Rwanda: Pastor Dragged to Police Over Funds

[Source]:

A Kenyan pastor running an NGO in the country faces allegations of embezzling funds, Sunday Times has learnt. Pastor Joseph Anyienga faces the allegations alongside the General Manager of the organization Sisters of Rwanda one Margaret Karara. The organization has been engaged in efforts tot help former prostitutes in Kigali gain income generating skills.

Sisters of Rwanda has premises in Kimironko, where it trains former sex workers different vocational skills like making beads and candles.

The allegations against the two were made by their partner of over two years in the organization Jared Miller. He alleges that they have been systematically embezzling funds and other donations given by the sponsors of the organization.

Miller from the USA but working with Sisters Of Rwanda told Sunday Times that he carried out an investigation after being tipped off by some of the would be beneficiaries of the organization.

“I did an investigation and found out that the Pastor and our General Manager have been stealing from us and embezzling money for almost a year. I had no idea” said Miller.

Miller told Sunday Times that the case was forwarded to police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police is doing a full investigation.

“They have been accepting funds under our name for a long time but they have been keeping the money”, added Miller.

When we got in touch with Pastor Anyienga, by phone, he said that the case is before CID and that he was not ready to talk about the allegations that are now before the police.

He said that he is the founder of the organization and that he knows that Miller, being the one who brought up the allegations. has his own side he wants to put forward.

Contacted for comment, Karara told Sunday Times by phone that she was not ready to speak about the allegations saying that the police investigations will help to determine what happened.

Anyienga and Karara later walked into the offices of The New Times yesterday and shed more light on the allegations leveled against them.

Anyienga said that Miller made the allegations to police after the Board of the NGO had summoned him to give a financial report for the year 2007/2008.

He explained that they wanted Miller to explain why he published a magazine in the US, alleging that there was sex slavery in Rwanda without getting permission from the management.

Anyienga further said that the board was going to sit on August 22nd to get an explanation from Miller and he refused to turn up.

Instead according to the Pastor, Miller went to police on 25th claiming that Ayienga and Karara had embezzled funds. The pastor concluded that justice should take its course and as a man of God he believes the truth will be revealed.

The police spokesman Marcel Higiro confirmed that CID had received a complaint from Miller, alleging that there was embezzlement and mismanagement in the organization.

“CID has received a complaint saying that there is embezzlement and mismanagement in the organization”. Higiro said.

He added “So far we have got that complaint and we have started investigations and we are at the level of finding out what happened”.

Lawsuit: Priest’s therapist molested boy

[Source] August 31, 2008:

BURLINGTON, Vt.—The church therapist who treated a Vermont Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting boys later became the target of a Massachusetts lawsuit alleging he, too, engaged in sex acts with a boy for nine years, beginning when the boy was 9.

The Rev. Thomas Kane of Whitinsville, Mass., was executive director of the House of Affirmation in Whitinsville. That’s where the Diocese of Burlington sent the Rev. Edward Paquette to be treated after learning Paquette had molested two boys in Rutland.

Court papers in Vermont and Massachusetts indicate the dates of Kane’s alleged abuse of the Uxbridge, Mass., boy — 1968 to 1977 — coincide with the period from 1974 to 1978 that Paquette was being treated, for much of the time via monthly visits, at the House of Affirmation.

There’s no evidence that officials in the Vermont diocese, including then-Bishop John Marshall, were aware of Kane’s alleged sexual misconduct during the period he was providing therapy to Paquette.

Kane’s alleged victim filed suit in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston in 1993; the case settled out of court two years later for $42,500. The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Nineteen lawsuits have been filed in Vermont alleging that Paquette molested boys while serving as a priest in Burlington, Montpelier and Rutland in the 1970s. Four have ended with jury verdicts or been settled out of court and 15 are pending.

Church records in Vermont show that Marshall knew Paquette had a history of molesting boys at parishes in Massachusetts and Indiana, but allowed him to join the Vermont diocese after being told by a church psychiatrist in Indiana that Paquette’s problem had been cured.

Kane also provided a positive review of Paquette’s progress in therapy. “It is my opinion that Father Paquette should return as soon as possible to a parish setting and observe the signals of caution which we have discussed,” Kane wrote to Marshall on Nov. 6., 1974.

Another exchange of letters between Kane and Marshall in 1978 showed new allegations of sexual misconduct were being directed at Paquette.

