Glam rock star Gary Glitter gets 16 years for child abuse

Glam rock star Gary Glitter was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of abusing three young girls in the latest child sex scandal to bring down a former icon of Britain’s entertainment world.
Glitter, 70, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was convicted of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/28/world/crime-legal-world/glam-rock-star-gary-glitter-gets-16-years-for-child-abuse/#.VUGffZMfjIV 

Kincora boys' home: Sex abuse victims demand children's home is demolished

Survivors of sex abuse at Kincora children's home in east Belfast have called for the building to be demolished. Gary Hoy, who lived in Kincora, said the memories would always be there but he would like to see the building gone.
Survivor Clint Massey said demolishing the building would bring a kind of closure for victims like him. Margaret McGuckian, of pressure group SAVIA, said they hoped to speak to the home's owners about the next step.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-32499325 

Horrific Details About Priest’s Sex Abuse, Use of Prostitutes Revealed in Unsealed Secret Files

In therapy sessions, the priest confessed the shocking details he’d kept hidden for years: He had molested more than 100 boys, including his 5-year-old brother. He had sex with male prostitutes, and frequented gay strip clubs.
The admissions of the Rev. Ruben Martinez are included among nearly 2,000 pages of secret files unsealed Wednesday that were kept on priests, brothers and nuns who belonged to religious orders but were accused of child molestation while working within the Los Angeles archdiocese.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/01/horrific-details-about-priests-sex-abuse-use-of-prostitutes-revealed-in-unsealed-secret-files/ 

Three more women say Bill Cosby drugged, sexually assaulted them

Three more women on Thursday accused Bill Cosby of sexually abusing them decades ago. Janice Baker Kinney, Marcella Tate and Autumn Burns said at a press conference hosted by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred that Cosby, 77, drugged and sexually assaulted them in separate incidents between 1970 and 1982.
They join more than three dozen women, many of whom are represented by Allred, who have made similar accusations in public over the past year.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/24/world/crime-legal-world/three-women-say-bill-cosby-drugged-sexually-assaulted/#.VUGdbpMfjIV 

Former NSW priest charged over sex abuse

A FORMER Catholic priest accused of abusing eight children between 1975 and 1992 has been charged with several counts of sexual and indecent assault.
THE 70-year-old was on Tuesday arrested at a home in Granville, in Sydney's west, following a year-long investigation which began with allegations he abused a young girl in 1986. Seven more victims were subsequently identified during the investigation.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/former-nsw-priest-charged-over-sex-abuse/story-e6frfku9-1227327020878?from=public_rss 

A Shocking Priest Abuse Tale

At the age of 13, Dean Weismuller was one of the 200 deaf boys who faced unspeakable abuse by Father Murphy in Wisconsin. He tells Dirk Johnson what happened.

Father Lawrence Murphy was accused of molesting 200 boys at a Wisconsin school for the deaf. Dean Weismuller is one of them. He talked to Dirk Johnson about what happened, and how he copes.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/03/26/i-hate-priests.html 

Tony Abbott vouched for Catholic priest later struck off by Vatican

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott vouched in court for the good character of a Catholic priest later struck off the clergy list by the Vatican following a child abuse case.
Fr John Gerard Nestor, who attended Sydney's St Patrick's Seminary with Mr Abbott in the 1980s, was a priest in the Wollongong diocese in NSW when he was charged with the indecent assault of a 15-year-old altar boy in 1991.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/tony-abbott-vouched-for-catholic-priest-later-struck-off-by-vatican/story-e6frg6n6-1226571738051 

Tony Abbott linked to Catholic priest dumped after child abuse case

TONY Abbott first met John Nestor at the St Patrick's seminary in Manly in 1984, when they were training for the Catholic priesthood.
They became friends and kept in touch several times a year even after their life journeys went in different directions. Abbott went into politics. Nestor completed his training and became a priest in the Wollongong diocese of NSW.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/tony-abbott-linked-to-priest-in-web-of-intrigue/story-e6frg6n6-1226573435456 

Salesian priest 'abused victim with pool cue'

A CATHOLIC priest charged with child sex offences has been accused of assaulting one of his victims with a pool cue. Salesian priest and former school principal Julian Fox, 67, today faced court for the first time since the Catholic church negotiated with Victoria Police to see him returned from Rome.
He has been charged with 10 offences, including committing three counts of buggery against a boy under the age of 14 in 1980.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/salesian-priest-abused-victim-with-pool-cue/story-fngburq5-1226629896798 

Familiar themes of a wounded church take fictional form

For the past 15 years, Fr. Donald Cozzens has distinguished himself as a commentator on religious and cultural issues, especially those relating to the sexual and financial crises gripping the Catholic church. His best-selling book The Changing Face of the Priesthood exploded onto the religious publishing scene in 2000, receiving both broad acclaim and fierce critique -- and changing the direction of his ministry as a priest.
He went on to write four more books, including Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church (2002) and Notes From the Underground: The Spiritual Journal of a Secular Priest (2013). He now travels widely, lecturing on the upheavals engulfing the Catholic church and leading retreats for priests and religious. He is also a writer-in-residence and adjunct professor at John Carroll University in Ohio.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/familiar-themes-wounded-church-take-fictional-form 

Diocese names priests, sisters, staff accused of sexual abuse

The Diocese of Helena posted an online list Wednesday of every employee accused of sexually abusing a minor while working there. 
The list dates back to the 1930s and includes the names of 80 priests, Ursuline Sisters, lay workers and others. A settlement between the Diocese and hundreds of victims requires that the names be posted and remain pinned to the Diocese homepage for the next decade.

http://helenair.com/news/diocese-names-priests-sisters-staff-accused-of-sexual-abuse/article_21cee896-519a-5b42-b63b-a8ea0a1a2ed9.html 

Angela Constance vows to put best person in charge of child abuse inquiry: 'We might be late but we will be right.

