Share:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Photo: US Air Force / PixabayJAMESTOWN — A deceased priest who served at St. James’ and St. John’s Roman Catholic churches has been named in two Child Victim Act lawsuits in state Supreme Court in Chautauqua County, according to Horowitz Law of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Fr. Ralph P. Federico was named in the two lawsuits filed in July 2020 in state Supreme Court in Chautauqua County.Fr. Ralph Federico Horowitz LawAccording to the lawsuits, both victims were 10 years old at the time of the abuse. The first lawsuit states that the abuse occurred in 1976 when Federico served St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Jamestown. The plaintiff was a student and participated in youth activities at St. John’s, where he met Federico.The second allegation claims Federico allegedly engaged in “unpermitted sexual contact” around 1974 while serving at Our Lady of Pompeii in Depew. Federico was also named in a lawsuit filed in August 2019, when the Child Victims Act first went into effect, allowing past sexual abuse victims to file claims. A man told the 7 Eyewitness News (diocesan documents confirm) that he reported an allegation against Federico in 2018. The victim was 12 years old when the abuse occurred in the early 1970s. The victim claims he was an altar boy at Our Lady of Pompeii in Depew, where Federico was pastor, but the abuse occurred when Federico took him to a trailer he owned in Mayville.Federico died in 2007, 12 years before the lawsuits came to light. He was 80 years old. Federico was ordained in 1952 and retired in 1997.He served at Our Lady of Pompeii, Lancaster, in the 1950s, Brothers of Mercy Nursing Home in Clarence in the 1960s, St John in Olean in the 1960s, St. James in the 1960s, St. John’s from 1970-76, and Our Lady of Lourdes, Bemus Point, from 1978 to 1997.Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo in New York.
The complete lyrics:“Trump’s Nuts Roasting On An Open Fire”Trump’s nuts roasting on an open fireas he keeps nipping at his foes.you’ll cry creepy uncle every time he arrivesfor he keeps clawing at your clotheseverybody knows some money and entitlementcan help to make the season whitemothers of color with their kids out of sightwill find it hard to sleep at night.They know that truuump is on his way.he’s got black boys in hoodies locked up on his sleighand every working man is going to crywhen they learn that Letch don’t care how you live or if you dieSooo I’m offering this simple phraseto kids from 1 to 92although it’s been said many times, many waysMerry Christmas to youMerry Christmas, Merry ChristmasDonald Trump, f@$k youMain Art: Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum-selling artist Fiona Apple changed the popular “The Christmas Song” to include lyrics critical of President-Elect Donald Trump, renaming it “Trump’s Nuts Roasting On An Open Fire” and posting a video of her singing the critical song on her Tumblr page. (Photo: Fiona Apple official Facebook profile) Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/pianist Fiona Apple set social media sites ablaze Tuesday afternoon after dropping a blatantly anti-Donald Trump tune on her Tmblr page titled “Trump’s Nuts Roasting On An Open Fire.”The song, sung a cappella in Apple’s signature low, almost mournful, smoky-jazz contralto, switches out the classic lyrics of holiday fave “The Christmas Song”—which famously includes the well-known line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”—for the more direct reference to the president-elect’s anatomy, along with many other critical switcheroos referencing xenophobia and racism throughout the roughly one and a half minute serenade. “Trump’s nuts roasting on an open fire,” she sings, her dog occasionally barking in the background. “As he keeps nipping at his foes. You’ll cry creepy uncle / every time he arrives / for he keeps clawing at your clothes. “Everybody knows some money and entitlement / can help to make the season white,” she continues. “Mothers of color with their kids out of sight / will find it hard to sleep at night.”Apple, 39, published the track on her Tumblr account “Fiona Apple Rocks,” and included an audio version, full lyrical sheet, and selfie video—in which she sings the dark parody while gazing down at the camera through black-rimmed glasses and her dangling, long brown hair. “The Christmas Song” was originally penned in 1945 by songwriters Bob Wells and Mel Tormé. Apple’s caustic version comes amid a spike in hate crimes nationwide since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with some perpetrators citing the former reality TV personality-turned-commander in chief in the attacks. The multi-platinum-selling artist exploded onto the music scene in 1996 with her debut Tidal, for which she earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for its single “Criminal.” Her follow-up, 1999’s When the Pawn…—an abbreviation of a 444-character title/poem—was also nominated for a Grammy, as was 2005’s Extraordinary Machine and 2012’s The Idler Wheel… The award-winning musician caps the number off by tearing up a photo of Trump and punctuating her message with a “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas / Donald Trump, f@&k you.”Check out the track HERE and the vid below:
MEDIA RELEASE: EUTHANASIA – FREE NEW ZEALAND.Application for a change to New Zealand Law on assisted suicide and euthanasia is not in society’s best interests.“Lecretia Seales is a courageous woman, afflicted with a terrible disease. It is impossible not to be moved by her tragic situation. Yet her application to the High Court for a ruling on whether current N.Z. laws in respect of euthanasia and assisted suicide breach her rights under the Bill of Rights Act, although intended only to relate to her case, will, if successful, in the long run adversely affect the rights of many others in our society” says Professor David Richmond, a spokesperson for Euthanasia-Free New Zealand.“Ms Seales’ request is superficially a simple one based on personal choice and autonomy. Unfortunately the issues are far more complex for society than that”, he said. “Current laws were drawn up to guarantee citizens the right to life. If Ms. Seales’ actions were to lead eventually to the decriminalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide as she apparently hopes they will, citizens will be guaranteed the right to State sanctioned death – presumably at the hands of doctors. Our observation of how these things work in Holland and Belgium where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal does not encourage us to think that significant abuses, including being killed without a specific request, will not occur”, he said. “There are compelling reasons for leaving the law as it is whilst concentrating on providing every care possible to relieve suffering in dying and upholding the dignity of those close to death.”Euthanasia–Free New Zealand hopes that this court action will result in a fresh impetus in our society to uphold the right of every citizen including the most vulnerable of us: the elderly, those with disabilities, the dependent and those near the end of life, to respect, care, support, honour – and life.ENDS