Leadership of Josh Duggar’s Treatment Center Allegedly Involved in Sex Abuse Coverup

Earlier this week Josh Duggar checked into Reformers Unanimous (RU), a Christian residential addiction treatment program in Rockford, Illinois, run by North Love Baptist Church and co-founded by the church’s authoritarian Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) pastor, Paul Kingsbury. Over the past twenty-four-hours, I have spoken with a number of individuals involved with or affected by either North Love or Kingsbury.
Of primary importance are allegations that Kingsbury is actively supporting an accused sex offender, Richard DeVall, who is serving as a missionary in Bolivia and is sponsored by North Love Baptist Church. If true, this would seem to disqualify Kingsbury from running a recovery program for individuals suffering from porn addiction and sex addiction*, but Independent Fundamentalist Baptist churches seem to run by their own rules.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2015/08/breaking-leadership-of-josh-duggars-treatment-center-allegedly-involved-in-sex-abuse-coverup.html

Statement from family of victim in St. Paul’s School trial

Below is a statement from the victim and her family following the verdicts in the St. Paul’s School rape case. “Our family, like many others, have read several articles on campus sexual assault in recent years with concern as our daughters progressed through school. But never in our worst nightmares could we have imagined that we would be experiencing this issue firsthand with our 15-year-old daughter during her first year of high school.
The reality of this national epidemic has hit home and there is overwhelming sadness for the large number of students suffering from sexual violence everyday in this nation.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/28/statement-from-family-victim-paul-school-trial/H12e7BXS8jgH4h1ASxEikK/story.html 

Wesołowski free to move around Vatican City, reports BBC - BishopAccountability.org Responds

Pope Francis vowed last year that bishops who harm children will receive “no special treatment," but accused child molester Józef Wesołowski appears to be enjoying just that. While waiting for his trial to resume, the ex-archbishop is free to walk around Vatican City, according to a recent report by the BBC.
"Monsignor Wesołowski is not confined to his room. He can walk around the Vatican, around its 40 hectares [~100 acres],” said Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Holy See press office, to the BBC. (This quote was translated by BishopAccountability.org. The article appears to have been published only in Spanish.)

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/statements/2015_08_24_Doyle_Wesolowski_Reportedly_Free_in_Vatican_City.htm 

Hibbing Priest Arrested, Suspected of Sex with Minor

A Hibbing priest has been arrested on suspicions of having sex with a minor. The Rev. Brian Lederer, 29, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, was arrested in Hibbing on Tuesday as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct, according to a news release from the diocese office.
Lederer was in the St. Louis County Jail in Duluth on Wednesday on preliminary charges of second-degree felony criminal sexual conduct with a person between ages 13 and 15 by a person of authority.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2015/05_06/2015_05_06_PioneerPress_HibbingPriest.htm 

The church makes a private settlement with a schoolboy whose life was damaged

Broken Rites has examined an out-of-court civil settlement, in which a Catholic religious order (the Salesian Fathers) made a payment to a former Melbourne schoolboy who complained that he was sexually abused  by a priest, Father Julian Fox.
Father Fox was a minister, teacher and administrator at several Salesian schools, including Salesian College, 'Rupertswood", which was a boarding school at Sunbury, north-west of Melbourne.

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/370 

Jozef Wesolowski, Defrocked Catholic Archbishop, Dies Before Child Abuse Trial Could Resume

Jozef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop and the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, died Friday, the Vatican stated, earlier than his trial on youngster intercourse offenses might proceed.
Wesolowski, who was 67 on the time of his demise, was accused of paying for intercourse with youngsters within the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013, and possession of kid pornography. His trial was postponed in July, after he was admitted to an intensive care unit on account of a “sudden sickness,” the character of which was not specified, in line with Catholic newspaper.

http://www.suffieldtimes.com/politics/jozef-wesolowski-defrocked-catholic-archbishop-dies-before-child-abuse-trial-could-resume/64080/ 

[Free Friday] Liturgical abuse fetish thread.

This happened a few weeks ago at my church. A couple was having their 50th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, their granddaughter performed a liturgical dance after the opening hymn. As soon as she was done, the priest said that due to the heat and the extra time of the mass the dance took, we'd just skip to the gospel.
No opening rite, no Gloria, no first or second readings or responsorial psalm or gospel Acclamation. Skip it all, go to gospel. Thank the good Lord he was a visiting priest. I mentioned it to a buddy who is a canon lawyer for the diocese, and this priest is off the substitute list now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/3is8ho/free_friday_liturgical_abuse_fetish_thread/ 

Lack of sex education & the unenlightened stance of the Catholic church = pregnant at age 11

Lack of sex education and the unenlightened stance of the Catholic church have left young girls in Guatemala vulnerable to rape, abuse and early pregnancy
At a hospital in northern Guatemala, Alicia is being prepped for a caesarean. She doesn’t know how old she is, and neither she nor her waiting parents have any idea what a C-section involves. Public records say she is 13. If that is correct, at 12 she became pregnant by a 22-year-old man.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027120907

Bozell & Graham Column: When Child Sex Abuse Gets Ignored

The double standard our media impose on child sexual abuse is garishly obvious. On August 14, The Washington Post set the stage for the coming American visit of Pope Francis with another splashy front-page story on a man still berating the Catholic Church after being abused by a priest from 1969 to 1976.
But on August 21, after a court sentenced former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Molly Shattuck, 48, for sexually abusing a 15-year old boy merely a year ago, the Post ignored it completely. Apparently there was no room. That boy’s family had no media advocate there.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2015/08/29/bozell-graham-column-when-child-sex-abuse-gets-ignored 

Daphne Bramham: Polygamy’s poster girl now plans to walk for its victims

A decade ago Cindy Blackmore was the Canadian poster girl for polygamy. Now 24, she wants to raise awareness about the “disgustingly prevalent” amount of sexual abuse of children in fundamentalist Mormon communities like Bountiful, B.C. that has led to “a cycle of generations of messed up people.”
Blackmore plans to walk from Victoria to the Mexican border and use her blog to track her progress and share stories of others like her.

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Daphne+Bramham+Polygamy+poster+girl+plans+walk+victims/11325131/story.html 

A priest, on the run, is finally jailed for child-sex crimes (and he is STILL a priest)

The former Australian head of a worldwide Catholic religious order was sentenced to jail on 28 August 2015 for child-sex crimes. Father Julian Fox, 70, of the Salesian order, was found guilty of indecently assaulting boys at two Melbourne schools. The crimes occurred between 1976 and 1985. After these crimes, Father Fox was appointed as the Australian head of the Salesian order.
Later, the Salesians allowed him to flee to Rome, thus enabling him to evade Australian police — until the police eventually got him back to Australia to face the courts. During the sentencing in 2015, Fox's defence lawyer told the court that Father Fox is still officially a Catholic priest and still has the support of the Salesians.

http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/369 

Catholic Church in WA launches Safeguarding project in response to child sexual abuse

The Catholic Archbishop of Perth says a new project to protect children from child abuse is his major priority during his time in the role.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said the Safeguarding Project, believed to be the first of its kind nationally, has been launched in response to what he described as the "terrible scandal of sexual abuse of children" in the care of the Catholic Church.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-13/catholic-church-launches-child-protection-project/6538908 

