On a warm day in June, a Jersey City jury heard Jonathan Hoffman, an Orthodox Jew, describe an exhilarating weekend he spent sponsored by JONAH, an organization that claims to “heal” same sex attraction.
He described a “wild party” where a group of men danced in the woods, threw cake at each other and rolled in the mud before washing off in a group shower. Hoffman told the court that JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) had helped him in his effort to change his sexual orientation.
Hoffman was deemed as “success story” by JONAH — someone with a history of sexual relations with other men who has married a woman and started a family. In a videotaped deposition played for the court, Hoffman credited JONAH’s program as “the stuff that has helped me and the stuff that I hold dear to my heart.”
But others claim they were harmed by the organization. Last week, in a landmark verdict, a jury agreed. The five plaintiffs alleged that JONAH defrauded them by saying the program’s methods were scientific. The jury found JONAH liable for $72,400 in damages for consumer fraud and “unconscionable business practices.”
The verdict, however, leaves the Orthodox community with more questions than answers. Like how a young Orthodox Jewish man struggling with homosexual desires was guided by well-known rabbis to spend weekends in the woods like the one Hoffman described. All under the watchful eye of a self-styled “life coach” who is also a Mormon high priest.
Much of the answer lies in the brilliant salesmanship of JONAH’s director, convicted fraudster Arthur Goldberg, and his less colorful co-director Elaine Berk. But it also includes the fact that recommendations of JONAH came from a number of respected Orthodox rabbis and mental health professionals.
The Beginning
In the late 1990s, Berk’s son came out to her as gay, she testified. She was troubled by this and “wrote letters to rabbis and different Jewish organizations and didn’t receive answers.” Frustrated, she did her own research and found psychologists positing there were ways to “heal” homosexuality.
She met Goldberg, whose son had come out to him as gay, at a conference about homosexuality and healing in 1997. The next year they founded JONAH.
Described by Goldberg and Berk as a referral service, JONAH espouses treatment that includes one-on-one counseling, group therapy, and weekends in the woods. JONAH asserts that “wounds” incurred in childhood cause homosexuality, and once those wounds are “healed,” men will have healthy, non-sexual relationships with other men and become straight.
In 2000, JONAH received an endorsement from Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and a member of Agudath Israel’s Council of Torah Sages. The endorsement remains on JONAH’s website today.
Around the same time, the award-winning documentary “Trembling Before God,” depicting the struggle of Orthodox gays and lesbians for acceptance in their religious communities, was released. Suddenly, gay Orthodox Jews became visible — and vocal — in a way they never had before.
Jonathan Hoffman noted that he found JONAH in 2006 through an online comment critiquing the film.
“There weren’t any other resources in the Jewish community that [were] providing Jewish men with the help that I was looking for,” Hoffman said.
Moishie Rabinowitz, now treasurer of Jewish Queer Youth, was referred to JONAH by Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, known as the Novominsker Rebbe. Raised in a charedi home, Rabinowitz, 22, was well into the process of shidduch dating. The only problem: he knew he was gay. At the time, “there was no gay Jewish world,” he told The Jewish Week.
Rabbi Perlow referred Rabinowitz to JONAH. But knowing that the organization used unscientific methods of conversion therapy, he decided not to go.
In 2004, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest Orthodox rabbinic association, issued an endorsement of JONAH, suggesting “rabbis might refer congregants to them for reparative therapy.”
But the biggest endorsement for JONAH came with “The Torah Declaration” in 2011, signed by over 200 rabbis. The document, apparently drafted by about two dozen men, attributed homosexuality to “childhood emotional wounds” and declared that attempting change was the only Torah-consistent way to deal with the problem. And JONAH was the only Jewish organization offering the possibility of such change.
The Unraveling
Just when JONAH had reached the height of rabbinic backing, it came under attack. In November 2012, four former clients and two mothers filed a fraud suit.
In court papers and later at trial, witnesses said that Alan Downing, JONAH’s Mormon “life coach” who claimed to have subdued his own homosexual attractions, routinely “invited” young men he was counseling to strip in his office and then “physically feel” their masculinity. Downing also led others to believe the behaviors of their parents had turned them gay.
Immediately after the complaint became public, the RCA rescinded its support and asked JONAH to remove the endorsement from its website, where it remains today.
Last week’s verdict against JONAH did not come as a surprise to Rabbi Samuel Rosenberg, the Orthodox rabbi and licensed clinical social worker who was co-director of JONAH from 1999 until around 2002, when he left due to “theological and professional differences,” particularly regarding the weekend retreats’ nudity and cuddling. “I would not approve the methods,” Rosenberg told The Jewish Week.
Rabbi Rosenberg and Goldberg clashed over the boldness of Goldberg’s claims.
“Mr. Goldberg insisted that he wanted to publicize the claim that he can assure anyone who comes through his doors that he can ‘cure’ them, quote unquote,” Rosenberg said. “My position was that it’s totally unethical to guarantee it, as with any psychotherapy. And also, that the term ‘cure’ is totally inappropriate in this context, because I would not call it an illness.”
Goldberg and his attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Rabbi Rosenberg said he was also troubled by Goldberg’s efforts to marshal Orthodox rabbinic support for JONAH through adopting calculated, Torah-friendly language while concealing the fact that he is not personally Orthodox.
Despite Goldberg’s lack of formal Jewish education — he left yeshiva after grammar school — and his personal non-observance, he was instrumental in the formation of right-wing Orthodoxy’s approach toward gay Jews. It was Goldberg’s name that was on the 2011 article in the Orthodox journal “Hakirah,” featuring a discussion between Rabbi Kamenetsky and him about the necessity of “setting forth Torah values” and touting JONAH’s services.