EDUCATION Secretary Angela Constance yesterday vowed to put the best person in charge of a public inquiry into child abuse in Scotland.
She made the pledge 24 hours after she was criticised by victims for delaying the appointment.
Constance had been expected to announce which judge would be spearheading the investigation into historical institutional child abuse by the end of the month.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/angela-constance-vows-put-best-5585442 

Child Abuse Victim Accuses UK’s CPS Of Shielding Lord Janner

A 50-year-old man who claimed that Labour peer Lord Greville Janner had abused him as a child has now accused the Crown Prosecution Service, or the CPS, of shielding him. He says his allegations were ignored by the police in 2007 and that he was subjected to sexual torture as a child in the '70s and '80s by Janner at a working men's club in Leicestershire.
The victim by the name of John says that when he went to the cops eight years ago, he was not taken seriously. "They didn't take my details. Afterwards I did make a bit of a stink but they never followed it up. It was the old culture — pass the buck," he told the BBC. He was just nine or ten years old at the time of the incident.

http://au.ibtimes.com/child-abuse-victim-accuses-uks-cps-shielding-lord-janner-1442576 

Queensland school inspector helped hide boy's brutal sex abuse.

A Queensland government official who oversaw children’s institutions in the 1950s helped cover up brutal sexual abuse, a national inquiry has heard.
A former resident of the Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton, has told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse an inspector from the state children’s department told him to keep quiet about repeated sexual abuse inflicted upon him by a priest.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/16/queensland-school-inspector-helped-hide-boys-brutal-sex-abuse-inquiry-told 

Horrific abuse at Queensland orphanage

A CATHOLIC priest at the notorious Neerkol orphanage in central Queensland brutally abused boys as young as nine and told his victims they would go to hell if they spoke out, a royal commission has heard.
THREE former residents of the orphanage told the inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Thursday resident priest Father John Anderson regularly molested or raped them during their time there.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/youll-go-to-hell-if-you-speak-out-priest/story-e6frfku9-1227306798569 

Former Episcopal Academy students come forth with allegations of sex abuse decades ago

The Episcopal Academy student was 13, he said, when teacher Richard Perkins Smith gave him and some classmates pornographic magazines.
Smith watched as the boys, wearing only briefs, became sexually excited and "horsed around" with one another, he said. "He knew damn well what was going on - and he facilitated it," said the former student.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150426_Former_Episcopal_Academy_students_come_forth_with_allegations_of_sex_abuse_decades_ago.html 

Who Would Jesus Shoot?

I leave the country for a few weeks and I guess I cannot trust my diocese and bishop to keep themselves out of the funny papers while I’m gone.  The hubbub?  Fr. Ed Fride, pastor of Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor, sponsored and started holding concealed pistol license (CPL) classes at the parish presumably with emphasis on answering those vexing doctrinal questions, “Who would Jesus shoot?” and “What would Jesus carry?”

As a personal parish of Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea, Christ the King is not confined to territorial boundaries as are most diocesan parishes.  It prides itself on being a “charismatic, contemplative, Eucharistic and Marian” oasis within the diocese.  I think Fr. Ed was just trying to expand that "points of pride” list to include other terms typically associated with Jesus such as “kick-ass,” take no prisoners,” and “combative.”   That’s quite a spiritual weapons journey for Ed, a former Vietnam War Conscientious Objector…from pacifist to pugilist.

http://questionsfromaewe.blogspot.co.nz/2015/04/who-would-jesus-shoot.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+QuestionsFromAEwe+%28Questions+from+a+Ewe%29 

No More Boring Sermons, Says Pope to Priests

On Sunday morning Pope Francis ordained 19 new priests, exhorting them to serve the flock rather than manage it, and to feed the people of God with heartfelt homilies rather than boring sermons.

“Let this be the nourishment of the People of God,” Francis said during the ceremony in Saint Peter’s Basilica, “that your sermons are not boring, that your homilies reach people’s hearts because they come from your heart, because what you say to them is what you carry in your heart.”

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/26/no-more-boring-sermons-says-pope-to-priests/ 

The International Salesian Network

On the 25th of May 2013 it was announced that the Metropolitan Police Paedophile Unit had secretly begun a new child abuse investigation called Operation Torva relating to institutions run by the Roman Catholic Salesian Order.
Over the last two weeks the Met Police Child Abuse Investigation Command  has been  secretly running a new investigation into alleged child abuse involving former schoolboys who went to primary and secondary  schools run by the Roman Catholic Salesian Order in England and Scotland.

https://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/op-torva-the-international-salesian-network/ 

Francis Gives New Hope to Abuse Victims

The Vatican’s recent announcement that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn, of the diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph, has given relief and new hope to victims of sexual abuse in the Church.
Technically, the Pope didn’t directly “remove” Finn, as the media has widely reported; rather, the bishop formally offered his resignation in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2, of the Code of Canon Law, which reads: “A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.” But there is no mystery as to why Finn resigned, several years after resisting petitions for him to do so.