Pope Francis to see ‘Homeless Jesus’ during US visit

When Pope Francis approaches the Catholic Charities building in downtown Washington during his US visit in September, he will encounter a “homeless person” covered in a blanket lying on a park bench. The scene actually is a sculpture. And it’s not a work of art depicting any homeless person; it’s the bronze image of “Homeless Jesus.”
“I hope Pope Francis blesses our ‘Homeless Jesus’ when he’s here,” said Roland Woody, a Washington resident who was homeless until earlier this year. “It’s kind of a symbol of hope for the homeless in DC If the pope blesses it, it will be even more special.”

http://www.cruxnow.com/us-papal-visit-2015/2015/08/26/pope-francis-to-see-homeless-jesus-during-us-visit/

EU rapists and child abusers free to come to Britain

The UK, Ireland, France, Malta, Cyprus and Austria keep records of criminals who have been convicted for sex crimes. This means police can block them from travelling abroad or coming into Britain.
But in 22 EU countries there is no such system – meaning sex offenders can freely travel to the UK while leaving authorities completely oblivious to their dark histories. Now campaigners including Kate McCann, the mother of Madeleine who went missing in Portugal, are calling for a scheme to be set up across the whole of the EU.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/600790/EU-European-Union-foreign-criminals-justice-crime-politics 

When Child Sex Abuse Gets Ignored

The double standard our media impose on child sexual abuse is garishly obvious. On Aug. 14, The Washington Post set the stage for the coming American visit of Pope Francis with another splashy front-page story on a man still berating the Catholic Church after being abused by a priest from 1969 to 1976.
But on Aug. 21, after a court sentenced former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Molly Shattuck, 48, for sexually abusing a 15-year old boy merely a year ago, the Post ignored it completely. Apparently, there was no room. That boy's family had no media advocate there.

http://townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/2015/08/28/when-child-sex-abuse-gets-ignored-n2044827 

Argentine Catholic Church in the dock over snatching of babies during military dictatorship

High-ranking officials of the Argentine Catholic Church were implicated in the appropriation of babies from detainees who were held in Cordoba province’s La Perla clandestine concentration camp during the last military dictatorship, journalist and writer Horacio Verbitsky, the head of the CELS human rights group, testified.
Speaking at the massive trial that is examining the dictatorship-era crimes that took place at one of Argentina's most emblematic illegal detention centers, Verbitsky accused late former bishop Raul Primatesta of giving consent to military officials to drop off babies snatched from detainees in a Córdoba foster home.

http://en.mercopress.com/2015/08/28/argentine-catholic-church-in-the-dock-over-snatching-of-babies-during-military-dictatorship 

Alleged Victims Recall Abuse by Nuns

Nine former students at a now-defunct school for the deaf claim in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that they were beaten, sexually molested and emotionally tormented by the nuns who ran the school.
The plaintiffs are suing at least 14 nuns, along with two priests, an athletic instructor and a former top official in the Boston archdiocese, according to their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian (search).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/05/12/alleged-victims-recall-abuse-by-nuns.html 

Advertisement Europe Irish Church's Forgotten Victims Take Case to U.N.

For years, it was Ireland’s hidden scandal: an estimated 30,000 women were sent to church-run laundries, where they were abused and worked for years with no pay. Their offense, in the eyes of society, was to break the strict sexual rules of Catholic Ireland, having children outside wedlock.

Although it has been over a decade since their story came to light, the women are still waiting for an apology, and possibly compensation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/world/europe/25iht-abuse25.html?_r=1&emc=eta1 

Ex-archbishop accused of child abuse dead

A Catholic former archbishop accused of child sex offences was found dead on Friday, the Vatican said, a month after he was hospitalised on the eve of his trial.
Jozef Wesolowski faced charges of paying boys for sexual acts, downloading and buying paedophile material, and offending Christian morality, in the first trial of its kind held by the Vatican against a high-ranking Catholic official.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/ex-archbishop-accused-of-child-abuse-dead/125615.html 

'I was abused by nuns in a Dublin Catholic-run orphanage'

Now tell me that you still do not believe me... nuns did sexual abuse us children... Ann

==================================

A woman who was physically and sexually abused by nuns throughout her childhood in a Catholic-run orphanage has described the experience as "cruelty beyond belief".

"Irene Kelly" - author of Sins of a Mother - was abused at an orphanage in Dublin on various occasions in the 1960s, between the ages of six and 11. She says she is yet to receive an apology from the Catholic Church.

 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34075164

Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse: Media misses real story

While one royal commission has attracted the big headlines, there is another going more quietly about its business. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sex Abuse has barely rated a mention in news items recently until earlier this week when Bishop Geoffrey Robinson gave evidence.
Bishop Robinson was part of a group of senior clerics who developed the Church’s Towards Healing program for victims of clerical child sex abuse. His evidence contained criticisms of Cardinal George Pell and Pope John Paul II.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/blogs/royal-commission-into-child-sex-abuse-media-misses-real-story/story-fnvslm12-1227502655853?sv=9be3c47418b89a066cd3e3c44c256251 

Paedophiles could be chemically castrated under Australian plan

No They can not have one... or the other for rape... I was delighted when I started reading this... until I was let down further down the page... The task force will look at... whether it could be considered... as a sentencing option... for judges in state courts... as an alternative to prison... They need to sever time in prison as well... or it will have no meaning for the survivors... or the abusers... as they will right away rape another child... as soon as they are out... of court... you may as well hand out... condoms to them as they leave the courtroom... 

it is like the catholic church confessions... Go sin no more... your sins are forgiven... pedophiles of children... will be laughing about this... the courts will be letting the children... walk right into their hands... The courts can not give the sex abusers an option.. the pill... or jail... the victim/survivors... will be looked down upon even worse... I for one will fight this... if it should ever come to New Zealand... gosh we can play this out on the monopoly  Board... go past jail... and get a lollie on the way out... and a child to rape for free... Ann

 ========================== 

An Australian state police taskforce is considering using anti-libido drugs to chemically castrate child sex offenders. The group in New South Wales is made up of representatives from Government, victims groups such as Bravehearts, police, legal and health experts.
The drugs are already used on a voluntary basis in the state’s prison system and the taskforce will look at whether it could be considered as a sentencing option for judges in state courts as an alternative to prison.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/paedophiles-could-be-chemically-castrated-under-australian-plan-10472220.html 

Anglican Church could bring back the power to defrock priests because of sexual abuse of children

The Anglican Church could bring back the power to defrock priests because of the number of clergy involved in the sexual abuse of children.
The Rt Rev Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham, said the decision to abolish “deposition from Holy Orders” in 2003 may have been a mistake, The Daily Telegraph reported.

http://linkis.com/aAGcC 

Ex-Rockhampton Catholic bishop ‘put kids at risk of abuse’

A former Catholic bishop of Rockhampton put children at risk by failing to sack a pedophile priest from the ministry, the royal commission has found.
Shocking child abuse, including rapes by priests and public floggings by nuns, occurred at the Sisters of Mercy-run Neerkol orphanage in central Queensland for generations, until it closed in 1978. In submissions published yesterday, counsel assisting Sophie David SC said evidence presented to the royal commission showed the state government failed to protect the children by inadequately supervising Neerkol.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/ex-rockhampton-catholic-bishop-put-kids-at-risk-of-abuse/story-fngburq5-1227500241525?sv=a328abaeb926dd73e1773c56d916932b 

Damning report on conduct of the Neerkol authorities

A Sisters of Mercy nun watches over the children at Neerkol Orphanage. Yesterday, a submissions report by Sophie David SC was released to the public. Contributed Rokneerkol .THE Royal Commission Inquiry has released a damning report relating to the misconduct of government and Catholic Church authorities in the wake of the Neerkol Orphanage hearings in April. 

