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回覆 1302# 抽刀斷水

所有神父嘅anterior chapter都係信徒, 無分孰優孰劣嘅
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多伦多渣男牧师杀害亚裔孕妻 网友直呼判得太轻
2020年01月07日 14:54
  多伦多一名前牧师杀害其怀孕妻子的案子已经过去8年前,本周二,法庭终于做出裁决,判其入狱15年。

身穿浅灰色西装的Philip Grandine于周二上午走进位于361 University Avenue的法庭,听取量刑判决。一年前,陪审团就认定他在妻子Anna Grandine溺亡案中的误杀罪名成立。根据最新的量刑裁决,以及在庭审前被关押的时间,Philip将在狱中度过12年。多伦多一名前牧师杀害其怀孕妻子的案子已经过去8年前,本周二,法庭终于做出裁决,判其入狱15年。

身穿浅灰色西装的Philip Grandine于周二上午走进位于361 University Avenue的法庭,听取量刑判决。一年前,陪审团就认定他在妻子Anna Grandine溺亡案中的误杀罪名成立。

报道称,此前,检控官要求对Philip判13年至15年刑期,辩护律师则要求判5至7年。结果显示,法官是站在检控官一方的。

2011年,Philip的妻子Anna年仅29岁,而且已经有20周的身孕。她在自家的浴缸里溺亡。验尸结果显示,Anna的血液中有一种用于治疗失眠、焦虑障碍的处方药Ativan。但是她本人并没有配过这种药。

Anna是菲律宾裔移民,于2006年在多伦多大学取得人类生物学与考古学荣誉学士学位,2011年她遇害时,是一家保险公司的估算员。

图片来源:CBC/Humphrey Funeral Home

本案的法官在上月裁决,是Philip故意偷偷给自己的妻子下了药,目的竟然是不让妻子干扰到自己的婚外情和沉迷色情。

辩方律师一度称,是Anna自己服了药,她是因为知道丈夫不忠而患上抑郁。

但是安省最高法庭法官Faye McWatt拒绝接受这一说法。 庭审中,陪审团被告知,如果认定Philip偷偷给妻子下药,或者知道妻子服了药而没有阻止她在药物还有影响时走进浴缸,就能对他定罪。

https://info.51.ca/news/canada/2020-01/845927.html

实际上,这已经是Philip杀妻案的第二次审讯。在第一次审讯中,他被控一级谋杀,但是最后裁定为误杀,入狱15年。安省上诉庭在审理时发现,初审法庭的法官在回答陪审团的一个问题时犯错,结果下令以误杀指控再次审讯。这也意味着,二审时检控官无法以故意杀人罪指控Philip。

教會前華裔志工被控性犯罪認罪獲刑
2020年01月15日

鑽石吧教會前華裔志工Chee Lim Chook被控與未成年女性發生性關係等多項罪名乙案,被告14日在波莫那洛杉磯高等法院認罪,被判入獄十年零八個月,並終身登記為性犯罪者(sex offender )。

據洛杉磯縣地檢署資訊,被告Chee Lim Chook( Chin Lee Chook),又名Desmond Chook,56歲,是羅斯密市居民,先前在鑽石吧一家教會擔任義工.。未成年受害者也是與被告同一間教會。

被告涉嫌在2016年11月開始的兩年內,對未成年女性實施性犯罪,當時受害女只有16歲。檢方先前表示,被告面臨兩項重罪指控,包括與18歲以下未成年人口交,與未成年人發生性關係,以及向未成年人出示情色物。其它罪名還包括一項猥褻孩童輕罪。被告還涉嫌在2018年2月至2019年2月間對受害者妹妹猥褻,檢方未透露受害者妹妹的年齡。

洛杉磯縣警局受害者執法單位警官莫伊爾曾表示,被告性犯罪事件發在2019年2月21日,兩名受害者中姐姐在教會友人陪伴下到警局報警。當時受害者確定表示,被告是在教會誘使她閱讀情色物品,並強迫與她發生性關係。
https://www.worldjournal.com/673 ... %E7%8D%B2%E5%88%91/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
Catholic priest 'confessed 1,500 times to abusing children', victim says mandatory reporting could have saved him
By Kym Agius
Updated yesterday at 7:44pm

Grainy image of an older man in spectacles
PHOTO: Greg says paedophile priest Michael McArdle's offending was known to the church. (Supplied)
RELATED STORY: 'It won't make a difference': Senior Catholic Archbishop rejects bill for priests to report child abusers
A former altar boy who was allegedly sexually abused by a serial paedophile priest says he could have been spared if the Catholic Church enforced mandatory reporting of crimes admitted in the confessional.

By the time Father Michael McArdle allegedly targeted the then-12-year-old for oral sex, he had already been molesting children for a decade.

The abuse lasted for several months at the sacristy and presbytery of the Holy Rosary Church in Bundaberg, as well as during an overnight school camp, legal documents allege.

"It's always in the back of your mind," Greg* said.

"A couple of years ago I had a mental breakdown, I wanted to kill myself.

"But I've come through it — I think."

Pixelated photo of victim allegedly sexually abused by a serial paedophile priest.
PHOTO: Greg has launched legal action in August against the Diocese of Rockhampton. (ABC News)
Greg launched legal action in August against the Diocese of Rockhampton for the mental toll the abuse has taken on him, with his lawyers lodging a notice of claim for the civil suit.

Maurice Blackburn lawyer Jed McNamara, who is representing Greg, said an affidavit filed by McArdle in 2004 revealed he confessed 1,500 times to 30 different priests over a 25-year period.

McArdle, who resigned from the priesthood in 2000, was jailed in 2004 for six years for 62 indecent dealing charges against 14 boys and two girls over a 22-year period from 1965 in regional Catholic parishes across Queensland.

Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge gestures with his hand while taking questions about child abuse in the Catholic church
PHOTO: Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge says lifting the confessional seal would do little to save young people. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)
Mr McNamara said his client would be seeking to negotiate a settlement of the case for the psychological injury he suffered.

"If there were not recommendations (from the royal commission) for reporting of abuse then that enabled that abuse to reoccur and reoccur and reoccur — case in point, McArdle," he said.

"For the better part of a decade before he abused my client ... [McArdle] would confess, would be absolved, would go back out, would repeat that offending behaviour, would go back to confession and the cycle continued."

Lawyer Jed McNamara looks at the camera as he sits at a desk holding a report at his Maroochydore office.
PHOTO: Lawyer Jed McNamara, Queensland head of abuse law at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, is representing a client who has launched legal action against the Diocese of Rockhampton. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended mandatory reporting to police of child abuse admitted in the confessional, leading to Queensland's drafting of the proposed Child Sexual Offences Reform Bill.

