Abuse inquiry head judge to name institutions to be examined

An inquiry into Childcare and equally child abuse is set to investigate several avenues including, Westminster, Churches and Lambeth Council. Yesterday also emerged that the royal family could be drawn into the wider probe as it considers whether there were “inappropriate attempts” by prominent figures to interfere in the case of a pervert bishop.
Justice Lowell Goddard will make a public statement later outlining progress that has been made since the inquiry was formally opened in July. “It will consider allegations of cover up and conspiracy and review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations”.

http://rapidnewsnetwork.com/abuse-inquiry-head-judge-to-name-institutions-to-be-examined/319262/ 

The hidden horror of child abuse in South Canterbury NZ.

The 5-year-old child cowered in the corner, terrified, as his father threatened his mother. "He was going to cut Mum with an axe. He said, "I'm going to gut you". I felt like Daddy was going to kill me." The child cried on the floor after taking another beating at the hands of his father.
"My dad strangled me and kicked me to the side, and I said, "help" and he said, "help yourself".  "I felt angry and scared." Another unimaginable display of cruelty. Another 5-year-old.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/74318738/the-hidden-horror-of-child-abuse-in-south-canterbury

Child abuse horror cases

THE Territory’s Children’s Commissioner has described as “indefensible” reports that children in care are being ­repeatedly abused. Figures released last week show 110 cases of substantiated harm involving 95 kids in care.
The figures were revealed within the Department of Children and Families and the Children’s Commissioner’s ­annual reports. It is the first year of formal monitoring of children in out-of-home care by the Children’s Commissioner.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/child-abuse-horror-cases/story-fnk0b1zt-1227624636678?from=nt+news_rss 

Sex-abuse survivor, former R.I. man depicted in 'Spotlight' movie, tells his story

You won't hear Jim Scanlan's name in the film "Spotlight." But you will see him portrayed as "Kevin from Providence," who suffered sexual abuse by a Boston College High School priest in the late 1970s.
The film is a fact-based drama about the Boston Globe Spotlight Team's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2002 investigation of the Catholic Church's cover-up of clergy sexual abuse. The former Rhode Island resident wants to help other survivors. For the first time, he agreed to identify himself and speak publicly about the events that changed the course of his life nearly four decades ago.

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20151128/NEWS/151129351 

Secrets of the 'Haunted House on the Hill': Historic church where paedophile priest abused boys for decades burns to the ground...

Secrets of the 'Haunted House on the Hill': Historic church where paedophile priest abused boys for decades burns to the ground... as actress and former parishioner Rachel Griffiths reveals she was 'quite elated' by its destruction. 

Australian actress Rachel Griffiths says she was ‘quite elated’ when she heard a heritage-listed Catholic church in Melbourne, where horrific child abuse once took place, had been destroyed by fire. The Six Feet Under star revealed that like many of the church’s former parishioners she found it hard to even ‘drive past’ St James church in Brighton, in Melbourne’s south-east.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3017200/Hollywood-star-Rachel-Griffiths-happy-haunted-historic-Melbourne-church-burned-past-links-paedophile-priest.html 

Public sex abuse inquiry to focus first on Anglican and Catholic churches

An unprecedented public inquiry into child sex abuse in Britain is to focus first on the Anglican and Catholic churches,  its chairman said.  Justice Lowell Goddard said the five-year inquiry is the most wide-ranging ever of its kind in England and Wales and will consist of 12 separate investigations that will also focus early on local authorities such as Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale.
It will also look into public institutions and people of "public prominence". She said: "To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom. We are determined to succeed." She said she was confident her inquiry will "give a voice to victims and survivors."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/public.sex.abuse.inquiry.to.focus.first.on.anglican.and.catholic.churches/71865.htm 

Sex offending monks have no contact with students … or do they?

The files provided include those of monks currently living on the Saint John’s campus under safety plans. Their actions are limited and they are closely supervised.” Hmmm … if the 6th though 12th graders at the prep school want to get something to eat or attend Mass, how do they avoid all of those pesky sex-offending monks in the Monastic Residence?

And unless those pesky monks have ankle monitoring bracelets (which they don’t), how is the St. John’s management able to keep the offenders away from the kids? Do they show the 6th graders photos of Finian McDonald and say, “If you see this man, run away!”?

http://theworthyadversary.com/3810-sex-offending-monks-have-no-contact-with-students-or-do-they 

No effort was made to save Protestant orphans from neglect

He showed how the state had to battle with the Roman Catholic Church to bring in reforms. Ó Fátharta demonstrated how even Bessborough’s medical officer, Dr O’Connor, tried to justify death and illness, because the children were ‘illegitimate’.
Dr James Deeny became Chief Medical Advisor of the new Department of Health in 1944. It was he who raised the storm between Church and State. He detailed visiting Bessborough in ‘To Cure and to Care’ (1989, p85’). “I… could not make out what was wrong; at last I took a notion and stripped all the babies and, unusually, for a Chief Medical Advisor, examined them. Every baby had some purulent infection of the skin and all had green diarrhoea, carefully covered up… without any legal authority I closed the place down and sacked the matron, a nun, and also got rid of the medical officer. The deaths had been going on for years. They had done nothing about it.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/yourview/no-effort-was-made-to-save-protestant-orphans-from-neglect-366809.html 

Was there a sign above your head saying 'come and get me'?