Earlier this year, the Royal Commission panel heard from 13 witnesses, who were former residents at the orphanage between the 1940s and the 1970s, about their experiences of physical and sexual abuse by former employees, Catholic priests and Sisters of Mercy nuns. 

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/damning-report-on-conduct-of-the-neerkol-authoriti/2754413/

Maine attorney general won’t charge ex-Biddeford officer accused of molesting teens

Matthew Lauzon, who has made high-profile accusations against Stephen Dodd, says ‘more evidence will emerge’ if Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre is put on leave.  Maine’s attorney general announced Wednesday that she will not charge a former Biddeford police officer accused of sexually abusing underage boys, citing “insufficient evidence” to prove alleged crimes that have roiled Biddeford City Hall for months.
Attorney General Janet Mills said she will not file criminal charges against former officer Stephen Dodd or against Michael McKeown, a registered sex offender from Biddeford. Matthew Lauzon, a Boston businessman who lived in Biddeford, has accused both men of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager and has led a high-profile push for investigations into the men as well as for the suspension of Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre.

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/08/26/maine-ag-wont-file-charge-against-biddeford-police-officer-accused-of-molesting-teenage-boy/ 

Archbishop Tartaglia hears of abuse hell first-hand after victim given two-hour audience with Scotland's senior Catholic cleric

VICTIM of Catholic Church abuse has had a two-hour audience with Archbishop Philip Tartaglia to discuss how to help survivors. Dave Sharp was granted the one-to-one meeting with the Archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland’s senior Catholic cleric, after Tartaglia apologised to victims on behalf of the Church last week.
The 56-year-old, who was assaulted as a child at a Catholic brothers’ school in Falkland, Fife, said the discussion was very positive and he raised his concerns in a “very open and frank” way.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/archbishop-tartaglia-hears-abuse-hell-6328986 

Rape, ignorance, repression: why early pregnancy is endemic in Guatemala

Lack of sex education and the unenlightened stance of the Catholic church have left young girls in Guatemala vulnerable to rape, abuse and early pregnanc.  At a hospital in northern Guatemala, Alicia is being prepped for a caesarean. She doesn’t know how old she is, and neither she nor her waiting parents have any idea what a C-section involves. Public records say she is 13. If that is correct, at 12 she became pregnant by a 22-year-old man.
Inside the operating room, the doctors play Christian music on a mobile phone. An hour later, a baby boy weighing roughly four and a half pounds is born and hurried into an incubator. The next few days will be critical.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/26/guatemala-rape-early-pregnancy-sex-education-catholic-church

Diocese requires priest to no longer function in public ministry

Following is the full text of a statement released by the Diocese of Peoria on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015: Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C. of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria has, upon the unanimous advice of the Diocesan Review Commission, required Father Terry Cassidy, pastor of St. Ann Church, Peoria, Illinois, to step down from public ministry. 

Allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor were made against Cassidy dating back nearly thirty years ago. He can no longer function as a Catholic priest in any public capacity, wear clerical garb or the Roman collar, and is to refrain from using the title Reverend or Father.

http://www.thecatholicpost.com/post/PostArticle.aspx?ID=3921 

Abuse victim weighs in on allegations against local Catholic priest

A sex abuse victim says the Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct should be subject to police investigations, even if it's beyond the statue of limitations. That's the opinion of Jeff Jones, who says that he was also sexually molested as a child.
Peoria Catholic Diocese Bishop Daniel Jenky said Terry Cassidy can no longer serve in the ministry due to sex abuse allegations involving a minor nearly 30 years ago. Cassidy served at St. Ann Church in Peoria and St. Edward in Chillicothe in the early nineties.

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Abuse-victim-weighs-in-on-allegations-against-local-Catholic-priest-323170411.html

Former St. Margaret Mary priest being returned to Louisville from Florida

U.S. Marshals are bringing a priest back to Louisville after he was arrested in Florida. Father Stephen Pohl resigned from St. Margaret Mary last week, and was arrested in Florida on Friday. He has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges.
Authorities say they found evidence that Pohl looked at images of naked children between the ages of 6 and 16 on two work computers. He is also accused of taking pictures of students in provocative poses, but those children were fully clothed.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/29874713/former-st-margaret-mary-priest-being-returned-to-louisville-from-florida 

Man who says he is victim of former Lumen Christi priest finds sanctuary on baseball field

Baseball fields have been his sanctuary, places of respect, places of comfort. They give him peace, and respite; they take his mind from the abuse that he said damaged his soul. Andy Russell, 47, umpires more than 70 high school baseball games a year, and earlier this month, he
It was the first time he had been to the field since he publicly identified himself in June as a victim of James Rapp, a former Lumen Christi priest now charged with 19 counts of criminal sexual conduct. Rapp, 76, is accused of crimes against multiple students from 1980 to 1986.returned to Lumen Christi High School's baseball field for a series of alumni games.

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2015/08/man_who_says_he_is_victim_of_f.html

Assignment Record– Rev. Vincent Arthur "Fr. Art" Yzermans

Summary of Case: Vincent Arthur Yzermans was a St. Cloud MN diocesan priest, ordained in 1951. In addition to serving in parishes throughout the diocese, Yzermans was a writer and editor. He served as a communications consultant during all three sessions of Vatican II and was named "Monsignor" in 1965. He was also a press advisor to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in Washington DC in the mid-1960s, and editor of the national Catholic paper,
Our Sunday Visitor. Yzermans struggled with alcoholism for which he was in and out of treatment more than a dozen times. In the late 1960s he was moved out-of-state to an IN convent, spent a year in Santa Rosa CA in the mid-1970s, a year at St. Thomas College in Minneapolis, and later did a stint in residence at a parish in Anchorage AK. He was on medical leave 1979-1984 before returning to St. Cloud. Yzermans died May 4, 1995 in Albuquerque NM. His name was among 33 released by the St. Cloud diocese January 3, 2014 of clergy involved in incidents of likely claims of sexual abuse of minors.

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/Yzermans_Vincent_Arthur.htm 

Santeria Priest Suspected In Murder Case Involving Backyard Burial

Investigators have identified the human remains found in the backyard of a family's San Gabriel Valley home as a woman who went missing in 2009. They also announced a suspect this morning—a Santeria priest who also disappeared after he was accused of raping a teenage girl.
Pablo Pinto Maria, 46, has been on the lam since 2014, when police were investigating allegations that he raped a 16-year-old girl while performing a healing ritual on her. Now, police are looking for Mata in connection with the murder of Maria DelRefugio Chavez, whose remains were discovered in the backyard of a Valinda home earlier this month, City News Service reports.

http://laist.com/2015/08/25/human_remains_cold_case.php 

Prominent US-based haredi rabbis declare obligation to report child abuse to police

More than 100 prominent haredi rabbis and educators from across the US have signed a public declaration stating that it is an obligation of Jewish law on all Jews to immediately notify law enforcement officials when a reasonable suspicion of child abuse exists.
The declaration was described as “an historic watershed” for its broad-based support from a large number of haredi rabbis from major Jewish communities in the US. The letter addresses the need to prevent and eradicate the epidemic of child abuse adversely affecting the Jewish community.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Prominent-US-based-haredi-rabbis-declare-obligation-to-report-child-abuse-to-police-412937 

The Bishop, the Pastoral Council, and myself!