It is currently being considered by the state's Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee before being returned to Parliament for a vote.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has criticised the attempt at reform, saying lifting the confessional seal and enforcing mandatory reporting would do little to save young people.

If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890
ReachOut at au.reachout.com
Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774
Greg, however, disagrees.

"If somebody had stepped in way back then and got him out of the system earlier, it would have been a different life and I'm sure it would have been better," he said.

"These are kids' lives we're dealing with and you only get one shot at life and if you can have a good start it makes all the difference."

At times suffering depression and anxiety, Greg also turned to alcohol to cope.

Jobs have been hard to pin down, so too have romantic relationships.

"If that hadn't have happened, where would I be now?

"I would be in a better position as far as life goes."

Archbishop Mark Coleridge.
PHOTO: Archbishop Mark Coleridge has criticised the attempt to enforce mandatory reporting by priests. (AAP: Catholic Communications Office Brisbane/Peter Casamento)
Archbishop Coleridge is on an overseas holiday and unavailable for comment but his spokesperson directed the ABC to his submission to the committee considering the state legislation.

"The royal commission heard from a panel of six experienced priests with a combined history of more than 150 years as pastors," Archbishop Coleridge wrote.

"The royal commission asked these priests if they had ever had someone confess a crime during the sacrament of penance.

"They told the royal commission that this had never happened.

"There are publicised examples of convicted priests claiming that they confessed their child abuse regularly.

"However, it must be noted that someone can confess very generally (for instance, 'I broke the Sixth Commandment',) without providing further detail.

"Perhaps former priests who have been found guilty of child abuse should not be so readily believed by media when they claim to have confessed their abuse when much of their life has been a lie."

Queensland's Transport Minister Mark Bailey tweeted this week over the Archbishop's stance:

"I'm deeply disturbed the Brisbane Archbishop opposes new laws requiring priests to report child sexual abuse just like doctors/teachers/nurses," he wrote.

"The secrecy, cover-ups, abuse must stop via stronger laws in Qld backing the royal commission recommendations."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020 ... hild-abuse/11876130
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
疑爭奪教會所有權 肯亞牧師夫狠捅牧師妻後自刎身亡

〔即時新聞/綜合報導〕一起驚悚的殺妻、自殺案件在肯亞發生!肯亞助理牧師米西克(Elijah Misik)日前當著教會會眾的面持刀捅向妻子、牧師安.穆霍伊(Ann Mughoi)後並自殺。米西克當場死亡,穆霍伊則被送往當地醫院,最終重傷不治。據當地警方稱,這起殺人案疑與教會的所有權爭奪有關。

根據《CNN》報導,肯亞第二大城蒙巴薩(Mombasa)一處福音教會週日正在進行禱告,坐在台下的米西克突然起身,從信封袋裡拿出預藏好的刀具,走向台上的牧師妻子,在眾目睽睽之下殘忍地朝她腹部狠捅2刀。

根據目擊者指證,大家都在祈禱時,米西克走近妻子時似乎與她耳語了些什麼,然後便拿出刀子捅傷了對方。米西克認為妻子已死,接著便對著腹部自捅3刀後割斷了自己的喉嚨並當場斷氣。穆霍伊隨後被送往醫院搶救,但最終仍因傷勢過重不治。

據當地警方向《CNN》透露,這對夫妻長期以來一直在爭奪該教會的所有權和領導權,2人育有4子。2017年時,穆霍伊就曾向警方指稱丈夫有謀殺自己的念頭,米西克因此被捕,但警方後來查清該指控為假,因此將其釋放;在這起口角之後,2人便分居至今。

當地警方又稱,自教會所有權紛爭開始,穆霍伊一直在努力遠離丈夫,2人甚至曾將此事報告給教會領袖,卻無助於解決糾紛。事發後,警方稱米西克留下了17頁的遺書,其中指控了妻子改變教會的所有權。
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3032188
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
强烈抗議新教撈過界

北卡州牧師狎4至15歲兒童 遭控逾百條性侵罪名  2020年01月24日
美國天主教教會早前爆出大規模性侵醜聞,舉國震動。北卡羅萊納州一名牧師涉嫌在約20年前性侵多名不足16歲的兒童,年齡最小者僅得4歲。該牧師上周被捕,檢方周四(23日)公布,將對他控以116條聯邦性侵罪名。
當地警方透露,北卡州埃爾金(Elkin)一間教會的牧師盧夫曼(Rodney Luffman),涉嫌在約20年前,性侵3名當時僅得4至16歲的兒童。警方續指,懷疑盧夫曼的惡行或持續15年,目前正加以調查。
現年53歲的盧夫曼,罪名包括18條強姦及13條一級性侵罪,目前仍被還押。他及其教會均未有回應傳媒提問。
https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/amen ... 0124_00972_001.html
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
修女做雞, 一路向西

Vatican says nuns abused, kicked out, forced into prostitution
NEWS
The Vatican women’s magazine is blaming the drastic drop in the number of nuns worldwide in part on their wretched working conditions and the sexual abuse and abuses of power they suffer at the hands of priests and their own superiors.

“Women Church World” dedicated its February issue to the burnout, trauma and exploitation experienced by religious sisters, and how the church is realising it must change its ways if it wants to attract new vocations.

The magazine published on Thursday revealed that Pope Francis had authorised the creation of a special home in Rome for nuns who were kicked out of their orders and all but left on the street, some forced into prostitution to survive.

“There are some really tough cases, in which the superiors withheld the identity documents of the sisters who wanted to leave the convent, or who were kicked out,” the head of the Vatican’s religious orders congregation, Cardinal Joao Braz di Aviz, told the magazine.

“There were also cases of prostitution to be able to provide for themselves,” he said. “These are ex-nuns!”

“We are dealing with people who are wounded, and for whom we have to rebuild trust. We have to change this attitude of rejection, the temptation to ignore these people and say ‘you’re not our problem anymore.””

“All of this must absolutely change,” he said.

The Catholic Church has seen a continuing free fall in the number of nuns around the world, as elderly sisters die and fewer young ones take their place.

Vatican statistics from 2016 show the number of sisters was down 10,885 from the previous year to 659,445 globally. Ten years prior, there were 753,400 nuns around the world, meaning the Catholic Church shed nearly 100,000 sisters in the span of a decade.

European nuns regularly fare the worst, Latin American numbers are stable and the numbers are rising in Asia and Africa.

