in a U.S. Supreme Court case that is expected to clarify that procedure.

Meanwhile, the bankruptcy case is proceeding in Kelley's court. On Friday, the archdiocese filed motions seeking to keep two other pools of money from being tapped for the bankruptcy: $459,388 received as charitable gift annuities and a $2 million account that funds continued religious training for priests, deacons and parish directors.

Single largest asset

The cemetery trust is the single largest asset currently in play in the archdiocese's bankruptcy. And it is a linchpin of the church's revised reorganization plan, which is expected to be filed this summer.

Under the original plan, the archdiocese would set aside under $4 million to compensate 128 sex abuse victims — only those assaulted by diocesan priests. It would create a $500,000 therapy fund and pay the balance of its legal fees, which have totaled $16 million to $20-plus million, depending on who's counting.

More than 400 others who filed sex abuse claims, alleging abuse by religious order priests and nuns, teachers and others the archdiocese does not consider its direct employees, would receive no financial compensation.

The reorganization plan would be financed with a $10.3 million payment by its insurance carriers and a $2 million loan from the cemetery trust. Victims have called that inadequate and insulting.

The archdiocese told Kelley last week that it expects to increase the amount of the money the trust will pay into the plan, but did not specify how much.

The trust would also pay about $2 million annually to the archdiocese to offset the cost of caring for its eight cemeteries.

Trust created in 2007

Then-Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan created the Catholic Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust in 2007, and in 2008 transferred nearly $57 million into it with the approval of the Vatican and his local finance board. Dolan, now cardinal of New York, had sought Vatican approval, saying the move would provide "an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim or liability."

The archdiocese maintains that the funds were always held "in trust" for the care of the archdiocese's cemeteries, and that this new instrument merely formalized that arrangement.

Listecki sued the creditors committee, seeking a ruling that the trust was not an asset of the archdiocese and was off limits for any sexual abuse settlement.

The committee, which is composed of abuse victims but represents all creditors in the bankruptcy, countersued, calling Dolan's action a fraudulent transfer barred by law.

That ultimately led to the appellate court ruling, considered a big win for the creditors.

Kelley has scheduled a November hearing on the new reorganization plan. But other legal battles loom before it can be approved. Among them, whether Kelley has jurisdiction to grant parishes a blanket protection against future lawsuits — a key provision of the archdiocese's plan — and whether

Adelman invites mediation over archdiocesan cemetery trust

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Editorial: Finn's resignation is a bitter but necessary reckoning | National Catholic Reporter

 

NCR Editorial Staff  |  May. 4, 2015

 

The resignation of Robert Finn as bishop of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., is a bitter but necessary moment of reckoning for leaders of the Catholic church if they hope to begin to deal seriously with their long betrayal of the community's trust.

Let's be clear that this is only a beginning. Finn was removed for cause, we have been told. Finn was criminally convicted for failing to report Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who ultimately pleaded guilty to possessing and producing child pornography. Ratigan received a 50-year prison sentence.

Finn also violated the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, commonly called the Dallas Charter, which the U.S. bishops themselves wrote to guide their response to the violation of children by clergy.

Upholding the Dallas Charter is the one clear signal the bishops can use to ensure deeply skeptical Catholics, not to mention the general public, that they have broken with the despicable practices of the past, when they hid and covered up sexual predators. The Dallas Charter is an imperfect document, but it is the only yardstick the bishops have for measuring their integrity on this issue. That is why Finn became the test case of church resolve to hold bishops accountable.

It may seem unfair that Finn had to take this role. Bishops and cardinals who should have faced criminal prosecution for covering up crimes more extensive and horrible by many degrees than those ignored by Finn have avoided, via legal technicalities, such scrutiny and gone quietly to either retirement or the grave.

"Bishops overseeing the crisis dismissed themselves for decades from any responsibility in the scandal. It was a brazen attempt to sidestep the mountains of evidence revealing that they had long ignored the plight of child victims while engaging in elaborate schemes to hide the heinous behavior of thousands of priests. Any lack of fairness is the result of nothing more or less than the clerical culture that looked first to protect itself and its privileges. Only when forced by legal processes and public pressure did bishops deign to consider the deep wounds inflicted on the most vulnerable in the Catholic family.

Finn's example shows how easily those in authority can ignore even the most basic steps in prevention. The church has made tremendous strides in such areas as requiring background checks, educating both adult ministers and children appropriately regarding proper boundaries, and creating safe environments for children. However, the recently released annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People makes clear that continued diligence is essential -- but is in some places lacking.

"While substantive progress has been made, it should not be concluded that the sexual abuse of minors is a problem of the past that has been adequately addressed," wrote Francesco Cesareo, chairman of the National Review Board. He warns against "Charter drift," referring to instances of laxity in some dioceses of upholding the standards of the bishops' charter. Any bishop who thinks he can relax on this issue should look carefully at Kansas City.