About two months ago I got an invitation from the Pastoral Council of the parish of Killeagh in Cloyne diocese to come and give the keynote talk at a weekend parish fest they were organising for late September. The request was that I would speak on the subject of where the voice of the Spirit could be heard in today’s Church.  I was happy to accept the invitation.
When notice of this talk first went out, a few weeks ago, the bishop of Cloyne, William Creanexpressed concern.  He called the parish priest, Tim Hazelwood, to come to meet him.  He made it clear that he was not happy that I was coming, saying he had been in touch with the RedemptoristProvincial to ascertain my ‘status’, and was informed that I was forbidden to minister publicly as a priest. The parish priest brought the bishop’s concern back to the pastoral council. They were unwilling to cancel the invitation, but they compromised by saying that the talk would take place, not in the church, but in the community hall.

http://www.tonyflannery.com/the-bishop-the-pastoral-council-and-myself/ 

Generation of children brutalised in state care won't get public apology

tate care-givers used fists, feet, and weapons to attack children in a period between the early 1940s and 1990s, says the final report of the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service.

The Government will not offer a formal public apology to all children who were in state care during a 50 year period of brutal abuse. The final report of the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service has detailed the harrowing experiences of children at the hands of people who were meant to keep them safe.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/71388571/generation-of-children-brutalised-in-state-care-wont-get-public-apology 

Church did not want to know about abuse: bishop

The poll by Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service presents an interesting profile of those who identify as former Catholics, a group that it says comprises 15 percent of the U.S. population.

General, 67% of People and 90% of U.S. Catholics maintain a positive view of him. “A real leadership like that from the Pope would have been marvellous, and from subsequent popes, now we still don’t have that kind of leadership, not even from Francis”, he said.

http://tvnewsroom.org/newslines/world/church-did-not-want-to-know-about-abuse-bishop-101676/ 

'It was always there, I just pushed it so far away,' says victim in priest abuse case

JACKSON, MI – He did not forget, but for decades, he did his best to bury the memory. He told no one of the abuse he said he endured as a 10^th grader at Lumen Christi High School. "It was always there, I just pushed it so far away," said the man, now 45.
About 2 ½ years ago, after he had attempted to take his own life, while his third marriage crumbled and he could no longer go to work, he realized he had to face what he had come to see was the root of his personal strife.

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2015/08/it_was_always_there_i_just_pus.html 

Silence in the Catholic church may be its weapon of self destruction

In a day of remarkable evidence before the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson offered damning assessments of the most senior Catholic clerics on the planet. Pope John Paul II “handled the abuse poorly”. Cardinal George Pell was a “most ineffectual bishop” and “the majority of the priests wished he’d get transferred somewhere else.” Even Pope Francis is not providing “real leadership”.
But his most chilling and telling statement about the Catholic church was the one he made about the church hierarchy’s response to revelations about child sexual abuse: “What we got was silence, so bishops were loyal to the silence.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/25/silence-in-the-catholic-church-may-be-its-weapon-of-self-destruction 

Adelaide parents in Parliament House rally against child abuse

HUNDREDS of concerned parents and carers have taken part in a rally against child abuse in Adelaide, calling for tougher minimum sentences and more transparency from authorities.

Rally organisers will also deliver a petition to government calling for more resources for child protection workers. They have promised monthly events for the rest of the year to keep pressure on Families SA and government ministers.

http://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/adelaide-parents-in-parliament-house-rally-against-child-abuse/story-fnii5yv7-1227495262704?sv=8e00f12d7d9b86c1a4e0e98d025a27b1 

Sherwood parishioners face heartache, disillusionment after hidden camera scandal

It had taken years to get comfortable in the church. Now this. "I am sorry beyond words for the pain and the anguish that you have been suffering," the archbishop said, scanning the silent crowd. "You need to hear that again: I am sorry." Heartache hung in the air. Peter Hainley watched the archbishop skeptically from the back row of pews, his wife and three sons by his side.
Hainley was abused by a priest at 12 years old, he said. Now his youngest son is 11 and the priest at St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood is wanted for allegedly placing a hidden camera in a church bathroom.

http://www.oregonlive.com/faith/2015/08/sherwood_parish.html 

Bishop critical of Pell on abuse response

Cardinal George Pell destroyed the unity of the Catholic church in Australia when he dropped a 'bombshell' by launching his own response to abuse victims, a bishop has told the child sex abuse royal commission.
Retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson said the establishment of the Melbourne Response by then Archbishop Pell in 1996, months before the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference launched the nation-wide Towards Healing, was totally unexpected.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2015/08/24/bishop-to-recall-row-with-papal-nuncio.html 

Declassified Files: Officials wanted full Kincora inquiry in 1980s but were overruled

Declassified Government files on Kincora reveal that there was a consistent consensus among senior civil servants that the scandal should be investigated by the most thorough form of public inquiry – yet that did not happen.
Time and time again, different high-ranking officials gave the view that an inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 was unavoidable given the level of concern about allegations that boys had been abused over 20 years at Kincora by senior public figures and that their crimes had been covered up.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/northern-ireland-news/declassified-files-officials-wanted-full-kincora-inquiry-in-1980s-but-were-overruled-1-6919884 

Pope Francis is not anti-capitalism. By his actions, he supports the plutocracy

Except for its clergy, Opus Dei is a secret society of global financiers, bankers, businessmen, politicians and their supporters. Still the most exhaustively researched book written about "The Work"€ as it is referred to by its members, Their Kingdom Come (1997, 2006) by Robert Hutchison, a Canadian financial journalist, traces the growth of Opus Dei financial power "by all available means"€ - deception, dirty tricks, even "€œphysical muscle.€"
"What gives Opus Dei its importance is the influence it wields and also that it deploys its immense financial resources. Opus Dei knows very well that money rules the world," Javier Sainz Moreno, professor of Law at Madrid University, told Hutchison. One of their goals was to control the Vatican's wealth, now closer than ever to being realized.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/23/1414707/-Pope-Francis-is-not-anti-capitalism-By-his-actions-he-supports-the-plutocracy# 

Fr Tony Flannery disappointed at ‘silencing’ by bishop

A move by Bishop of Cloyne William Crean to prevent outspoken priest Fr Tony Flannery from giving a talk in his diocese was “surprising and depressing”, the priest has said.

In a statement issued on his website on Sunday, Fr Flannery said since his suspension from ministry in 2012, he has given numerous talks in Ireland, England and the US. “With one exception in the US, there had been no problem, and my talks mainly consisted of highlighting the message of Pope Francis,” he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/fr-tony-flannery-disappointed-at-silencing-by-bishop-1.2326222 

Soaring rates of mental illness, substance abuse for children in care.

Children in care are suffering significantly higher rates of mental health problems than their peers and are far more likely to smoke, drink and abuse drugs, a damning new report has revealed.
They are also five times more likely to be admitted to hospital than children living with their own families and are at greater risk of dropping out of school. The figures, to be released by Anglicare Victoria this week, paint a bleak future for children in Victoria's residential care system, who are lagging well behind on a range of developmental, educational and social milestones.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/soaring-rates-of-mental-illness-substance-abuse-for-children-in-care-report-20150821-gj4qzn.html 

Catholic priest steps down after being seen walking naked through Indiana grade school.