Within months, language from that article appeared in the Torah Declaration.
Some rabbis have successfully had their signatures removed from the document, like Rabbi Dr. Martin Schloss, director of the Jewish Education Project’s day school division. Others have hit a brick wall.
Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, a licensed clinical social worker and president of Nefesh, the International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, said he initially signed the declaration because he thought it “was merely a stance on the idea that sexual orientation is not absolute” and that some motivated clients could “find a healthy way to manage heterosexual relationships.” However, he later took issue with the document’s “unequivocal language that all homosexuals can be treated with today’s available clinical expertise.” Despite asking to be removed several times, he said, his name remains on the website.
According to plaintiff Chaim Levin, however, even Rabbi Kamenetsky has privately expressed doubts about the Torah Declaration.
Levin said he met the rabbi two years ago and “saw the pain in his eyes as I recounted my experiences in conversion therapy and JONAH. He asked me for forgiveness and said that the document ‘needs to be changed.’ To date, nothing has, and Rabbi Kamenetsky has remained silent.”
Rabbi Kamenetsky declined to comment.
Although JONAH’s bizarre methods were exposed over the course of the trial, some Orthodox rabbis stand by it.
Asked about the recent verdict, Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, a signatory to the Torah Declaration, said he wasn’t aware of it but was content to have his name on the document.
But the details that emerged shocked others.
“Although there are reputable therapists who use and have had successes with conventional counseling methods to help people wishing to control their same-sex attraction,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, “the sort of ‘therapy’ that Mr. Downing says he employed is utterly outrageous and would never be sanctioned by any reputable Orthodox rabbi.”
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A new lawsuit alleges Warren County knew about an ex-sheriff’s sexual transgressions with young boys and allowed it to happen — the second such civil action to be filed in three years.
While the document does not mention him by name, the accusations closely mirror criminal charges faced by former sheriff Edward Bullock, who is scheduled to be tried this month.
The lawsuit, filed June 22 in state Superior Court in Belvidere, references “John Doe 1” as being the county sheriff in 1988 and ’89, and pleading guilty in 1992 to a criminal charge of official misconduct related to sexual allegations — both of which match Bullock’s history.
Notice of the first lawsuit, which preceded the criminal charges the 86-year-old Ocean County resident now faces, was filed in 2012. It claims the victim, identified only as W.M., was a 10-year-old boy who was repeatedly abused and raped at least once by a county employee in 1987 and ’88, including while being transported by the employee to a county-run youth shelter in Oxford Township.
New, but similar, allegations
The most recent lawsuit has much of the same claims. This victim, identified as C.C., was 14 and 15 years old and under the county’s care during four encounters with the sheriff, the lawsuit says.
The first incident began with the sheriff selecting C.C. from a group of boys being held in a cell at the Warren County Courthouse, bringing him back to his office and giving him backrubs, the lawsuit says. The sheriff volunteered to drive the teen to the Warren Acres juvenile detention center, parked the car on the side of the road and fondled the boy, the document alleges.
The abuse allegedly became more sexual with each encounter. C.C. reported it to a Warren Acres employee, the lawsuit says, but was yelled at and told to “stop looking for attention.”
After another dealing with the sheriff, the teen ran away from the shelter after realizing “the staff either did not believe or would not take action to prevent further abuse,” the lawsuit says. He was eventually detained by police, had another court hearing and was again driven to Warren Acres by the sheriff, who sexually abused him on the way, the suit alleges.
The teen later tried to commit suicide by swallowing all the pills in a bottle, was hospitalized and sent to a behavioral health center, the lawsuit says.
The suit seeks various damages. It levies five claims against the sheriff, including sexual abuse of a child and battery and assault. It also accuses Warren County in four counts, including negligence. The sheriff’s actions, the suit alleges, were well-known to county employees.
“It’s what the county knew, what they didn’t know, what they should have done to protect these kids,” said C.C.’s attorney, Brad Russo.
Criminal case up first
In the criminal case, Bullock faces three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault when his trial begins July 20. He could face a sentence of up to 90 years in prison if convicted.
Bullock remains free on $100,000 bail.
Russo, the attorney who represents the plaintiffs in both lawsuits, said the civil cases by judge’s order will not proceed until the criminal charges are concluded. When that is done, the civil cases may be consolidated, he said.
First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald said the criminal case is moving forward. Bullock’s attorney, Brian Corley White, could not be reached for comment.
The county’s attorney, Joseph Bell, also did not return a call, and Freeholder Director Ed Smith declined to speak about the most recent lawsuit.
Bullock resigned in 1992 after admitting he tried to curry sexual favors from a state trooper posing as a teenage boy in a sting operation. He pleaded guilty to sex-related official misconduct and served nine months in the Hunterdon County jail.
Bullock reportedly told state investigators he had sexual contact with eight juvenile boys he met at Warren Acres but was never charged with any wrongdoing related to it.
Full article: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2015/07/second_child_sex_abuse_lawsuit.html
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Beginning in the spring of 2016, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University will begin offering an intensive one-semester diploma program on the safeguarding of minors and the prevention of sex abuse by clergy.
A new one semester diploma course in the protection of minors is being offered by the Center for Child Protection in Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, and is set to welcome its first round of applicants in February, 2016.
“There are not courses like this diploma in pontifical universities in Rome. Certainly programs in secular universities and in UK have them, but (this is a) first in pontifical and Catholic universities,” Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ said at the June 24 announcement of the course.