A young girl who was sexually abused by a paedophile priest, after already suffering abuse at the hands of a family member, was later asked by police if she was "wearing a neon sign above your head saying 'come and get me'," the royal commission has heard.
Julie Stewart told the child abuse royal commission that she was nine years old when Doveton parish priest Peter Searson forced her to sit on his lap during confession and indecently assaulted her.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-abuse-commission-was-there-a-sign-above-your-head-saying-come-and-get-me-20151125-gl7f5p.html 

Religious cult took our sister from us, says family of Bridget Crosbie

She died alone and lonely and lay undiscovered in her Wexford home for two months. But 84-year-old Bridget was once full of the joys of life ... before she joined a secretive religious sect. 
It's the Swinging Sixties and a young, carefree, woman from rural Wexford takes the boat to England to start a new life. Bridget Crosbie, a beautiful, smart and popular figure, finds work in hotels in London and even in the Channel Island of Guernsey.

http://www.independent.ie/life/religious-cult-took-our-sister-from-us-says-family-of-bridget-crosbie-34237646.html 

Pastor and parishioners charged with murder in teen’s fatal beating at secretive church

The pastor and six parishioners at a secretive upstate New York church have been charged with murder after a teenager was beaten to death during what congregants called a “counseling session.”
A grand jury indicted the seven church members Tuesday, charging them with second-degree murder in the death of Lucas Leonard, 19. The members — including an eighth — were also charged with manslaughter, kidnapping and assault.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/25/pastor-and-parishioners-charged-with-murder-in-teens-fatal-beating-at-secretive-church/ 

73 1 Monk accused of abuse had 200 sexual partners

 Father Finian McDonald, who for years worked as a counselor at St. John's University, had sex with at least 200 people and paid child prostitutes for sex while abroad, according to documents released on Tuesday. 
Attorney Jeff Anderson released the personnel files of five monks and priests who were part of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville. The five, including two who are now deceased, were previously listed by St. John's Abbey as credibly accused of child sexual abuse. Anderson said the redacted version of the posted on his website, show that priests who admitted battles with sexual urges still had access to potential victims.

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/25/monk-accused-abuse-had-200-sexual-partners-some-were-child-prostitutes/76380308/ 

Priest who destroyed evidence now taking reports of abuse in San Diego

A controversial priest accused of covering up abuse in the Diocese of San Diego is in charge of taking victims calls and emails. Msgr. Steven Callahan shot to the spotlight in 2014 after he became the temporary diocesan administrator after the death of Cirilo Flores.
Victims, supporters and Catholics were rightfully upset: In 2007, Callahan testified that he destroyed evidence of child sex abuse and cover-up. But now, if you are a victim of abuse, a witness, or a whistleblower, he is the guy you call or email to report what you know.

http://theworthyadversary.com/3799-callahan 

Links probe: Prince and the groper

Charles’s ‘supportive letters’ to be scrutinised.  THE royals are set be dragged into an investigation as to whether Prince Charles made “inappropriate attempts” to interfere in the case of a pervert bishop, it was was revealed yesterday.
Prince Charles is alleged to have written letters of support to former bishop Peter Ball, 83, before the religious leader was “cautioned” for gross indecency in 1993 after sex abuse claims were exposed.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-82a7-Links-probe-Prince-and-the-groper 

Catholic Church sets up Council to assist Goddard Inquiry

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has welcomed the setting up of an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, led by Justice Lowell Goddard, and has set up a council to assist the inquiry in its deliberations.
Baroness Nuala O'Loan will chair this council, which has representatives from both the Bishops' Conference and the Conference of Religious (for full membership of the council see below). This Council will support the numerous organisations that make up the Catholic Church in England and Wales and will speak with and for the Church. It will ensure that the evidence required by the Inquiry is collated appropriately.