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/04/francis-gives-new-hope-to-abuse-victims 

Catholic Church leaders must be accountable for abuse

In the last month, convictions of two priests who were found guilty of charges related to child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been upheld by higher courts.
In 2013, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, was convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church in northeast Philadelphia from 1998 to 1999 while the priest was in residence there.

http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20150428/editorial-catholic-church-leaders-must-be-accountable-for-abuse 

American bishop is a surprise hit as the pope’s man in Ireland

In November 2011, Ireland announced it was shutting down its embassy to the Vatican. It was the absolute low point in a crossfire between Dublin and Rome over clerical sexual abuse, one that saw Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny directly accuse the Vatican of covering up the crimes of abuser-priests.
Kenny declared in a now-famous speech in parliament that a government report on the scandal “excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism, the narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.”

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/27/american-bishop-is-a-surprise-hit-as-the-popes-man-in-ireland/ 

Foiled Vatican plot triggers security concerns for Pope's Philadelphia visit

Nearly 20 alleged terrorists were arrested by Italian authorities in a nationwide sweep of suspects who planned to launch attacks on the Vatican. Through wiretap evidence, police say this plot was hatched in March 2010 when a possible suicide bomber from Afghanistan entered the country.
Two of the suspects served as bodyguards for late terror leader Osama Bin Laden. Police say some of the suspects were involved in the 2009 bombing of a Pakistani market when more than 100 were killed.

http://6abc.com/news/foiled-plot-triggers-security-concerns-for-popes-philly-visit/680609/ 

Mark’s mission to honour kids,

MAY the sun shine upon you and bring you warmth. May the winds that blow across this land bring you peace. May the stars that shine so bright spell out your names now and forever. For you are forgotten no more.

In a serene clearing off the Capricorn Hwy, gold plaques etched with this memorial message and the names of 110 children are mounted into stone boulders surrounded by what will grow to be a beautiful garden. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/marks-mission-to-honour-kids/2611433/ 

Sisters of Mercy leader didn’t listen to sexual abuse victims

THE Sisters of Mercy leader admitted she was less than compassionate when sexual and physical abuse victims first started speaking out.

Not once when the allegations of abuse at Neerkol Orphanage first came to light, did Sister Berneice Loch attempt to contact victims, the Royal Commission panel heard yesterday. That was the first port of call she should have made, she told the commission. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/sister-admits-she-didnt-listen/2614668/ 

Historical Neerkol records destroyed in Brisbane floods

YOU may find yourself coming to several road blocks when you dig into Neerkol Orphanage's dark and horrific past. Some Neerkol Orphanage records, kept in a basement in a Brisbane city building, were destroyed in 1974 when a flood swept through the state's capital.

The number of records lost is not known. That's what Department of Families and Communities officer Majella Ryan told the Royal Commission yesterday when she gave evidence regarding the state's role with the orphanage. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/historical-records-destroyed/2613234/ 

NY Catholic bishops fight new Statute of Limitation bill for it would cause the church "catastrophic financial harm". WTF let Vatican Billions pay victims

ATTENTION New York idiots Catholics, this is your first-and-last chance to protest big time against Pope Francis when he comes to New York in September – especially at his speech in the UN – because he is the biggest Pharisee hypocrite and greatest thief in the history of mankind – because he hoards all those despots and world leaders at the UN and multinational corporations imperialists’ private secret accounts in the Vatican Swiss Banks – run exclusively by his Swiss Guard Army alumni. 

http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2015/04/new-york-catholic-bishops-fight-new.html 

Parents at SF catholic school make renewed plea to oust pastor

Some parents at Star of the Sea School say they’ve begun writing letters and placing calls to Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordelione to remove the school’s pastor, the Rev. Joseph Illo, after learning of a court case where the pastor was found guilty of causing emotional distress to a young girl.
Bob Regan, a parent of a student at the school, said many parents contacted San Francisco’s archbishop last week after learning about the case, which was settled in San Joaquin County Superior Court in 2005. 

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/parents-at-sf-catholic-school-make-renewed-plea-to-oust-pastor/Content?oid=2928005 

Are Catholic priests and nuns murdering their own children?

Today Nun-in-training Sosefina Amoa sat in a Washington D.C. jail awaiting 23 May sentencing for voluntary manslaughter in the death of her newborn. According to The Washington Post Sister Amoa admitted to smothering the baby she named Joseph after giving him birth at the Catholic Northeast Little Sisters of the Poor Convent.
Although the nuns reported Sister Amoa to police, Catholic authorities have not always been transparent about homicides committed within their secretive walls. According to child abuse survivors of Catholic institutions, it was common for priests and nuns to rape and kill children, especially a newborn. There was assurance from the Vatican that anyone tarnishing the Roman Catholic Church by reporting such crimes would be excommunicated and thus live in eternal Hell.

http://childabuserecovery.com/are-catholic-priests-and-nuns-murdering-their-own-children/#.VT7QoJMfgtF 

Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse

Adults who experienced abuse as a child can often feel isolated and alone, unable to talk to friends or family about how they feel.  In Ireland currently, the publication of reports such as the Ryan Report and the more recent Murphy Report can be very difficult and painful for anyone who has tried hard to forget their own childhood experiences in an institution or at the hands of nuns, priests, brothers or anyone else working in the catholic church.  
Abuse is not always sexual, it can be physical, or emotional, or some combination of these three elements.  Neglect is also a form of abuse, and many people who were brought up by people away from their family, may continue to suffer emotionally even now simply because they never felt loved as a child.  

