African Priest accused of Rape exonerated over False Claims

Female chaplain made false rape claim against Catholic priest after their relationship ended


By Liz Hull
Last updated at 2:27 PM on 14th February 2011


Bogus claim: Emma Templeton had 'issues' leaving her with parts in her of an 'emotional child'



A female chaplain at a Roman Catholic college narrowly avoided jail last night after she admitted falsely accusing a parish priest of rape when he ended their affair.



Father Patrick Udoma lost his job and his home and his life was ‘completely devastated’ when Emma Templeton, 44, lied to police that she had been seriously sexually assaulted by him, a court heard.



The 45-year-old suffered the humiliation of being arrested by police at his church while conducting a funeral, had his home searched, mobile phone confiscated and was locked up for 23 hours in a cell and questioned.



Despite Father Udoma insisting that the pair had enjoyed a consensual relationship, officers refused to accept his protestations of innocence.



It wasn’t until five months later – when police discovered more than 200 intimate text messages between the couple on Templeton’s phone – that he was finally exonerated and she was arrested instead.



Yesterday Templeton, who worked at John Henry Newman Catholic College, Birmingham, was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, after admitting perverting the course of justice.





James Burbidge, QC, the Recorder of Birmingham, said he accepted Templeton had not acted maliciously when she made the rape allegation, but added: ‘You have committed a very serious offence.



‘It was created when your relationship with Father Udoma appeared to be coming to an end, and from what you said to him you knew you could cause him trouble.’



Birmingham Crown Court heard that Father Udoma started a relationship with Templeton in 2008 while based at St Rose of Lima Catholic Church, in Weoley Castle, Birmingham.









Accused: Fr Udoma's life had been 'completely devastated' by the claim which lost him his job at St Rose of Lima Catholic Church



Shenaz Musaffer, prosecuting, told the court that Templeton first made an allegation of rape against the priest to colleagues in January 2009. She also claimed to have tried, on two occasions, to take her own life by taking an overdose of paracetamol.



However, it wasn’t until more than a year later, in April last year, that Templeton, of Northfield, Birmingham, made a formal rape complaint to the police.



Father Udoma was arrested and, under questioning, admitted he had engaged in consensual sex with Templeton on two occasions but said their relationship was over.





He told officers she had warned him that she would not be able to guarantee what she would do if he ‘hurt’ her.



Father Udoma was released on bail but it wasn’t until September, when police discovered hundreds of text messages on Templeton’s phone, in which she declared her love and respect for the priest, that he was finally told no further action would be taken against him.



Templeton was arrested and, the court heard, initially claimed she had lied because the priest had some kind of hold over her.



Eventually, however, she told officers she had made the allegations up.



Sally Hancox, defending, said Templeton was of previously good character but had ‘issues’ from her childhood and adolescent life which meant there was still an element of the ‘emotional child’ in her.



She added: ‘She allowed herself to become embroiled in a situation which for many reasons was inappropriate.’



Following the case, a former parishioner, who did not want to be named, told the Birmingham Mail that Father Udoma had been ‘tormented’ by Templeton’s ‘wicked’ claims and ‘didn’t deserve what happened to him’.



She said he was conducting a funeral at his church on April 15 last year when police arrived to take him into custody.



It is understood Father Udoma has since been reinstated in a different parish.

Kenya: Married Catholic Priests enjoin Catholic Nuns to Abandon celibacy vow

Kenya:Nuns Urged to Abandon Celibacy Vow

The Daily Nation online

27 December 2009


Nairobi — A group of married Catholic priests have urged nuns to also abandon their celibacy vows and "stop living a life of pretence".
The group led by Archbishop Daniel Kasomo has disassociated themselves with the traditional Roman Catholic Church doctrine of celibacy.
Dr Kasomo said infidelity was rife among the church's rank and file and called on priests having secret love affairs to come out in the open and formally get married.
One of the married priests, Peter Njogu, said nuns should get married because celibacy in the church had proved unworkable.
Congregation
The priests were speaking in Wamagana, Nyeri, during a celebration of 20 years of priesthood in honour of Mr Njogu.

The prayers, attended by a small congregation, took place at a private compound, about 200 metres from Wamagana Catholic Church.
Dr Kasomo was ordained by controversial Zambian cleric Emmanuel Milingo in June this year. Pope Benedict XVI recently defrocked Archbishop Milingo for his continued ordination of married priests.

Rwandan Priest arrested in Italy over involvement in Rwandan Genocide

Commentary:



Fifteen years thence, a Catholic priest involved with the Rwandan genocide has been arrested in Italy, where has enjoyed life as a priest while his victims's life were cut short and callously. It is this kind of specter that we are scared of as it scarifies the face of the African Church. We are aware of the hate, the intrigues, and ugly offensive behaviours that are manifested by some African clergy and religious against people they are intended to protect, elevate, and bring to sanctification before God. Ethnicity, ambition, hustling for privileges and securing material interests sometimes co-mingle with the Sacred, and dilute and desecrate its essence.