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28896 

Sex abuse inquiry to focus on Sussex

THE judge leading a national enquiry into child sexual abuse has said the activities of the former Bishop of Lewes will be the subject of a special investigation.
Historic sex offences in the Diocese of Chichester, including Peter Ball’s, will be examined as a case study by Lady Justice Goddard’s inquiry, which also promised to look into any influence “people of prominence” brought to bear in his case.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14110110.Sex_abuse_inquiry_to_focus_on_Sussex/ 

Children in 'danger' with priest: inquiry

A MELBOURNE archbishop was blinded by loyalty to the priesthood when he ignored years of complaints from parishioners about a gun-toting pedophile priest, an inquiry has heard. The woman will give evidence to the commission's inquiry into abuse in the Melbourne archdiocese on Wednesday.
Former Catholic Education Office (CEO) consultant Allan Dooley told the then principal of Doveton's Holy Family Primary School Graeme Sleeman and a teacher that their concern about Searson was substantial but not substantiated, an internal CEO memo said.

http://gazettestandard.com/2015/11/28/children-in-danger-with-priest-inquiry/ 

Guns, dogs used to enforce silence in church abuse cases, inquiry hears

PRIEST sex offenders used weapons and bestiality to scare victims into silence, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday. Speaking at the inquiry's latest hearing into child sexual abuse by church officials, victim advocates revealed Catholic leaders had wielded knives, hid pistols in their presbyteries and even toted guns around schoolyards to deter their victims from speaking out.
The shocking allegations come as Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a royal commission into child sexual abuse, promising to investigate not just those who committed evil acts but also those who turned a blind eye.

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/guns-dogs-used-to-enforce-silence-in-church-abuse-cases-inquiry-hears/story-fndo4cq1-1226515552008 

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse announces first investigations

The Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has today announced the first phase of investigations into the extent to which institutions have failed to protect children from sexual abuse. Hon. Lowell Goddard DNZM announced the Inquiry’s first 12 investigations which will begin immediately and provided a statement on the work of the Inquiry to date.
In her statement the Chair said:
“I am pleased to launch the Public Hearings Project by announcing the start of the Inquiry’s investigative work. Twelve investigations are proposed for this first phase. They will all begin with immediate effect and most, if not all, will culminate in public hearings. They represent the first phase of the inquiry’s investigations and are by no means the total of the work we intend to conduct; further investigations will be announced as the Inquiry progresses.

https://www.iicsa.org.uk/news/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse-announces-first-investigations 

No resolutions when it comes to clergy abuse

“Spotlight” sheds new light on a scandal that made headlines in 2002, when a team of Boston Globe reporters revealed the extent of child abuse by local priests and the Archdiocese’s attempts to cover it up. The film elicits outrage, but how many viewers do anything about it? It’s only a movie, and like most Hollywood movies, things seem resolved in the end.
But in the real world, things are not resolved. As is pointed out in “Who Takes Away the Sins . . . : Witnesses to Clergy Abuse” (2013) and “A Matter of Conscience: Confronting Clergy Abuse” (2014), documentaries by the husband and wife team of John and Susan Michalczyk, the abuse goes on and lives are still shattered. And when you watch these films, in which victims tell their stories and talk of a violation that will never heal, you can’t walk away and pretend they are only actors on a screen.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2015/11/28/the-bad-shepherds/cHY7s8I512BTjEi2x3AW9J/story.html 

Child abuse survivors: Holyrood is now complicit in the cover-up

SURVIVORS have accused the Scottish Government of “becoming complicit in the cover-up of abuse” as a row over the remit of the inquiry into the historical child abuse intensifies.
In an angry email to Education Secretary Angela Constance, Alan Draper, parliamentary liaison officer for In Care Abuse Survivors, claimed many institutions would escape public scrutiny if the Government did not include non-residential settings such as church parishes, schools and children’s and youth organisations within the inquiry’s scope.

 http://www.thenational.scot/news/child-abuse-survivors-holyrood-is-now-complicit-in-the-cover-up.10394

Priest who was suspended for getting his cousin pregnant is now in a court battle over a cottage he was given by Princess Diana's mother

He is the shamed priest whose colourful private life propelled him into the public eye. Now Father Roddy MacNeil has come to prominence once again – thanks to a row over a house gifted to him by Princess Diana's mother.

Father MacNeil, who was suspended from his parish after getting his cousin pregnant, is battling a £150,000 court action brought by his brother-in-law John Gray over his father's estate. Mr Gray told a court that the 55-year-old cleric was given the house by Frances Shand Kydd in 2000.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3333091/Suspended-priest-Roddy-MacNeil-court-battle-cottage-given-Princess-Diana-s-mother.html 

Final appeal by man ejected from priesthood over abuse claims rejected

A FORMER CATHOLIC priest, who was ejected from his ministry over claims regarding the abuse of minors, has had his appeal against that ejection overruled.
Bishop of Cloyne William Crean confirmed that former priest Dan Duane has had his submission to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected. No further appeal can be made in this regard according to Bishop Crean.

http://www.thejournal.ie/dan-duane-appeal-rejection-2470367-Nov2015/

Royal commission to recommend Catholic Church change processes for removing parish priests

IM PALMER: The child sex abuse royal commission has indicated it will recommend that the Catholic Church change its processes to ensure priests can be easily removed from their parishes if they commit any sort of offence. This week the commission has heard senior Catholic clergy and church bureaucrats failed to remove a paedophile priest from a Melbourne parish in the 1980s.
Samantha Donovan reports. SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The royal commission has heard that in the mid 1980s the staff and principal of a Melbourne Catholic primary school were under pressure.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4361381.htm

Medomsley Detention Centre to be investigated by Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Medomsley Detention Centre will be one of the first institutions to be examined by an independent inquiry into child sex abuse.
The County Durham young offenders’ facility was today revealed to be included in the first phase of investigations into the extent to which institutions have failed to protect children from sexual abuse, as part of the long-running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/medomsley-detention-centre-investigated-independent-10516137 

"My pledge to all survivors is that we will continue to do everything we can to support them and expose any wrong-doing in the past".