Marshall wrote to Kane that he was considering leaving Paquette in his role as parish priest at Christ the King Church in Burlington despite the new allegations.

“Despite the demands of two sets of irate parents that ‘something be done about this,’ Father Paquette’s pastor and I are determined to take the risk of leaving him in his present assignment,” Marshall wrote to Kane on April 4, 1978.

“Our thinking is that, knowing the awareness of others concerning his problem, Father Paquette will have reason for ‘self control’,” the bishop added. “Do you agree with this thinking?”

Kane replied, “I do agree with your thinking. I do not believe it is ‘too risky’ to leave Father Paquette in his present assignment but, of course, can make no predictions.”

Later that month, increased pressure from parents in the parish forced Marshall to change his mind. He wrote to Kane, “The situation had become so explosive that I had no other recourse but to ask Father Paquette to leave the parish immediately.”

No telephone listing could be found Sunday for Edward Paquette at his last known address in Westfield, Mass. A message left at the headquarters of the Diocese of Worcester, which includes Whitinsville, was not immediately returned Sunday. News reports from 2002 placed Kane in Mexico.

How many foreskins did Jesus have?

Luke 2 (King James Version)

21And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Is this baby God in the FLESH????!!!!!

[Source]:

The Holy Prepuce, or Holy Foreskin (Latin præputium or prepucium) is one of several relics attributed to Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess it, sometimes at the same time. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_foreskin

Circumcision of Christ [See it here].

How many foreskins did Jesus have?

18, at last count. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_foreskin

God loves sex

[Source]:

A website with a name like Puresextucson.com is not something you’d expect an American Baptist pastor to brag about, but 27-year-old Jeremiah McDuffie is not just flaunting the site – he created it.

McDuffie sent not-so-subtle postcards to 35,000 homes in Tucson, Arizona showing a photo of four feet in a suggestive pose to promote a series of sermons he is giving on sex and the issues it raises for Christians.

McDuffie, pastor of The Element Community Church, said he wants people to know that God wants them to have good sex and to open the dialogue on a subject that is often taboo in church.

The poster the  sex-pastor used to catch fish

Esam Mudeer: Question to the Sex Pastor:

1. does the Christian “God” want all people to have “good sex” or is this only married people? Why don’t you make it clear?
2. Does “people” inculde gays and lesbians? Does your “God’ want them to have “good sex” too?
3. Do the 4 feet in the poster you used belong to a married couple? Or is it ok for you to have a man with woman in bed like this to give your poster no matter what?
4. How about those who are having sex, good or bad, outside marriage? Does “God” want them to have “good sex” too? I wonder.
5. What about condoms? Does this “God” want those “people” to wear condoms while having good sex? Well, I do not know about those people, but I know this: condoms SUCKS! If you are going to preach sex with condoms, you are doomed to close your ministry, pastor.
6. Which Biblical passages are you going to use in your sermons? May I suggest Song of Songs and other hot chapters to help you? I dare any woman in your church to read Songs 7 aloud. Check this modern translation out. Is this the “Word of God”? You might get more male members this way. More donations coming your way, dude!

I am very married and I only had sex in a condom-free marriage. Never allowed outside marriage in the house of Islam. Thank Allah (God in Arabic)! AMEN!

Polygamous church sues to reverse court judgment

[Source]:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Attorneys for a polygamous church sued a court-appointed accountant on Friday, seeking to reverse an $8.8 million judgment against its $110 million property trust.

In papers filed in 3rd District Court church attorney Rodney Parker claims the judgment awarded to United Effort Plan Trust overseer Bruce Wisan was based on “false, incomplete and misleading evidence.”

The trust is the charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A court gave Wisan guardianship of the trust in 2005 after state attorneys said church leaders had mismanaged its assets.

In 2007, Wisan sought the judgment and won by default.

Wisan told the court that $6.4 million in trust property had been conveyed for less than full value. He also said $2.2 million worth of property had been wrongfully taken from the trust. He sought roughly $1.7 million in legal and accounting fees and a $1.56 million credit as a portion of proceeds from a settlement agreement.

Friday’s court filing claims the figures include inflated property values, property not held by the trust and other misinformation. It also alleges Wisan reversed statements made in 2005 about the fairness of some real estate deals, saying in 2007 the deals were unfair.

“The mechanism by which the judgment was obtained constituted fraud upon the court,” the lawsuit states.

