News Briefs

Fresno diocesan priest accused of misconduct, gang links

November 5, 2020 CNA Daily News 2

CNA Staff, Nov 5, 2020 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Diocese of Fresno has taken out a restraining order against a priest and launched an investigation of him after he was accused of drug use, physical abuse, threatening behavior and gang links.

Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno said Mass last Sunday at St. Joseph’s Church in Selma, Calif. and announced that Father Guadalupe Rios, the parish administrator, has been put on administrative leave while the diocese conducts an investigation.

Cheryl Sarkisian, the diocese’s chancellor, confirmed that the priest has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation is pending.

“This is a matter of an internal investigation and the confidentiality and privacy of all concerned parties will be respected and upheld,” Sarkisian told The Fresno Bee Nov. 3.

The restraining order, approved by a Fresno County Superior Court judge Oct. 30, specifically protects the church building, the diocese offices, the church secretary, her daughters, the church bookkeeper, a supervisor of the priest, and Bishop Brennan, Action News of ABC 30 Fresno reports.

Under the order, the priest may not come within 100 yards of the church or any of the people or properties named. The diocese served the order to Rios at its offices.

Several parishioners told Action News the priest was either in a gang or affiliated with one. Alleged gang links are mentioned in the diocese’s application for a restraining order.

“The Diocese of Fresno feels this matter is a difficult one for all concerned parties, but one that had to be addressed in a timely and forthright manner due to the issues that were brought to the attention of the Diocese of Fresno,” the diocese told Action News, according to its Nov. 2 report.

“This matter does not concern misconduct or sexual abuse of a minor,” the diocese said. “Due to the sensitivity of these matters we do not feel it is appropriate to comment further other than that which is already stated by those parties protected in the court documents.”

According to the Fresno Bee, the court documents requesting the restraining order say of the priest: “He is a past gang member or associate and still maintains friendship with gang members.”

Parishioners said they were afraid to be interviewed, telling Action News the priest has posted social media photos of himself with guns, identified as an AK-47, an AR-556, or a .357 Magnum. Selma police seized both of his weapons, the AR-556 and the .357 Magnum, from church grounds.

The diocese has accused Rios of physically and emotionally abusing the 41-year-old church secretary. She said she had a physical and romantic relationship with Rios for five years, which she ended last summer. In her own declaration supporting the restraining order, she alleged that the priest was habitually under the influence of marijuana and alcohol, and this would make him suicidal.

She alleged that in February the priest brandished a gun at her and made threats against her life and his own life.

“Mr. Rios and I were in his rectory when he put a gun to his head in front of me,” she wrote in her declaration. “As I started to cry in shock, I asked him what he was doing and he said to me. ‘Either I’m going to die or you are or we both are.’ Due to his past as a gang member and the gangster friends he hangs out with, I’m afraid for my safety and for my family.”

She said his guns are “accessible” and he has previously threatened to kill her. She said she feared “retaliation” when “he finds out about the diocese knowing the truth about him.”

A court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 25. However, Selma police said they have not received any crime reports related to the restraining order.

In November 2019, an 800-year-old relic of St. Albertus Magnus disappeared from the church Rios led sometime between two Sunday morning Masses.

CNA contacted the Diocese of Fresno, which declined to make further comment.

Rios’ name came up in police reports regarding child pornography allegations against another priest, Father Robert Gamel. According to a police report, Gamel told Rios that he had seen nude photographs on the internet showing a boy at the church. Rios warned him that such photos were considered child pornography and looking at them had legal consequences, the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Eyewitness News television show reported in March 2016.

Rios is not otherwise mentioned in news reports about the case.

Gamel was arrested in 2014 and in 2016 he pleaded no contest to one felony count of possession of child pornography on his computer. Gamel allegedly contacted the boy while at the church, gave him money for clothes and instructed him on what kind to wear.

There are about 1.2 million Catholics in the Fresno diocese, out of about 2.9 million people, including over 140 diocesan priests.

 


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Agreement allowing Planned Parenthood to operate in Guatemala rescinded

November 5, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

CNA Staff, Nov 5, 2020 / 02:48 pm (CNA).- Guatemala’s Interior Ministry rescinded Wednesday an agreement it had made last month allowing Planned Parenthood to establish and operate branch office in the country.

The Nov. 4 statement repealed the agreement of Oct. 7, stating it was “not in accord with the interests of the State of Guatemala.”

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei announced the repeal Nov. 2, declaring he would not allow Planned Parenthood to operate in the country. Giammattei’s response was in reaction the initial agreement authorizing Planned Parenthood, which became official that same day.

“I recognize life from conception and therefore I will not tolerate in my administration any movement that violates what is established in our Political Constitution of the Republic, that goes against the values with which I was raised and that conflicts with my principles as doctor,” Giammattei said.

“I am a faithful defender of life and I am emphatic in stating that I will not endorse in my administration the creation, registration or start-up of any organization that goes against life,” the president underscored.

PublinewsGT confirmed Nov. 3 that the Interior Minister, Oliverio García Rodas, submitted his resignation, which was accepted.

