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Judge's Ten Commandments Display in Courtroom Ruled Unconstitutional

A federal appeals court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a local trial judge in Ohio has no constitutional right to hang in his courtroom a poster of the Ten Commandments along with his own pointed comments about "moral relativism" and the rule of law.

In a 17-page order, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared that the presence of the poster in the courtroom of Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge James Deweese violated the First Amendment rights of lawyers and litigants appearing before him. Asserting that the judge's "secular" justification for the written message was "a sham," the federal appellate judges affirmed a lower court ruling ordering Deweese to take down the poster.

Hung on Deweese's courtroom wall in 2006, the poster includes the following comments from the judge himself above the familiar list of commandments: "There is a conflict of legal and moral philosophies raging in the United States. That conflict is between moral relativism and moral absolutism. We are moving towards moral relativism. All law is legislated morality. The only question is whose morality. Because morality is based on faith, there is no such thing as religious neutrality in law or morality.

"Ultimately," Deweese's poster states, "there are only two views: Either God is the final authority, and we acknowledge His unchanging standards of behavior. Or man is the final authority, and standards of behavior change at the whim of individuals or societies." In addition, underneath the commandments, the judge added this comment:

"The cases passing through this courtroom demonstrate we are paying a high cost in increased crime and other social ills for moving from moral absolutism to moral relativism since the mid 20th century. Our Founders saw the necessity of moral absolutes. . . . The Declaration of Independence acknowledges God as Creator, Lawgiver, 'Supreme Judge of the World,' and the One who providentially superintends the affairs of men. Ohio's Constitution acknowledges Almighty God as the source of our freedom. I join the Founders in personally acknowledging the importance of Almighty God's fixed moral standards for restoring the moral fabric of this nation."

The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, and the new ruling by the federal appellate judges marked the second time in the past 11 years they've had to admonish Deweese for his courtroom art. In 2000, he hung on his courtroom wall a copy of the Ten Commandments -- alone without any of his own comments -- before the federal courts ordered it taken down. In Wednesday's ruling, the 6th Circuit cited this litigation history in rejecting Deweese's new claims that he had a constitutional right to post the additional messages above and below the commandments in court.

The poster "sets forth overt religious messages and religious endorsements," the appeals panel wrote. "It is a display of the Ten Commandments editorialized by Defendant, a judge in an Ohio state court, exhorting a return to 'moral absolutes' which Defendant himself defines as the principles of the 'God of the Bible.' The poster is an explicit endorsement of religion by Defendant in contravention of the Establishment Clause."

Dead baron was pal of Picasso and HG Wells

 Published on Thu Jan 24 17:25:01 GMT 2008

ONE half of a glamourous and aristocratic South Shields couple has died at the age 86.

Baroness Anne Manhattan passed away at South Tyneside District Hospital last week.

She had spent the final decade of her life at Windsor Nursing Home, in Hebburn, after suffering a severe stroke.

Her late husband was the famous writer and raconteur Baron Avro Manhattan, a man who had counted Picasso and George Bernard Shaw among his many friends.

Before the baron's death in 1990, the couple were feted as the borough's most glamourous couple.

But despite owning homes in both high-class Kensington and in Spain, they chose to spend most of their time at a modest property in Henry Nelson Street in South Shields.

In recent years the baroness had become an increasingly frail figure at the Hebburn care home, where she was visited by friends Julie Brew and Marilyn Scorer.

Mrs Brew, who had known the Shotley Bridge-born baroness for 24 years, said: "Anne was very much a lady of the old school. She loved staging dinner parties and being glamourous.

"She was a very colourful character and both her and Avro were hugely entertaining. Her passing is really the end of an era."

The couple, who never had children, settled in South Shields in 1963, two years after the former nurse met her future husband in London.

They moved into a house in Henry Nelson Street bequeathed to them by Baroness Anne's mother.

Baron Avro had lived a colourful and exciting life before that time.

He had visited Picasso in his Paris studio when the legendary Spanish artist was unknown, had helped H. G. Wells draw up a Utopian bill of human rights and still found time to write more than 50 books of his own.

Despite his exotic past he did not boast about his famous friends.

Mrs Brew, a retired nurse, recalled: "He was a modest man who was always more interested in what was happening in your life than about talking about his past."

As a couple they shared a passion for South Shields's coastline and loved going for walks in the town's South and North Marine Parks.