The pastor of a Catholic parish has stepped down after being seen walking around naked in an accompanying school.

Father Bill O'Toole, 45, has taken a leave of absence from his position as the head of St Casimir Catholic School, which enrolls preschoolers through middle schoolers in the Chicago suburb of Hammond, Indiana.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3207230/Catholic-priest-steps-seen-walking-naked-Indiana-grade-school.html 

Chile to deport paedophile Irish priest convicted of abusing young girl

THE CHILEAN GOVERNMENT has decided to deport an Irish priest who was convicted last year of sexually abusing a young girl, the interior ministry said.
The Irish-born priest, John O’Reilly, was sentenced to four years’ probation in November for repeatedly molesting the girl from the time she was five. The abuse took place from 2010 to 2012 at an exclusive school where O’Reilly was the spiritual advisor at the time.

http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-priest-chile-3-2286713-Aug2015/ 

Bishop John Buckley: Magdalene mass grave ‘must be accessible’ to public

The Bishop of Cork and Ross has backed the calls of campaigners to make the vandalised mass grave of Magdalene women at Sunday’s Well accessible to the public.
Bishop John Buckley’s support comes following his call for the exhumation of the remains of Little Nellie — the “unofficial patron saint” of Cork — so people can pray at her grave. Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and a number of Magdalene survivors had expressed concern that there was no mention of the mass grave on the site of the former Magdalene Laundry when making his call.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/bishop-john-buckley-magdalene-mass-grave-must-be-accessible-to-public-349612.html 

Hatred is Weaponizing Jesus: How Violent Evangelicals, Faith-Based Con Artists & Serial Abusers are Using Religion for the Purpose of Evil

In whatever Christian denomination you choose to look at, you'll find despicable misdeeds left and right. I’ve decided that, at least in the United States, the religiously devout really do have the interests of rationalist nonbelievers at heart, at least as far as providing us with (a sick, unseemly sort of) entertainment goes.
They strive ceaselessly and tirelessly, without remiss, on holidays, weekends, and during the work week, to provide us with new episodes of the tragicomic—though mostly tragic—reality-show farce that is religion, and at their own expense. We might just as well call them the Falstaffs of Faith.

http://www.alternet.org/belief/hatred-weaponizing-jesus-how-violent-evangelicals-faith-based-con-artists-serial-abusers-are 

The Divine: A Play for Sarah Berhnardt This powerful play based on a true story is an absolute must-see this summer.

The Divine: A Play for Sarah Berhnardt was created for The Shaw Festival by Quebecois playwright Michel Marc Bouchard and translated into English by Linda Gaboriau. In some ways it is uniquely Canadian. But the power and passion that is brought to stage by the combined talents of the writer, director, and ensemble of actors will resonate with audiences around the world because it speaks so directly to the most fundamental issue of our time –
 the corruption of and exploitation by the institutions we believed were created to protect and serve us. In this case, we are looking at the Roman Catholic Church at the turn of the century in Quebec, but the sense of loss and betrayal, the desperation, and the vulnerability felt at the hands of powerful institutions that control our lives is profound and timely.

http://www.shalomlife.com/culture/29757/shaw-festival-review-the-divine-a-play-for-sarah-berhnardt/

Longtime leader at St. John’s Abbey accused of sex abuse

The Rev. Thomas Andert, the prior at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, has been removed from his leadership position following an allegation of student sex abuse.
The allegation was made in a letter by a former student at St. John’s Preparatory School, where Andert served as headmaster from 1988 to 1994. It alleges abuse about three decades ago. The abbey is not providing details of the complaint.

http://blog.gaycatholicpriests.org/2015/08/longtime-leader-at-st-johns-abbey-accused-of-sex-abuse/

Church and police handled abuse 'in-house'

A PRIEST who had the habit of squeezing the genitals of miscreants was moved out of the Catholic Church and NSW in a joint police/church operation.

AT a royal commission hearing retired bishop Geoffrey Robinson explained how the Catholic Church typically handled offending priests in the 60s and 70s. He told how Thomas Gilroy, archbishop of Sydney from 1940 to 1971, appointed Monsignor Tom Wallace of Darlinghurst to deal with priests behaving badly.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/inquiry-to-hear-from-outspoken-bishop/story-e6frfku9-1227495760893 

Why this apology from the Scottish Catholic church rings hollow to me

They process slowly to the altar, Scotland’s Catholic bishops, their elaborate robes and red zucchettos symbols of their power and status. Around them, the light, honey-coloured stone arches of St Andrew’s cathedral in Glasgow soar, Italian-style embellishment spiralling up the slender columns in Madonna-blue paint and gold leaf.
On one side of me, Peter Howson’s depiction of the Scottish martyr, St John Ogilvie, seems luminous, glowing gold amid black, a study of unbowed resignation. To the other side, archbishop Philip Tartaglia is nervously welcoming publication of the McLellan report into abuse in the Scottish Catholic church, apologising to victims in a carefully worded statement. As he talks I am struck – not for the first time since the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien two years ago – by the way opulence sits cheek by jowl with ugliness inside the Catholic church.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/23/scottish-catholic-church-abuse-apology-rings-hollow 

Children speaking from inside Australia’s detention centres.

These are innocent children... like children before them living in catholic orphanages... and state homes... they live their lives... in prison of their Souls... never to have a happy childhood... No childhood at all... they are treated worst than prisoners... criminals... NOT A SMILL ON THEIR FACES... Ann

===============================

Powerful proof that children don’t belong in detention. “I have never seen happiness in my life,” one 17-year-old says. “I feel like I’m in prison. I am so bored and sometimes I think of killing myself,” a 12-year-old girl says.

“My father and brother were killed. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be,” an unaccompanied child adds. These are not fictional statements. These are the real words from children living in immigration detention centres under the control of the Australian government.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/24/church-struggled-deal-abuse-clergy-bishop 

Church struggled to deal with abuse by clergy

When Catholic bishop Geoffrey Robinson told an international conference he wasn't happy with the level of support Rome was offering the Australian Church on child sexual abuse he was reprimanded by the Pope's man in Canberra.
The outspoken former Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney is giving evidence about that "condemnatory" 1996 correspondence with the then papal nuncio and about other run-ins with the hierarchy and its response to abuse at a royal commission in Sydney.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/24/church-struggled-deal-abuse-clergy-bishop 

Ballarat bishop buried head about abuse, inquiry hears

A Ballarat bishop buried his head in the sand and didn't think he had to tell police about clergy who sexually abused children, the royal commission has heard.
Convicted Ballarat priest Paul David Ryan says Bishop Ronald Mulkearns knew about him in 1977 but did not revoke his faculties until 1993. "Ryan thought Bishop Mulkearns buried his head in the sand about the sexual abuse issues in the diocese," senior counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC said in her opening address.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/05/18/ballarat-bishop-buried-head-about-abuse-inquiry-hears 

NSW priest 'grabbed boys by the genitals', retired Bishop tells inquiry

A former NSW priest was shifted out of the priesthood and the state after complaints he was grabbing boys by the genitals and squeezing, a retired Bishop has told the child abuse royal commission.