“Oliverio García Rodas, taking responsibility, informed me in the evening that he had made the decision to resign due to the error he had committed and considering that it was strongly opposed,” the president said.

“I reiterate the government’s commitment to respect life from conception, since it is something that my faith and the Political Constitution of the Republic profess,” Giammattei told the press.

When the initial agreement authorizing Planned Parenthood was made public Nov. 2, various political and citizen groups voiced their opposition, and lawmakers from the Viva party called for the Interior Minister to resign.

The Family Matters Association of Guatemala issued a statement thanking Giammattei “for his firm statement” defending and protecting “the lives of Guatemalans from conception, as established in our Magna Carta.”

AFI Guatemala pointed out that Planned Parenthood “is responsible for more than 350,000 abortions in the United States annually. It’s public knowledge that Planned Parenthood’s major source of income is from abortion” and that company executives have acknowledged its involvement “in the sale and trafficking of organs of aborted babies,” the pro-life organization said.


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Details of Schoenstatt founder abuse and coercion allegations emerge

November 5, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

CNA Staff, Nov 5, 2020 / 12:05 pm (CNA).-  

A Church historian has published some details regarding the allegations of abuse made against  Fr. Josef Kentenich, founder of the Schoenstatt ecclesial movement. The movement has rejected claims that its founder engaged in sexual abuse, while in July a German bishops announced that a commission would review the priest’s beatification process.

Historian Alexandra von Teuffenbach has published the first of two volumes in a history of the Schoenstatt movement and allegations that Kentenich, who is being considered for beatification, manipulated and coerced community members into sexually inappropriate conduct.

The first volume focuses on the life of Sister Giorgia Wagner, a member of the community who died in 1987. Wagner was assigned to ministry in Chile during her time in the community.

“When Fr. Kentenich visited Chile after the Second World War, in 1947, he abused her and deposed her as provincial superior,” von Teuffenbach wrote in a letter to Vatican analyst Sandro Magister, which Magister published Nov. 2.

“After many months, in a heartbreaking letter, Sister Giorgia described to the superior general not so much the abuse as the effects it had produced. She told how she had tried to oppose the abuses of Fr. Kentenich, who however told her: ‘The ‘Vater’ can do it!’ (in German the word ‘Pater’ is used to indicate a religious, but Kentenich called himself ‘Vater,’ like the father of a family),” von Teuffenbach added.

The historian provided Magister quotes from a letter written by Wagner to another sister in the community:

“I have realized that we are all slaves to him and that no one is completely free with him. Some sisters have made comments to me about when we are with Fr. Kentenich and we are completely under his magic and his power. Why does he treat us this way? […] Why does he preach the most beautiful virginity, both spiritual and physical, and take all liberties with us?,” Wagner wrote.

“We are allowed to speak with him only while kneeling. Then he takes both hands and pulls us very close to him. He has done this repeatedly with me. In this way one enters into close contact with his body,” the sister added.

von Teuffenbach said that when Wagner’s allegations became known in the community, “Fr. Kentenich did not deny anything but publicly stated that Sister Giorgia was ‘possessed,’ ordering her to retract. Later he said she was suffering from gout, thyroid disease, ‘menopause.’ The latest accusation was that she was mentally ill.”

The historian’s letter to Magister cited testimony from other sisters in the Schoenstatt community, who described being manipulated, coerced, or humiliated by Kentenich, with sexual overtimes in some cases.

Sisters apparently sent testimony to the Trier diocese, which considered the priest’s cause for beatification. Two wrote that:

“One of us went through this: she had to kneel in front of him and was supposed to call him ‘father.’ When she hesitated and he repeated his request, still unanswered because it went against her feelings, he nudged her until she – albeit reluctantly – did what he told her. The other went through something else: she was told to kneel in front of him, while he was sitting on a chair, and to put her face in his lap.”

According to Magister, the postulator of Kentenich’s cause for beatification said in October that he had not yet completed studying the documents von Teuffenbach studied and cited in her book. The documents themselves come the archives of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which were opened to scholars this summer.

Kentenich was born in 1885 and ordained a priest in 1910. In 1914, he founded a new ecclesial movement in a chapel in Schoenstatt, Germany.

The Holy See reportedly began to receive reports from alleged victims of the priest in the early 1950s, and dispatched an apostolic visitator, or Vatican observer, to assess the situation. According to von Teuffenbach, Kentenich was sent to the United States after that visitation, but no reforms of the community were subsequently enacted.

Kentenich went to the U.S. in 1951, and was permitted to return to Germany in October 1965. He died three years later. A beatification process for the priest began in 1975.

In July 2, Juan Pablo Catoggio, International President of the Schoenstatt Work, issued a statement on the allegations

“We firmly reject the accusation that Joseph Kentenich was guilty of sexual abuse of members of the Institute of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary.”

“His behavior toward other persons – especially women – was always marked by a pronounced reverence and esteem, as well as by the principle of physical integrity, which he also impressed upon his communities.”

“That there were accusations from the ranks of the Sisters of Mary is not new to us. Fr. Kentenich himself gave a detailed account of his actions to his superior after an accusation became known. In this context, however, there was no mention of sexual abuse, neither literally nor in content,” Catoggio said, citing the return of Kentenich to a leadership role in Schoenstatt as evidence the Vatican rejected the charges against him.