The magazine has made headlines in the past with articles exposing the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and the slave-like conditions sisters are often forced to work under, without contracts and doing menial jobs like cleaning for cardinals.

The drop in their numbers has resulted in the closure of convents around Europe, and the ensuing battle between the remaining sisters and diocesan bishops or the Vatican for control of their assets.
https://indaily.com.au/news/2020 ... -into-prostitution/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7925557/Nuns-forced-PROSTITUTES-abandoned-Catholic-Church.html
"a Brazilian cardinal said" 吖嘛

您地教友幫襯修女制服誘惑, 憑受洗證應該可享85折優惠
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
修女善心真係要表揚, 唔知係咪幫襯番修女呢?
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修女助絕症處男召妓
在家初體驗「更希望交女友」

【李寧怡╱綜合外電報導】英國青年華勒斯天生罹患罕見「裘馨氏肌肉萎縮症」,不良於行。通常這種病患最多只能活到30多歲,而現年22歲的華勒斯最大願望之一,是在有生之年體驗魚水之歡。他明白要找到女友不易,決定花錢請妓女圓夢。

英國《每日電訊報》昨報導,華勒斯住在知名修女德明尼卡開設的慈善療養院「道格拉斯之家」。他向院內工作人員表達願望後,得到德明尼卡修女支持,她誇華勒斯是「令人愉快、聰明的青年」。
華勒斯指出,他從大學開始就想談戀愛,但「有許多健全人士視為理所當然的事,對我來說遙不可及」,他承認,「若想體驗性事,我須掏腰包花錢」。

拍紀錄片引重視
他與父母與療養院方討論此一想法,最後獲得支持。療養院也在諮詢過律師、神職人員與醫師後,決定從旁協助。
華勒斯從雜誌廣告找到一位專為殘障人士服務的性工作者。兩人的接觸在他家進行。華勒斯回想他的「初體驗」時說:「在情感上不是很滿足。我不確定是否想要第二次。我更希望能找個女友,但我必須務實。」
華勒斯在英國廣播公司為「道格拉斯之家」製作的系列紀錄片中公開此事,「希望人們了解像我這樣的人面臨的問題」。德明尼卡修女表示,她深知療養院是天主教機構,必定遭抨擊,但療養院服務對象廣納教徒與非教徒,「為病患做道德上的決定,並非我們的工作。」
https://tw.news.appledaily.com/i ... y/20070128/3214240/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
性侵官司衝擊 賓州一天主教會聲請破產
賓州中部一個天主教會因性侵官司19日聲請破產,這是賓州兩年前領先全國,調查傳教士行為以來,第一個申請破產的教會,也是繼美國童軍團之後,另一個因性侵官司宣布破產的組織。

賓州法律不允許多年前受害的人控告罪嫌,但最近該州上訴法院裁決,受害者可控告罪嫌所屬的教會。哈里斯堡教區的律師哈佛史迪克(Matthew Haverstick)說,好幾起官司針對教會而來,教會如果因此破產,「不能怪受害人」。

哈里斯堡教區轄管15郡,約23萬名信眾是教會的成員,教會經營一家醫院,40所學校。

哈佛史迪克說:「教會需找出適當的經營規模。破產就是負責任的作法,這樣教會就可以繼續做該做的事,譬如提升信眾的精神生活、從事慈善事業等等。」

2018年夏天,賓州檢察長沙皮洛(Josh Shapiro)對該州六個天主教教區發動大規模的調查,開全國「打擊傳教士性侵風氣」之先,帶動其他州調查這經年累月的劣行。

賓州的調查發現,數十年來,該州300多名傳教士涉嫌性騷擾1000多名未成年信眾,受害的都是兒童和青少年,可是該州法律有追遡期限,過了期限,就不能控告涉嫌的傳教士,即使他們仍住在賓州。

沙皮洛等人本來也希望賓州議會像紐約州和新澤西州一樣,立法取消追溯時效條款,但沒有成功。

這些多年前的罪犯雖然被豁免了刑事與民事訴訟責任,嫌犯的教會卻因為上訴法院的最新裁決,成為被追究的對象。

哈佛史迪克認為,上訴法院的裁定是很「糟糕」的法律,因為自裁定公布以來,這個教區的天主教會就成為好幾個官司的對象。

他說,其中任何一個官司都已夠把教會害慘了,總合起來對教會的衝擊更大,也因此教會不得不聲請破產。

https://www.worldjournal.com/679 ... %E7%A0%B4%E7%94%A2/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
天主賜您C眼睇多「保護」兩個字, 又話這世代冇神跡?
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
回覆 1313# beebeechan


    賣底褲還債一定冇得走雞
https://grandinmedia.ca/pennsylv ... mid-abuse-lawsuits/

破產係負責任嘅做法, 好似您咁唔認衰就係衰仔做法
“The diocese was in need of right-sizing,” Matthew Haverstick, an attorney for the Diocese of Harrisburg, told the Washington Post. “Bankruptcy is really the responsible way to do it, so it can continue to do all the things it does, spiritually and charitably.”
Grand in Media 就未必大, 但Catholic News Agency 梗大過NY Times, USAToday啦
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【主教的暗黑諭令】梵諦岡隱匿連續性侵案 勒索被害人做偽證
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吳洛瑩
2020年2月18日 下午6:01
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樞機主教的回應,讓身為母親的馬汀妮茲(Yolanda Martínez)難以承受。

1.5萬歐元(約新台幣49萬元)的代價,梵諦岡高層要她們一家否認兒子遭神父性侵的事實,若是違反保密協議,則必須支付3萬歐元的違約金。

「他(兒子)還會做惡夢,他不讓我觸碰…他也無法忍受其他人太靠近自己」,馬汀妮茲說著兒子心裡留下的創傷。

#Mundo Yolanda Martínez contó que el enviado del Vaticano dijo que recibiría 15 mil euros por parte de los Legionarios, pero su hijo tendría que retractarse de su denuncia. ⬇ https://t.co/CeR60MG439

— El Universal San Luis Potosí (@ElUniversal_SLP) February 17, 2020
《美聯社》(AP)調查報導指出,2008年馬汀妮茲12歲的兒子,就讀於義大利北部戈札諾(Gozzano)一所天主教基督軍修會(Legion of Christ)主辦的青年神學院時,屢次遭到神父古特雷茲(Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez)性侵。

但教會的處理方式竟是開出條件,試圖要用1.5萬歐元的「封口費」,要求她的兒子必須撤回向米蘭檢察官供稱的證詞。換言之,受害者必須說謊,佯裝自己沒有遭到性侵,這令馬汀妮茲無法接受。


