School drops archbishop’s name amid sex abuse report fallout
By MARC LEVY, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic high school will shed the name of Washington’s archbishop after he was cited in a sweeping grand jury report as having allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children to be reassigned or reinstated while he was Pittsburgh’s bishop.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh said Wednesday that Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl made the request to remove his name from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, and that school and diocese officials accepted it.
The sign out front of the suburban Pittsburgh school was discovered vandalized Monday, with red spray paint obscuring Wuerl’s name as some Catholics called for his resignation or ouster, and a petition circulated to remove his name from the high school.
The 77-year-old Wuerl has defended himself, saying he acted to protect children, promptly investigate allegations and strengthen policies as understanding of child abuse evolved. He has said he will not resign.
In its statement, the Pittsburgh Diocese cited what it said was Wuerl’s Aug. 16 letter: “In light of the circumstances today and lest we in any way detract from the purpose of Catholic education … I respectfully ask you to remove my name from it. In this way, there should be no distraction from the great success of the school and, most importantly, the reason for the school — the students.”
Wuerl was Pittsburgh’s bishop from 1988 through 2006.
In one case cited in the grand jury report released Aug. 14, Wuerl — acting on a doctor’s recommendation — enabled priest William O’Malley to return to active ministry as a canonical consultant in 1998 despite allegations of abuse lodged against him in the past and his own admission that he was sexually interested in adolescents.
In his appointment letter, Wuerl wrote, “At the same time I welcome you back to priestly ministry following your leave of absence for personal reasons. Your willingness to serve in this capacity and to be of assistance … is a sign of your dedication and priestly zeal,” the grand jury report said.
Years later, according to the report, six more people alleged that they had been sexually assaulted by O’Malley, in some cases after he had been reinstated.
In another case, Wuerl returned a priest to active ministry in 1995, despite having received multiple complaints that the priest, George Zirwas, had molested boys in the late 1980s.
The Pittsburgh Diocese said “today, we would have handled the Zirwas case much differently” and pulled him from ministry, reported an allegation to law enforcement and presented information to an internal diocese board.
The move is part of the growing fallout from a grand jury report that accused a succession of church leaders of covering up the abuse of more than 1,000 children or teenagers by some 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s. The bulk of the cases cited in the report came before the early 2000s, the grand jury said, because most of the internal documents turned over by the dioceses concerned those cases.
On Monday, the University of Scranton, a Roman Catholic university in Pennsylvania, announced plans to remove the names of three bishops named in the report from campus buildings, saying it is acting in solidarity with victims of child sexual abuse.
Two weeks before the report was released, the Harrisburg Diocese said it would hold past church leadership accountable for the sexual abuse of children by priests and strip the names of bishops going back 70 years from church properties.
Meanwhile, the pastor of a southwestern Pennsylvania parish became at least the third Catholic clergy member in the state to be investigated independently of the grand jury report as hundreds of calls pour into dioceses and the state attorney general’s hotline following the report’s release.
The local diocese said Wednesday it removed a monsignor from ministry after it received what it calls a credible allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor.
The allegation dates back to an incident almost 20 years old and was quickly relayed to authorities, the diocese said.

Commissioner Tony Amadio returned to the court house after being confined to his home after back surgery. Amadio is still in recovery and has not been released from doctor’s care. Commissioners received an eight page report from acting financial administrator Corey Trautman of Susquehanna Accounting and Consulting of Harrisburg. Trautman had no specifics on the 2019 budget but at this point, says the county is on line to end the year without a deficit. Trautman says Susquehanna has worked roughly half of the 40 thousand dollars contracted for county financial work.

Commissioners chairman Dan Camp says the county had 90 thousand to spend on financial work. That’s the amount leftover from the terminated contract of Ricardo Luckow. Camp acknowledged Susquehanna may be paid more than the original agreement.

Trautman still projects October 19 as the target date to complete the 2019 budget. September 14 is the deadline for meeting with department heads. At present, Trautman doesn’t know how much cash on hand the county has although commissioner Sandie Egley pegged that figure at 21 million.

Commissioners will meet in special session at 6 pm Thursday in the second floor juror’s lounge to present the state funded PFM report to citizens and answer their qcuestions.