“That’s very strong language and really so far, it’s been pretty short on facts, but we’ll let a judge decide that,” Wisan told The Associated Press on Friday.

On a directive from its leader, Warren Jeffs, the FLDS church did not fight Wisan’s initial actions related to the trust. But Parker said the sect’s legal trouble in Texas this year, where authorities sought custody of FLDS children after allegations of abuse, combined with Wisan’s actions feel like an attempt to dismantle the FLDS members’ way of life.

“This just is really an implementation of the destruction of the church,” Parker said Friday. “That’s part of why the church had to push back.”

Wisan said he had not seen the filing, but had expected it. He defended the judgment saying the court had approved it based on testimony and documentation from expert witnesses. He said he has nothing to hide and welcomes the scrutiny of any trust transactions.

Formed in the 1940s, the trust holds the property and other combined assets of church members, who believe their communal lifestyle is derived from religious scripture.

When the Utah courts seized the trust, a judge ousted church leaders who controlled it, claiming Jeffs and others had mismanaged its funds for personal use. At the time, Jeffs was on the run from criminal charges in Utah and Arizona. He was arrested in 2006 and last year a Utah jury found him guilty of two felony counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of 14-year-old follower.

He’s currently in an Arizona jail awaiting two trials on similar charges and has been indicted by a Texas grand jury for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

The majority of UEP property is in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin border towns where most FLDS members make their homes. The church also has property in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The FLDS practice polygamy in arranged marriages, believing the practice brings glorification in heaven. Its theological roots are tied to the early teachings of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Commonly known as the Mormons, the mainstream church abandoned polygamy as a condition of statehood in 1890.

Pastor gets probation for sex with teen

[Source] 08/29/2008:

A former Fort Worth pastor has been sentenced to 10 years’ probation for sexually assaulting a teenage church member.

James “Jay” Virtue Robinson the Fourth was sentenced Friday afternoon after pleading guilty, which means he must register as a sex offender for life.

Police say some of the liaisons with the teenage girl happened inside Southwood Baptist Church.

Robinson resigned in July, a month after his arrest.

He received deferred adjudication. That means if he completes probation, the case will be dismissed and no conviction will be on his record, although the arrest will remain.

Ex-pastor pleads guilty to sex assault on church member

[Source]:

FORT WORTH — For the second time in less than a week, Jay Virtue Robinson publicly confessed his sins.

On Sunday night, the former senior pastor of Southwood Baptist Church stood before the congregation he once led and admitted that he had done what he’d been accused of — having an inappropriate relationship with an underage church member.

On Friday afternoon, his admission came in the form of the word “guilty” before Judge Everett Young and the victim’s family in a Tarrant County courtroom.

In exchange for pleading guilty to sexual assault, Robinson was sentenced to 10 years of deferred-adjudication probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

“Why didn’t you just confess from the very beginning?” the victim, now 18, wrote in a statement to Robinson that a prosecutor read aloud during the hearing. “Did you really think that you could get away with all the lying? Not only did you hurt me with all your lying but you hurt so many other people.”

The Star-Telegram typically does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Robinson, who was accompanied during the hearing by his brother and a man described as his pastor and friend, walked away when asked whether he wished to comment after the hearing.

His attorney, Cheyenne Minick, said Robinson is remorseful.

“We stand by what happened today in court,” Minick said.

The crime

Robinson was arrested June 18, accused of having had a relationship with the victim that included sexual contact when she was 16.

The case came to light in February after the girl’s father overheard a conversation that was sexual in nature between his daughter and a man he later learned was Robinson. The father brought the issue to the church council, and then to police after learning that the sexual relationship had begun while his daughter was a minor.

The allegations divided Southwood Baptist.

Robinson vehemently denied any wrongdoing and garnered the support of the church council and many members who believed he was innocent.

“An accusation of moral failure has been leveled against me. This accusation is false,” Robinson wrote in a letter to Southwood members March 17, urging that members in discord be “shunned according to Scripture.”

Other members, including one council member, believed that phone records of numerous late-night calls between Robinson and the teen supported the alleged relationship and that Robinson should have been removed from his leadership role.

Several voluntarily left Southwood. Others were removed by armed guards during Sunday services one weekend. Many have formed a new church.

The resolution

Robinson resigned from the church last month on the advice of attorneys. He reportedly returned Sunday night, stood before the congregation, admitted his wrongdoing and said he had lied.