樞機主教的訕笑
她曾打電話給時任樞機主教保利斯(Valasio De Paolis)、基督軍修會領導神父,並由時任教宗本篤十六世(Benedict XVI’s)指派負責調解此案,要求基督軍修會提出解決方案,並表達她的憤慨。

樞機主教聞訊並未感到震驚,也沒有同情馬汀妮茲的處境。相反地,主教笑了出來,稱她不該簽署協議,應該是擬訂另一份沒有律師參與的調解書。

「律師會讓事情變得複雜。連聖經都說,應該在基督徒之間找到共識」,樞機主教這樣說。


近年來屢傳出神職人員性侵案,讓梵諦岡的聲望備受打擊。圖為2月的梵諦岡聖彼得廣場。(湯森路透)

馬汀妮茲和時任教宗本篤派出的樞機主教之間的對話遭到竊聽。這段對話,還有6頁的和解書現在成了天主教會要求受害人隱匿案情的關鍵證據。本案3月將在米蘭開庭審理。

檢察官認為,基督軍修會的神父和律師試圖妨礙司法,並藉由金錢賄賂索求馬汀妮茲的家人放棄對檢察官證詞,期盼能撤銷對犯案神父的刑事調查。基督軍修會否認犯罪,一名發言人表示,當時組織內並沒有制訂兒童保護政策和指導規則,現在這些都已經是強制性的命令。

由上而下 忽視戀童癖神父犯案
但代表教廷提出封口要求的樞機主教保利斯已於2017年逝世,沒有證據顯示知道或是批准最終提出的和解協議。但是他和馬汀妮茲的對話錄音和文件紀錄在義大利警方2014年突襲式搜查修會時被扣押,這些證據已可證明他對上級包庇戀童癖神父的行為,視而不見。

除此之外,還有證據指出,已逝樞機主教保利斯2011年就知道神父古特雷茲的犯行,他雖然批准了內部的調查規範,但沒有向警方舉報此事。2年後,他得知修會內其他神職人員顯然嘗試阻止此案的刑事調查,保利斯仍然沒有報案。


報導指出,2014年,保利斯「摸頭」馬汀妮茲的談話結束後幾小時,他召開了基督軍大會,會議上正式宣布他完成教宗賦予他改革和淨化宗教秩序的任務。他說,基督軍修會已獲得「治癒和清洗」。

實際上,他的任務還沒有真正完成。

聖品階級腐敗 包庇連續性侵案
古特雷斯的性侵案不是天主教基督軍修會的第一例,2006年基督軍修會創辦人、2008年逝世的馬西埃爾神父(Father Marcial Maciel)被揭露曾性侵至少60名男童,生了3個孩子,且制訂類似於邪教的制度,以便隱藏他的犯罪行為。


2010年,保利斯身為當時梵諦岡最受敬重的律師,他受到本篤十六世的委託,負責改革基督軍修會。天主教會內當時有意見呼籲壓制該修會的發展,但本篤16世沒打算這麼做,他選擇將改革的權利下放給保利斯,交由屬下徹底重建,「榮休教宗」本篤當時表示,這個過程必定經歷深遠的淨化和改造。

但是保利斯拒絕革除任何一名馬西埃爾神父的舊部屬,其中有些人至今仍在教會中握有權力。保利斯也不願意調查修會隱匿馬西埃爾的罪行;也拒絕重新聽取其他神父針對性侵案的證詞,即使連續性侵案的臭名緊貼著基督軍修會,執行改革任務的保利斯仍沒有進一步懲處舉措。

《AP》指出,總的來說,保利斯並沒有要處理教會裡根深蒂固的性侵文化、隱瞞和保密的陋習,長期以來,天主教會內規避神父性侵事件的法律責任,並且讓受害者噤聲甚至忽視被害人的傷痛。因此多名曾支持基督軍修會的信徒,現在也挺身公開質疑教會的改革。


詆毀性侵受害者的梵諦岡
墨西哥籍神父阿提埃(Alberto Athié)20逾來,代表神職人員性侵受害者聲討正義,他說:「他們(梵諦岡)總是試圖操控受害者、淡化、詆毀,並指責受害人誇大其詞。」

阿提埃說,教會高層如果無法控制被害人,那麼就會進入下一階段,直接去找受害者家屬,同樣試圖淡化或收買家人,使他們對安情保持靜默。如果這也行不通,教會就會走法律程序,用盡方法贏得訴訟。

身為3個孩子的母親,現年54歲的馬汀妮茲回憶起他得知兒子的心理治療師告知她性侵案的情況,仍哽咽無法言語。古特雷茲神父最終在2019年遭到起訴,此案上訴後他被判有罪,3月底若古特雷茲沒有提起上訴,將被義大利最高法院判處至少6年的有期徒刑。
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E4%B8 ... D%89-230100430.html
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
記者係貴教新闻社吖嘛
https://muckrack.com/mary-farrow

----------------------------------------
Retired Catholic priest charged in Missouri with sex abuse
A retired Catholic priest has been charged in Missouri with multiple counts of child sexual abuse stemming from a statewide investigation of abuse by Catholic priests.

Seventy-six-year-old Frederick Lutz, of Springfield, was charged Tuesday with forcible sodomy, sexual abuse and two counts of statutory sodomy. His bond was set at $125,000 cash only. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

He was among 12 former priests that Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt referred for criminal prosecution following a 13-month investigation.

According to charging documents, Lutz sexually assaulted a 17-year-old in 2000, while he was the priest at the St. Joseph Parish in the 1,350-person southeast Missouri town of Advance. The documents said Lutz called the teen to the rectory, where he was drinking and watching a pornographic movie. The document said the teen was forced to perform sexual acts before he could leave.

According to court documents, the teen immediately told his father who then spoke to a teacher. Documents said the teacher told Lutz about the conversation, and a few weeks later he called the father into his office and apologized. Lutz allegedly said that he had had recently broken up with a boyfriend who had been living with him at the rectory.

Police also learned of a 1972 incident in which a 17-year-old who was working a summer job at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Cape Girardeau said he awoke after a night of drinking with Lutz touching him, according to charging documents. The man made a formal complaint with the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese in 2006.

The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau said in a statement that it was participating in the investigation and stressed that it previously had reported the allegations against Lutz to the then-prosecutor in Stoddard County.

The diocese, along with current Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Oliver, urged anyone with additional information about other victims to come forward.

Schmitt said in a statement that he was pleased to see that a case had been initiated.