A funeral service is to be held for Baroness Anne at St Peter's Church in Harton on Monday, January 28, at 10am. She will later be interred beside her late husband at Benfieldside Cemetery in Shotley Bridge at noon.

Vatican's Eyes on Egypt

Catholics are just as surprised as anyone, but nobody knows the endgame.

by JOHN THAVIS (CNS) 01/31/2011 

A protester gestures in front of a burning barricade

VATICAN CITY (CNS) —

Church leaders are watching the unfolding political drama in Egypt with a mixture of hope for reform and concern over potential violence, said the head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa told Vatican Radio Jan. 30 that the widespread unrest that has weakened the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak came as a surprise to Catholics in the region.

“We all sense that these are epochal changes. None of us would have imagined these kinds of developments a few months ago,” he said.

“This means that there are currents, especially in the Arab world, that now have found visible expression. This is certainly a positive sign, but it’s also worrying because we don’t know how all this will end — we hope with the least possible amount of violence and bloodshed,” he said.

Father Pizzaballa said he hoped that “respect for religious minorities will be preserved” in Egypt. His concern appeared to reflect the fact that Mubarak’s opponents include both radical and moderate Muslim groups, and it was unclear who might assume power if the president resigns.

Father Pizzaballa spoke on a Church-sponsored day of prayer for peace in the Holy Land. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI marked the day with a prayer to “lead minds and hearts toward concrete projects of peace.” He did not specifically mention the unrest in Egypt.

The Pope, joined by two Italian youths, then released two doves from his apartment window as a sign of peace.

In his comments to Vatican Radio, Father Pizzaballa said the search for peace and freedom involves “not allowing oneself to be dominated by passions.”

“We all see how in the Middle East, in the Holy Land and in Jerusalem, passions can blind people. Instead, to have real freedom, we need a certain distance from things in order to see them more clearly,” he said.
He said real freedom in the Middle East needs to include religious freedom, access to places of worship and holy places, and freedom of religious expression.

Francesco Zannini, who teaches at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, said the situation in Egypt reflected the weakening political power of Arab leaders who have ruled as “monarchs” but who are threatened by changes brought by globalization.

In Egypt, it was unclear whether the momentum of the unrest was great enough to bring lasting reforms, Zannini told the Rome-based agency AsiaNews. One big question, he said, was whether Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, had the capacity to govern Egypt.
Zannini said that although Islamic extremists had begun to join the protests in Egypt, he doubted whether they would ever present a governing alternative there. He said he thought radical Islam was losing influence among the populations of the Middle East, and had shown itself too inflexible to have success on a political level, where consensus-building is needed.

Terror Accusations, but Perjury Charges

Crowds gathered for a march in Havana in 2006 to protest United States policy in dealing with Cuba, including its handling of the Posada case.

By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

Published: January 9, 2011

HOUSTON — An elderly Cuban exile who once worked for the C.I.A. and has been linked to bombings in Havana and the downing of an airliner in the 1970s is scheduled to go on trial this week in a Texas courtroom — not on terrorism charges, but for perjury.

Luis Posada Carriles in 1985.

The exile, Roman Catholic - Luis Posada Carriles, who as a Central Intelligence Agency operative waged a violent campaign against Fidel Castro’s regime for decades, is accused of lying to an immigration judge about his role in the bombings at Havana tourist spots in 1997. He also faces several charges of immigration fraud and obstruction of a proceeding, stemming from lies he is accused of telling United States officials about how he entered the country in March 2005.

But the trial that is scheduled to begin on Monday in federal court in El Paso will go far beyond questions of Mr. Posada’s mendacity under oath. For the first time, American prosecutors will present evidence in open court that Mr. Posada — a man originally trained in explosives by the C.I.A. — played a major role in carrying out bombings in Cuba.

“The C.I.A. trained and unleashed a Frankenstein,” said Peter Kornbluh, an analyst with the National Security Archive who has studied Mr. Posada’s career. “It is long past time he be identified as a terrorist and be held accountable as a terrorist.”

Mr. Posada’s lawyer, Arturo Hernandez, predicted that his client would be acquitted. “He’s innocent of everything,” Mr. Hernandez said.

Mr. Posada, 82, has been free on bond and living with his family in Miami since 2007 in legal limbo. An immigration judge ordered him deported in 2005, but barred him from being sent to Cuba or Venezuela for fear he might face torture. No other country has agreed to accept him.