Fr. Zollner is the president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection (CCP) and is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, created by Pope Francis last autumn.
He was present alongside three other panelists for a press conference at the conclusion of the center’s June 21-24 annual Anglophone Conference, during which the diploma course was announced.
The diploma will be awarded at the close of a one-semester residential course on the safeguarding of minors. The program aims to form persons who will eventually become child protection officers for dioceses, religious congregations, and similar organizations, as well as advisors and trainers in the field of safeguarding.
Broken down into six two-week seminars, the first course is set to run from February – June 2016. Seminars will delve into topics including terms and definitions surrounding the protection of minors, child rights, development and safety, safeguarding and prevention, theology, truth and justice, and care for those who have been abused.
Comprised of 30 credits, the course will welcome between 15 and 18 applicants. The diploma will be awarded by the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, which founded the CCP in 2012.
Fr. Zollner emphasized that the program is “not meant mostly for America or Canada, but is flexible enough to take in a cultural component,” due to the different concept of boundaries in particular cultures.
He expressed his hope that participants would come not just from Western nations where policies are already in place, but especially “from countries where there are no or very little such initiatives, especially in Africa, Asia and South America.”
In addition to exploring the psychological, pastoral, canonical, and practical approaches to safeguarding minors, the course will also address a systematic theological approach to the topic.
The spiritual and theological approach to child protection was the theme of the CCP’s conference, and is a topic Fr. Zollner noted has “not been substantially reflected upon” since the full gravity of the clerical abuse crisis began to surface 40 years ago.
In an interview with CNA, Fr. Zollner said that “strangely enough,” no theologian has really taken on the task of developing a theological understanding of the issue, and that while preparing for last week’s conference none of the five speakers were able to find a single study on it.
“We have spiritual literature, pastoral literature, psycho-pastoral literature, we have practical theological literature and a little bit on moral theological literature, but theological, Christological, ecclesiological, almost nothing. And this is really a surprise,” he said.
The CCP began exploring the theological perspective after Cardinal Joseph Levada, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, pointed out that it was missing from the center’s preparations for their first conference in 2012.
“Whereas we have done much on the therapeutic and prevention side, and we’ve tried to come up with new judicial norms, strangely enough (the theological) side seemed, at least to me, split off, and you don’t find literature in this field,” Fr. Zollner reflected.
So this year’s conference “was an attempt to really set the stage” for further development of this perspective.
Since resources on the theological take on child protection are slim outside of a few writings on moral theology, each of the conference’s speakers were invited to make their own study on the topic and to present their reflections.
Among the speakers were Sr. Sara Butler, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Washington D.C. and Fr. James Corkery, SJ, professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Both were present at the conference alongside Fr. Zellner and Bishop Edward Burns of Juneau, who was recently appointed chairman of the US bishops’ child and youth protection committee.
Other speakers included Fr. Robert J. Geisinger SJ, Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and acclaimed American author Fr. Robert Barron.
Topics covered in the speeches included the biblical framework of how God himself deals with offenders and offenses. The topic of mercy and justice was also brought up, particularly in how it extends to offenders and those who cover up offenses, such as in cases of bishops’ accountability.
The sacramental structure of the priesthood was also touched on, as well as the theme of salvation as it applies to victims of abuse, particularly in terms of the whole and happy life they are called to live, and Christ’s closeness to them, being himself an innocent victim who suffered violence.
Fr. Zollner also referred to a reflection from Sr. Sara on an 11th century practice of accountability for abuse put into place by St. Peter Damian, a process that involved not only priests, bishops, and the Pope, but also the laity.
This emphasis on the role of the laity in the reform of the Church at that time was a very interesting point, Fr. Zollner said, explaining that both clergy and the laity have the responsibility within their communities of helping to create a safe environment.
He revealed that since there is no literature on the theological approach to safeguarding children, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has created working groups studying the various theological and spiritual implications of the topic.
“There are different aspects: spirituality, prayer life, and also theological reflections,” he said, explaining that currently the working group for theology “is more probably on the modeled theological side.”
A working group within the commission dedicated to organizing a day of prayer for abuse survivors has also been formed.
“I hope this is a starting point for something new,” he said, and noted that though there are no plans as of yet, a future hope of the commission is to invite doctoral students to work on the theme.
“Theologians should really reflect on how God acts in this, what the Church is, what the life of the Church and the faithful is in this,” no matter how difficult the task may be, the priest continued.
He said that one short-term goal in developing this new perspective could be for the commission to invite theologians to come and speak about the topic. He also said that some publications could be made and handed out to dioceses and religious congregations.
“What we have learned here is that if the leaders are convinced it could also come down to those who work with children in parishes, in schools, in orphanages, etc., (so) that they are motivated not only because the law obliges you, but because you are convinced that this a part of the mission of the Church,” Fr. Zollner reflected.
The fact that the Church acts on this issue not out of legal binding but out of conviction in her mission is something Fr. Zollner said he believes is “not really appreciated or even understood.”
“Whatever we can do for the poor and the little ones is part of the mission of Jesus Christ … the first step is to realize that Jesus has come, as he says, for the sick, for those who are in need, not for the healthy,” he said.
“The mission of the Church is precisely this: to represent this to the world, and especially to those who are most wounded.”
Full article: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/NewsBriefs/Default.aspx?rssGuid=pontifical-university-plans-to-offer-diploma-in-child-protection-by-2016-65354/
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Lawyers for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are warning that criminal charges against the corporation could jeopardize insurance coverage that’s being counted on to pay some claims of victims of clergy abuse.
The archdiocese faces multiple counts for allegedly failing to protect victims from a former St. Paul priest.