“While this may not provide much solace to victims, these charges represent the next crucial steps in holding abusers accountable for their actions,” the statement said.

Missouri is among several states that launched investigations last year after a Pennsylvania report cited abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests there since the 1940s, and efforts by church leaders to hide it.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-th ... uri-with-sex-abuse/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
醜就梗唔夠貴教, 幾長都遮唔到   Published 11:15 a.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020

Former St. Xavier High School priest faces allegations of psychological sexual abuse

Another priest involved at St. Xavier High School is facing "established allegations" of psychological sexual abuse against minors, officials announced Friday.

Father Edward L. Pigott, 82, was added to the Midwest Province of Jesuits' growing list of priests and clergy members facing such allegations of abuse. According to his listing, Pigott's alleged abuse occurred between 1992 and 1995.

An "established allegation" is based on the facts and circumstances that establish a "reasonable certainty that the sexual abuse of a minor occurred," according to the Province. An established allegation leads to removal from public ministry and possible criminal prosecution.

The Midwest Jesuits initially published a list of Jesuit priests and clergy members who faced established allegations dating back to 1955 in December 2018. Five local priests were included in that list, including two priests involved at St. Xavier High School.

Officials extended an invitation at that time to any other victims of abuse to inform local authorities, St. Xavier and the Province.


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Allegations against Pigott came in almost immediately, and Pigott was removed from his duties at the school two days after the original list was published, school officials said.

Upon learning of Pigott's allegations, the Province followed protocol and notified the Cincinnati Archdiocese and the Hamilton County Prosecutor.

The Province initiated an independent investigation concerning allegations of psychological sexual abuse by Pigott, and those allegations were determined to have been established.


St. Xavier High School sent a letter home to families Friday, stating Pigott had served the school's community from 1969 to 2018.

"We are committed to a culture of safety and protection for the care of all members of our community, especially our precious children, among God's greatest gifts," school officials wrote in the letter.

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The school said they will be sharing information of Pigott's established allegations with students on Monday.

Nothing is more important than the well-being of our students. St. Xavier High School operates under strict policies and guidelines, which are regularly reviewed and improved upon, to ensure a safe and secure environment for students. We are vigilant in prevention and reporting with a keen sense of awareness and procedures to protect each and every young man.

The school once again extended an invitation for anyone who has felt victimized by a Jesuit or any St. Xavier employee to contact law enforcement, child protection and the school directly at treilly@stxavier.org or ttyrrell@stxavier.org. Victims may also reach out to Marjorie O'Dea, the Province Director of the Office of Safe Environment, at 773-975-6876 or by mail at the USA Midwest Province, 1010 North Hooker Street in Chicago, Illinois 60642.

The following local priests were included in the original list, posted Dec. 17, 2018:

Rev. James A. Condon, S.J. at St. Xavier High School in 1965 (deceased 1993)
Rev. Mark A. Finan, S.J. at St. Xavier High School from 1964 to 1965 (dismissed in 1973)
Rev. Edward J. O'Brien, S.J. at Xavier University in 1958 and 1971 to 1982 (deceased 1983)
Rev. Donald O. Nastold, S.J. at St. Francis Xavier Church from 1999 to 2000 (deceased 2007)
Rev. Robert J. Erpenbeck, S.J. at the Jesuit Novitiate in Milford from 1961 and the Milford Retreat Center in 1964 (deceased 1986)
https://www.cincinnati.com/story ... l-abuse/4841548002/
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
又有更有智慧的每一文
Test of faith
The charity Gospel for Asia asks people to donate to foreign families in need. But some former GFA members say the money is going somewhere else.

By Angela MacIvor

February 23, 2020

Cody Carnine crouches on the ground with a handful of pecans and the widest smile as he calls out to a dozen chickens on his farm in Canton, Texas.

He says a simple task like feeding animals is something he and his wife, Ingrid, couldn’t enjoy five years ago.

"We feel freedom to live our lives as normal people, and not feeling like we have to follow," said Carnine.

Day by day, Carnine and his family are piecing their lives back together. They can’t afford to build a house right now, so they live in what they call the "shop" on their pecan tree farm.

From the outside, it looks like a small retrofitted shipping container. Inside are two cluttered main rooms, a bathroom and bedroom separated from the kitchen by a single burgundy curtain. The children climb up ladders to get to their makeshift bunks in the rafters.

Carnine admits it’s a far cry from the lifestyle the family enjoyed while he was a senior leader at Gospel for Asia. GFA is more than a charity — it’s a Christian organization that people serve, and members usually leave their church and, in many cases, friends behind to live near other staff and become completely entrenched in the day-to-day work of GFA.

The organization raises money for various items, such as chickens, goats, blankets and so-called Jesus wells intended to help remote villages in India and surrounding countries. Monthly missionary and children sponsorships are also popular contributions.

Donors often choose where to put their money by selecting from the annual Christmas catalogue, similar to what Plan Canada or World Vision mails out every year. Glossy magazines and a syndicated radio program — presented by GFA leader K.P. Yohannan on many Christian radio stations — also help promote the charity’s work abroad.

"When you see one thing, but you believe in another — that's the world I lived in near the end."
  
In 2005, the Carnine family sold their home and a successful construction business in Oregon to move to Texas with their four children. Over the next decade, they took a drastic pay cut and fundraised their own salary in order to serve GFA.

They even opted out of paying social security taxes, while still managing to donate thousands back to the cause they believed in wholeheartedly.

Cody Carnine on his family's pecan farm in Canton, Texas. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Cody Carnine on his family's pecan farm in Canton, Texas. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)

Carnine was in charge of development and high-profile donations in the U.S. That meant he worked directly with the people, mostly church leaders, who spent thousands each month on Gospel for Asia’s missions overseas. Carnine even took donor groups on "vision tours" to India in an effort to showcase where their money was being spent.

For decades, GFA has been active in Canada as well. It continues to raise on average $25,000 a day in this country alone. The charity has strong supporters across North America who continue to contribute funds that they believe are being well used.

But over the course of a year-long investigation, CBC has talked to 28 former GFA staff members and board members in Canada, the U.S. and India who shared their stories of self-sacrifice in supporting GFA. They all described an unwavering commitment to the cause, followed by a sense of betrayal.

Some also voiced deep concerns with the organization about how donations were being used, and alleged that hundreds of millions of dollars intended for the poor in Asia were "missing."

Those allegations were the focus of a U.S. class-action lawsuit against the charity that settled last year for $37 million.