http://www.counsellingcaredublin.com/childhood-abuse.html 

Pennsylvania court reinstates conviction of Catholic clergyman in abuse case

Pennsylvania's highest court on Monday reinstated the conviction of the first U.S. Catholic church official sent to prison for mishandling sexual misconduct complaints against priests.
In August 2012, a Philadelphia jury found Monsignor William Lynn, 64, guilty of one count of child endangerment for failing to supervise a pedophile priest who eventually sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/27/us-usa-church-sexabuse-idUSKBN0NI2CZ20150427

'Nun beat me with steel spoon'

A court has been told that an eight-year-old wet herself in fear when she was beaten with a steel serving spoon by a nun. Magdalene Crocker, who is now 42, broke down in tears as she described the incident to Aberdeen Sheriff Court during the trial of Sister Alphonso. 
Mrs Crocker said she arrived at Nazareth House in Aberdeen in 1965 with her six brothers and sisters, when her parents' marriage broke up.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/882958.stm 

Archdiocese Dispels RMS Rumors With Documents

However, the Archdiocese of Agana did not allow the documents to be photocopied or photographed and only made them available to view for a limited time in the presence of an employee.

Guam - The Archdiocese of Agana wants to dispel rumors that the controversial Redemptoris Mater Seminary does not belong to them. They refuted claims that the Archdiocese gave the property away and welcomed the public to view the documents on the matter, but they would not allow the documents to be photocopied or photographed.

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/guam/item/3338-archdiocese-dispels-rms-rumors-with-documents 

S.F. Archbishop Cordileone Priest Joseph Illo was Focus of Abuse Lawsuit: Star of Sea School Parents Demand Removal

Canonical and court documents have come to light from 2003 and 2005 that cast a negative light on the ministry of Priest Joseph Illo during his time in the Stockton, Calif., diocese — including a court ruling that he inflicted “intentional emotional distress” on an 11-year-old girl — have further enraged parents at San Francisco’s Star of the Sea School who have sought the priest’s removal as Star of Sea Parish administrator, according to news stories on KGO Radio and in the National Catholic Reporter and the San Francisco Examiner.
“We do not want Father Illo around children or in our community,” said Christy Brooks, a Star of the Sea parent.  “The details of this past lawsuit are deplorable. There is no one, who after reading this lawsuit, would want to have their children near Father Illo.  Archbishop Cordileone should remove him immediately from our school and parish. The safety and well-being of our children must be paramount.”

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=174233 

Son of Tariq Aziz: Time is not on our side

Tariq Aziz's Son: 24^th April 2015, Twelfth Anniversary of a US Travesty of Justice: "Time is not on Our Side."

Vincent Nichols, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, is spiritual leader of the four million Catholics of England and Wales. He was also elevated to Cardinal on 22nd February 2014, receiving the Cardinal's red hat from Pope Francis in Rome's St Peter's Basilica. He has been cited as a man: "not afraid to speak out when he feels compelled to do so."

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/25-04-2015/130367-tariq_aziz-0/ 

The Finn resignation: 10 years too late, bishops face accountability

Bishop Finn had to go. When he was convicted on criminal charges, he became the poster boy for the American bishops’ mishandling of the sex-abuse crisis. He was an irresistible target for critics of Catholicism: a walking, talking symbol of episcopal negligence.
The bishop’s defenders have said that he was not properly informed about the Ratigan case. That’s true, but it’s not an adequate defense. They say that his subordinates and counselors gave him bad advice. Also true, but irrelevant. We’ve heard those arguments too many times. The fact remains that when he was alerted to the fact that a troubled priest had engaged in inappropriate activities with young children, Bishop Finn did not take prompt and decisive action. He let the problem fester—as so many other bishops have let so many other problems fester—with disastrous results for everyone involved.

https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=1085 

Two-year sentence for former Cork priest who sexually assaulted young girl during confession

A former priest has today been sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl during her First Confession in West Cork in the late 80s. John Calnan - who has an address at The Presbytery, Paul Street, Cork City, pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that the victim - who was seven years old at the time - was confessing her sins to Fr Calnan during the Sacrament of Penance when he sexually assaulted her.

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2015/04/24/two-year-sentence-for-former-cork-priest-who-sexually-assaulted-young-girl-during-confession/ 

Priest sexually abused girl while hearing her first confession

Victim says school refused to believe her parents and warned them about complaint.  A 76-year-old retired priest who sexually abused a seven-year-old girl while hearing her first confession has been jailed for two years.

John Calnan, who is no longer in ministry, was sentenced to three years in jail, with the final year suspended, after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the girl in West Cork in 1989. Sgt Maurice Downey told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the girl was preparing for her First Holy Communion and Calnan was invited to her school to hear first confessions.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/priest-sexually-abused-girl-while-hearing-her-first-confession-1.2188013 

Catching American sex offenders overseas

I settled into a window seat of the plane and suddenly found myself in tears. Last weekend, I had the distinct privilege of meeting with some of the most amazing people on the face of the earth. They gathered together because each had been sexually abused while growing up overseas as children of missionaries. Adding to their pain is the horrific reality that other missionaries perpetrated most of these crimes. 
To make matters worse, many of these survivors have been re-traumatized by mission agencies that prefer that they remain silent and fade into the darkness. I look forward to devoting a future post to these heroes and what they are teaching me about pain, betrayal, isolation, disappointment, authenticity, joy, hope … the list can go on and on.

http://boz.religionnews.com/2015/04/24/catching-american-sex-offenders-overseas/ 

Italy: Catholic priest Gratien Alabi charged with murder of missing mother Guerrina Piscaglia