Archdiocese insurers were already questioning whether they were liable to cover abuse claims.
Now the insurers’ case is stronger because the charges allege the archdiocese knew about problems and didn’t protect kids, University of Minnesota law professor Christopher Soper told Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1J7vOJb). Most insurance policies don’t cover intentional or criminal acts, he said.
Insurers often fight coverage on such cases because the financial stakes are high.
From 2004 to 2014, the Catholic diocese in the U.S. and other entities reported that more than $2.7 billion was incurred in sex-abuse costs, including settlements, victim therapy, offender support and attorney fees, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. About 32 percent of those costs were covered by insurance.
Abuse victims of the Twin Cities archdiocese have until Aug. 3 to file claims in bankruptcy court. So far, roughly 100 claims have been filed.
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January due to concerns that it wouldn’t be able to compensate the victims, and a judge ordered all parties into mediation.
The archdiocese is banking on the insurance coverage to compensate abuse victims, after reporting about $27 million in net assets as of May 31.
Last November, the archdiocese sued insurance companies covering it from the 1940s through the 1980s in an effort to resolve the carriers’ obligations to cover clergy sexual abuse claims.
Although the Twin Cities archdiocese wants insurers to contribute to a settlement of claims filed by alleged victims, many have denied claims of have reserved the right to reject claims. The coverage dispute is now part of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Full article: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_28379555/archdiocese-charges-could-jeopardize-victim-payouts
The retired Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, told a court in Northern Ireland that clergy investigating sex abuse allegations kept their findings secret in order to protect the Catholic church’s “good name.”
“There was a shroud of secrecy and confidentiality with a view not to destroying the good name of the church,” Brady, 75, told the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Banbridge, Co. Down.
“The scandal that somebody who was ordained to serve people should so abuse the trust for their own pleasure was appalling.
“To offset that, the scandal was kept a secret — very, very secret.
“Everybody involved would be bound to secrecy too.”
Brady was testifying in the week-long hearing regarding the late Fr. Brendan Smyth, one of the first pedophile priests to gain infamy in the Catholic church’s child abuse scandal.
Smyth was arrested in 1994 and convicted on 141 counts of child molestation, though in this week’s hearings it emerged that he once told a doctor he estimated the real number to be as high as 200 children over the course of 40 years as he was shuffled around by the church from parish to parish, county to county, country to country.
Fr. Brendan Smyth
Fr. Brendan Smyth
He died in prison in Ireland in 1997, following a heart attack.
Cardinal Brady’s testimony centered upon two interviews he conducted in 1975, when Smyth was accused of abuse by two teenage boys. One of them, Brendan Boland, has since publicly spoken out against Smyth; the other has kept his identity private.
At the time, the then-Father Brady was appointed by the Bishop of Kilmore, Francis McKiernan, with leading the investigation to ascertain whether the accusations held weight.
Brady interviewed the two boys about it personally and served as the notary for the inquiry. The boys’ parents were not present for the questioning, no official authorities were ever notified of the accusations, and the boys were asked to sign oaths of secrecy.
Cardinal Brady only sent a report to his bishop, who later barred Smyth from hearing Confession and reduced his ability to complete public duties.
When asked this week by the inquiry why Smyth was not removed from his duties, Brady said that, at the time, the church “favored mercy rather than severity.”
When asked why he did not inform police or any official authorities of the abuse, he replied, “It just did not cross my mind to inform the state authorities. . . Now it is the first thing that we would do.”
Brady said he was “truly sorry” for the church’s failure to act upon and prevent further abuse by Smyth.
The focus of this week’s inquiry, headed by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, has been whether there were systemic failures on the church’s part that allowed Smyth to carry out his abuse over four decades.
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Survivors of clergy sex abuse who have already received payments from the Catholic Church may be entitled to a further settlement, according to a leading lawyer.
Shine Lawyers partner Roger Singh has represented a number of people with claims and believes the evidence presented at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse may allow survivors who have already received payments to be open to further settlements.
“So when I look at what is coming out of the Royal Commission what concerns me, especially with what we are hearing about from the Catholic Church, is that there is a time when they knew (what was happening), that is what is being suggested,” he said.
Mr Singh said if abuse survivors had approached the church to seek answers and redress, and the church provided it to them, and it was then proven the church had some knowledge of what had occurred, it would be considered that agreement was struck without all of the information provided.
“If the evidence does come to the fore that the church suppressed and concealed evidence and material facts and the victim had no way of being privy and having access to that information I feel that there is scope for it to be reopened and revisited with all the cards on the table.
“The view I hold is there has to be a moral duty for the church to come forward and say ‘when we settled your claim we didn’t come clean’.”
Mr Singh said if the church was proven to have known information about the abuse prior to any agreement being made it would also be grounds for further compensation as the deal was made without all of the information available to the survivor.
The Royal Commission sat in Ballarat for two weeks during May.
During the hearings pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale admitted former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns knew of his offending and that it was criminal.
Christian Brothers Oceania Provicne leader Brother Peter Clinch said that nearly 42 Ballarat survivors had been paid nearly $3 million with each payment averaging $70,000.
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Rachel Delia Benaim, Jesse Lempel and Hella Winston, The Rise and Fall of JONAH, The Jewish Week
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformOn a warm day in June, a Jersey City jury heard Jonathan Hoffman, an Orthodox Jew, describe an exhilarating weekend he spent sponsored by JONAH, an organization that claims to “heal” same sex attraction.
He described a “wild party” where a group of men danced in the woods, threw cake at each other and rolled in the mud before washing off in a group shower. Hoffman told the court that JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) had helped him in his effort to change his sexual orientation.