For instance, in Nigeria, one priest was recounting to me the other day, how in the diocese of Maiduguri, due to intrigues relating to the elevation and enthronement of that diocese's bishop, a beloved priest, Thomas Kambasaya, who trained in Rome and with a doctorate in Canon Law, was supposedly murdered "mafiosi" style on March 11th, 1992, in the Plateau city of Jos, while attending a priests' retreat. There was never any serious investigations regarding his ascribed "accidental" death in a motor vehicle accident within Jos township.

Thomas' death occured when it was inevitable that he would emerge as that diocese's bishop. The suspicious circumstances of his death were never investigated. A nun, Sr. Julie D., presumably from Ireland, also a medical personnel, who insisted on having a full autopsy for Thomas was shortly afterwards expelled from Nigerian under dubious circumstance. It was alleged that the some elements within the church, supposedly those opposed to his elevation as a bishop and who were in favour of one of their own, were involved.

We are also aware of the mysterious circumstances of the sad incidences of extermination, hijacking, and terrorizing of some clergy in Africa. An instance is that of the American missionary in Kenya, Fr. John Kaiser in 2000, who was presumed to have been murdered by agents of the Kenyan state.

We deplore the killing of any innocent person(s) for whatever reasons, whether through the agency of church personnels, or any involving a church personnel, or of any one at all, for life is sacred and is a gift from God.


Clergyman linked to Rwandan genocide seized in Italy
Story Highlights:
-Emmanuel Uwayezu accused of genocide, crimes against humanity
-Alleged to be part of a conspiracy to kill Tutsis in area of Gikongoro, Rwanda
-Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997, took an alias, and was working as a priest
-Was identified after Interpol received information and pictures from Rwanda


updated 9:53 a.m. EDT, Thu October 22, 2009
Next Article in World »

(CNN) -- A Rwandan accused of "complicity" in the massacre of students at the college he headed during the country's genocide 15 years ago has been arrested in Italy, where he served as a clergyman, an international police agency said.

Interpol hailed arrest of Uwayezu as a demonstration of effectiveness of international police co-operation.

Officers from the Italian Carabinieri and Interpol's National Central Bureau in Rome, Italy, arrested Emmanuel Uwayezu -- who had been wanted in Rwanda, the international police organization Interpol said Wednesday in a news release.
Uwayezu, 47, is accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. He is in Italian custody and is awaiting extradition to Rwanda.
According to Interpol's statement, the Rwandan arrest warrant says Uwayezu was alleged "to have acted individually and as part of a conspiracy to plan and commit genocide by instigating Hutus to kill Tutsis in the area of Gikongoro, as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho."
He is accused of "participating in meetings with government and military authorities which allegedly planned the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group" and "complicity in the massacre of some 80 students in May 1994 in the college which he headed."
Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997, took an alias, and was working as a vicar at the Church in Empoli commune near Florence when he was seized, Interpol said.
The man was identified after Interpol's fugitives unit received information and pictures from Rwandan authorities.
The Archdiocese of Florence issued a statement about the arrest two days ago, saying it hopes the justice system will come up with the truth about the case.
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But, it said, "we stand by the fact that Don Emmanuel has always declared his estrangement to the events in question and we accompany him in prayers."
One Italian news report noted that Uwayezu is a priest of Hutu ethnicity and lived and worked as vice-parish priest in Ponzano, part of the county of Empoli.
Don Guido Engels, the head of the parish and a priest, told the ASCA news agency that "Don Emmanuel never cultivated feelings towards another ethnic group. He always wanted peace."
"The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification, location and apprehension of fugitives around the world," said Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director of police services.
"This operation is a credit to law enforcement officers and agencies in Italy and Rwanda."
Two years ago, Interpol created a unit dedicated to searching for fugitives in the genocide who were wanted by Rwanda and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. So far, seven people wanted by Rwanda and five wanted by the tribunal have been arrested.
Police in Uganda recently arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide. Idelphonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga, a suburb of the capital, Kampala.
The arrest, by Ugandan police, was part of an operation between the tribunal, Ugandan authorities, and Interpol. Nizeyimana was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal is based.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead over a 100-day period, the United Nations and Interpol say. Millions more were raped and disfigured, and nearly an entire generation of children lost their parents.
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African bishops call for corrupt African leaders to quit- Let them look themselves in the mirror too!

Bishops to corrupt African leaders: repent or quit - African bishops at end of synod

