More Sex Scandals Rock Mega Church and Jesuits

First, there is the developing story on MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21888916/) about the sex scandal overtaking an Atlanta megachurch leader in mega-sized sex scandal - seems the Archbishop slept with brother’s wife and fathered her child who is now a pastor at the church himself. Here are some highlights:

DECATUR, Ga. - The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her. Members of Archbishop Earl Paulk's family stood at the pulpit of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church a few Sundays ago and revealed the secret exposed by a recent court-ordered paternity test. In truth, this is not the first — or even the second — sex scandal to engulf Paulk and the independent, charismatic church. But this time, he could be in trouble with the law for lying under oath about the affair. The living proof of that lie is 34-year-old D.E. Paulk, who for years was known publicly as Earl Paulk's nephew.

The Archbishop has also admitted affair to the church last year and the archbishop, his brother and the church are being sued by former church employee Mona Brewer, who says Earl Paulk manipulated her into an affair from 1989 to 2003 by telling her it was her only path to salvation. Earl Paulk admitted to the affair in front of the church last January.

At its peak in the early 1990s, the Church claimed about 10,000 members and 24 pastors and was a media powerhouse. By soliciting tithes of 10 percent from each member's income, the church was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary the size of a fortress.

Meanwhile according to MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21886273/), the Jesuits have settled yet another sex abuse case involving the Roman Catholic Church, this time arising from the abuse of Alaska Natives. Naturally, and all too typically with the Catholic Church, the story lacks any reports that anyone in authority positions will suffer as a result of the abuse scandal. Here are some story highlights:

Anchorage, Alaska - For more than three years attorney Ken Roosa has been trying to get compensation for 110 Alaska Natives who claim church clergy violated a sacred trust and sexually abused them. "They intended to go to their grave with these secrets and there came a time in their life when they could no longer keep it a secret," he said.

Roosa announced Sunday that a $50 million settlement had been reached between his clients and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province. The settlement amounts to the largest ever reached with a single religious order. Each victim should receive an average settlement of about $450,000, Roosa says, although that amount will vary depending on the severity of each case.

The largest case involved 55 men who say Deacon Joseph Lundowski raped them repeatedly in the small villages of St. Michaels, Stebbins, and Hooper Bay. The Jesuits sent the alleged abusers, including Lundowski and several other priests and deacons, into Alaskan communities. Meanwhile, cases against the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks, a co-defendant in all of the cases, remain unresolved. The Diocese owned and managed the churches the alleged Jesuit abusers were sent to. Robert Hannon, special assistant to the Bishop of the Fairbanks Diocese, said Sunday word about the settlement with the Jesuits gives the Diocese hope for a settlement of its own.