Italian police have charged a catholic priest with the murder of a Tuscan housewife who went missing last year. Father Gratien Alabi was held in Rome by detectives investigating the disappearance of Guerrina Piscaglia, 50, who vanished from the village of Cà Raffaello, near Arezzo on 1 May 2014.
The married mother-of-one left her house for a walk on International Labour Day, a public holiday in Italy, never to return.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/italy-catholic-priest-gratien-alabi-charged-murder-missing-mother-guerrina-piscaglia-1498165 

Francis Folly: Why The Pope's Man In Chile Should Resign

Argentine-born Pope Francis knows it’s not enough to be the first Latin American pontiff. He also has to make that mean something.
So far he has. He’s condemned the region’s still epic inequality, he's tried to mediate the unholy mess in Venezuela – and most famously he's brokered a rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba that could thaw a century of bitter mistrust between Washington and Latin America.

http://wlrn.org/post/francis-folly-why-popes-man-chile-should-resign 

San Francisco Archbishop’s Sex-Obsessed Message is Missing Mark

The controversy surrounding the failed leadership of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and the resulting outcry for his dismissal is not about questioning the teaching role of the archbishop. It’s not about resistance to Catholic doctrine being taught in Catholic high schools. And it’s not about unchangeable doctrine. 
We’re not talking about the Trinity or the Resurrection or other unchangeable teachings. We’re talking about church teaching regarding sexuality, a set of teachings in serious need of updating — just as church teaching was updated when church leaders figured out the Earth wasn’t flat, and slavery was evil, and women were not inferior to men (although some bishops are still struggling with that one).

http://theprogressivecatholicvoice.blogspot.co.nz/2015/04/san-francisco-archbishops-sex-obsessed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheProgressiveCatholicVoice+%28The+Progressive+Catholic+Voice%29 

Place no limits on child sex abuse suits

For its victims, child sex abuse is a lifetime sentence, so we support a bill to eliminate New York’s statute of limitations on lawsuits in these situations. Now, victims of child sex abuse can file a lawsuit up until they turn 23. But their anguish doesn’t vanish with their birthday. Their scars don’t go away.
The victims must struggle every day to carry the weight of what they endured; why should the perpetrators be allowed, after a few years have passed, to move past the possibility that they could one day be called to account?

http://poststar.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-place-no-limits-on-child-sex-abuse-suits/article_1d1efd55-01e9-5f69-b8ff-fd735a250dd0.html 

Catholic Church Argues It Doesn't Have to Show Up in Court Because Religious Freedom"

Well, here is a new one. A teacher took some time off because she was going for in vitro fertilization treatment. However, she was teaching in a Catholic school, and the Catholic Church is against such treatment. The teacher was fired.
And after church officials were alerted that Herx was undergoing IVF—making her, in the words of one monsignor, "a grave, immoral sinner"—it took them less than two weeks to fire her.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/17/1345497/--Catholic-Church-Argues-It-Doesn-t-Have-to-Show-Up-in-Court-Because-Religious-Freedom

Full horror of Neerkol revealed at hearing

A more detailed and distressing picture of what went on at a central Queensland orphanage decades ago has been revealed by a national inquiry.  A stock whip wielded by a young man paints bloody stripes across a small boy's bare back while several nuns and dozens of children watch on.
Another boy is locked in a cramped cupboard for an entire day without food or water. His crime? Wetting the bed. A nun drags another child to the priest's quarters and tells him to be a "good boy", before the man who has supposedly committed his life to god forces him into unspeakable acts.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/24/full-horror-neerkol-revealed-hearing 

The Marist Brothers ignored the activities of this Brother. Now they face public scrutiny

This Broken Rites article tells how the Marist Brothers harboured a child-sex offender (Brother John William "Kostka" Chute) for more than 40 years, giving him access to Australian Catholic schoolchildren. Broken Rites has ascertained that the Marist Brothers appointed "Brother Kostka" to at least 12 Catholic schools in Australia between 1952 and 1993, ranging from Lismore in northern New South Wales to Marcellin College in Randwick, Sydney, as well as at least one school in Queensland. 
His final school was Marist College in Canberra, and it was some Canberra pupils who finally got him convicted and jailed in 2008. However, this Canberra court case was confined to crimes committed within the Australian Capital Territory. Now, in 2015, John William Chute is scheduled to face an additional charge in New South Wales, regarding an alleged offence at Lismore.

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/90 

Fears over future of historic child abuse inquiry

SURVIVORS of historical child abuse have expressed concerns about the future of a long-awaited public inquiry after the Scottish Government postponed a key announcement on its chairperson. 
Education secretary Angela Constance had been expected to name the chair and outline the remit of the inquiry in a statement to parliament next week.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/fears-over-future-of-historic-child-abuse-inquiry-1-3753090 

Neerkol orphanage victim continues her fight for justice

NEERKOL Orphanage victim Margaret Campbell, and her lawyer, are making formal representations to the Queensland boss of public prosecutions to review the case against Rockhampton man Kevin Baker.