Commentary:
True. This is the ideal. We applaud the bishops for this decisive gesture. Archbishop John Onaiyekan has always said things like but act differently. How many times has he benefited from the bribes and stolen largesse from the late General Sani Abacha, or his democratic successor, General Olusegun Obasanjo? He, Onaiyekan, has continued to argue that if he does not take these gifts, these "benevolent dictator" would give to others. He claims he uses such funds and gifts for the poor. Good at the surface and praiseworthy. But is Onaiyekan not among the most affluent of African bishops, living luxuriantly and also doing some of the same things that these African leaders are exhibiting? Is Onaiyekan not part of the African leadership class, except that his falls under the religious sphere? Is the religious African leaders not part of the African crises and problems? Let, these bishops take the speck out of their own eyes first and first show examples by resigning when they do not function and perform credibly. How well did John Onaiyekan perform in Ilorin, where he was bishop for over half a decade? Why has he not resigned given his own exploitation of poor and vulnerable African nuns, for his sexual escapades? True, why is he incapable of self-restraint when he comes to his sexual romps with these vulnerable young women, caught in the web of the abuse of power and privilege?
It is at times easy when on the sideline to be the best soccer player, playing an empty ball, than when one is on the pitch. When you seat down you know all the tactics of the fight, but it is different when you are the fighter!!!
Onaiyekan and his tribe are deceptors. Are these not the same people whose lifestyles and collaborative actions with dictatorships disenfranchise the African people, sending them into misery, dejection, and acute poverty? I do not foreseeable how these bishops are quite different from those that they criticize. At least the glaring example of Nigeria where they leave themselves as puns in the hands of corrupt politicians is all too evident.
In this, light, what do one say of the current accusation against a Nigerian bishop, the Irish born, Richard Anthony Burke, archbishop of Benin City archdiocese and administrator of Warri diocese, whom a Canadian citizen and Nigerian-born woman, Deborah Atwoods, is accusing of sexual violation, intimacy, and molestation since when she was a minor? Isn't this palpable corruption? Isn't this abuse? But what is Onaiyekan and this African bishops saying to their confrere, archbishop Burke? Where is the notable voices asking him to resign, or even calling for a credible investigation of the matter? No, they sweep it under the rug, and cushion it with silence. These impostors need to be true to themselves first.
**********************************

Bishops to corrupt African leaders: repent or quit


AP – From right, Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, of Abuja, Nigeria, Chaldean Archbishop Youssef Ibrahim …
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer – Fri Oct 23, 11:26 am ET
VATICAN CITY – Bishops attending a Vatican meeting on Africa issued a blunt ultimatum Friday to corrupt Catholic political leaders in Africa: repent or leave public office.
In a strong final message, the bishops said Africa needs "saints" in government "who will clean the continent of corruption, work for the good of the people," and end the evils of war and poverty devastating the continent.
They cited as an example the late Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, the father of Tanzanian independence and a symbol of Africa's hopes as it emerged from the shadow of colonial rule, who is being considered for possible beatification.
While praising some Catholic leaders who are doing their public service well, they accused others of having "fallen woefully short in their performance in office."
"The synod calls on such people to repent, or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name," the bishops wrote at the end of their monthlong synod.
The bishops didn't name names, but Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has been blamed for presiding over a politically repressive regime that led to the economic collapse of the country, and Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, whose party swept elections last year that critics say were marred by fraud and corruption, are two well-known Catholic leaders.
The prelates, some 300 from Africa and around the world, also condemned non-Catholic leaders and outside foreign interests for allowing African countries to fall into such devastation, saying "in most cases we are dealing with greed for power and wealth at the expense of the people and nation."
In particular they cited areas of conflict such as Somalia, the Great Lakes region, Sudan and Guinea.
"Whatever may be the responsibility of foreign interests, there is always the shameful and tragic collusion of the local leaders: politicians who betray and sell out their nations, dirty business people who collude with rapacious multinationals, African arms dealers and traffickers who thrive on small arms that cause great havoc on human lives, and local agents of some international organizations who get paid for peddling toxic ideologies that they don't believe in" — a reference to NGOs and humanitarian groups that promote abortion rights.
The results, the bishops wrote, are visible for the world to see: poverty, misery and disease, refugees within Africa's borders and beyond, brain drain, human trafficking, wars, child soldiers and violence against women.
"How can anybody be proud of 'presiding' over such chaos?" the bishops asked. "What has happened to our traditional African sense of shame? This synod proclaims it loud and clear: it is time to change habits, for the sake of present and future generations."
To be fair, the bishops said the Catholic Church had to get its house in order, too, saying it must serve as a model for good governance, transparency, good financial management and unity — a reference to the ethnic divisions that even mar relations between priests and bishops.
"Your example of living together in peace across tribal and racial lines can be a powerful witness to others," the bishops wrote to churchmen at home, telling them they should "gladly welcome" whomever the Vatican appoints to be their bishops, regardless of where he was born.
The bishops didn't mention Rwanda, but in that country Catholic Church officials themselves were alleged to have played significant roles in the 100-day massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The message from the bishops is intended as their public statement at the end of their monthlong meeting on how the Church can help bring peace, justice and reconciliation to the continent.
On Saturday, the bishops will issue another document: a set of proposals to Pope Benedict XVI to use as he formulates a policy response to what the church should be doing in Africa.
Two pressing policy areas that the bishops touched on in their Friday statement included celibacy for priests and condoms as a way to fight HIV infection.
There have been several cases in Africa with priests living openly with women; in their message Friday, the bishops reminded priests of their commitment to "a life of celibacy in chastity."
Regarding AIDS, which has devastated the continent, the bishops made no concessions on the Vatican's opposition to using condoms as a means to fight the virus' spread. The bishops warned that "the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics" and urged greater awareness of sexual abstinence and fidelity programs.
Addressing young people, the bishops said, "Let no one deceive you into thinking you cannot control yourselves. Yes you can, with the grace of God."