Hoffman was deemed as “success story” by JONAH — someone with a history of sexual relations with other men who has married a woman and started a family. In a videotaped deposition played for the court, Hoffman credited JONAH’s program as “the stuff that has helped me and the stuff that I hold dear to my heart.”
But others claim they were harmed by the organization. Last week, in a landmark verdict, a jury agreed. The five plaintiffs alleged that JONAH defrauded them by saying the program’s methods were scientific. The jury found JONAH liable for $72,400 in damages for consumer fraud and “unconscionable business practices.”
The verdict, however, leaves the Orthodox community with more questions than answers. Like how a young Orthodox Jewish man struggling with homosexual desires was guided by well-known rabbis to spend weekends in the woods like the one Hoffman described. All under the watchful eye of a self-styled “life coach” who is also a Mormon high priest.
Much of the answer lies in the brilliant salesmanship of JONAH’s director, convicted fraudster Arthur Goldberg, and his less colorful co-director Elaine Berk. But it also includes the fact that recommendations of JONAH came from a number of respected Orthodox rabbis and mental health professionals.
The Beginning
In the late 1990s, Berk’s son came out to her as gay, she testified. She was troubled by this and “wrote letters to rabbis and different Jewish organizations and didn’t receive answers.” Frustrated, she did her own research and found psychologists positing there were ways to “heal” homosexuality.
She met Goldberg, whose son had come out to him as gay, at a conference about homosexuality and healing in 1997. The next year they founded JONAH.
Described by Goldberg and Berk as a referral service, JONAH espouses treatment that includes one-on-one counseling, group therapy, and weekends in the woods. JONAH asserts that “wounds” incurred in childhood cause homosexuality, and once those wounds are “healed,” men will have healthy, non-sexual relationships with other men and become straight.
In 2000, JONAH received an endorsement from Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and a member of Agudath Israel’s Council of Torah Sages. The endorsement remains on JONAH’s website today.
Around the same time, the award-winning documentary “Trembling Before God,” depicting the struggle of Orthodox gays and lesbians for acceptance in their religious communities, was released. Suddenly, gay Orthodox Jews became visible — and vocal — in a way they never had before.
Jonathan Hoffman noted that he found JONAH in 2006 through an online comment critiquing the film.
“There weren’t any other resources in the Jewish community that [were] providing Jewish men with the help that I was looking for,” Hoffman said.
Moishie Rabinowitz, now treasurer of Jewish Queer Youth, was referred to JONAH by Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, known as the Novominsker Rebbe. Raised in a charedi home, Rabinowitz, 22, was well into the process of shidduch dating. The only problem: he knew he was gay. At the time, “there was no gay Jewish world,” he told The Jewish Week.
Rabbi Perlow referred Rabinowitz to JONAH. But knowing that the organization used unscientific methods of conversion therapy, he decided not to go.
In 2004, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest Orthodox rabbinic association, issued an endorsement of JONAH, suggesting “rabbis might refer congregants to them for reparative therapy.”
But the biggest endorsement for JONAH came with “The Torah Declaration” in 2011, signed by over 200 rabbis. The document, apparently drafted by about two dozen men, attributed homosexuality to “childhood emotional wounds” and declared that attempting change was the only Torah-consistent way to deal with the problem. And JONAH was the only Jewish organization offering the possibility of such change.
The Unraveling
Just when JONAH had reached the height of rabbinic backing, it came under attack. In November 2012, four former clients and two mothers filed a fraud suit.
In court papers and later at trial, witnesses said that Alan Downing, JONAH’s Mormon “life coach” who claimed to have subdued his own homosexual attractions, routinely “invited” young men he was counseling to strip in his office and then “physically feel” their masculinity. Downing also led others to believe the behaviors of their parents had turned them gay.
Immediately after the complaint became public, the RCA rescinded its support and asked JONAH to remove the endorsement from its website, where it remains today.
Last week’s verdict against JONAH did not come as a surprise to Rabbi Samuel Rosenberg, the Orthodox rabbi and licensed clinical social worker who was co-director of JONAH from 1999 until around 2002, when he left due to “theological and professional differences,” particularly regarding the weekend retreats’ nudity and cuddling. “I would not approve the methods,” Rosenberg told The Jewish Week.
Rabbi Rosenberg and Goldberg clashed over the boldness of Goldberg’s claims.
“Mr. Goldberg insisted that he wanted to publicize the claim that he can assure anyone who comes through his doors that he can ‘cure’ them, quote unquote,” Rosenberg said. “My position was that it’s totally unethical to guarantee it, as with any psychotherapy. And also, that the term ‘cure’ is totally inappropriate in this context, because I would not call it an illness.”
Goldberg and his attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Rabbi Rosenberg said he was also troubled by Goldberg’s efforts to marshal Orthodox rabbinic support for JONAH through adopting calculated, Torah-friendly language while concealing the fact that he is not personally Orthodox.
Despite Goldberg’s lack of formal Jewish education — he left yeshiva after grammar school — and his personal non-observance, he was instrumental in the formation of right-wing Orthodoxy’s approach toward gay Jews. It was Goldberg’s name that was on the 2011 article in the Orthodox journal “Hakirah,” featuring a discussion between Rabbi Kamenetsky and him about the necessity of “setting forth Torah values” and touting JONAH’s services.
Within months, language from that article appeared in the Torah Declaration.
Some rabbis have successfully had their signatures removed from the document, like Rabbi Dr. Martin Schloss, director of the Jewish Education Project’s day school division. Others have hit a brick wall.
Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, a licensed clinical social worker and president of Nefesh, the International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, said he initially signed the declaration because he thought it “was merely a stance on the idea that sexual orientation is not absolute” and that some motivated clients could “find a healthy way to manage heterosexual relationships.” However, he later took issue with the document’s “unequivocal language that all homosexuals can be treated with today’s available clinical expertise.” Despite asking to be removed several times, he said, his name remains on the website.
According to plaintiff Chaim Levin, however, even Rabbi Kamenetsky has privately expressed doubts about the Torah Declaration.
Levin said he met the rabbi two years ago and “saw the pain in his eyes as I recounted my experiences in conversion therapy and JONAH. He asked me for forgiveness and said that the document ‘needs to be changed.’ To date, nothing has, and Rabbi Kamenetsky has remained silent.”
Rabbi Kamenetsky declined to comment.
Although JONAH’s bizarre methods were exposed over the course of the trial, some Orthodox rabbis stand by it.
Asked about the recent verdict, Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, a signatory to the Torah Declaration, said he wasn’t aware of it but was content to have his name on the document.
But the details that emerged shocked others.
“Although there are reputable therapists who use and have had successes with conventional counseling methods to help people wishing to control their same-sex attraction,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, “the sort of ‘therapy’ that Mr. Downing says he employed is utterly outrageous and would never be sanctioned by any reputable Orthodox rabbi.”
Full article:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/rise-and-fall-jonah
Steve Novak, 2nd child sex abuse lawsuit filed against ex-sheriff, Warren County, Lehigh Valley Live
/in New Jersey /by SOL ReformA new lawsuit alleges Warren County knew about an ex-sheriff’s sexual transgressions with young boys and allowed it to happen — the second such civil action to be filed in three years.
While the document does not mention him by name, the accusations closely mirror criminal charges faced by former sheriff Edward Bullock, who is scheduled to be tried this month.
The lawsuit, filed June 22 in state Superior Court in Belvidere, references “John Doe 1” as being the county sheriff in 1988 and ’89, and pleading guilty in 1992 to a criminal charge of official misconduct related to sexual allegations — both of which match Bullock’s history.
Notice of the first lawsuit, which preceded the criminal charges the 86-year-old Ocean County resident now faces, was filed in 2012. It claims the victim, identified only as W.M., was a 10-year-old boy who was repeatedly abused and raped at least once by a county employee in 1987 and ’88, including while being transported by the employee to a county-run youth shelter in Oxford Township.
New, but similar, allegations
The most recent lawsuit has much of the same claims. This victim, identified as C.C., was 14 and 15 years old and under the county’s care during four encounters with the sheriff, the lawsuit says.
The first incident began with the sheriff selecting C.C. from a group of boys being held in a cell at the Warren County Courthouse, bringing him back to his office and giving him backrubs, the lawsuit says. The sheriff volunteered to drive the teen to the Warren Acres juvenile detention center, parked the car on the side of the road and fondled the boy, the document alleges.
The abuse allegedly became more sexual with each encounter. C.C. reported it to a Warren Acres employee, the lawsuit says, but was yelled at and told to “stop looking for attention.”
After another dealing with the sheriff, the teen ran away from the shelter after realizing “the staff either did not believe or would not take action to prevent further abuse,” the lawsuit says. He was eventually detained by police, had another court hearing and was again driven to Warren Acres by the sheriff, who sexually abused him on the way, the suit alleges.
The teen later tried to commit suicide by swallowing all the pills in a bottle, was hospitalized and sent to a behavioral health center, the lawsuit says.
The suit seeks various damages. It levies five claims against the sheriff, including sexual abuse of a child and battery and assault. It also accuses Warren County in four counts, including negligence. The sheriff’s actions, the suit alleges, were well-known to county employees.
“It’s what the county knew, what they didn’t know, what they should have done to protect these kids,” said C.C.’s attorney, Brad Russo.
Criminal case up first
In the criminal case, Bullock faces three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault when his trial begins July 20. He could face a sentence of up to 90 years in prison if convicted.
Bullock remains free on $100,000 bail.
Russo, the attorney who represents the plaintiffs in both lawsuits, said the civil cases by judge’s order will not proceed until the criminal charges are concluded. When that is done, the civil cases may be consolidated, he said.
First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald said the criminal case is moving forward. Bullock’s attorney, Brian Corley White, could not be reached for comment.
The county’s attorney, Joseph Bell, also did not return a call, and Freeholder Director Ed Smith declined to speak about the most recent lawsuit.
Bullock resigned in 1992 after admitting he tried to curry sexual favors from a state trooper posing as a teenage boy in a sting operation. He pleaded guilty to sex-related official misconduct and served nine months in the Hunterdon County jail.
Bullock reportedly told state investigators he had sexual contact with eight juvenile boys he met at Warren Acres but was never charged with any wrongdoing related to it.
Full article: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2015/07/second_child_sex_abuse_lawsuit.html
Pontifical university plans to offer diploma in child protection by 2016, The Catholic World Report
/in International /by SOL ReformBeginning in the spring of 2016, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University will begin offering an intensive one-semester diploma program on the safeguarding of minors and the prevention of sex abuse by clergy.
A new one semester diploma course in the protection of minors is being offered by the Center for Child Protection in Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, and is set to welcome its first round of applicants in February, 2016.
“There are not courses like this diploma in pontifical universities in Rome. Certainly programs in secular universities and in UK have them, but (this is a) first in pontifical and Catholic universities,” Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ said at the June 24 announcement of the course.