Geoffrey Robinson, a key player in the church's response to child sexual abuse by members of the clergy between 1994 and 2003, is giving evidence today before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-24/priest-grabbed-boys-by-genitals-child-abuse-inquiry-hears/6719402 

Retired bishop says Pell an 'embarassment'

A retired bishop has slammed Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, as an embarrassment, saying priests must be prepared to break the confessional seal if it is for the "greater good".

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson says Cardinal Pell is out of step with the majority of Australia's bishops and should no longer speak for the Catholic Church in Australia on the issue of sexual abuse by the clergy.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-14/retired-bishop-says-pell-an-embarassment/4371794 

VA--Victims urge action by Virginia Catholic officials

A predator priest worked for three years in a northern Virginia school after raping a boy and fleeing overseas. We urge Virginia school officials and Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde to immediately and aggressively seek out anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered the cleric’s crimes. have seen, suspected or suffered the cleric’s crimes.
A new report says that Fr. Manuel Gallo Espinoza of the Newark Archdiocese admits molesting a boy. When a victim spoke up, two church officials urged him to fly home, Fr. Espinoza says. So he escaped to Equador, and later returned to the US, teaching for years in Virginia and Maryland. Now, Fr. Espinoza is back in Equador, still teaching.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/va_victims_urge_action_by_virginia_catholic_officials 

Sydney priest charged with grooming

A Russian Orthodox priest has been charged with grooming and indecent assault offences against a 15-year-old boy. Police allege the priest, 33, who arrived in Australia in 2013, had been communicating with a 15-year-old Belarusian boy over the internet.
In July 2014, the 15-year-old arrived in Australia and stayed in accommodation at the inner west church where the priest lived.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/20/sydney-priest-charged-grooming 

The papal nuncio on Catholic challenges

In his first Irish interview, the nuncio talks about the Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse allegations and other challenges, past and present.
Since Archbishop Charles Brown became papal nuncio three years ago he has overseen the appointment of 10 new bishops to Ireland’s 26 dioceses, with potential of more this year. With this quiet revolution afoot the Archbishop talks about the process. Ireland’s Catholic bishops have been praised by the papal nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, for the compassion with which they dealt with marriage-equality issues before May’s referendum. 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/the-papal-nuncio-on-catholic-challenges-1.2324433

Abuse survivors welcome bishop's evidence

A royal commission decision to hear from retired Catholic bishop Geoffrey Robinson has been welcomed by a key organisation representing survivors of abuse in institutions.Author and theologian Bishop Robinson, who will give evidence on Monday at a public hearing of the child sex abuse royal commission, is described as a 'voice in the wilderness' within the church by Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN).

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2015/08/21/abuse-survivors-welcome-bishop-s-evidence.html 

Staff at Winlaton 'bungled' handling of teenage girl repeatedly abused by father

Staff "bungled" the handling of a 14-year-old girl staying at the Winlaton Youth Training Centre whose father went on to abuse her for decades, a former psychiatric nurse who worked there has told the royal commission.

On Thursday the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard harrowing evidence of a woman who had reported the repeated rape by her father to authorities at the time. Staff did not intervene.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-21/winlaton-staff-bungled-handling-girl-abused-by-father-inquiry/6715962 

Abuse report damns culture of secrecy in Scottish church

A landmark report into safeguarding has condemned a culture of secrecy and cover-up in the Scottish Catholic Church. The 99-page McLellan Commission Report, published this week, described abuse as “the greatest challenge facing the whole Catholic Church in Scotland”.
The commission was led by Dr Andrew McLellan, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and former Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.

http://cathnews.co.nz/2015/08/21/abuse-report-damns-culture-of-secrecy-in-scottish-church/ 

Mexico blasted by UN Child Rights watchdog over child abuse in Catholic institutions

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has strongly criticised Mexico over "corroborated reports that hundreds of children have been sexually abused for years by clerics of the Catholic Church and other religious faiths".

The Committee is particularly concerned about "the general impunity which perpetrators have enjoyed so far" and "about the low number of investigations and prosecutions of the perpetrators as well as alleged complicity of state officials." It also notes the "lack of complaints mechanisms, services and compensation available to children".

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2015/08/mexico-blasted-by-un-child-rights-watchdog-over-child-abuse-in-catholic-institutions?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nssnews+%28NSS+News%29 

Former students sue Georgia karate instructor over alleged sexual abuse

Gov. Nathan Deal signs the Georgia Hidden Predator Act into law, allowing seven former students to sue karate instructor Craig Peeples for alleged sexual abuse. In a landmark development involving child sex abuse cases, seven men were able to file a civil lawsuit Thursday in Georgia Superior Court against karate instructor Craig Peeples under the recently passed Georgia Hidden Predator Act.
The men were previously stonewalled due to the state’s sex abuse statute of limitations laws. Marci Hamilton, one of the nation’s leading experts on child abuse cases and a Benjamin N. Cardozo law professor, announced the lawsuit with six of the seven plaintiffs present at a press conference in Jacksonville, Fla.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/ex-students-sue-karate-instructor-alleged-sexual-abuse-article-1.2332774 

Catholic Church bishop Ronald Mulkearns likely to avoid facing child sex abuse royal commission because of ill health

THE man who was in charge of the Catholic Church in Ballarat while paedophiles preyed on young children is likely to escape being forced to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Former bishop Ronald Mulkearns has been admitted to Ballarat’s St John of God hospital, where he on Saturday was in intensive care. His ill health casts doubt over whether the commission will force him to give evidence.

http://vavnews.com/catholic-church-bishop-ronald-mulkearns-likely-to-avoid-facing-child-sex-abuse-royal-commission-because-of-ill-health-53750.vav 

Terminally ill retired Catholic Bishop to give evidence at child abuse royal commission

A Sydney Catholic Bishop who is dying of cancer and has been an advocate for a more compassionate approach by the church to victims of clergy abuse is to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday.

"I have cancer and it's terminal. It'll be better they take the evidence now than wait for later," retired bishop Geoffrey Robinson told the ABC. Bishop Robinson was a key player in the response of the Catholic Church to child sexual abuse by members of the clergy between 1994 and 2003

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-23/child-abuse-royal-commission-bishop-geoffrey-robinson/6716058 

Nine men reported in police probe into child abuse claims at Fort Augustus Abbey school

POLICE this week revealed a report had been passed to the Procurator Fiscal in relation to allegations of historical abuse against nine men at the former Fort Augustus Abbey school.
The move came as the Catholic Church has issued a “profound” apology to victims of child sex abuse following a damning report which was published this week.

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/News/Nine-men-reported-in-relation-to-abuse-at-Fort-Augustus-Abbey-19082015.htm

Convicted paedophile runs orphanage

SPECIAL Crimes detectives are gathering evidence dating back to the 1960s from alleged victims of a child sex predator who left Adelaide to live in South-East Asia eight years ago.
An Advertiser investigation found the convicted paedophile, now 71, runs an orphanage, had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to children’s homes and charities and has had ongoing contact with children in South-East Asia

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/convicted-paedophile-runs-orphanage/story-e6frg6n6-1227491926499 

Police, protection workers failed victim of Fritzl-like abuse

THE VICTIM of one of Victoria’s worst sexual abuse scandals was given contraceptives by protection workers after she complained her father was raping her but they did not report the appalling abuse to police.