He was a target in a 2007 investigation by federal agents in New Jersey who were looking into accusations that he had raised money from Cuban exiles in Union City for terrorist attacks. That investigation never led to an indictment.

Instead, the Obama administration has taken the novel approach of charging Mr. Posada with having lied at a deportation hearing about his involvement in the bombings. Some experts on Cuban history say the approach is not unlike indicting Al Capone on tax evasion charges. The penalty could still be stiff: he faces a maximum sentence of five years for each of 10 counts in the indictment, and 10 years on the last count.

But to convince a court that the self-styled Cuban militant committed perjury, prosecutors must prove he participated in the attacks. In court documents, prosecutors have already signaled that they will call two Cuban police officials and present forensic evidence about the 1997 explosions, in which one Italian tourist died. They will also submit tapes and transcripts of interviews of Mr. Posada by a reporter for The New York Times in 1998. In the interviews, he boasted that he had organized the wave of seven bombings at hotels, restaurants and nightclubs.

The trial will be closely watched by officials in Cuba and Venezuela and may be a turning point in relations between the United States and the leftist governments in those countries.
For years, Cuba and Venezuela had been clamoring for Mr. Posada to be extradited to their countries to stand trial. In Venezuela, he remains a prime suspect in the bombing of a Cubana Airlines flight that crashed off the coast of Barbados on Oct. 6, 1976, killing all 73 people aboard. Though he was never convicted, he was imprisoned for nine years in Caracas on charges of conspiring with the bombers. He escaped by bribing a warden and walking out of prison disguised as a priest.

Cuban officials regard him as a terrorist mastermind and have repeatedly accused the United States of harboring “the bin Laden of this hemisphere.” Not only did he say in interviews with The Times that he had orchestrated the Havana bombings in 1997, but he also was convicted in 2000 in Panama of taking part in a plot to assassinate Mr. Castro at a summit meeting. He served four years in prison there before being pardoned by President Mireya Moscoso in her last week in office.

Mr. Posada has long been entwined with American intelligence services, going back to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. He worked directly for the agency until 1967, spying on Cuban exile groups in Miami and running paramilitary training camps, according to declassified documents. He was also a “paid asset” of the agency in Venezuela from 1968 to 1976, according to declassified documents and an unclassified summary of his career in the court record.

“The C.I.A. taught us everything — everything,” he told The Times in 1998. “They taught us explosives, how to kill, bomb trained us in acts of sabotage.”

In 1963, at the C.I.A.’s behest, he enlisted in the United States Army and enrolled in officer school at Fort Benning. He was trained in demolition, propaganda and intelligence, though he quit the military a year later. By March 1965, he was a paid operative for the agency in Miami, making $300 a month, declassified documents show.

Crowds gathered for a march in Havana in 2006 to protest United States policy in dealing with Cuba, including its handling of the Posada case.

A shocking Compilation of Video clips showing negative side effects of Antidepressants

Julie Powers Schenecker was "depressed" according to a statement by Julie's mother. That leads me to believe Julie may have been on antidepressants. Whether she was or wasn't, here is some information about crimes that were committed by people on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications.

Video: Antidepressants and School Shootings, Suicide, Addiction.

From 2004: "Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced an agreement that resolves charges that a leading pharmaceutical company concealed information about the safety and effectiveness of one of its drugs." More

Antidepressant Facts: Lawsuits

Anti Depressant Facts: Casualties

More Research

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

Loughner’s Jewish mother? Not so much

By Ron Kampeas · January 12, 2011

I noted the other day that an acquaintance of Jared Lee Loughner, the accused gunman in Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson, believed his mother was Jewish.

Bryce Tierney told Mother Jones that Loughner listed Mein Kampf as a favorite book in part to provoke his Jewish mother.

Nate Bloom, the noted Jewish roots columnist and researcher, has done the legwork -- and pretty much buries this notion.

I'll hand it over to him:

It is appalling how one comment---a friend of Jared Loughner telling a Mother Jones’ reporter that Jared Loughner’s mother is “Jewish”---goes viral in an instant. 

In hours, "this fact" was all over on anti-Semitic sites.  And, of course, there are the “commentators” who love to ‘blame the victim’ via some pop psychology theory that Jared acted out of “Jewish self-hatred.”

I figured that this was the moment to try and get “truth” dressed, and into the public arena a lot faster than usual.  In other words, to use the tools of the internet to determine the veracity of what this friend told Mother Jones.