Fr. Zollner is the president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection (CCP) and is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, created by Pope Francis last autumn.
He was present alongside three other panelists for a press conference at the conclusion of the center’s June 21-24 annual Anglophone Conference, during which the diploma course was announced.
The diploma will be awarded at the close of a one-semester residential course on the safeguarding of minors. The program aims to form persons who will eventually become child protection officers for dioceses, religious congregations, and similar organizations, as well as advisors and trainers in the field of safeguarding.
Broken down into six two-week seminars, the first course is set to run from February – June 2016. Seminars will delve into topics including terms and definitions surrounding the protection of minors, child rights, development and safety, safeguarding and prevention, theology, truth and justice, and care for those who have been abused.
Comprised of 30 credits, the course will welcome between 15 and 18 applicants. The diploma will be awarded by the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, which founded the CCP in 2012.
Fr. Zollner emphasized that the program is “not meant mostly for America or Canada, but is flexible enough to take in a cultural component,” due to the different concept of boundaries in particular cultures.
He expressed his hope that participants would come not just from Western nations where policies are already in place, but especially “from countries where there are no or very little such initiatives, especially in Africa, Asia and South America.”
In addition to exploring the psychological, pastoral, canonical, and practical approaches to safeguarding minors, the course will also address a systematic theological approach to the topic.
The spiritual and theological approach to child protection was the theme of the CCP’s conference, and is a topic Fr. Zollner noted has “not been substantially reflected upon” since the full gravity of the clerical abuse crisis began to surface 40 years ago.
In an interview with CNA, Fr. Zollner said that “strangely enough,” no theologian has really taken on the task of developing a theological understanding of the issue, and that while preparing for last week’s conference none of the five speakers were able to find a single study on it.
“We have spiritual literature, pastoral literature, psycho-pastoral literature, we have practical theological literature and a little bit on moral theological literature, but theological, Christological, ecclesiological, almost nothing. And this is really a surprise,” he said.
The CCP began exploring the theological perspective after Cardinal Joseph Levada, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, pointed out that it was missing from the center’s preparations for their first conference in 2012.
“Whereas we have done much on the therapeutic and prevention side, and we’ve tried to come up with new judicial norms, strangely enough (the theological) side seemed, at least to me, split off, and you don’t find literature in this field,” Fr. Zollner reflected.
So this year’s conference “was an attempt to really set the stage” for further development of this perspective.
Since resources on the theological take on child protection are slim outside of a few writings on moral theology, each of the conference’s speakers were invited to make their own study on the topic and to present their reflections.
Among the speakers were Sr. Sara Butler, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Washington D.C. and Fr. James Corkery, SJ, professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Both were present at the conference alongside Fr. Zellner and Bishop Edward Burns of Juneau, who was recently appointed chairman of the US bishops’ child and youth protection committee.
Other speakers included Fr. Robert J. Geisinger SJ, Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and acclaimed American author Fr. Robert Barron.
Topics covered in the speeches included the biblical framework of how God himself deals with offenders and offenses. The topic of mercy and justice was also brought up, particularly in how it extends to offenders and those who cover up offenses, such as in cases of bishops’ accountability.
The sacramental structure of the priesthood was also touched on, as well as the theme of salvation as it applies to victims of abuse, particularly in terms of the whole and happy life they are called to live, and Christ’s closeness to them, being himself an innocent victim who suffered violence.
Fr. Zollner also referred to a reflection from Sr. Sara on an 11th century practice of accountability for abuse put into place by St. Peter Damian, a process that involved not only priests, bishops, and the Pope, but also the laity.
This emphasis on the role of the laity in the reform of the Church at that time was a very interesting point, Fr. Zollner said, explaining that both clergy and the laity have the responsibility within their communities of helping to create a safe environment.
He revealed that since there is no literature on the theological approach to safeguarding children, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has created working groups studying the various theological and spiritual implications of the topic.
“There are different aspects: spirituality, prayer life, and also theological reflections,” he said, explaining that currently the working group for theology “is more probably on the modeled theological side.”
A working group within the commission dedicated to organizing a day of prayer for abuse survivors has also been formed.
“I hope this is a starting point for something new,” he said, and noted that though there are no plans as of yet, a future hope of the commission is to invite doctoral students to work on the theme.
“Theologians should really reflect on how God acts in this, what the Church is, what the life of the Church and the faithful is in this,” no matter how difficult the task may be, the priest continued.
He said that one short-term goal in developing this new perspective could be for the commission to invite theologians to come and speak about the topic. He also said that some publications could be made and handed out to dioceses and religious congregations.
“What we have learned here is that if the leaders are convinced it could also come down to those who work with children in parishes, in schools, in orphanages, etc., (so) that they are motivated not only because the law obliges you, but because you are convinced that this a part of the mission of the Church,” Fr. Zollner reflected.
The fact that the Church acts on this issue not out of legal binding but out of conviction in her mission is something Fr. Zollner said he believes is “not really appreciated or even understood.”
“Whatever we can do for the poor and the little ones is part of the mission of Jesus Christ … the first step is to realize that Jesus has come, as he says, for the sick, for those who are in need, not for the healthy,” he said.
“The mission of the Church is precisely this: to represent this to the world, and especially to those who are most wounded.”
Full article: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/NewsBriefs/Default.aspx?rssGuid=pontifical-university-plans-to-offer-diploma-in-child-protection-by-2016-65354/
Archdiocese charges could jeopardize victim payouts, Associated Press
/in Minnesota /by SOL ReformLawyers for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are warning that criminal charges against the corporation could jeopardize insurance coverage that’s being counted on to pay some claims of victims of clergy abuse.