The scandal — which was compared to Austria’s Josef Fritzl case — was exposed by the Herald Sun in 2009 and revealed the woman was repeatedly raped by her father for 27 years, bearing four children to him.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/police-protection-workers-failed-victim-of-fritzl-like-abuse/story-fnii5smt-1227491497513 

Adoption should be ‘easier’ for foster care kids: Senators Zed Seselja and Joanne Lindgren claim

ADOPTION of local children in foster care needs to become easier and should be a priority for the government. Two Coalition Senators today called for an end to the “bias” against adoption of children in out-of-home care and for a national scheme similar to the successful program in New South Wales.
Senators Zed Seselja and Joanne Lindgren today made the remarks as part of a wider Senate report into the out-of-home care system.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/adoption-should-be-easier-for-foster-care-kids-senators-zed-seselja-and-joanne-lindgren-claim/story-fnet08ui-1227490600851 

Paedophile claimed God had forgiven him and wiped his memory of sex attack on 10-year-old

A sex attacker caught decades after he traumatised a child claimed he had forgotten the abuse because God had forgiven him and “wiped his memory”.
But in court, churchgoer John Whittle, 74 pleaded guilty to indecent assault, indecency with a child and having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 10-year-old and was jailed for nine years. When crown solicitor John Probert outlined details of the offences and the lifelong effect on the victim, Whittle began crying loudly in the glass-covered dock at Cardiff Crown Court.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/paedophile-claimed-god-forgiven-him-9887342 

U.N. Details Sexual Abuse Claims Against Troops

The United Nations disclosed new details on Thursday about a series of sexual abuse allegations against its peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, saying that nine of the 13 cases reported in the past year involved children as young as 11 and that no one had yet been convicted.

The disclosures were made in a video news conference held with Diane Corner, the United Nations deputy head of the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/21/world/africa/un-details-sexual-abuse-claims-against-troops.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150820&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y 

‘We Believe the Children,’ by Richard Beck

In the summer of 1983, a California woman named Judy Johnson took her 3-year-old son Matthew to a hospital near her home in Manhattan Beach. She pointed the doctor’s attention to her child’s anus, which, she said, looked redder than it had that morning, before he had gone to his day care center
Whether out of genuine concern about foul play or to salve a worried mother, the doctor filed a suspected child abuse report. Johnson, who later received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, took her own suspicions to the police, who soon alerted parents whose children attended the McMartin Preschool to a possible abuser in their midst.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/books/review/we-believe-the-children-by-richard-beck.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150821&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y 

Church's handling worse than abuse, victim tells royal commission

The Catholic Church's handling of child sex abuse is in some ways worse than the actual abuse, a Ballarat victim says.
The victim, known as BAV, told the child abuse royal commission there is not enough support and understanding for victims, with men abused as children at Catholic institutions still committing suicide. "I believe the church's handling of the abuse has in some ways been worse than the initial sexual abuse that occurred," the commission heard in Ballarat on Wednesday.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/05/20/churchs-handling-worse-abuse-victim-tells-royal-commission 

Bishop to tell how church erred on abuse

A royal commission will hear from Geoffrey Robinson, the bishop who campaigned for years to end child sex abuse and its cover-up in the Catholic Church.  A Catholic bishop who more than a decade ago called for an end to the worldwide cover-up of child sex abuse by the church will take the stand at a royal commission hearing in Sydney.
Former Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who helped write the church's sex abuse policy in Australia, will give evidence at a public hearing of the abuse royal commission on Monday. The retired bishop will be questioned on the history and development of the Catholic Church's approach to abuse victims, and the 1996 establishment of Towards Healing, the internal church process for handling allegations.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/21/bishop-tell-how-church-erred-abuse 

Child rapist jailed for 12 years NZ

A man who raped three girls has been jailed for 12 years. Steven Colin Smith, aged in his mid 40s, pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, two of sexual violation and three of indecent assault the day his High Court trial was due to start in Rotorua on August 3.
In 1989, he raped a 15-year-old girl in the shower when he was aged 19 or 20, as she screamed and tried to push him off.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/29318822/child-rapist-jailed-for-12-years/ 

MN-- Victims blast abbey on new abuse case

We’re saddened but not surprised that another St. John’s cleric is accused of child sex crimes. For decades, this Catholic school has been a hotbed of abuse and cover ups. And for years, the institution has postured as being “ahead of the curve” on abuse when in fact that’s a deceitful claim.
We hope that anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered assaults or cover ups by Fr. Tom Andert or any current or former St. John’s staff will call police and prosecutors immediately. That’s the only safe course of action – trusting in the independent, unbiased professionals in law enforcement.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/mn_victims_blast_abbey_on_new_abuse_case 

Screening process failing children

AN inconsistent and complex approach by states and territories to running background checks on people wanting to work with children has failed those the schemes are supposed to protect, prompting the royal commission into child sexual abuse to call for sweeping changes.
THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse says that an over-reliance on the schemes - known as Working With Children Checks (WWCCs) - can actually be detrimental to children's safety and it has delivered a scathing assessment of efforts by various governments to address the problem.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/screening-process-failing-children/story-e6frfku9-1227486796238 

A long-running inquiry into Scotland's Catholic Church calls for survivors of abuse to be treated as an "absolute priority".

Scotland's most senior Catholic has offered a "profound apology" to victims of abuse within the Church, following the release of an independent review of how it has handled past allegations.

The report urged the Church to address the wrongs of the past and make an "unmistakable and unequivocal" apology to those who have suffered. Archbishop Philip Tartaglia used Tuesday afternoon's homily at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow to address the issue publicly.

http://news.sky.com/story/1537534/church-leaders-apology-to-abuse-victims 

Arrest warrant issued for priest Until judge's action, Fr. Ysrael Bien was not listed as official suspect in spy camera case

Police now say Father Ysrael Bien, on administrative leave from his role as pastor of St. Francis Parish in Sherwood, purchased a spy camera later found in a church bathroom.
Records uncovered by the Oregonian newspaper show the 34-year-old priest logged onto a spy gear website in March to buy the $295 camera, which was disguised as an electrical outlet. A Washington County judge on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Father Bien on charges of invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and initiating a false report — all misdemeanors.

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=29822 

Ex-priest, 51, accused of 'raping' 15-year-old parishioner says boy 'wanted' sexual encounter.

A priest admitted to inappropriate behavior with a teenage parishioner, according to NJ.com.  The 51-year-old priest, Rev. Manuel Gallo Espinoza, fled the country in 2003 after Max Rojas Ramirez, then 15, says he was raped by the priest.

The alleged pedophile priest came out of hiding long enough to talk to a reporter from NJ.com and admitted to having sex with the teen, who is now 28, in a bedroom of the rectory at St. Mary's Church in Plainfield. 'I didn't force him to do anything he didn't want,' he reportedly told the journalist. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3203520/Ex-priest-51-accused-raping-15-year-old-parishioner-says-boy-wanted-sexual-encounter.html 

UN committee blasts Mexico/Church collusion in sexual abuse.

