Brazil orders Polish priest arrested in abuse case – Yahoo! News
Kyaemon
Brazil orders Polish priest arrested in abuse case – Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100522/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_church_abuse;_ylt=AttaNg3Nhet.eVe0N.JFLadbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTNibG1lZ21pBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTIyL2x0X2JyYXppbF9jaHVyY2hfYWJ1c2UEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM3BHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDYnJhemlsb3JkZXJz
SAO PAULO – A court has ordered the arrest of a Polish priest suspected of sexually abusing a teenager in a Rio de Janeiro suburb and turning his parish home into what the judge described as an “erotic dungeon” for sex with adolescents, authorities said Friday.
State prosecutors have accused Marcin Michael Strachanowski, 44, of handcuffing the 16-year-old former altar boy to a bed three years ago in the parish house where the priest lived and threatening to kill the youth if he spoke of the abuse.
“I already know the flowers I will place on your coffin,” Strachanowski warned, according to prosecutors.
The Polish priest was suspended from his duties after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro learned of the order for his arrest, church spokesman Adionel Carlos da Cunha said in a statement issued Friday. The judge issued the order on Thursday.
The archdiocese “expresses its regret over what happened, especially with the people involved and possible victims,” he said.
Judge Alexandre Abrahao Dias expressed concern that Strachanowski might try to flee the country.
He said investigators found “erotic material sent to the victim via Internet to seduce him” and that the priest also took other youths to the parish house, “which he converted into a kind of erotic dungeon where he submitted them, often with the use of handcuffs, to orgies.”
Lawyers representing the priest did not immediately return a telephone message left Friday afternoon seeking comment.
Church officials declined to provide additional information about Strachanowski, such as how long he has been in Brazil or his work history with the church. Police said Friday they had not located him.
The priest also faces a canonical legal process by an ecclesiastical tribunal, da Cunha said. The tribunal has taken what da Cunha described as “the necessary measures” regarding Strachanowski’s case — but the church spokesman did not elaborate.
Sex-abuse scandals involving the Roman Catholic Church have mushroomed around the world recently, and some of the accused priests have surfaced in Brazil, home to more Catholics than any other nation.
Late last month, prosecutors charged the Rev. Jose Afonso with abusing altar boys ranging in age from 12 to 16. Prosecutors said the alleged abuses took place in the city of Franca, in southeastern Sao Paulo state.
Also last month, 83-year-old Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa was detained in northeastern Brazil for allegedly abusing at least three boys after being caught on videotape having sex with a young man, a former altar boy. Barbosa is under house arrest while authorities investigate. Two other priests in the same archdiocese are also accused of abuses.
The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops recently announced it would prepare a manual with guidelines to help bishops prevent child-abuse cases.
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Another RC priest in the news:
Brazil Church says sex abuse by clergy is a crime – Americas AP – MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/13/1627964/brazil-church-says-sex-abuse-by.html
BRASILIA, Brazil — The Brazilian Roman Catholic Church said Thursday that cases of child abuse committed by clergymen are crimes that should not be covered up and must be investigated right away.
Wrapping up its annual meeting in the world’s largest Catholic country, the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops also said it did not condone sending priests accused of abuse to other locations, a practice that has helped some alleged abusers escape prosecution.
The Associated Press recently reported 30 cases around the world of priests accused of abuse who were transferred or moved abroad, and some escaped police investigations. Many had access to children in other countries, and some abused again. The probe spanned 21 nations across six continents.
Conference president Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha called child abuse a sin for which the church must show “forgiveness and mercy,” but also a crime that must be dealt with to the full extent of civil and canon law.
“Should a candidate for the priesthood show any sign that he may go down the wrong path in this area, he must be barred from entering the seminary,” Rocha said.
A statement released by the bishops said clergymen accused of child abuse should be banned from the priesthood.
Sex abuse scandals involving the church have mushroomed around the world recently, and some of the accused priests have surfaced in Brazil.
Late last month, prosecutors charged the Rev. Jose Afonso with abusing altar boys ranging in ages from 12 to 16. Prosecutors said the alleged abuses took place this year, in 2009 and in 2001 in Franca, in Sao Paulo state.
Also last month, 83-year-old Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa was detained in northeastern Brazil for allegedly abusing at least three boys after being caught on videotape having sex with a young man, a former altar boy. Barbosa is under house arrest while authorities investigate. Two other priests in the same archdiocese are also accused of abuses.
The bishops’ conference announced earlier this week that it would prepare a manual with guidelines to help bishops combat child-abuse cases.
9 comments
Kyaemon
May 27, 2010 at 1:28 am
Some comments from >645 items from Yahoo article.
(LESSONS FOR OTHER RELIGIONS AND LAY PEOPLE TOO)
U turn:
Religion is not above the law.
Someone should bring that man a rope at breakfast everyday.
Heretic:
The catholic church has been destroying lives for 17 hundred years. Catholics who support this church are just as guilty as the predators themselves. You should be ashamed to admit that you are catholic.
Jax:
Your own priests, popes, bishops, cardinals etc. are bringing down the Catholic church, no one else has to do it. They are doing a very good job of it. The action of these men are despicable. Where were the nuns? Where was Mother Superior? These are evil men not Godly men!!!!!!!
Kyaemon
May 27, 2010 at 1:31 am
Some Comments contd
Niv:
David – unfortunately, sexual abuse by clergy has happened in other religions as well, and by many persons in positions of “power”.