BREAKING NEWS: THE BEAVER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MET IN REGULAR WORK SESSION TODAY…AND HEARD A REPORT FROM THEIR ACTING FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR….AND AN OLD FACE RETURNED TO WORK. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO’S GREG BENEDETTI WAS THERE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Greg’s report…

This breaking news report is brought to you by…

IF YOU’RE PLANNING TO VISIT RACCOON CREEK STATE PARK IN HANOVER TOWNSHIP TODAY, YOU MAY NOTICE THE PRESENCE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES OR STAFF THROUGHOUT THE PARK…BUT OFFICIALS SAY, DON’T BE ALARMED. MATT DRZIK EXPLAINS WHY. Click on ‘play’ to hear Matt’s report…

THE HOPEWELL SCHOOL BOARD HAS ACCEPTED SEVERAL STAFF RESIGNATIONS…AND HAS HIRED SOME NEW STAFF. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

QUAKER VALLEY STUDENTS IN GRADES NINE THROUGH 12 START BACK TO SCHOOL TODAY. WELCOME BACK QUAKER VALLEY!

WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22ND, 2018

TODAY – CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS. OCCASIONAL RAIN
SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON. A THUNDERSTORM
POSSIBLE. HIGH – 71.

TONIGHT – CLEAR SKIES. LOW- 53.

THURSDAY – PLENTIFUL SUNSHINE. HIGH – 77.

Catholic school scrubs bishops’ names from campus buildings
By MARC LEVY, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic university in Pennsylvania plans to remove the names of three bishops from campus buildings, saying it is acting in solidarity with victims of child sexual abuse following the release of a grand jury report accusing church leaders of helping cover up decades of abuse by priests.
The University of Scranton said late Monday that three bishops — Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin — in the local diocese were found in last week’s Pennsylvania grand jury report to have covered up crimes by priests and put children in harm’s way.
Hannan served from 1954 until his death in 1965. McCormick served from 1966 until 1983 and died in 1996. Timlin served from 1984 until 2003 and is 91 years old.
A Scranton Diocese spokesman has said Timlin would not do interviews, but pointed to the diocese’s response to the report noting that Timlin instituted a uniform response policy for allegations of abuse and established an internal review board.
The move is part of the growing fallout from a grand jury report that says a succession of church leaders helped cover up abuse by some 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania who victimized more than 1,000 children, and possibly many more, since the 1940s.
Pope Francis vowed Monday that “no effort must be spared” to root out sex abuse by priests and church cover-ups, but Francis gave no indication that he would sanction complicit bishops or end the Vatican culture of secrecy that has allowed the crisis to fester.
At various points in the report, it cites complaints about sexual misconduct by priests with children or teenagers that the three Scranton Diocese bishops did not act on, instead leaving the priests to continue in ministry.
Two weeks before the report was released, the Harrisburg Diocese said it would hold past church leadership accountable for the sexual abuse of children by priests and strip the names of bishops going back 70 years from church properties.
Dioceses in Pennsylvania have released lists, for the first time, of priests accused of sexual misconduct. Meanwhile, Beaver County fired a county government lawyer after a report showed that, as district attorney in the 1960s, he stopped an investigation into alleged child abuse by a priest to gain political favor from the Pittsburgh Diocese.
In Allentown, City Council voted unanimously to fire the city solicitor based on the report’s description of him, as the local diocese lawyer, in 2002 attempting to “undermine” and “discredit” a woman who had accused a priest of molesting her two decades earlier.

Wagner says he doesn’t want workers knowing what he makes
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner says he won’t release a tax return because his income is nobody else’s business and he suggests labor unions will use it to try to organize workers at his non-union waste-hauling business.
Wagner made the comments in response to a questioner at a Monday night question-and-answer session in Erie in video captured by the Democratic Party.
Wagner went on to say that, if he discloses his income, labor union representatives will tell his employees how much he makes.
State law requires candidates to identify sources of income, which Wagner has. Releasing a tax return isn’t required, although Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has pledged to open his 2017 tax return to inspection by reporters after it is filed.
Wolf did something similar during his 2014 campaign.

5 faith leaders arrested in immigration protest at prison
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Five clergy members protesting the detention of immigrants at a prison in Ohio have been arrested on trespassing charges.
Organizers of the protest say the five wanted to give communion to detainees who have been denied spiritual services.
About 40 people took part in the protest Monday at the prison in Youngstown. Police say the arrests came after the protesters refused to leave despite attempts to reach a resolution.
A prison spokesman tells The Plain Dealer that the detainees have access to an onsite chaplain and weekly religious services.
Among those being held at the prison are dozens of workers arrested during an immigration investigation at an Ohio meat-processing plant in June.