I cover Jews in popular culture for Jewish newspapers and I know how often famous people are mis-identified as Jewish or mis-identified as not Jewish. I also know that a lot of people are not outright lying about claiming someone is Jewish---they just get it wrong.

So, with my friend Michael, we ran down everything we could from public records on Jared Loughner’s mother’s family background.  It took a lot of “search terms” and databases to find what we did.

Here’s what we found:

Jared Lee Loughner’s mother is Amy Totman Loughner;
Amy Loughner---Known Parentage from Public Records:
Her [Amy’s] parents were Lois May Totman and Laurence Edward Totman.
----Lois M. Totman died in 1999 and Laurence E. Totman died in 2005. Both were registered nurses. Laurence worked at a VA facility in Tucson. We both found this info via google news archives, social security death index.

From 1930 census records
Laurence E. Totman was born in Illinois in 1925.
His (Laurence’s) parents were Laurence A. Totman and his wife, Mary.
Laurence Totman pere (the elder) was born in Kansas to a Pennsylvania father and an Illinois mother. Mary was from Illinois, as were both of her parents.
A sister-in-law named Myrtle M. Brennan is listed as living with them also.
1920/1910 census records---Totman Family:

In 1920, Lawrence Totman, (Jared’s) great-grandfather, is living with his aunt, Rosa Clarke, who was born in illinois to two Irish-born parents.

Rosa is his mother's sister. On the 1910 census, his (Laurence, the elder) maternal grandparents are listed as Irish-born.

Father, Orvie Totman was born in Ohio to Ohio-born parents.
Amy Loughner’s Mother’s Line:

See obit, below, from Arlington (Illinois) Daily Record, June 24, 1999---Obituary of Helen Medernach of Virgil, Illinois. Helen was the sister of Lois M. Totman (the mother of Amy Totman Loughner). Helen was the great aunt of Jared Loughner.

As you can see, Helen’s funeral (mass) was held at a Catholic church. Helen (and Lois) were the children of Anton Bleifuss and Jessie Bleifuss (nee Anderson).  Lois M. Totman died just days after her sister, Helen.

According to the census records, Anton Bleifuss was born in Bremen, Germany, to German parents. Jessie Anderson Bleifuss was born in Illinois to a father born in Denmark and a mother born in Illinois.

Conclusion---It is exceedingly unlikely that Amy Loughner has any Jewish ancestry. The only “line” not traced his Amy’s father’s mother’s family. The other three lines (Amy’s father’s father, Amy’s mother’s father, and Amy’s mother mother)---show, to all but the most obtuse, that these were/are not Jewish families. Moreover, it is quite clear that Amy’s mother, Lois Bleifuss Trotman, came from a Catholic family.

At OpEd News, Rob Kall interviews Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Giffords' shul, Congregation Chaverim, she dispenses with any notion that the Loughner's were in any way associated with the community:

 "We had a meeting of the Tucson Board of Rabbis. We all looked at our rosters from many years back. No one has ever heard of the family -- him, his parents, any of them. I can say with absolute certainty that we do not know him in pretty much the entire affiliated community." 

I would add this: Bleifuss may be a Jewish name. (The noted investigative journalist, Joel Bleifuss, is Jewish.) Anton Bleifuss, Jared Lee Loughner's great-grandfather, might then have been Jewish -- but not so committed that he didn't defer to his wife when it came to raising the children as Roman Catholics.

As I noted in my earlier posting, Jared Loughner is not the most reliable of reporters, and Tierney's recollection was added as an aside. Mix into this the fact that Amy Loughner's brother is Anton Totman -- apparently named for his mother's father.

Loughner's family was in no way Jewish, nor was his mother -- but she might have mentioned her Jewish grandfather, beloved enough to live on in her brother's name, with pride or interest. Under those circumstances Loughner, who sought "chaos" according to Tierney, might have sought to provoke his mother and his uncle by pretending to admire (or actually admiring) Adolph Hitler. He might have told Tierney that his mother was Jewish as a shorthand, or might have seen her as Jewish -- like I said, not the most reliable reporter. Or he might have explained the lineage, and Tierney might understandably have conflated it as "mother Jewish."

