About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2018)
6A Sunday, November 11,2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com NATION Sex abuse crisis tops agenda as US Catholic bishops convene A demonstrator holds up protest signs Wednesday Oct. 24, at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. as over 100 people conducted a rally at the state Capitol Wednesday following the Senate’s GOP majority’s decision the previous week to leave Harrisburg without voting on a bill that would give victims a two-year window to file lawsuits that would otherwise be outdated. BY DAVID CRARY Associated Press As U.S. Catholic bishops gather for their national assembly next week, the clergy sex abuse crisis dominates their agenda amid calls from critics that church leaders finally bring about meaningful reforms to root out misbehav ing priests. The three-day assembly that starts Monday in Baltimore comes after a series of abuse scandals this year that have been stunning in their magni tude and number. Bishops have several reforms under consideration to craft a stronger response to the scan dals, but some Catholic activists are demanding further steps, including releasing the names of all clergy accused of abuse and giving a greater voice to abuse victims. One coalition of concerned Catholics, the 5 The ses movement, plans to post its proposals for reform on church doors in Baltimore and else where on Sunday. The abuse crisis is foremost among several challenges con fronting Catholic leaders, who face conflicting pressures on the role of women and LGBT people in the church. And even though the Catholic population in the U.S. has been growing, most Catholics attend Mass rarely, and the number of active priests and nuns contin ues to decline. Setting the tone for the national assembly, the presi dent of the bishops’ confer ence, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, asked his fellow bishops to spend the preceding seven days in “intensified” prayer, fasting and reparation. The bishops will consider new steps to police their own ranks during abuse cases, and will likely approve an investi gation by lay law enforcement experts of the handling of the scandal surrounding the former cardinal in Washington, D.C. “Bishops are under intense scrutiny and pressure to deliver on both of these items,” said the Rev. Thomas Berg, admissions director at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. In July, Pope Francis removed U.S. church leader Theodore McCarrick as a car dinal after church investiga tors said an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. Subse quently, several former semi narians and priests reported that they had been abused or harassed by McCarrick as adults, triggering debate over who might have known and covered up his misconduct. In August, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, alleg ing that more than 1,000 chil dren had been abused over the years by about 300 priests. Since then, a federal prosecu tor in Philadelphia has begun working on a federal criminal case centered on child exploi tation, and attorneys general in several other states have launched investigations. In Baltimore, the bishops will consider several propos als approved by a committee in September. They include developing a code of conduct for bishops regarding sexual abuse and harassment, and establishing a confidential hotline — to be run by a third party — to receive allega tions of sexual misconduct by bishops and relay them to appropriate church and civil authorities. The committee also endorsed a “full investigation” into the McCarrick case that would give a role to lay law enforcement experts. Critics have urged the bish ops to go further by allow ing outside investigators full access to church sex-abuse records and by supporting changes to statute-of-limitation laws so that more cases of long-ago sex abuse could be JACQUELINE LARMAI Associated Press addressed in court. Another recommendation came from a sex abuse task force at Villanova University in Philadelphia, one of the country’s top Catholic schools. It said the bishops’ conference should require all bishops to become mandatory reporters of suspected sexual abuse — in the same category as school teachers, social workers and others who work with children. The step has been avoided thus far despite “the nefari ous actions of certain bishops surreptitiously transferring sexually abusive priests from parish to parish, and in some cases from diocese to diocese, without notifying civil authori ties of the suspected abuse,” the task force said. “American bishops should never have the option of looking the other way and remaining silent again.” Most states include clergy among mandatory reporters, but some do not. AROUND THE NATION IOWA Small plane crashes, killing all 4 on board GUTHRIE CENTER — A small plane crashed, killing all four people on board, after the pilot apparently had a heart attack and a student pilot was going to attempt an emer gency landing, authorities said Saturday. The plane dropped off radar Friday night about 4 miles from Guthrie Center airport, the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Searchers found the wreckage Sat urday morning in a cow pasture southwest of Guthrie Center, which is about 115 miles south west of Le Mars, where the plane had taken off. The sheriff’s office identified those killed as the pilot, 49-year-old Edward Ralph Ander son, 36-year-old Patrick Kellen and 15-year-old Samantha Clark, all of Le Mars, and 28-year-old Tyler Douvia, of Merrill, which is next to Le Mars in northwestern Iowa. OHIO Ohio State board to hear from ex-students alleging sex abuse COLUMBUS — Ohio State University’s trust ees will hear directly from former students who say they were sexually abused by a team doctor, allegations that span the late physician’s two decades at the school. Alumnus Brian Garrett says he and other accusers of Dr. Richard Strauss asked to speak so they can share their stories, seek help and request changes. He says they don’t want to dis cuss their lawsuits against Ohio State. The board says it’s setting aside 20 minutes to hear students’ stories at