The archdiocese faces multiple counts for allegedly failing to protect victims from a former St. Paul priest.
Archdiocese insurers were already questioning whether they were liable to cover abuse claims.
Now the insurers’ case is stronger because the charges allege the archdiocese knew about problems and didn’t protect kids, University of Minnesota law professor Christopher Soper told Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1J7vOJb). Most insurance policies don’t cover intentional or criminal acts, he said.
Insurers often fight coverage on such cases because the financial stakes are high.
From 2004 to 2014, the Catholic diocese in the U.S. and other entities reported that more than $2.7 billion was incurred in sex-abuse costs, including settlements, victim therapy, offender support and attorney fees, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. About 32 percent of those costs were covered by insurance.
Abuse victims of the Twin Cities archdiocese have until Aug. 3 to file claims in bankruptcy court. So far, roughly 100 claims have been filed.
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January due to concerns that it wouldn’t be able to compensate the victims, and a judge ordered all parties into mediation.
The archdiocese is banking on the insurance coverage to compensate abuse victims, after reporting about $27 million in net assets as of May 31.
Last November, the archdiocese sued insurance companies covering it from the 1940s through the 1980s in an effort to resolve the carriers’ obligations to cover clergy sexual abuse claims.
Although the Twin Cities archdiocese wants insurers to contribute to a settlement of claims filed by alleged victims, many have denied claims of have reserved the right to reject claims. The coverage dispute is now part of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Full article: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_28379555/archdiocese-charges-could-jeopardize-victim-payouts
Casey Egan, Sean Brady says Catholic church covered up abuse to preserve its “good name”, Irish Central
/in International /by SOL ReformThe retired Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, told a court in Northern Ireland that clergy investigating sex abuse allegations kept their findings secret in order to protect the Catholic church’s “good name.”
“There was a shroud of secrecy and confidentiality with a view not to destroying the good name of the church,” Brady, 75, told the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Banbridge, Co. Down.
“The scandal that somebody who was ordained to serve people should so abuse the trust for their own pleasure was appalling.
“To offset that, the scandal was kept a secret — very, very secret.
“Everybody involved would be bound to secrecy too.”
Brady was testifying in the week-long hearing regarding the late Fr. Brendan Smyth, one of the first pedophile priests to gain infamy in the Catholic church’s child abuse scandal.
Smyth was arrested in 1994 and convicted on 141 counts of child molestation, though in this week’s hearings it emerged that he once told a doctor he estimated the real number to be as high as 200 children over the course of 40 years as he was shuffled around by the church from parish to parish, county to county, country to country.
Fr. Brendan Smyth
Fr. Brendan Smyth
He died in prison in Ireland in 1997, following a heart attack.
Cardinal Brady’s testimony centered upon two interviews he conducted in 1975, when Smyth was accused of abuse by two teenage boys. One of them, Brendan Boland, has since publicly spoken out against Smyth; the other has kept his identity private.
At the time, the then-Father Brady was appointed by the Bishop of Kilmore, Francis McKiernan, with leading the investigation to ascertain whether the accusations held weight.
Brady interviewed the two boys about it personally and served as the notary for the inquiry. The boys’ parents were not present for the questioning, no official authorities were ever notified of the accusations, and the boys were asked to sign oaths of secrecy.
Cardinal Brady only sent a report to his bishop, who later barred Smyth from hearing Confession and reduced his ability to complete public duties.
When asked this week by the inquiry why Smyth was not removed from his duties, Brady said that, at the time, the church “favored mercy rather than severity.”
When asked why he did not inform police or any official authorities of the abuse, he replied, “It just did not cross my mind to inform the state authorities. . . Now it is the first thing that we would do.”
Brady said he was “truly sorry” for the church’s failure to act upon and prevent further abuse by Smyth.
The focus of this week’s inquiry, headed by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, has been whether there were systemic failures on the church’s part that allowed Smyth to carry out his abuse over four decades.
Sean Brady says Catholic church covered up abuse to preserve its “good name” – IrishCentral
Matthew Dixon, New hope for clergy abuse survivors, The Courier
/in International /by SOL ReformSurvivors of clergy sex abuse who have already received payments from the Catholic Church may be entitled to a further settlement, according to a leading lawyer.
Shine Lawyers partner Roger Singh has represented a number of people with claims and believes the evidence presented at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse may allow survivors who have already received payments to be open to further settlements.
“So when I look at what is coming out of the Royal Commission what concerns me, especially with what we are hearing about from the Catholic Church, is that there is a time when they knew (what was happening), that is what is being suggested,” he said.
Mr Singh said if abuse survivors had approached the church to seek answers and redress, and the church provided it to them, and it was then proven the church had some knowledge of what had occurred, it would be considered that agreement was struck without all of the information provided.
“If the evidence does come to the fore that the church suppressed and concealed evidence and material facts and the victim had no way of being privy and having access to that information I feel that there is scope for it to be reopened and revisited with all the cards on the table.
“The view I hold is there has to be a moral duty for the church to come forward and say ‘when we settled your claim we didn’t come clean’.”
Mr Singh said if the church was proven to have known information about the abuse prior to any agreement being made it would also be grounds for further compensation as the deal was made without all of the information available to the survivor.
The Royal Commission sat in Ballarat for two weeks during May.
During the hearings pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale admitted former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns knew of his offending and that it was criminal.
Christian Brothers Oceania Provicne leader Brother Peter Clinch said that nearly 42 Ballarat survivors had been paid nearly $3 million with each payment averaging $70,000.
New hope for clergy abuse survivors _ The Courier