It sets up a fascinating contrast: Gabrielle Giffords, who plunges into public service when she is 30, just the same age she delves into her father's Judaism and chooses to embrace it; and Jared Loughner, who learns of a distant Jewish connection deep in his family's past -- and reviles it as he retreats into madness.
An obituary for Loughman's great aunt, Helen Medernach, is after the jump.


Date: June 24, 1999
Section: Business
Edition: Cook
Page: 10
Column: Obituaries
Helen Medernach of Virgil
A funeral Mass for Helen Medernach, 77, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, at S.S. Peter & Paul Church. Fr. Aloysius Neumann will officiate.

Born Sept. 21, 1921, in Sycamore, the daughter of Anton and Jessie (nee Anderson) Bleifuss, she passed away peacefully Sunday, June 20, 1999, at Bethany Care Center in Sycamore, where she had made her home since May. Interment will be in S.S. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Virgil.

Helen grew up in Sycamore and graduated from Sycamore High School, class of 1939. She went on to take business courses which shortly landed her a job at Anaconda Wire Company in Sycamore. She went to California with her sister, Lois, and was employed in a business office for a few years before returning to work in Chicago. The last 20 years of her working career were spent in the business office at the Duplex Company in Sycamore.

She was united in marriage to William H. `Willie' Medernach on May 16, 1959.

They made their home in Sycamore for a short time before moving to Virgil where they lived across the street from the church for many years.

Survivors include her sisters, Virginia Stran of DeKalb, Irene Luty of Covina, Calif., Lois (Lawrence) Totman of Tucson, Ariz. and Dorothy (`Trig') Troeger of Sycamore; several nieces and nephews; and a family of dear friends. In addition, she leaves the quiet, simple legacy of one who cared. Her many thoughtful words of thanks, encouragement and friendship were patiently penned into countless cards that found their way into the hearts of many friends and neighbors through the years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 1997; and brothers, Albert, Lyle, Leslie and Donald Bleifuss.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today, at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St., Elburn, and from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the Mass Friday, at the church.

Memorials in her name may be made to Masses in her memory.

Former Army Intelligence officer fatally shoots two teen children she said were 'mouthy'

(Watch the extremely sad video of Julie Schenecker being taken away by police here. Caution: very disturbing)

Julie Powers Schenecker kills her own two teen age children. Had been struggling with depression.  Schenecker's husband, Parker Schenecker, is an Army colonel stationed at the headquarters of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base and is an NSA officer. "I'm COL Schenecker, the Deputy NSA rep to CENTCOM in Tampa..." Source

"Parker Schenecker met Julie Powers in Munich, Germany, where they were both stationed in the late '80s and early '90s.

She worked as a Russian linguist for the Army, collecting intelligence for European agencies by interviewing refugees coming from the Eastern Bloc, said Tim Fredrikson, who served with her.

He was a rising intelligence officer who had graduated cum laude with a French degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where the school yearbook is named the "Calyx."

In Munich, Julie organized and coached a volleyball team of officers, said K.C. Dreller, another intelligence officer who worked with her.

"She was super good at it," said Dreller, 49. "I imagine she was super good at everything she did. Anybody that was in that field was a Type A personality."

The couple married and had two children, Calyx in Germany and Powers, who went by "Beau," in Honolulu.

The military family moved a lot, and Parker Schenecker studied at several military schools, including the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College, according to a 2010 bulletin on distinguished alumni, published on his high school's website.

The newsletter also said he became a colonel in 2006 and was mainly responsible for the National Security Agency's support to military operations.

About three years ago the family landed in Tampa.

Parker is assigned to U.S. Central Command's intelligence directorate and has worked for CentCom for more than two years, said Lt. Col. Mike Lawhorn, a spokesman. He was on a temporary duty assignment overseas the past few days.

Julie Schenecker, no longer in the Army, stayed home with their children. She took shifts driving in the neighborhood's King High School car pool and often referred to the struggles of parenting in seemingly light-hearted Facebook posts.

On May 7, a friend wrote, "Happy Mother's/Hallmark day to all the mothers. You are more brave than I. Not sure how you do it, but glad you do."

Julie responded: "some days, not sure how we do it, either!! :-)"

On Sept. 23, a friend posted on his profile: "Hold yourself to a higher standard than anybody else expects of you."

Julie commented: "i needed that advice today — have a 16 yr old daughter!"  Source

The following are comments I have found on the Internet in regards to the possible anti-depressant medications she may have been taking.