next Friday’s trustees’ meeting Strauss killed himself in 2005. His relatives have said they’re shocked by the allegations first raised in April. A law firm investigating abuse claims has heard from at least 145 ex-students who have shared firsthand accounts of alleged miscon duct by Strauss between 1979 and 1997. OREGON 3 men arrested after cyclist injured by booby trap on path PORTLAND — Three men authorities say set up a booby trap on a walking and bike path in Portland, Oregon, that injured a female cyclist have been taken into custody. KOIN-TV reports that 23-year-old Justin J. Jones, 27-year-old Antonio R. Tolman-Duran and 21-year-old Dakota E. Murphy were arrested Friday and face charges of assault and reckless endangering. Portland police say a woman cyclist at about 11p.m. ran into material strung across the path. A responding police officer spotted woven string across the path and other officers found three men suspected of putting the material on the path and arrested them. It’s not clear if the three men have attorneys. Associated Press Border wall, immigration seen as hot topics before Congress winds down BY FRANCO ORDONEZ McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The White House is racing to finish an immigration plan focused on enforcement that could be introduced before Democrats take control of the House. It would include funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall, restrictions on asylum and cuts to legal immigration, according to people familiar with the plan. But the plan is being resisted by some in the White House, who are urging Presi dent Donald Trump to agree to a more moderate plan that would limit cuts to legal immigration and protect immigrants who came to the United States as children. “There is a schism within the White House over this issue,” said Jessica Vaughn, a former State Department foreign service officer. “There are some folks who think it’s important to push those provisions now under the guise of merit-based immigration reform. And others who are opposed to that. They want the emphasis to be on enforcement.” The proposal would par tially be a permanent legisla tive change to action Trump took Thursday to confront the caravan of migrants nearing the United States by invoking national security powers used to implement last year’s “travel ban” to deny asylum to migrants who enter the country illegally. The two plans are set ting up a new battle in the Republican Party between immigration hardliners, led by White House adviser Ste phen Miller, who wants to rewrite the U.S. legal immi gration system; and more centrist Republicans and business leaders who want to protect the young immi grants and provide more access to foreign workers. Democrats won control of the House Tuesday. That means Trump will work with a divided Congress come January. But any plan would be difficult to pass, especially one focused on enforcement, when Con gress is also trying to avoid a government shutdown over changes in a spending bill and trying to push through other difficult measures such as a farm bill. “I think the lame duck ses sion of Congress is a great opportunity to pass immi gration reform so I may still have some important work to do when I get back,” said Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., after he conceded his re-elec tion bid on Tuesday. “I sure hope we have a chance. This would be the best time to do it especially because we can probably expect more grid lock or even worse gridlock in the next Congress.” Congress will be in session for 12 work days before its holiday break. A new Congress is sworn in in January. In that time, it has to pass a spending bill before Dec. 7 or the government will have to shut down with no funding. Earlier this year, Trump warned that a “good shut down” may be necessary to force Democrats to agree to spend more than $20 bil lion on a border wall. But he appeared to back away from those threats this week after seeing the election results. Trump said at a news conference Wednesday that he’s “not necessarily” com mitted to a shutdown and indicated Democrats may be willing to work with him. “I speak to Democrats all the time and they agree that a wall is necessary,” Trump said. “We want to build the whole wall at one time, not in chunks.” Democrats are unlikely to be in a negotiating mood during the lame-duck ses sion, given their pickup of 30 seats in Tuesday’s elections. Trump seeks to decrease numbers and address thousands of migrants travel ing toward the U.S. border. He used the group as a final ral lying cry as the mid term campaigning wound down, saying the group included criminals. The cara van amounted to an “inva sion” of the U.S, Trump said. He sent troops to the border. The White House and Con gress have tried and failed to agree on a plan that would fund the wall and provide protections for the young immigrants who have been able to work and remain in the United States under the Deferred Action for Child hood Arrivals program. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Trump cannot end the DACA program, which he tried to do last year after several states threatened to sue to force an end to it. NORTH HALL JEWELERS Free Engraving on any ENGRAVABLE ITEM PURCHASED FROM OUR VARIETY OF GIFTS FOR HER OR HIM. Personalize your gift for THAT SPECIAL OCCASION. Jewelry Repair Watch Repair Goldsmith Watch Batteries Souvenir Jewelry We Buy Gold 1062 Thompson Bridge Road, Ste A-l Gainesville, GA 30501 678-450-7111 Curbelo ff Warm Approach to Senior Living Manor Lake Assisted Living & Memory Care Gainesville Gainesville's Newest Senior Living Community When faced with a difficult decision, you’ll find relief at Manor Lake in Gainesville. We are more than just meals and medication; We focus on the individual and make each day a celebration of life. Come In for a FREE evaluation at our leasing office. Caring for Body, Mind, and Spirit OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Leasing Office: 2654 Browns Bridge Rd, Unit B, Gainesville, GA 30504 Community Address: 2900 McEver Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504 678-940-1101 manorlakegv.com • ED@ManorLakeGV.com