Bill Vassar, lead prosecutor in the case, said all the victim’s family wanted was for Robinson to accept his responsibility and admit his guilt.

The victim’s father said Friday afternoon that a couple of church members, but no council members, had contacted him since Robinson’s admission at church, asking for his family’s forgiveness.

Too emotional to address Robinson herself during the hearing, the victim allowed prosecutor Kim D’Avignon to read aloud the statement that she’d written for the former pastor. The teen sat in the witness stand, crying and looking away from Robinson.

“I loved you and I thought you did me, but I guess not because all you cared to do was cover your butt,” it said. “If you had just come clean from the beginning I wouldn’t have been called all the horrible names that I was but it’s OK because I am strong and I could handle it because I knew God was on my side.”

Her statement finished by saying she forgave Robinson for the lies and the hurt that he caused.

“I wish you the best of luck in life and I hope you get all the help that you need,” she wrote.

Catholic priest claims cannabis field in backyard a gift from God!

[Source]:

Melbourne, Aug 30 (ANI): A catholic priest, who claims that his back yard full of cannabis plants is a gift from God, has been placed under constant surveillance by police.

Father Cyril Papudov, of Petrich, Bulgaria, has been arrested seven times but police have never caught him actually cultivating the crop.

He insists that the cannabis seeded by itself and is part of God’’s gift of nature and nothing to do with him.

There has been a great deal of suspicion over the years about what is going on with these plants, Daily Telegraph quoted police, as saying.

“He is a man of the cloth and so a lot of people don”t want to think badly of him but frankly if someone has a huge crop of cannabis in their back garden it’’s highly unlikely they are just sitting there admiring its horticultural properties,” the police added.

They are now planning a 24-hour surveillance on the priest

“By keeping a watch on the plants we can make sure this is the case and put an end to any suspicions over the purpose of these plants once and for all, ” the police said. (ANI)

Bishop wanted to ‘punch’ priest convicted of sex abuse

[Source]:

Present day Bishop Paul-André Durocher took the stand at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Friday to explain his transition into a diocese wrought with scandal.

Durocher, who was coming from Sault Ste. Marie at the time in 2002, shared his thoughts on learning of the local child sex abuse allegations and how as the new Bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall he dealt with established diocesan policies on the subject.

“So what was your sense of the whole thing . . . ?” asked Inquiry Commissioner Normand Glaude about Durocher’s perusal of a file by Father Gilles Deslauriers, who was convicted on 11 counts of gross indecency and other sexual misconduct in 1986.

“My first reaction was that I wanted to go punch this guy in the face,” Durocher responded.

“I was disgusted. I was disgusted that this priest had abused his power that way to abuse young people. It felt terrible. And he’s a priest and I’m a priest — it made me ashamed.”

Durocher then wiped his eyes with a tissue.

The 54-year-old bishop is now in his second stint in the witness box at the inquiry, which is probing how institutions like the church handled allegations of historical sexual abuse.

Durocher said he’d heard “echoes” of the events surrounding Deslauriers before he got the job with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, but didn’t learn about other allegations, such as those involving Father Charles MacDonald, until after he’d arrived in Cornwall, at which time MacDonald’s sex abuse charges were soon to be stayed.

Durocher had some connection with his predecessor, Bishop Eugene LaRocque, through federal and provincial bishop conferences. Durocher was an auxiliary bishop at the time.

Interestingly, LaRocque had previously worked at a parish in a suburb of Windsor where Durocher had lived in 1963.

“It was a surprise for me to discover that later on,” said Durocher during questioning by inquiry commission counsel Pierre Dumais.

Pastor: Confession of Child Rape Forced by Fake Prophet

[Source] August 30, 2008:

AMITE, La. —  Former Hosanna Church pastor Louis D. Lamonica told a parish jury that he falsely confessed to child rape because he thought it would be the only way to get his wife and children back.

The 49-year-old man, of Hammond, is on trial in Amite on four counts of aggravated rape of his sons when they were age 11 or younger. Seven church members were indicted in 2005 on charges of molesting children. Lamonica is the second among them to go on trial.

Lamonica’s attorney, Michael Thiel, maintained in questioning his client Friday that Lamonica falsely confessed to child rape because he was being controlled by a woman who claimed to be a prophet of God.

The trial is in recess until Wednesday morning, when the courthouse is expected to reopen after the Hurricane Gustav emergency.