The head of a British inquiry into child sex abuse says the Anglican and Catholic churches will be among the institutions investigated in the wide-ranging probe. Nottinghamshire County Council will find out then if it will be examined by the inquiry.
"Clearly within the Church there have been a number of inquiries, but this is the first independent government-backed inquiry to look at institutional abuse". "And, importantly, I am prepared to make an unreserved apology to survivors if our council is found to have failed in our duty of care to children".

http://thespokedblog.com/2015/11/27/abuse-inquiry-head-judge-to-name-institutions-to-be-examined/ 

Westminster and church face investigation in child abuse inquiry

WESTMINSTER and the church were warned they face investigation by the independent child abuse inquiry today.
Justice Lowell Goddard – who chairs the probe – warmed “current or senior MPs, senior civil servants, government advisors and members of the intelligence and security agencies” could all be in the firing line. She said: “We will conduct an objective, fact finding mission into allegations of abuse by certain people of public prominence associated with Westminster.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/6768601/Westminster-and-church-face-investigation-in-child-abuse-inquiry.html?#_=_ 

Child sex abuse inquiry to probe British VIPs, churches and schools

London: A major British inquiry into decades of institutional child sex abuse will investigate allegations involving "people of prominence" and politicians as well as the Catholic and Anglican Churches, councils and schools, its head said on Friday.
The inquiry, which will last at least five years and cost about 18 million pounds ($36 million), was set up in July 2014 after a series of child sex abuse scandals dating back to the 1970s, some of which have involved celebrities and politicians.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/child-sex-abuse-inquiry-to-probe-british-vips-churches-and-schools-20151127-gla9ds.html 

Madrassa memories: Why child sex abuse has no religion

This is what happens when you stand up for your rights... and fight for justice... against the men and women... in the catholic church... I have posted both pages... of abuse to me... as well as the people who supported us survivors... on the cathnews site... I was the only survivor left to stand up to them... they wore each victim - survivor down... even though I cried... while reading some of the post to me... the support I had from other members... helped to pull me through to the next day... I survived the abuse... because I knew... that the TRUTH... would win out in the end... and it did... Ann
http://annfreespirit.yolasite.com/reabuse-of-survivors.php
http://annfreespirit.yolasite.com/re-abuse-of-survivors.php

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

Last Sunday VP Rajeena, a journalist in Kozhikode, Kerala, put up a Facebook post where she described the sexual abuse of children that she had witnessed in a madrassa where she had studied many years ago. What followed was a vicious outpouring of hate and threats. Indeed, there was such an avalanche of complaints against her post, complaints that she was trying to besmirch her religion, that Facebook was forced to block her account.
Rajeena, who works in a Malayalam newspaper, wrote about a teacher at a Kozhikode madrassa who allegedly groped male students. Young boys would be asked to unzip their pants and the teacher would proceed to touch them, she wrote. She also talked about another teacher who apparently abused little girls.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/random-harvest/madrassa-scandal-why-child-sex-abuse-has-no-religion/

Church's handling of abuse 'amateur'

They why did the catholic church let him run wild... raping the innocent children??... as I now see what is coming out... that the catholic church did know... and watched the torture of boys and girls... they did not stop it... that is a CRIME in itself... they should all be put in jail... as well as the enablers... all those priest... bishops... and nuns... who looked the other way... so as not to bring down the catholic church... SHAME ON YOU...Ann

============================= 

THE Melbourne archdiocese's amateurish handling of complaints about a dangerous pedophile priest hurt a lot of people, a bishop says.

 FORMER Melbourne archbishop Frank Little had a blind spot when it came to complaints about priests, his long-time second-in-command Bishop Peter Connors says. The church failed to remove the gun-toting Doveton parish priest Peter Searson - described by a Catholic education staffer as "an extremely devious and dangerous man" - despite years of complaints.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/regrets-more-not-done-about-abuser-priest/story-fni6ul2m-1227624818184 

Angry victim reveals details of Pell letter apologising for suffering at hands of 'creepy' paedophile priest

A victim of notorious paedophile priest Peter Searson has revealed the contents of a letter of apology to her from former archbishop George Pell about her abuse.