The UN Committee for the Rights of the Child recently released their “Concluding observations on the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Mexico.”
Much in the June 5 report wasn’t surprising: drug cartels are recruiting and using children for violence and children have been murdered and/or have gone missing in non-state violent activities. The committee also stated that migrant children are being targeted for abuse, killings and sexual violence. But sections 35 and 36 of the report were striking (emphasis mine):

http://theworthyadversary.com/3645-un-committee-blasts-mexicochurch-collusion-in-sexual-abuse 

The Catholic Church has had hundreds of years to sort out child abusers

The Catholic Church has had hundreds of years to sort out child abusers, but as recently as a decade ago it merely moved them to another parish rather than tackle the root problem.
The McLellan Commission, to review abuse within the Catholic Church, consisted of 11 persons of note to pontificate on this abhorrence. The Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan was himself a Church of Scotland minister prior to resigning to become Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons from 2002 to 2009; only to be reinstated by the Church of Scotland after his time away. 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/child-abuse-1-3864567 

Scottish Church needs to start over

If anybody ever doubted the necessity for an independent review into child protection procedures inside the Catholic Church in Scotland, every page of the McLellan Report published this week will correct that impression.
The report is, in effect, a vote of no confidence in the Scottish bishops’ safeguarding procedures based on their performance so far. Its central charge is that the Scottish Catholic Church for years paid lip service to the need for child protection while the manner in which it treated survivors amounted to further abuse.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/editors-desk/1/6468/scottish-church-needs-to-start-over

Pedophilic Priest Blames His Abuse On Victim

Among the R.C. Church’s rationales for protecting abusive clergy within its ranks is a presumption that the victims are to blame for it, and — perversely — that the abusers are the true “victims.” The Church doesn’t say so out loud very often, but once in a while someone lets this presumption slip, here or there. The most recent example of this, as NJ Advanced Media reports, came from a Newark priest who’d fled to his native Ecuador in 2003 when faced with allegations he’d abused a teen (WebCite cached article):
In an extraordinary admission of wrongdoing, a priest sought by authorities in New Jersey has acknowledged engaging in a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy, but he deflected blame for the incident by saying the teen “wanted” it and had “evil in his mind.”

http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/tag/catholic-clerical-child-sexual-abuse/ 

St. Cloud Times 'Listening sessions' still ring hollow

The Diocese of St. Cloud is in the midst of yet another round of “listening sessions” following the filing of more lawsuits for clergy abuse in parishes where the Revs. Robert Smith, William Wey and James Thoennes were pastors.
I participated in listening sessions in the mid-1990s and did not see nor experience anything different from the diocese after the sessions than before. How many listening sessions does it take? What more does the hierarchy need to hear?

http://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2015/08/20/listening-sessions-still-ring-hollow/32046797/ 

Admittedly guilty priest may never face charges

This is why we will never give up... on Justice for the survivors/victims... of child rape... the catholic church has a law unto herself... she thinks that she is above the law... and does not have to answer to anyone... less of all... to the many men and women... she RAPED as innocent children...  Ann

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If charges are filed against a former New Jersey priest who reportedly confessed to engaging in sexual conduct with a teenage boy over a decade ago, it can’t be guaranteed that he’ll be returned to American soil to face those charges.
Through online comments and in talks with NJ Advance Media, Rev. Manuel Gallo Espinoza admitted to making a “mistake once” in the rectory of a Plainfield church in 2003. That confession, however, came from Ecuador, the 51-year-old’s native country, where he’s been since February 2014.

http://nj1015.com/admittedly-guilty-priest-may-never-face-charges/

Working with children checks should be urgently strengthened and unified

Working with children checks should be strengthened and unified across all states and territories as a matter of urgency, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has recommended.

Currently in Australia, each state and territory has its own scheme for conducting background checks on people who want to work with children. But the commission's report into working with children checks found the eight different schemes were inconsistent, complex and gave a false sense of security to institutions and families.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/working-with-children-checks-strengthen-urgently/6703382 

California’s Saint, and a Church’s Sins

On his trip to the United States next month, Pope Francis is going to canonize the Rev. Junipero Serra, the great Spanish missionary of 18th-century California. As fourth graders from Chico to Chula Vista have been taught for generations, Father Serra founded the first of the 21 Catholic missions that stretch along the coast like rosary beads. He laid the foundation of California as we know it: the tile-and-adobe wonderland of vineyards, citrus, olives, wheat and cattle.

That story has a dark side, as even the most sympathetic Serra biographers admit. Father Serra had soldiers with him. The civil and religious conquest of Alta California was accompanied by brutality, coercion and vast death. As the missions grew, California’s native population of Indians began a catastrophic decline.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/opinion/californias-saint-and-a-churchs-sins.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150818&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y 

Catholic Church in Scotland abuse: 'criminal and sinful'

The findings of a Commission say the Church has an "unrepeatable chance to make things better" and calls for support for survivors of abuse to be an "absolute priority."  The Catholic Church in Scotland must move from "secrecy to openness, from systems which allow evil to survive to systems which ensure that good is done."
A commission led by the Very Rev Andrew McLellan published a report on Tuesday detailing the failures in the safe-guarding practices of the Catholic Church in Scotland, making eight recommendations, including calling for support for survivors of abuse to be an "absolute priority".

http://www.channel4.com/news/catholic-church-in-scotland-abuse-criminal-and-sinful 

Catholic Men Need Priests Who Will Lead

A recent survey shows many Catholic men are ready to engage more deeply in the Faith—when priests make a commitment to actively evangelize them. The New Evangelization has been a major effort in the Catholic Church for more than 40 years. Unfortunately, it has failed to stem several significant downward trends among faithful in the United States.
Since 2000, 14 million Catholics have left the faith, parish religious-education participation of children has dropped by 24 percent, Catholic school attendance has dropped by 19 percent, baptisms of infants has dropped by 28 percent, baptism of adults has dropped by 31 percent, and sacramental Catholic marriages have dropped by 41 percent. Something is desperately wrong with the Church’s approach to the New Evangelization.

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4103/Catholic_Men_Need_Priests_Who_Will_Lead.aspx 

Nine men reported in police probe into child abuse claims at Fort Augustus Abbey school

POLICE this week revealed a report had been passed to the Procurator Fiscal in relation to allegations of historical abuse against nine men at the former Fort Augustus Abbey school.
The move came as the Catholic Church has issued a “profound” apology to victims of child sex abuse following a damning report which was published this week.

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/News/Nine-men-reported-in-relation-to-abuse-at-Fort-Augustus-Abbey-19082015.htm 

The right words from the Catholic Church ... but they need to be followed by action

YESTERDAY’S apology by the Catholic Church has been a long time coming. The Church has known for decades that some priests have inflicted horrific sexual abuse on children who trusted them. It has known and done nothing to give the victims support and help. Instead its efforts have concentrated on covering up the crimes and protecting the perpetrators.
Yesterday’s publication of the McLellan report and the apology delivered by Archbishop Phillip Tartaglia may have been years too late but have to be regarded as at least steps in the right direction.

http://www.thenational.scot/comment/the-national-view-the-right-words-from-the-catholic-church-but-they-need-to-be-followed-by-action.6565 

Annie Brown: Catholic Church apology is too little and far too late for most victims

NOT until the Catholic Church shows contrition for all abuses, including the doctrine not allowing an abortion to a Paraguayan girl who has been impregnated by her stepfather, may it one day have its credibility restored, says ANNIE.
FOR the thousands of abuse victims, yesterday’s apology from the Catholic Church in Scotland was far too little, far too late. Scotland’s most senior Catholic, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, offered a “profound apology” to victims of abuse within the church following the release of an independent review of how they handled past allegations.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/annie-brown-catholic-church-apology-6275914