Jesuit Trained man honored by Archbishop of Denver accused of Raping adult woman gets off

Story Update HERE

"The District Court for the City and County of Denver twice reviewed the complaint against the Archdiocese of Denver regarding Ms. Birge and Mr. Hernandez. The judge dismissed the case against the Archdiocese, indicating that there are no facts in the complaint that show negligence on the part of the Archdiocese. The court awarded the Archdiocese tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs against Ms. Birge. The Archdiocese chose not to collect the awarded fees."

 Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput (L) with GW Bush

Article Detailing the case

Second Article

Article of Archdiocese honoring the accused

Possibly accused being arrested for kidnapping

Accused Name: Juan Carlos Hernandez

Victim's Name: Katia Birge

Name of Organization where the alleged rape took place: Christo Y Yo

Details: "Birge's case involves a lay minister named Juan Carlos Hernandez, who ran a Hispanic young adult church group called Christo Y Yo. According to Joyce's story, Birge became close to Hernandez, who was ten years older. One night, he drove her to a dark part of town, where she says he raped her in the front seat. He then told her she was a whore.
Birge eventually told her family. They informed the parish priest, who directed them to speak with the archdiocese. Birge says church leaders weren't very responsive, telling her they might have done something if she'd been a child.

Photo taken from a Jesuit School of Theology
at Berkeley periodical

Birge brought a lawsuit against Hernandez and the archdiocese, which was dismissed late last year. In her story, Joyce says the church implied in court that what happened between Birge and Hernandez was "just a date gone wrong." Read More


Additional Info: "Hernandez, who was trained at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and the Mexican-American Catholic College in San Antonio, was also the 2006 recipient of the Archbishop Gomez Pastoral Leadership Award, as a Church leader “whose actions embody Catholic teaching.” At a $100-plate dinner to benefit Centro San Juan, Hernandez was feted by the award’s namesake, Archbishop José H. Gomez of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, as well as Archbishop Chaput. In the Archdiocesan newspaper, Denver Catholic Register, Liliana Flores, the Archdiocese’s Hispanic Youth Coordinator breathlessly declared of Hernandez, “I think he could die for Jesus.” Read More

Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulcher

This video details the history, Royal Bloodline of the Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulcher. The Knights of Malta are the defenders of the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Saint Michael International, a subsidiary of the Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulchre, is located in West Palm Beach, FL. It is headed by Grand Prior Metropolitan Archbishop Haralambos who is a Knight Grand Cross and Grand Prelate of the Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulchre.



Archbishop Iakovos was arguably the single most influential person in American Orthodox history. He is pictured here with Martin Luther King at the famous 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Alabama.

link: http://orthodoxhistory.org/2010/11/09/an-update-on-the-most-influential-project/

Read Much More HERE

Abuse victims reject Jesuit payout offer

A body representing former pupils sexually abused by Jesuit priests in Germany rejected on Thursday an offer of 5,000 euros (6,832 dollars) in compensation per victim as woefully inadequate.

"The sum is totally insufficient, either to compensate for the damage caused or to signal a recognition of guilt," Thomas Weiner from the Eckiger Tisch (Square Table) told the Frankfurter Rundschau daily.

Instead, victims should receive on average a payout of 80,000 euros each, he said, 16 times the offer announced by Jesuit orders on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the order in Munich said the Jesuits had sent the offer in letters and emails to the around 200 victims who had come forward, in which it was noted that the sum "could never compensate for the suffering incurred."

Recipients had attended Jesuit schools across Germany, where revelations a year ago of sexual violence against students brought a scandal plaguing the Roman Catholic Church to Pope Benedict XVI's native country.

The spokesman in Munich, Thomas Busch, said the payout would not be made for another two to three months while the Jesuits sought a comprehensive offer with other Roman Catholic institutions.

The German Bishops Conference has not yet taken a decision on the matter.

Germany has faced revelations over the past year that hundreds of children were physically and sexually abused in institutions throughout the country, all but a handful run by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church in Germany has said it failed to investigate properly claims of abuse and that in some cases there was a cover-up, with paedophile priests simply moved elsewhere instead of being disciplined and reported to the police.

It has also faced accusations of foot-dragging on reparations for victims, most of whom suffered their abuse several decades ago, too long ago for criminal charges to be brought.

The 83-year-old pope is due to visit Germany in September in his first state visit since becoming pontiff in 2005. He has made two private trips in 2005 and 2006.




© 2010 AFP