The letter paints a different picture to the evidence given by Cardinal Pell to a Victorian inquiry in 2013. Julie Stewart gave evidence on Wednesday morning to the royal commission into child sex abuse about her treatment at the hands of Father Peter Searson at the Doveton Holy Family Parish in outer Melbourne in the 1980s.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/details-of-pell-apology-to-victim-of-paedophile-priest-released/6972448 

Concern at treatment of priests after sex abuse allegations

Concern at the treatment of priests who find themselves the subject of allegations of sex abuse has been expressed by members of the Association of Catholic Priests

Issues such as presumption of innocence, support for priests facing allegations and the time it takes for allegations to be dealt with were all of concern to the clergy, canon lawyer Helen Costigane who lectures in Heythrop College, London, told the association’s annual conference. 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/concern-at-treatment-of-priests-after-sex-abuse-allegations-1.2442482 

Attorney releases St. John's Abbey priests' files

Attorney Jeff Anderson Tuesday released the personnel files of five monks and priests who were part of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville.
The five, including two who are now deceased, were previously listed by St. John's Abbey as credibly accused of child sexual abuse. Anderson said the redacted version of the documents posted on his website, show that priests who admitted battles with sexual urges still had access to potential victims.

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/11/25/attorney-releases-st-johns-abbey-priests-files/76355754/ 

What do Church rules say about ex-Jesuit's sex abuse case?

After being confronted with a sex abuse complaint, Philippine Jesuits are revisiting the rules of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Holy See to seek guidance in handling the case.

The case involves Lucas (not his real name), who once studied in a school run by the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, the biggest male religious order in the Catholic Church. (READ: Part 1: Ex-Jesuit accused of sexual abuse) Lucas said a Jesuit, who eventually left the Society of Jesus, abused him “a few hundred times” from 1984 to 1987, starting when he was 15.

http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/113963-jesuit-sex-abuse-church-cbcp-rules 

Address human rights abuse, lobby urges the Catholic head

A lobby group wants Pope Francis to highlight critical human rights concerns during his tour of Kenya, Uganda and Central Africa Republic. In a letter to the Pope before he flew out of Rome yesterday, Human Rights Watch asked the head of the Catholic Church to speak out strongly on matters of justice in the three countries.
“This landmark visit is a key moment for Pope Francis to stand with all victims of human rights abuses,” HRW said through its Africa director Daniel Bekele. It urged the Pope to speak about civil and political rights, religious tolerance, and respect for sexual and gender minorities as well as other pressing human rights concerns.

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/address-human-rights-abuse-lobby-urges-catholic-head 

George Pell defends handling of abuse complaints

Cardinal George Pell says the Catholic Church's failure to deal with Melbourne pedophile priests is shameful. Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican's financial chief, says church leaders failed to address the conduct of abusers such as Fr Peter Searson but has again defended his handling of abuse complaints.
One of Searson's victims, Julie Stewart, has criticised Cardinal Pell for telling a Victorian inquiry there may have been victims of the priest - who was never convicted of a sex offence - after years earlier apologising to her for the abuse. Cardinal Pell was very moved by Ms Stewart's courage and openness in giving evidence to the child abuse royal commission, a spokesperson said in a statement from the Vatican.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/11/26/george-pell-defends-handling-abuse-complaints 

Inquiry told Rome called shots on Melbourne abuse response

Former Melbourne priest Philip O’Donnell testified yesterday that he believed Australian archbishops were under strict instructions about how to handle child abuse allegations.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt that Rome pulled the strings and instructed various bishops around Australia and around the world how to handle the matter, he said. “The consistency of the response from diocese to diocese … I just heard bishop after bishop say the same phrases and it just – you just started to see there was a common script, in my opinion, on how the matter was being dealt with.”

http://cathnews.com/archives/cath-news-archive/23573-more-than-450-sexual-abuse-claims-against-archdiocese-of-melbourne 

Anglican appointment reveals continuity between Pope Francis and Benedict

At the level of style, Pope Francis is obviously a somewhat jarring contrast with his predecessor, emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. Francis generally comes off as a warm Latin populist, Benedict more a cool German intellectual.
Leaders, however, promote either continuity or rupture not primarily at the level of style but rather policy, and on that front, one can make a case that Francis has a surprising amount in common with Benedict. His reforms on both Vatican finances and the clerical sexual abuse scandals, to ta

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/11/25/anglican-appointment-reveals-continuity-between-pope-francis-and-benedict/ 

Archbishop 'shut his eyes' to sex abuse allegations against priest: royal commission

Former Melbourne Archbishop Frank Little "shut his eyes" to child sex abuse allegations against a priest, the royal commission has heard.
Appearing before the commission on Thursday, former head of the Catholic Education Office Monsignor Thomas Doyle accepted that the handling of allegations against clergy rested entirely on the judgment of the archbishop.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/archbishop-shut-his-eyes-to-sex-abuse-allegations-against-priest-royal-commission-20151126-gl8swh.html 