Cesareo also particularly notes that the Lincoln, Neb., diocese and five eparchies stubbornly refuse to cooperate with auditing procedures. Herein lies the final lesson in the Finn case.

Finn has resigned, and we are told it's because of his mishandling of a child abuse case, but we don't know that for certain. We don't know that, because there are no established procedures for removing a bishop who mishandles child abuse cases. If there were such procedures, all the provisions of the Dallas Charter could be enforced, and the Lincoln diocese would either comply or its bishop would be sanctioned.

Now we've been told that under the auspices of Pope Francis' sex abuse commission such procedures are being worked on, and we were told last month that Francis' Council of Cardinals has put the issue of bishops' accountability "on the table," but we've seen no concrete evidence of this yet. Until we see actual procedures in writing and actual cases prosecuted, we'll remain skeptical.

The Council of Cardinals needs to hear from Teresa White, an abuse survivor who was part of a 2008 settlement with the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.

She said on April 21, the day of Finn's resignation, that it is important to know the process that led to that resignation. "I want full accountability, I don't want partial accountability," she said. "I don't want any more smoke and mirrors with the church. I want them to own up to their responsibilities to protect children and young people."

For 30 years, we've heard these same sentiments from many other survivors. It is long past time for the church to have in place a clearly delineated process to hold bishops responsible for their actions and inactions in this tragedy.

Editorial: Finn's resignation is a bitter but necessary reckoning | National Catholic Reporter

Gallup Diocese, Abuse Victims to Begin Mediation - Bankruptcy Beat - WSJ

 

A bankruptcy judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., its insurance carriers and lawyers representing 58 alleged sexual-abuse victims to begin mediation no later than July 15.

Judge David Thuma, who oversees the diocese’s bankruptcy proceedings, signed off on mediation at the request of both alleged victims and the diocese, which stretches across broad swaths of northern Arizona and New Mexico.

Mediation is likely the best opportunity to resolve the diocese’s bankruptcy case through a settlement that provides compensation to alleged victims and protects the church from future litigation, according to lawyers involved in the case. Other diocesan bankruptcies prompted by sexual-abuse claims have stretched out over years, racking up huge legal bills.

In advance of mediation, lawyers representing the diocese, insurers and alleged victims have spent nearly a year and a half seeking out victims, assessing the value of the diocese’s assets and collecting evidence on the allegations of abuse and alleged cover-up by diocesan officials, much of which is said to have taken place decades ago.

Susan Boswell, a lawyer for the Diocese of Gallup, said she hopes to arrive at a court-approved settlement with alleged victims and others well in advance of the second anniversary of the case in November.

“We need to get this case done,” she said at a hearing last week.

James Stang, a lawyer with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP who has represented thousands of victims in nearly a dozen diocesan bankruptcies, told the judge he doesn’t want to receive news of another victim’s death before the case is resolved.

“I know that may seem a little melodramatic,” he said at the hearing.  “But it happens to me on a regular basis.”

But not everyone involved in the case is eager to begin mediation.

Catholic Mutual Group, the Diocese of Gallup’s insurance carrier, said it wanted more time to collect and evaluate information on abuse claims and accused the diocese of failing to hand over files on abusive priests.

In court papers, Catholic Mutual said the diocese has placed “every conceivable roadblock in the path of Catholic Mutual’s request for information.”

David Spector, a lawyer for Catholic Mutual, said that the dispute with the Diocese of Gallup was highly unusual and that Catholic Mutual had never before had an adversarial relationship with a diocese. Catholic Mutual is the primary provider of insurance coverage to many Catholic dioceses in the U.S. and Canada, and its board of trustees consists of 25 Catholic bishops, archbishops and cardinals.

“We don’t want to go to war with the diocese,” Mr. Spector said. “All we want is some basic information to enable us to be able resolve these claims.”

Ms. Boswell disputed Catholic Mutual’s assertions, calling them an “incomplete story.”

“Unfortunately, Catholic Mutual responds to each group of documents it receives, with a request for more information and documents, failing to realize the limited resources of the diocese,” she said.

A Franciscan order of priests, several parishes and a Catholic school will also participate in the upcoming mediation along with the diocese, victims and insurance carriers. Several other Catholic institutions, which could eventually be pulled into the diocese’s bankruptcy case, were not ordered to attend.

Lawyers for alleged victims say they are continuing to investigate other dioceses and religious orders that may have played a role in protecting abusive priests at the Diocese of Gallup.

One such diocese, the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, failed to adequately warn the Diocese of Gallup about an abusive priest who was ordained in Corpus Christi but later moved to Gallup, victims’ lawyers say.