The charity firmly denies it did anything wrong, and insists that all donations in Canada and the U.S. went exactly where they were designated.

"Not only [was GFA] not required to make an admission of guilt when they settled the lawsuit, but had the lawsuit actually continued in the court, they either would have won in court or certainly won on the appeal," said GFA litigation spokesperson Johnnie Moore.

He said the allegations made in the U.S. lawsuit were "absolutely false" and the settlement agreement proves it. "It explicitly states that all the funds that … were designated to go to the field went to the field," said Moore.

Cody Carnine was instrumental in the U.S. lawsuit, as one of the few senior leaders at Gospel for Asia who walked away from the organization.

"At GFA we really felt like, man, our life is really making a difference in the lives of other people. So that was incredibly fulfilling, and we were really on-board and extremely involved with everything we could do."

He said a fellow staff member later used the term "cognitive dissonance" to explain how he was coping with mistreatment by leadership, and that resonated with Carnine.

"[It's when] you see one thing, but you believe in another," he said. "That's the world I lived in near the end."

II.
Like many members, Carnine joined Gospel for Asia because he was inspired by the words of its founder, K.P. Yohannan. A native of Kerala, India, Yohannan moved to Texas in the late 1970s and began sharing his vision of how to help the poor in his home country through his books and by speaking at churches across America.

He started Gospel for Asia in 1979.

"There's aspects of him that we were drawn to," said Carnine. "K.P. was our role model, through his teachings and life and lifestyle."

Now 70 years old, Yohannan has a full beard and white hair, which he sometimes pulls back into a ponytail. While visiting western countries such as Canada and the U.S., he’s known to dress casually. However, in Asia, Yohannan wears a white robe and a cross around his neck — symbols of a more Orthodox-style religion that bothers members of the evangelical faith who once followed him.

Those who support Yohannan say this religious shift is merely about accommodating cultural norms in Asia.

A native of Kerala, India, K.P. Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. (Believers Eastern Church)
A native of Kerala, India, K.P. Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. (Believers Eastern Church)
One Yohannan book that moved Carnine and many others is Revolution in World Missions, which preaches a simple lifestyle by giving up material items and focusing on meeting the needs of those who are less fortunate. Yohannan promotes himself as a minimalist and encourages others to live the same way.

For staff, that means living close to the poverty line while giving every spare dollar back to the cause.

Gospel for Asia started as a grassroots organization, with a handful of staff members. By the early 2000s, support ballooned as Yohannan and his team toured evangelical churches across America. They shared stories of how people were being helped in India and surrounding countries, and how more donations could benefit missionaries spreading the gospel to remote or "unreached" villages.

These passionate pleas spoke directly to congregations and even attracted new staff.

In Wills Point, Tex., where the charity’s headquarters is located, the seclusion is entrenched in a gated community. Officially referred to as the "campus," the property spans about 120 hectares off a rural road 80 kilometres east of Dallas.

It includes a 100,000-sq.-ft. administration building with cathedral ceilings, polished concrete floors and modern furniture. There is also a large cafeteria building and chapel, surrounded by approximately 80 homes. They’re all identical two-storey beige homes with attached garages.

The point is to have staff all in close proximity, focused on the cause without distraction.

Dozens of former staff members shared that they were told not to attend church or prayer meetings outside Gospel for Asia. Some also told CBC they were encouraged not to socialize outside staff events, and that their interactions with GFA staff in other countries should be limited.

In Carnine’s opinion, the staff is controlled. And he was no exception.

"People are definitely conditioned on how to be a good staff member, and that leads to making it much easier for leadership there to control [them]," he said.

According to Carnine, one of Yohannan’s main teachings is "touching Godliness through submission." There is a class on that subject for new staff, which Carnine taught during his time at Gospel for Asia.

He said the goal is to preserve a culture where people fully trust authority.

III.
Christine Harris can relate to the Carnine family’s sacrifice. She now lives in a century farmhouse down a gravel road in the backwoods of Tatamagouche, N.S. — thousands of kilometres from the Canadian head office in Stoney Creek, Ont.

The decision to leave Gospel for Asia five years ago was a slow and painful process for Harris — especially since she was the one who convinced her husband, Geoff, that GFA was their calling.

She was also the one who ultimately pulled them out.

Christine Harris and her family left Gospel for Asia five years ago. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Christine Harris and her family left Gospel for Asia five years ago. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Harris said Yohannan’s writings pulled her psyche into a spiritual focus that redirected the course of her entire family.

"Within three years of reading [Revolution of World Missions], we were on staff, just kind of caught up in the whirlwind. It wasn't an easy process. Our church and Christian friends kind of rejected us and shunned us," Harris said.

According to Harris, people in their hometown of Stayner, Ont., didn’t understand why they were willing to give up their home and her husband’s job to move to Hamilton to be closer to the charity’s Canadian office.

"But we just figured it was the right thing to do, something God wanted us to do," Harris said.

For seven years, she believed in Yohannan’s cause so strongly that she cut coupons and scraped for milk money so that her family could buy chickens and sponsor children in India. Some years, her own kids didn’t even get Christmas presents.

"You still hoped for the best, that the money was still doing what it was supposed to do," Harris said.

But she said "spiritual abuse" from leadership eventually took its toll.

"They often use scripture kind of to browbeat you, like you're not good enough. ‘You need to work hard’ or ‘You need to be more spiritual, you need to be more submissive.’ We heard that all the time. ‘You need to just keep stepping up. Don't be tired. Fight back the devil,’" said Harris.

Other female staff members in Canada and the U.S. told CBC they were berated by leadership for not wearing headscarves or following orders; their husbands were disciplined for not keeping them in line. When families either decided to leave the organization or were forced out, they say current staff were instructed not to speak to them.

Besides the strict environment, Harris started questioning whether the money was going where it was promised, after hearing about state-of-the-art hospitals and other mega-projects overseas that donors weren’t informed about.

"We started seeing these slideshows and prayer requests for these big buildings over in India," she said. "There were universities, schools, massive hospitals. I'm not talking about little shacks where they have a small missionary doctor working with a few expired Tylenol. We're talking top-of-the-line, high-end buildings and professors of the best sort."

WATCH: 'We've all been duped': Christine Harris of Nova Scotia talks about her experience with Gospel for Asia


Watch
Christine Harris talks about Gospel for Asia
2 days ago 0:41
The more she thought about it, the more things didn’t add up for her.

"This had nothing to do with the poor, like our magazines were portraying," she said. "So right then, as I'm hearing about these for the first time, I said I think somehow the money isn't getting used like they're saying it is."