Senior El Salvador priest fired over alleged sex with minor

El Salvador's Roman Catholic Church said on Thursday it had fired a senior priest and former secretary of murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero after allegations that he had sex with a minor.
The Archdiocese of San Salvador said its preliminary investigation showed Jesus Delgado, 77, the third-ranking priest in the country's Catholic church, had sex with a minor aged between 9 and 17.
The female victim, who is now 42, presented the allegations to the Salvadoran government.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/26/us-elsalvador-priest-idUSKBN0TF2E020151126

Records reveal Minnesota priests raped hundreds of kids for decades — and church buried the evidence

Personnel records made public on Tuesday revealed that Catholic priests at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota engaged in a sustained and coordinated campaign of child rape, which they took pains to keep secret from the public for decades.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a court case brought by one of the priests’ former victims has resulted in a judge’s order for the monastery to release records on all priests and monks credibly accused of child abuse.

https://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/records-reveal-minnesota-priests-raped-hundreds-of-kids-for-decades-and-church-buried-the-evidence/ 

Church let 'lunatic' loose in poor parish

The Catholic Church let a "raving lunatic loose" and sent a string of pedophile priests to a disadvantaged Melbourne parish with no concern for the parishioners, an inquiry has heard.
Father Victor Rubeo left Doveton overnight because he was having sex with a number of women in the parish, while his "bizarre and lunatic" successor Father Peter Searson told a girl he indecently assaulted in confession "the Lord forgives you".

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/25/03/36/vic-priest-abused-girl-during-confession 

Vic archbishop did nothing about priest

A parish priest should have been removed over his "extremely alarming" behaviour but then Melbourne archbishop Frank Little did nothing, an inquiry has heard.
Former Catholic Education director Monsignor Thomas Doyle agreed Archbishop Little did nothing about parishioners' complaints about Doveton parish priest Peter Searson. "In my opinion he should have be removed from the parish," he said. Monsignor Doyle said he expressed that view "constantly to the archbishop".

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/26/03/34/children-in-danger-with-priest-inquiry

George Pell asked for payments for paedophile priest, commission heard

Cardinal George Pell lobbied for payments to be made to a paedophile priest days before he was charged with sex offences, documents tendered to the child abuse royal commission show.
In May 1998, the Catholic Church's independent commissioner Peter O'Callaghan, QC, informed then Bishop Denis Hart that Gladston Park priest Wilfred "Billy" Baker was likely to be charged. Then archbishop George Pell had already put Baker on administrative leave while police investigated allegations of child abuse against him.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/george-pell-asked-for-payments-for-paedophile-priest-commission-heard-20151125-gl7q8c.html 

Rome 'pulled strings' on sex abuse cases, claims former priest

Top church officials in Rome called the shots on how to deal with child sex abuse cases involving Catholic clergy in Melbourne, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse has heard.
Former Melbourne priest Philip O'Donnell testified on Tuesday that he believed Australian archbishops were under strict instructions about how to handle child abuse allegations. "I don't think there's much doubt that Rome pulled the strings and instructed various bishops around Australia and around the world how to handle the matter," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-abuse-commission-rome-pulled-strings-on-sex-abuse-cases-claims-former-priest-20151124-gl6qxr.html 

We owe our gratitude to those who stood with victims

The abuse of children by Catholic clergymen has exposed a major failure of society, writes Suzanne Smith. But there were those who refused to accept the status quo. I have met many honourable people in my career as a journalist, but none so inspiring as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox and Joanne McCarthy, the courageous journalist from the Newcastle Herald.
But it hasn't been an easy road for either of them. They have stood beside many victims when everyone else failed to take responsibility and left those victims to deal individually with the Catholic Church. This has been a major failure of our society. We all left these traumatised and shattered families to deal directly with a powerful institution.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-13/smith-we-owe-our-gratitude-to-those-who-stood-with-victims/4368310 

Shameful church failure on abuse: Pell

Be a man Pell and face up... to your mistakes... Pell you covered up the rape of children boys and girls... by your catholic church priest... and you still will not tell the truth...  you are as guilty as they are... you sent the abusers... to other parts of Australia... so you may as well given them the go ahead... and then you paid the abusers money... you supported a pedophile priest Ridsdale... lived with him.. then made out that you did not know... that he was raping Boys and girls... SHAME ON YOU PELL... THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE... Ann.