Yesterday Aaron Kernaghan, Ms Campbell's solicitor, told The Morning Bulletin he was making those formal representations early next week. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/margaret-fights-for-justice/2617359/ 

Reverend, Former Teacher Arrested For Downloading Child Porn

Two men with hundreds of pictures investigators tell us are classified as child pornography. This time its not just the guy down the street, but inside your school and your church.
"You just never know who its going to be. Sometimes it will shock you but we deal with teachers, firefighters, police officers, priests," explained Deputy Joe Heath/ of the ICAC Task Force.

http://www.wsav.com/story/28884161/local-priest-among-two-arrested-for-child-porn 

New evidence surfaces against controversial SF priest

Once again Bay Area Catholics learn about serious charges against a priest only through the news media, not from their alleged “shepherds.”
Star of the Sea parishioners have apparently learned via news reports that their pastor, Fr. Joseph Illo, was essentially deemed guilty of intimidating a young alleged victim of a predator priest.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ca_new_evidence_surfaces_against_controversial_sf_priest_snap_responds 

Columban priest targets traffickers of children in Philippine ministry

Arriving in the Philippines from Ireland in 1969 as a young missionary priest, Columban Father Shay Cullen hardly expected he’d end up fighting a burgeoning sex industry.
More than 45 years later, despite death threats and confrontations with uncooperative authorities, Father Cullen, 72, continues to patrols bars and hotels to free kids from an unimaginably dark world where the value of human life is solely measured by how much many customers a child can see in one night.

http://catholicphilly.com/2015/04/news/national-news/columban-priest-targets-traffickers-of-children-in-philippine-ministry/ 

Nun trial hears wet pants claim

A nun forced young girls to identify anyone who had wet themselves before making the culprits wear soiled underwear on their heads, a court has been told.  The ritual was carried out after girls at a Roman Catholic-run children's home had finished saying their rosary. 
A former resident of the Nazareth House home in Aberdeen said that afterwards, Sister Alphonso would nominate one girl to smell the rest to identify who had wet themselves.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/889911.stm 

10 Heartbreaking Stories of Feral Children

Sir Francis Galton coined the term ‘nature vs. nurture’ over 150 years ago, exploring “whether heredity or the environment most impacts human psychological development (behavior, habits, intelligence, personality, sexuality, aggressive tendencies, and so on)” (cliffnotes.com). 
Those who believe in the nurture part think that humans learn according to how they are taught and what goes on around them. Those debating from the nature side say that we act according to genetic predispositions, as well as through animalistic instincts (i.e. Freud’s id).

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-feral-children.php 

Child 'locked away with dead body'

An alleged victim of a nun facing cruelty charges has told a court that she was locked in a chapel where a dead body lay in an open coffin.
Sister Alphonso is said to have committed the offences while working at Roman Catholic children's homes in Aberdeenshire between 1965 and 1980. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/901188.stm 

Blaze man was victim of abuse at Catholic homes, say family

THE controversy over allegations of systematic child abuse at Catholic-run children’s homes in Scotland erupted again yesterday, hours before the Most Rev Mario Conti was installed as the Archbishop of Glasgow and leader of Scotland’s Catholic community.

The devastated family of a dying man, who set himself ablaze after being refused treatment at a psychiatric hospital in Aberdeen, claimed their brother’s disturbed life was a legacy of the abuse he suffered at a children’s home in the city which was run by nuns, and at the hands of monks at another care home in Glasgow. 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/blaze-man-was-victim-of-abuse-at-catholic-homes-say-family-1-603715 

catholic church abuse: criminal nuns and priests; Child's Body Exhumed

Catholic Nuns and Priests murdered and tortured children: are you listening Pope Francis? Part III. Gilbert’s case is still active. His brother Bill hired a private investigator to work on the case. The evidence he uncovered was ignored by police and the district attorney.

For many years Augustine Papay Jr., a retired NYC Homicide Detective and a licensed Private Investigator in Port Jervis, New York has been investigating the death of Gilbert Bonneau. Gilbert was born December 19, 1944. He was placed at St. Colmans  Orphanage on January 30, 1948 to September 30, 1949. He and his two brothers Ernest and Daniel were re-admitted to the home on August 30th, 1950.  Gilbert died on November 28, 1953 from injuries he sustained at st. Colmans Home.

http://catholicchurchabusebynunsandpriests.blogspot.co.nz/ 

As deadline looms, ads seek abuse victims in Minneapolis St. Paul Archdiocese

An Aug. 3 deadline for filing claims against archdiocese prompts campaign.  An unprecedented campaign to track down survivors of clergy abuse in the Twin Cities archdiocese is beginning in Minnesota.

Within days, the first legal notices will appear in newspapers across the state announcing, “You May Have a Claim Against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/301167571.html 

Enoch Powell's name given to Westminster abuse inquiry

Enoch Powell, the late Conservative anti-immigrant firebrand, is being investigated as a member of an alleged Westminster paedophile network after his name was supplied to police by a senior Anglican bishop.
The name of the former MP, one of the most divisive politicians of the late 20th century, was provided to Scotland Yard after a clergyman came forward with claims from the 1980s relating to Satanic abuse.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/child-abuse/news/article.cfm?c_id=146&objectid=11425221 

Vatican discuss plan to deal with protectors of abusers

The Vatican is preparing to introduce legal procedures to establish the responsibilities of bishops and Catholic hierarchy found guilty of protecting priests who have sexually abused children.
The issue of accountability was discussed in the presence of Pope Francis by the C9, the group of senior cardinals who advise him, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/child-abuse/news/article.cfm?c_id=146&objectid=11433651 

Proper Justice for Survivors of Rape and Sexual Assault

We demand that rape and sexual abuse allegations be investigated much more seriously to encourage survivors to feel confident to come forward to report crimes.
Survivors of rape and sexual abuse must also no longer be made to feel that they are to blame and sentences for such offences should match the severity of the crime.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-blaming-rape-survivors-prosecute-sexual-offenders-more-harshly 