“Any accusation of inappropriate conduct, made against a church worker or employee of the Diocese is always taken seriously and fully investigated regardless of the age of the victim or the amount of time that has passed,” a spokesman for the Diocese of Corpus Christi said in an email.

The Diocese of Gallup, home to 58,000 parishioners, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 12, 2013, as several lawsuits related to sexual-abuse claims were preparing to go to trial.

Judge Randall Newsome, who formerly served as the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, will serve as the bankruptcy court-appointed mediator and will work pro bono.

Judge Newsome led a similar round of mediation in 2012 between several hundred abuse alleged victims and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which failed to produce a settlement.

In total, 14 Catholic dioceses and religious orders have turned to chapter 11 in the past decade to address waves of litigation related to alleged sexual abuse of children.

Write to Tom Corrigan at tom.corrigan@wsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TheTomCorrigan

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Gallup Diocese, Abuse Victims to Begin Mediation - Bankruptcy Beat - WSJ

Judge orders Msgr. Lynn back to prison

 

Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer

Last updated: Friday, May 1, 2015, 1:08 AM
Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2015, 10:11 AM

Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Catholic Church official convicted in the clergy sex-abuse scandal, returned to prison Thursday after a Philadelphia judge ordered him to resume his sentence for child endangerment.

Lynn, 64, was taken to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, about four miles across Northeast Philadelphia from the rectory of St. William parish in Crescentville, where he had lived on house arrest since January 2014.

Lynn's lawyer, Thomas A. Bergstrom, said he would challenge Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina's ruling. Sarmina in July 2012 sentenced Lynn to three to six years for his conviction on charges of endangering the welfare of children.

Lynn is expected to shortly be transferred to the state prison at Waymart, in northeastern Pennsylvania, where he spent almost 18 months until he was released on house arrest when Superior Court reversed his conviction. On Monday, the state Supreme Court reinstated Lynn's guilty verdict, and at a hearing Thursday morning at the Criminal Justice Center, Lynn seemed resigned to what was going to happen.

Lynn turned to Bergstrom with a half-smile and a shrug before he was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies.

Bergstrom argued that Lynn should be permitted to stay at St. William under house arrest while he pursues further appeals. Bergstrom said Lynn had lived up to every provision of house arrest, and a probation officer lauded Lynn's conduct.

Sarmina, however, agreed with Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington that now that the state's highest court has ruled, Lynn should be in prison.

"Well, I think things are back where they were when I sentenced Msgr. Lynn," Sarmina said. "The same reasons I stated then exist."

"Somebody call for a sheriff," the judge added before leaving the bench.

Lynn was convicted and sentenced after a landmark 13-week trial in 2012 over his role supervising priests accused of sexually abusing children.

As the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, Lynn was responsible for investigating sexual-abuse complaints made against priests and recommending punishment to the archbishop.

The jury found that Lynn allowed Rev. Edward V. Avery, who had a history of sexually abusing children, to live in a Northeast Philadelphia rectory, where he later assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy. Avery pleaded guilty in the 1999 attack and is serving five years in prison.

Lynn argued in his appeal that he could not be convicted for his supervisory role because the state child-endangerment statute was not amended to include supervisors until 2007 - three years after he left as clergy secretary.

Judge orders Msgr. Lynn back to prison

LeMoyne president proud of students for speaking out against commencement speaker, Cardinal Dolan : News : CNYcentral.com

 

SYRACUSE -- A majority of the 2015 graduating class doesn't want him to speak, but the president of Le Moyne College says Cardinal Timothy Dolan will speak at this year's commencement regardless.

Dolan is the leader of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York. Some say he has some controversial views, specifically his stance on gay marriage and his handling of allegations of child sexual abuse against priests. However, the Le Moyne administration is thrilled to have him speak, saying he's arguably the most influential leader within the U.S. Catholic Church.

The students aren't nearly as thrilled. More than 300 signed a petition on change.org. There are roughly 600 students in the graduating class. While not every person who signed the petition is a senior, it's fair to say a majority of students who will be attending commencement will not be happy to hear it's star speaker.

Le Moyne president, Linda LeMura says it doesn't bother her. In fact it makes her proud.

"In reality I see it as a great call for celebration. Our students are questioning decisions we've made. They want to understand the rationale at a deeper level. They're indicating concern for members of society that are historically marginalized. I think Cardinal Dolan will take some joy in the fact that our students are well educated and want more questions answered. It's a sign of engagement," says LeMura.

LeMura says Cardinal Dolan has been informed of the petition, but it hasn't deterred him from speaking.

LeMoyne president proud of students for speaking out against commencement speaker, Cardinal Dolan : News : CNYcentral.com