IV.
Pastor Bruce Morrison and his congregation at the Christian Fellowship Church in New Glasgow, N.S., supported Gospel for Asia every week through its Sunday collection. Over 20 years, the church donated $150,000 to GFA, because Morrison championed the cause.

"It was the work that they did in India, both in terms of sharing the gospel in that country and also in terms of the humanitarian aid that they provided, which was very impressive," he said.

But when the pastor started hearing in 2015 about dissension amongst staff, he reached out to former employees. He was initially concerned about the mistreatment people described while working at Gospel for Asia.

Then, over the course of several months, he began barreling down a troubling path as he investigated the charity’s finances.

Over the course of two decades, Pastor Bruce Morrison and his congregation at the Christian Fellowship Church in New Glasgow, N.S., donated $150,000 to Gospel for Asia. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Over the course of two decades, Pastor Bruce Morrison and his congregation at the Christian Fellowship Church in New Glasgow, N.S., donated $150,000 to Gospel for Asia. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Morrison found that between 2007 and 2014, Gospel for Asia reported to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that it had sent nearly $94 million to India. Meanwhile, financial records submitted to the Indian government showed the charity received no funds from Canada during that time period.

"So this was just sitting there unused and all the while they’re saying to Canadian donors and other western donors, 'If we only had this much money, we could feed this child. If you would only give, we could buy a cow for a family and that cow would generate revenue to support that family,'" said Morrison.

"All the time, that's not where the money is going."

Over the next few years, Morrison's concerns deepened. He learned by scouring financial statements filed to the Ministry of Home Affairs in India that Gospel for Asia was moving tens of millions from bank accounts in Hong Kong, where it didn't have an office. Millions more were being held in a reserve fund, which, donors said, was concerning given that the charity sends out urgent appeals for donations.

These findings were backed up by an investigation done by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), an organization Gospel for Asia belonged to for several years.

According to ECFA, Gospel for Asia had cash balances of $259 million US in 2015. ECFA terminated the charity that same year for various violations, citing Gospel for Asia’s lack of clarity around its finances during the investigation. A leaked copy of its findings stated that "certain information provided to ECFA by GFA that was crucial to our review was, at least initially, inaccurate.”

The document also said that certain information about “compliance issues” was not revealed until late in the review process.

In 2017, the Indian government banned Gospel for Asia from receiving foreign funds in India, along with thousands of other non-profit organizations. Donors assert this fact has never been disclosed publicly.

That’s the most troubling part for Morrison.

"It would be like me as a minister asking for funds to support some family down the street whose house was burned and they just needed help and we took up an offering of $5,000. And instead of me giving it to them, I put it in my bank account for a rainy day," he said. "That seems like a stretch, but it’s really not. It’s the nature of what happened here."

Morrison says he thought it couldn’t get any worse, until he followed the U.S. class-action lawsuit. In court, lawyers representing Gospel for Asia confirmed that $20 million was taken from Canadian donations to help pay for the $45-million campus in Texas.

"They said in the financial statements that were issued in the U.S. [that] … the money had come from an anonymous donor," said Morrison.

"And then we find out through court hearings in the United States that this money was Canadian money and donors here had no idea that had happened."

Gospel for Asia confirms the money did come from Canadian donations, but that it was later paid back.

Morrison believes all of these details amount to a fraud because, as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada under false pretenses, he says it’s a misrepresentation of the facts. He takes particular issue with the lack of transparency about how donations are being used.

V.
After months of declining CBC requests for an interview with K.P. Yohannan, the charity’s spokesperson agreed to respond to the allegations in person at the campus in Texas.

Johnnie Moore said the controversy of the U.S. lawsuit has shaken GFA leadership.

"I think they just generally feel like they've been really misunderstood," said Moore. "And one of the reasons why they've been misunderstood is that either people have made up their minds already or they've inadequately communicated answers to the questions."

He said all of the goats, chickens and other charitable items offered through GFA were in fact delivered to people in need.

The original plaintiffs in the class action, Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, view it differently. They agree that money eventually made it to Asia, but contest that the money went directly to pay for the items as promised.

"People were being told, 'We're going to take your money and use it one way.' In reality, it was being used a different way. So that was essentially the heart of the lawsuit," said Matthew Dickson, who lives in Rogers, Ariz.

Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, who live in Arkansas, were the plaintiffs in a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Gospel for Asia. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, who live in Arkansas, were the plaintiffs in a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Gospel for Asia. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
He said as they learned more about Gospel for Asia's finances, they couldn't understand why GFA continued to raise money for certain items.

"If you have 10,000 missionaries, and a bicycle costs $100 ... once you've raised your million dollars, then you shouldn't be needing to appeal for a bicycle anymore. Every missionary should have a bicycle and they should be good to go," said Dickson.

"And yet GFA would continue to send out these urgent appeals with how important it is for these poor missionaries that are walking miles and miles on foot to minister to these poor, unreached groups."

When the lawsuit was filed in 2016, Gospel for Asia had publicly promised to send 100 per cent of its proceeds to the field. The charity has since changed the small print to say that 85 per cent of donations end up in the field. Critics allege the real amount is actually closer to 20 per cent.

The definition of "field" is a contentious subject. Critics interpret it to mean the money ends up somewhere in Asia.

But Gospel for Asia’s spokesperson said the donations went exactly where they were supposed to, and that "the needs were met."

"It's just the way in which they fulfilled them — [it] was creative based upon the challenges of a vast organization working in rural and sometimes complicated environments and countries around the world," said Moore.

Another area of dispute is Gospel for Asia's businesses in India. The Dicksons claimed the organization was "covertly diverting the money to a multi-million-dollar personal empire," including a state-of-the-art hospital, engineering college and private schools in one of India's richest states.

Moore said that's a "totally absurd accusation."

Johnnie Moore, a spokesman for Gospel for Asia, stands outside the group's headquarters in Wills Point, Tex. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
Johnnie Moore, a spokesman for Gospel for Asia, stands outside the group's headquarters in Wills Point, Tex. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
"I mean, all you have to do is spend time with [GFA employees] to see the work that they support in 20 countries around the world. Look at the lifestyle of the founder of the organization and the people who are part of the religious order," he said.

"This is not an organization with leaders who personally enriched themselves."

Moore confirmed that GFA's field partner, Believers Eastern Church, runs a hospital in Kerala, India. The charity said the hospital was partially funded with what it calls "undesignated field funds," but foreign money was not used for other projects, such as an engineering college and private schools.

The charity also disputes that any of these entities are "for profit." GFA says all revenue is used for charitable work exclusively.