Full horror of Neerkol revealed at hearing

A stock whip wielded by a young man paints bloody stripes across a small boy's bare back while several nuns and dozens of children watch on. Another boy is locked in a cramped cupboard for an entire day without food or water. His crime? Wetting the bed.
A nun drags another child to the priest's quarters and tells him to be a "good boy", before the man who has supposedly committed his life to god forces him into unspeakable acts.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-3053041/Full-horror-Neerkol-revealed-hearing.html 

'SNAP' members call for more action against clergy sex crimes from Catholic Church

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is calling for more action against clergy sex crimes from the Catholic Church.
The director of SNAP handed out leaflets to parishioners after Wednesday's noon Mass at the Cathedral. The leaflets are intended to encourage anyone who saw or suspected clergy sex crimes or cover-ups in the Savannah area to step forward.

http://www.myfoxal.com/story/28877267/snap-members-call-for-more-action-against-clergy-sex-crimes-from-catholic-church 

Belgian bishop told to pay damages to victim of paedophile priest

A Belgian court on Thursday ordered the Archbishop of Brussels to pay 10,000 euros in damages to a former choir boy subjected to sexual abuse by a priest.

The plaintiff Joel Devillet, now 42, was raped by a priest in southern Belgium between 1987 and 1991. The earliest abuse happened when he was 14 years old and has left him with serious psychological problems.

http://news.yahoo.com/belgian-bishop-told-pay-damages-victim-paedophile-priest-223542601.html 

Catholic church fights push to allow more abuse claims in NY

The Catholic church is opposing efforts in New York to allow alleged sex abuse victims to sue after the statute of limitations has expired.
Currently, victims have only until they turn 23 to seek charges or file a civil suit. The bill would create a one-year window for anyone to file lawsuits no matter when the alleged abuse occurred.

http://fox23news.com/ap/catholic-church-fights-push-to-allow-more-abuse-claims-in-ny/

Canon lawyers: Origins of Bishop Finn's resignation unclear

When news broke Tuesday of Bishop Robert Finn's resignation as head of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese, a primary question asked: Did he step down on his own, or was he forced out?
The announcement from the Vatican published in its daily bulletin said Pope Francis accepted Finn's resignation "in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law." Canon 401.2 reads: "A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office."

http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/canon-lawyers-origins-bishop-finns-resignation-unclear 

On the UN, Sex Abuse and Glass Houses

In February of last year, newspapers around the world were awash with coverage of the UN's condemnation of the Vatican for what was described as a systemic failure in regards to its handling of cases of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church. A report published by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child alleged that:

... the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators.

http://theradicalcatholic.blogspot.co.nz/2015/04/on-un-sex-abuse-and-glass-houses.html 

Pope Francis must do more to protect children from Catholic church abuse

Pope Francis has made international headlines by breaking with a number of church traditions, but there is one that he sadly upholds.
For centuries, most high ranking church officials guilty of child abuse or other crimes have been kept on the job, shuffled elsewhere, allowed to quietly retire or even promoted. That hasn’t changed: Vatican officials’ obsession with “saving face” still trumps their concern with saving children.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/23/pope-francis-must-do-more-to-protect-children-from-catholic-church-abuse 

“Nun at Derry home ‘facilitated’ abuse by priest, woman tells inquiry”

A woman waived her right to anonymity at Northern Ireland’s Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry yesterday to reveal allegations of beatings and sex abuse at a home in Derry run by the Sisters of Nazareth.

Kate Walmsley, now in her late 50s, further alleged that a nun identified to the inquiry facilitated the abuse by one of the priests. She said when the girls at Nazareth House residential care home queued for confession on a Saturday, this nun would ensure she was at the end of the line.

http://www.theinquiry.ca/wordpress/rc-scandal/other-countries/ireland/nun-at-derry-home-facilitated-abuse-by-priest-woman-tells-inquiry-related-articles/ 

SF Catholic Priest Accused Covering Up Sex Abuse Cases

According to newly discovered court records, Father Joseph Illo, head of San Francisco's Star of the Sea Church, allegedly led the cover-up of at least two priest sex abuse cases. San Joaquin County court records show cases of Illo's alleged abuse, in many cases preying on single mothers at his churches.
In 2001, the records show that an 11-year-old girl came to Father Illo at St. Joseph's Parish in Modesto to tell him about another priest who had molested her.

http://www.kgoradio.com/common/page.php?pt=SF+Catholic+Priest+Accused+Covering+Up+Sex+Abuse+Cases&id=122191&is_corp=0 

Pay, Pray and Obey - Child Sex Abuse Scandals in the Catholic Church. New Zealand

For more than 20 years now clergy pedophilia has been the defining issue, and indeed the scourge, of the Catholic Church. Child sex abuse scandals have occurred in every country in which the Catholic church has a significant presence - from the USA and Ireland, to Tanzania, Germany and the Philippines. 
It's reached as far as my own country - New Zealand, where Fr Bernard McGrath preyed on boys at the Marist Bros Marylands School in Christchurch and later, on vulnerable adolescent streetkids at a charity he was appointed to run.

http://bonmotsminot.hubpages.com/hub/Pay-Pray-and-Obey-Sex-Abuse-Scandals-in-the-Catholic-Church 

Clergy Abuse Survivors’ Open Letters to the Pope

This September, Pope Francis will make his first visit to the United States since he ascended to the papacy in 2013. His itinerary will include stops in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York.