Catoggio said that before a beatification process can begin, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith must issue a “nihil obstat” based on its files. Any “well-founded suspicion of moral misconduct” would have prevented this, but the CDF granted the “nihil obstat.”

“If doubt regarding the moral integrity of the Schoenstatt founder would have remained, his exile would not have finished and the Vatican would have not published a nihil obstat to open his process of beatification,”  Catoggio said in a separate statement.

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of the German diocese of Tier announced a commission of historians to review the beatification process July 7.

It will be the task of the commission “to reconcile the newly found material with what has already been gathered and evaluated from other archives by the previous commission. At the end of their work, the commission – including the results of the previous commission – will write a report in which a statement will also be made about the personality and spirituality of Fr. Josef Kentenich as depicted in the collected documents,” a diocesan statement said in July.

Catoggia said his community welcomed the work of the commission.

On July 8, he wrote to Schoenstatt community members, saying that “we very much welcome this decision of the bishop, since in this way the clarification of the questions regarding the person and actions of Father Kentenich.” 

“We understand that the Schoenstatt Family throughout the world expects initiatives from us that respond to the many justified questions, confusions and demands for transparency. You rightly expect that the history of Father Kentenich, the history of Schoenstatt, and the history of the Sisters be more openly and transparently processed and communicated to the Schoenstatt Family,” Catoggio said.

“We recognize that we have held back for too long out of consideration and for the protection of persons and communities,” he added.

The Schoenstatt movement, which now includes priests, consecrated women, and lay involvement, is active in 42 countries, and focused on spiritual formation and Marian spirituality.


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Typhoon Goni hits Philippines, compounding damage of storms and coronavirus

November 5, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

Denver Newsroom, Nov 5, 2020 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Typhoon Goni has hit the Philippines, killing several people and causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes as the country struggles to recover from two other recent major storms and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ international aid agency, is reaching out to help.

“We’re working hand-in-hand with the local Church and Caritas Philippines to provide lifesaving support to families, such as making sure that they have access to safe drinking water and adequate shelter,” Nikki Gamer, media relations manager for CRS, told CNA Nov.4. “We’re also continuing to assess the damage and plan for ongoing support if needed.”

Typhoon Goni, locally known as Rolly, hit parts of the Philippines Nov. 1. Its peak winds reached 195 miles per hour. It was comparable in strength to the devastating 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, which killed some 6,000 people and damaged or destroyed 4 million homes.

The latest storm passed south of Manila but took out power in 125 cities and towns. About 2 million people were in the storm’s path, the Washington Post reports.

At least 20 people died and 10,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed.

Abay province suffered heavily, and San Francisco village in the town of Guinobatan was buried when rain and water drove mud and rocks down the slope of the Mayon Volcano.

Debris, flood, and landslides have blocked several land routes and several bridges have been destroyed. Several thousand personnel and 700 vehicles and heavy equipment have been deployed to clear roads.

The province of Catanduanes was unreachable by phone and its airport tower was not responsive. Communication was restored after a day without contact.

Gamer said over 1.7 million people have been affected.

Some 389,000 people are estimated to have evacuated their homes and taken refuge in churches, courts, and schools. Health officials have asked them to continue to follow practices to limit the spread of coronavirus.

“The COVID-19 pandemic makes the situation more fraught as social distancing and protection measures are difficult to adhere to in crowded evacuation centers,” Gamer told CNA. “What’s more, COVID-19-related travel restrictions have further complicated humanitarian efforts.”

Catholic Relief Services is the U.S. branch of Caritas International, the Catholic Church’s humanitarian relief network, which is helping Caritas Philippines in its emergency response efforts.

“Several Caritas International member organizations have responded not only with messages of solidarity, but likewise an offer to help in any way possible,” Bishop Jose Colin Mendoza Bagaforo of Kidapawan, national director of Caritas Philippines, told CBCP News.

Bagaforo appealed for the world to send aid, saying funds will help provide food, water, and emergency shelter.

He said the typhoon will bring greater poverty to the affected regions.

“With humility, we appeal for everyone’s sincere acts of kindness, generosity and compassion,” he said.

Gamer said the coronavirus and extreme weather events mean aid agencies need to prepare communities to be resilient.

“We’re greatly concerned about two ongoing issues impacting the Philippines and many other countries where we work – COVID-19 and climate change. Just like in the U.S., the secondary impacts of coronavirus have affected the economy and the ability of families to put food on the table,” Gamer told CNA.

“Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change – such as stronger and more frequent storms – are devastating livelihoods,” she said. “When Typhoon Goni struck, people were still reeling from Typhoon Quinta, which hit the same area just last week. People in the Philippines are bracing for at least five or six more typhoons this season. That’s why we’re strengthening local communities so that they’re more resilient to these types of crises in the future.”

Gamer also noted the generosity of Catholics in America.

“We’re extremely grateful for the unwavering support of American Catholics who continue to support our global mission despite all that’s happening here at home,” she said.


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