"That hospital is the only hospital of its kind within a very, very long distance. I mean, people come from all over that part of India in order to get great health care," said Moore.

Moore also says that when it comes to the large sums of money in foreign bank accounts, the charity "should have been heralded for the fact that they kept significant cash reserves in complicated environments."

WATCH: Gospel for Asia spokesman Johnnie Moore takes CBC on a tour of the group's campus in Texas


Watch
Gospel for Asia 'campus'
2 days ago 0:57
VI.


For the last five years, Pastor Bruce Morrison has written dozens of letters and reports for the RCMP and Canada Revenue Agency, along with various other accounting agencies, pushing them to investigate GFA.

The RCMP worked on the case for a year, but closed the file in December 2018. Spokesperson Cpl. Louise Savard said in an email statement that "if new information comes to light it will be reopened."

Morrison has never received a response from the CRA. But in a written statement to CBC, the agency says Gospel for Asia is still a registered charity.

"However, since the CRA has neither imposed a sanction upon the charity, nor revoked or annulled its registered status as the result of an audit, the confidentiality provisions of the Act prevent the CRA from commenting as to whether this charity is currently, or has previously been, under audit."

Charity lawyer Mark Blumberg said it's not unusual for the CRA to take 10 or even 15 years to do an audit before the public ever knows about it. He calls the lack of transparency "unfortunate."

"I think that there needs to be a greater ability for CRA to comment on things, especially when it's in the public domain already that people are making allegations," said Blumberg.

"I'm a clergyman, so I'm not supposed to get mad, but I'm upset… to say the least."
  
He said the CRA takes the issue of foreign activities "quite seriously," but "until they have revoked the entity, they're not really allowed to disclose to the public the information relating to the reasons for the revocation."

Blumberg also believes the RCMP should dedicate more resources to investigating charity allegations.

Morrison said he tries not to let himself get angry about the situation with GFA, but it's difficult to hold back his emotions. "I'm a clergyman, so I'm not supposed to get mad, but I'm upset… to say the least."

Coverage of the U.S. lawsuit as well as efforts from people like Morrison to sound the alarm in church circles has affected the group's fundraising efforts.

The latest records filed to CRA show that in 2018, Gospel for Asia brought in $8.8 million. Three years earlier, at its peak, the charity raised $18 million in Canada.

Morrison said he feels guilty about having promoted GFA so vigorously to his congregation. "I felt I had betrayed my church, you know, because I had been a strong solicitor of support from the congregation," said Morrison.

"The greatest thing that's impacted me is the denial that comes from Gospel for Asia — 'We've done nothing wrong' — When there is so much evidence to the contrary."

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/ ... -asia-charity-money
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
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Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
Gospel for Asia Settles Lawsuit with $37 Million Refund to Donors

after three years in court, Gospel for Asia (GFA) announced yesterday that it would pay $37 million and a board seat to settle a class-action lawsuit.

One of America’s largest ministries—in 2013 alone, it brought in about $93.8 million—GFA faced two lawsuits accusing it of sending only 13 percent of its donations to the field instead of the oft-promised 100 percent.

The first of those lawsuits was dismissed so it could go to arbitration. Then its plaintiffs were included in the second lawsuit—along with about 200,000 others who donated between January 2009 to September 2018—when the suit switched to a class action in the fall.

In the settlement, the plaintiffs and GFA agree that “all donations designated for use in the field were ultimately sent to the field.”

“Gospel for Asia is essentially refunding donations,” stated spokesperson Johnnie Moore. (Or at least a portion of donations—the class action originally asked for $376 million.)

“The ministry hopes that those who receive these funds will simply turn around and donate the same amount of money to another worthwhile ministry,” Moore stated. “[GFA’s] desire is only for the Lord’s work to be done.”

Approximately 200,000 past donors to GFA will be eligible to receive a portion of the $37 million settlement, after court and attorney fees.

The amount was only 10 percent of what the plaintiffs asked for, but “I feel good,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Marc Stanley. “We also got significant reforms.”

One of those is a seat at the board for plaintiff Garland Murphy, a doctor who along with his wife gave $8,922 to GFA in 2012 based on its “100% Guarantee.” Another reform is taking away a board seat from founder K. P. Yohannan’s wife Gisela and replacing her with a person approved by both Yohannan and Murphy.

No new board members related to Yohannan may join the board for the next three years. And the board will add a subcommittee—which will include Murphy but not Yohannan or his son Daniel Punnose—which will file regular reports to the court for three years.

Those reports will track how well GFA is doing in complying with its promises to train the board in its obligations, to publish annual reports, and to make clear to donors that it “retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves ministry purposes.”

Part of Murphy’s complaint was that GFA’s loose bookkeeping—“millions of hard copy” receipts were spread across its partners in India—hid the fact that money purportedly raised for water buffaloes or “Jesus wells” wasn’t actually spent on those things. GFA contended that all of the money made it to the field, but “there was no guarantee” the money “would be used for its exact designated purpose,” according to court documents.

GFA will also “attempt to comply” with all Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) guidelines, according to the settlement. In 2015, GFA was kicked out of the organization it helped found after ECFA concluded that GFA misled donors, mismanaged resources, had an ineffective board, and violated most of the accountability group’s core standards.

“The fact of the matter is that Gospel for Asia did not act fraudulently, and all the donations they received made it to the field,” Moore stated. “The agreement to settle was, in part, precipitated by a concern that the ministry could [not] continue to bear the weight of defending itself. Class action lawsuits are enormous burdens for large, for-profit companies. So, one needs just to imagine the weight of an action like this against a not-for-profit organization.

“The good news is that the lessons learned from this burdensome series of events will make the ministry stronger,” he stated.

But first it’ll make GFA poorer. The nonprofit will pay $26 million within 30 days and raise the rest within a year, according to the settlement—with its Texas headquarters on the hook as collateral.

And that money can’t come from donations designated for something else.

The plaintiffs “recognize that funds payable … were donated to GFA-USA for use in the field,” the settlement said. Those obligations have to be paid first, and GFA’s “field partners will provide documentation that all such designations were satisfied.”

“To the extend the funds [to pay off the lawsuit] … are raised through donations,” the settlement states, “they shall be raised through solicitations for general ministry purposes.”

“For three long years, our ministry wondered more often than I’d like to admit if we would survive this ordeal,” stated Yohannan. “… I’m most proud of the fact that we managed to continue to serve those in need even as we fought every day to survive ourselves.”

https://www.christianitytoday.co ... -refund-donors.html
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Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
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Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details
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