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

Cardinal George Pell says the Catholic Church's failure to deal with Melbourne pedophile priests is shameful. Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican's financial chief, says church leaders failed to address the conduct of abusers such as Fr Peter Searson but has again defended his handling of abuse complaints.
One of Searson's victims, Julie Stewart, has criticised Cardinal Pell for telling a Victorian inquiry there may have been victims of the priest - who was never convicted of a sex offence - after years earlier apologising to her for the abuse.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30201222/shameful-church-failure-on-abuse-pell/ 

Graffiti targets Pell amid abuse inquiry

George Pell hung up the phone when a former Catholic school principal asked him to publicly back the man's attempts to deal with a bizarre pedophile priest, an inquiry has heard.
Graeme Sleeman says he wrote to Cardinal Pell, then the Melbourne archbishop, about a decade after he resigned as principal of Doveton's Holy Family Primary School in 1986 in frustration that nothing was done about parish priest Peter Searson.

http://www.theage.com.au//breaking-news-national/graffiti-targets-pell-amid-abuse-inquiry-20151125-46t30.html 

Documents reveal extent of sex abuse allegations against Minnesota priests

Confidential files on five priests accused of child sexual abuse have been made public as part of a settlement between St John’s Abbey and an abuse survivor. Sex abuse allegations against priests at St John’s Abbey in Minnesota were revealed in stark detail on Tuesday with the release of confidential documents concerning five priests accused of child sex abuse.
Among the psychological evaluations and personal correspondence are documents showing that the Rev Finian McDonald told a therapist that he had sexual encounters with about 200 adults and minors as a priest. Another evaluation shows that the Rev Richard Eckroth admitted to bringing children to a cabin, where he would give massages to naked boys, but denied claims of sex abuse. And the Rev Tom Gillespie’s personnel file shows that he had restricted access to minors after abusing a child in 1978.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/25/documents-reveal-extent-of-sex-abuse-allegations-against-minnesota-priests 

Australian priest raped victims weekly, abuse enquiry hears

A Catholic priest repeatedly raped and abused victims in south Australia, a royal commission into responses to abuse heard. Searson's abuse is among a number of other cases being investigated by the royal commission into institutional responses to abuse
Peter Searson, formerly parish priest at Holy Family church in Doveton, Victoria, abused parishioners and altar boys to such an extent where one victim told the commission he sits at home in the dark with the door locked because it is the only place he feels safe, the Guardian reports.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/australian.priest.raped.victims.weekly.abuse.enquiry.hears/71645.htm 

Abuser priest laughed after confession

The pedophile priest fell to his knees as he sought absolution. Then he laughed. He had "taken out" the priest who heard his confession, knowing Father Philip O'Donnell could not break the seal of confession.
One of Father Victor Gabriel Rubeo's victims had earlier confided in Mr O'Donnell and warned his abuser. Rubeo turned up at 8am the next day, sat down and then dropped on his knees and went into confessional mode, Mr O'Donnell told the child abuse royal commission on Tuesday.

http://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-national/abuser-priest-laughed-after-confession-20151124-46qlu.html 

Hundreds of sexual abuse claims against Archdiocese of Melbourne

More than 450 people have made sexual abuse claims or substantiated complaints against Archdiocese of Melbourne priests, employees or volunteers since 1980, an inquiry has heard.
At a public hearing in Melbourne, the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse said it had collected data on the conduct of Catholic priests that has never before been made public

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-24/hundreds-of-sexual-abuse-claims-against-archdiocese-of-melbourne/6967844 

Belfast priest who got parishioner pregnant lines up return

A Northern Ireland priest who was put on gardening leave by the Catholic Church after getting a parishioner pregnant has made a return to public life.
Fr Ciaran Dallat quit his post at St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast in March after the woman who later miscarried his baby revealed her story to Sunday Life. The 52-year-old cleric announced he was undertaking “spiritual guidance” to “repair the damage and hurt” he had caused.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/belfast-priest-who-got-parishioner-pregnant-lines-up-return-34228550.html 

Inquiry told many priests dysfunctional

Many priests are dysfunctional and sexually immature, a former priest says in trying to explain why so many clergy are pedophiles.
Many priests struggle with celibacy, said Philip O'Donnell, a Melbourne priest from 1975 to 1999 who noted that over a period of three decades the 26 in his seminary year had whittled down to two priests. "I personally believe mandatory celibacy isn't a gift. It's an imposition," he told the child abuse royal commission on Tuesday.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/inquiry-told-many-priests-dysfunctional/news-story/8771ae93e1b33f7caca0eed2af47a21c 

Priest's victim told he'd go to hell

The sexual abuse was the devil's way of punishing the boy for his sins, pedophile priest Peter Searson told his victim. Searson abused the altar boy for six months from 1978, on Saturday mornings when the nine-year-old washed the Melbourne priest's car for 50 cents and mowed the lawn.
BVD was already scared of Searson, who even a fellow priest described as a bizarre human being, but his devout Catholic mum told him to do the job. He couldn't tell anyone.

http://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-national/priests-victim-told-hed-go-to-hell-20151124-46sok.html 

Priest raped me nearly every Saturday for six months, victim tells hearing

He was a very scary man and and very intimidating, with a gaze that would just pierce you,’ former altar boy says of Sunbury parish priest Peter Searson.  A victim of child sexual abuse at the hands of a Melbourne priest, Peter Searson, has told a royal commission that he now sits at home in the dark with the door locked because it is the only place he feels safe.
The victim, identified only as BVD, said the abuse had begun when he was about nine years old in 1978, while he was serving as an altar boy at the Our Lady of Carmel parish in Sunbury. Searson was the parish priest and BVD was ordered to mow his lawn and wash his car.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/24/priest-raped-me-nearly-every-saturday-for-six-months-victim-tells-hearing 