It will not, as of now, include Boston, the epicenter of one of the biggest scandals in the church’s history. In 2002, The Boston Globe reported on a widespread sexual abuse cover-up within the Boston Archdiocese, the effects of which are still felt today. 

http://www.boston.com/news/2015/04/23/clergy-abuse-survivors-open-letters-the-pope/bIVwnesDjnLf0Tf8S0M2VL/story.html  

Book offers insight into canon law's role in sexual abuse crisis

The legal system of the Roman Catholic church is probably the longest-running in history. Canon law, the commonly used name for this system, has been accorded near magical status by some of its practitioners, who are firmly convinced it has an answer to every problem facing the institutional church.
The true believers have claimed that the clergy sex abuse debacle could have been avoided had the church only used its own canonical system. Foremost among them has been Cardinal Raymond Burke, formerly head of the Apostolic Signatura, the church's highest court. In 2012, he addressed a canon law convention in Kenya and said that the church has a "carefully articulated process by which to investigate accusations of sex abuse," and that the ongoing problem of clergy sex abuse was because the discipline of canon law was not followed.

http://ncronline.org/books/2015/04/book-offers-insight-canon-laws-role-sexual-abuse-crisis 

Child abuse - the unseen impact on family members, partners and friends

Survivors of childhood abuse often feel that their lives were changed beyond recognition the first time their abuser started to groom and abuse them.
As the vast majority of child abuse survivors do not disclose their abuse for a number of years after the actual assaults, this causes a period of time where they often struggle to manage the emotional impact of the abuse and this then affects their relationships with family members, partners and friends.  Often survivors will become disruptive in school and at home while it is also very common to see them start to drink excessively, take illegal drugs or self-harm in an effort to erase their feelings and memories of the abuse.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7f1a3c3e-820b-46d0-b712-6f5fed48d5c5 

We'll never get justice for being raped'

We'll never get justice for being raped': Anger as dad of sex shame priest 'Father Flash' dies before facing trial for alleged abuse.  DONALD MacNeil walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on sex abuse allegations dating back 40 years - but alleged victims had hoped proceedings might be re-raised. 

THE dad of a sex-shame priest has died before facing trial over the alleged abuse of 13 girls. Cancer-hit Donald MacNeil, 82, walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on allegations dating back 40 years.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/well-never-justice-being-raped-5540318 

Did Father Serra abuse Native Americans?

Did Father Serra abuse Native Americans? Vatican goes on the offensive to defend priest.  Vatican officials made a forceful defense Monday of the legacy of 18th century Spanish missionary Father Junipero Serra against allegations of brutality toward Native Americans.
The move was met with criticism from Southern California opponents of Serra’s impending sainthood who said that the Catholic Church is ignoring historical fact, and support from those who say the priest embodies the qualities sought in canonization.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/serra-658792-native-california.html

former MP 'sensationalised' abuse allegations at Neerkol orphanage near Rockhampton.

A senior nun has criticised a former Queensland MP for "sensationalising" allegations of abuse at the Neerkol orphanage near Rockhampton in State Parliament during the 1990s.

Sister Berneice Loch has testified today at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the central Queensland city.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-21/former-mp-sensationalised-orphanage-abuse-allegations-nun-says/6409586 

Fears thousands will swamp child abuse unit

SURVIVORS of historical child abuse fear a new unit set up to tackle paedophiles will struggle to cope with thousands of cases going back decades.

Police Scotland yesterday officially unveiled its new National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, which will have 50 dedicated officers across Scotland.

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/fears-thousands-will-swamp-child-abuse-unit-1-3747847 

Church leaders renew apology as child abuse hearing winds up

CATHOLIC Bishop of Rockhampton Michael McCarthy and Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea leader Sister Berneice Loch have renewed their apology to child abuse victims at Neerkol.

The pair has issued a joint statement this afternoon following the completion of the Royal Commission into child abuse hearing in Rockhampton. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/church-leaders-renew-apology-child-abuse-hearing-w/2615542/ 

'If child sexual abuse were a disease, it would be one of the largest epidemics in our country,

Marilyn Bergstra asked fellow trustees Tuesday to support new curriculum that would educate staff and students from kindergarten to Grade 12 about ways to prevent child sexual abuse.
"If child sexual abuse were a disease, it would be one of the largest epidemics in our country," Bergstra told fellow trustees on the Edmonton Catholic School Board. "And resources would be allocated to it."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/erin-s-law-won-t-be-adopted-by-edmonton-catholic-schools-1.3043566 

Events of the child-porn case that brought down a US bishop

Bishop Robert Finn, who led the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri for nearly 10 years, resigned Tuesday, almost three years after he was convicted of shielding an abusive priest.
Back in 2012, Finn admitted that he knew about photos of children on a priest’s laptop six months before the images were turned over to law enforcement. That made him the highest-ranking church official in the U.S. to be convicted of not taking action in response to abuse allegations. A look at key developments in the case against Finn:

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/22/events-of-the-child-porn-case-that-brought-down-a-us-bishop/ 

Child Abuse Advocates Take to Church Steps to Send a Message

Abuse allegations have become all too common in connection with the Catholic Church. One of those priests already convicted once served in our area. Now one advocate group wants Savannah's Bishop to step up and help his victims.
Wayland Brown was assigned to St James School back in 1987. That's when he's accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13 year old boy. Brown has already served time in a Maryland prison, and settled two lawsuits for millions of dollars. Now a third, from Savannah, is pending.

http://www.wsav.com/story/28874088/child-abuse-advocates-take-to-church-steps-to-send-a-message