There isn’t any “bright side” to abuse, wherever it occurs or to whomever it happens… it is always someone with more power taking advantage of someone with less… and the scars do not go away.
Brujo:
Having grown up in the Catholic Church, attending Catholic School for 8 years, I can say the one problem I saw with priests and no I never encountered one of these perverts, is the way they were put on a pedistal. They were catered to, laundry done for them, grass mowed for them, etc. They were treated almost as a religious diety. THEY ARE ONLY MEN and should not be treated like some sacred being.
The church needs to come clean and punish those for past crimes and present crimes. No ifs and ands about it, PUNISH THEM FOR NOT FOLLOWING THEIR OWN LAWS as well as MANKINDS laws. They have ruined enough lives, forget forgiveness, nothing less than 25 years in a prison, more depending on how many violations they performed.
Elksnoutmtman:
If GOD was actually IN the Catholic church THIS ABUSE COULD NOT HAPPEN There should be NO discussion about these priest. They should ROT in jail or be put to death. THEY ARE RUINING CHILDREN’S LIVES. GET RID OF THEM.
The only explanation I can see for dragging their feet is that those in charge are just like them. GET PISSED. TAKE THAT PLACE APART UNTILL THEY LEARN THEY ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. YOUR LETTING THESE THINGS HAPPEN IN HIS NAME. I BET THAT CURLS HIS HAIR.
Kyaemon
May 27, 2010 at 8:41 am
A Dad:
Simply boycott the church, and don’t give them a dime.
Legally force the church to expose the pedophiles and prosecute every one in the same court of law as a common man. By the way the church knows of 4,492 acting priests who are pedophiles., and you really want to go to church on Sunday and tithe? Talk about wolves dressed in sheeps clothing!
Heartglow:
They need to figure out how to tell if someone is living off the priesthood to be taken care of and being a con vs a real priest, people have free will, you can condemn something but the truth is the individual is at fault and all those that know and do nothing your telling me all his priest friends knew nothing about his little dungeon…WACKO..
Kyaemon
May 28, 2010 at 8:10 am
Adam:
I encourage people to report any abuse that they see –
I was in another country several years ago and saw an American expatriate who seemed to have a weird relationship with a lot of poor children. I asked a couple of adults who lived in the area, and they all said that he was abusing children, and gave concrete examples, names, dates, etc.
They had not gone to the police as they believed the police to be corrupt.
I waited until I returned to the US and reported the alleged abuse to that countries state rather than local police. They made and arrest, and the guy got 10 years in prison.
(Most Probably, a Right thinking and conscientious Caucasian taking action on an American in another country. Kudos to him!)
Kyaemon
May 29, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Iowan4u1234:
To Taicco the media is hyping this up because the higher ups in the catholic church are still trying to cover this crap up.
If this was a private business covering up something like bad brakes on a car we would want the media hyping it up until it was cleaned up.
The catholic church caused all of this so called catholic bashing themselves.
Note I will not write the c in catholic in caps as they do not deserve it.
If the teachings of hell are true there should be lots of priests to hear confessions there to get your sins forgiven.
Kyaemon
June 1, 2010 at 1:25 am
Twelvestonesphreak
So, here’s what is going on. These priests were not planted by God and they are being uprooted. Jesus said this would happen in the end times. Remember the wheat and tares parable?
Matthew 15
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8″ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Kyaemon
June 2, 2010 at 3:58 am
Jacob
So more sex abuse scandals involving the Catholic Church. More will come out in the following months and they will become more numerous. This is the Churches equivalent of the Watergate Scandal, the Pope needs to resign. In Ireland there are more than 70,000 cases on file going back to the 1930’s. The Church is collapsing and this is accelerating there collapse.
Kyaemon
June 2, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Johna
And closer to home, although not reported in the Jew York Times: Arizona Rabbi Arrested for Allegedly Raping Child Ten Years Ago
>=========
> NewsCore
>
> Bryan Bramley, 45, was arrested in the parking lot of the Temple Beth
> Sholom Synagogue in Gilbert by members of the U.S. Marshals’ Child
> Predator Apprehension Team and New York detectives.
>
> *========
>
> A rabbi was arrested outside his synagogue in Gilbert, Arizona, over
> his alleged involvement in a child rape that occurred ten years ago in
> New York, according to information released Tuesday by the U.S.
> Marshals Service.
>
> Bryan Bramley, 45, was arrested in the parking lot of the Temple Beth
> Sholom Synagogue in Gilbert by members of the U.S. Marshals’ Child
> Predator Apprehension Team and New York detectives.
>
> Rabbi Bramley is accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in March 2000
> in New York City.
>
> It is alleged the incident occurred while the girl was spending the
> night at Bramley’s family residence.
>
> Bramley and his family were living in New York while he was completing
> his studies to become a rabbi.
>
> The victim, now aged 17, reported the incident in August 2009.
>
> Bramley is being held at the Maricopa County Jail while awaiting
> extradition to New York to face rape charges.
>
> United States Marshal David Gonzales said the service places a high
> priority on arresting persons accused of sex crimes, particularly
> those involving children.
Kyaemon
June 26, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Heartglow
Thank you NOT you false priests that are ruining the reputation of the church because you are warped…
Suvranrubyar
Sue, sue, sue, sue……