Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, 67, of Poznan, and an appointee and longtime acquaintance of the only Polish pope in history, stepped down amid a mounting scandal in the overwhelmingly Catholic country over accusations that he made sexual advances on young clerics. He is being investigated by the Vatican on accusations that he sexually molested young seminarians. Archbishop Paetz has denied allegations that he abused priests or seminarians, saying he was the object of a systematic campaign against him. The national newspaper Rzeczpospolita first publicized the accusations, which quoted several priests who
Sex scandals that have rocked the United States and Poland cast a shadow on Holy Thursday events at St. Peter’s Basilica yesterday when a frail Pope John Paul II struggled through ceremonies there. The pope made reference to the scandals in a morning sermon. We pray for our priestly brothers who have not lived up to the commitments they made when they were ordained or who are going through a period of difficulty and crisis, he said.
(Vatican City)
TimesDaily.com/Mike Goens
James Roy Sibley, a 57 year old convicted sex offender, was arrested again for failing to meetrequirements of Megan’s Law. Megan’s Law requires those convicted of a sexual abuse crime toregister with authorities and advise local officials when they move into a new jurisdiction. Sibleywas convicted of first-degree sexual abuse in 1995 and was released from prison in 1999 afterserving nearly four years. The case involved three boys under the age of 10. He is charged withfailure to register as a sex offender, a misdemeanor, and a sexual offender
Fanon White, a 31 year old Harlem middle school aide, was slapped with statutory rape and sodomy charges in the alleged abuse of two girls. The parents at MS 54 said yesterday they were shocked that White, accused of sexual abuse four years ago, returned to the school to allegedly prey on a second teen, because cops were never told about the earlier incident. White is being suspended without pay and is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
(New York)
As the state Senate passed a bill on the controversial issue of forcing clergy to report child sex-abuse claims to authorities yesterday, politicians climbed aboard the bandwagon. It’s important and I think it’s the right thing to do, Governor Pataki said of the proposed law to mandate such reporting. He said he will work with state legislators to resolve differences between two bills on the issue and make sure we have a bill we can all agree on, and I can sign it.
Bishop William Murphy yesterday strongly defended the Catholic Church in a Palm Sunday homily that provoked a rousing round of applause from the faithful. In the face of growing concern over sexual abuse by clergy, he called it a holy church of good and holy priests. Murphy said Catholics already have done the right things. We have already place our house in order, while not directly citing allegations of sexual abuse against minors by some priests and the church’s alleged cover-up of the issue.
(New York)
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