Melbourne priest showered with boy

Priests don't do those things. Then Melbourne archbishop Frank Little did not believe Father Wilfred Baker had abused a boy when confronted by the parents, telling them they should be supporting their parish priest.
Baker was fixated on the teenager, former priest Philip O'Donnell says. Besotted with him. Obsessed. He showered with the boy and taught him to drive sitting on the Gladstone Park priest's lap.  "I just thought it was utterly inappropriate for an adult male, particularly a parish priest, to be showering with a young lad," Mr O'Donnell told the child abuse royal commission on Tuesday.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/24/12/35/melbourne-priest-showered-with-boy

Male witch child abuser loses court bid over supervision order

A MALE witch who hypnotised two 15-year-old girls and then prostituted and abused them has lost his bid to vary his supervision order. Robin Angus Fletcher, 58, wanted to be allowed to complete a rehabilitation-related workbook with verbal answers only and a recording of his answers also sent to his lawyer because he is vision impaired.

His lawyer Alan Marshall told Victoria’s Court of Appeal Fletcher was prone to giving long answers, and he feared a transcriber would not summarise these correctly.

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/male-witch-child-abuser-loses-court-bid-over-supervision-order/news-story/3c57dee4061f65e82dd2595ecd20d7b0 

Stolen from his mother - and sold to the highest bidder

why do you think that the nuns... kept putting us babies up for adoption??... all for money... if they did not get enough money from adopting us... they then made money out of... working us to the ground...  Ann

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

Two decades as a journalist reporting wars and disasters left me inured to suffering. Working in Whitehall under New Labour gave me a close-up view of the arrogance and cynicism of power.
As a result, I've always considered myself a hard-bitten sort. But some of the things I discovered on the quest that has detained me for the past five years  -  the depth of inhumanity and cruelty I stumbled across  -  made my jaw drop.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1216191/Stolen-mother-sold-highest-bidder.html 

Bessborough Mother and Baby Home: Order reported 80 more infant deaths to State than were on death register

With the way the nuns neglected... and abuse us children... it is a wondered... that more of us did not die... under their so called care... the nuns sold the babies to the highest bidder... and got away with it... they did... and still use money as their god... they are so evil... Ann

 =====================

The religious order that ran the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home reported significantly higher numbers of infant deaths to state inspectors than it recorded privately.  An Irish Examiner investigation can reveal that between March 31, 1939, and December 5, 1944, Department of Local Government and Public Health (DLGPH) inspector Alice Litster was informed that 353 infant deaths occurred at the institution.
The figures are contained in a inspection report from 1944 obtained by this newspaper. However, the Bessborough Death Register, released under Freedom of Information, reveals the nuns recorded just 273 infant deaths in this period — a discrepancy of 80. A year-by-year comparison of the records reveals that, in all but one year, the State was told that a higher number of children were dying in Bessborough than the nuns recorded privately.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/bessborough-mother-and-baby-home-order-reported-80-more-infant-deaths-to-state-than-were-on-death-register-363863.html

State feared public scandal over infant deaths at mother and baby homes

The State feared a “public scandal” in relation to the alarming number of children dying in mother and baby homes — 70 years before the Tuam babies scandal made worldwide headlines.  The revelation is contained in a letter sent on behalf of parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health Dr Con Ward in 1945 to the Bishop of Cork Daniel Cohalan.
The letter was in response to an angry letter sent to Dr Ward by Bishop Cohalan where he questioned the department’s request that the order remove the head of Bessborough over the “trouble” of infant mortality at the institution. Records show there was an 82% infant death rate at Bessborough at the time.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/state-feared-public-scandal-over-infant-deaths-at-mother-and-baby-homes-366523.html 

Nuns told don’t co-operate as Bishop tried to thwart probes into Bessborough scandal

MONTH after month, year after year we peel away another layer of the sordid history of Ireland’s mother and baby homes. In a country where falling pregnant outside marriage was viewed as something worse than a crime, thousands of women and girls were instead hidden away and their children taken from them.
With no real solution to the ‘problem’ of ‘illegitimacy’, the State was happy to leave it to religious orders and a system of mother and baby homes where, even by the standards of the day, the physical and psychological treatment of women and the removal of their children bordered on criminal.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/special-report-nuns-told-dont-co-operate-as-bishop-tried-to-thwart-probes-into-bessborough-scandal-366416.html 

Vatican Puts Whistleblowers On Trial

When Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi walk into a Vatican tribunal on Tuesday morning, it will be the first time in centuries that anyone has been tried for what amounts to heresy at the Holy See.
The two journalists are officially charged with the “unlawful disclosure of information and confidential documents” used in books (Merchants in the Temple by Nuzzi and Avarizia or Greed by Fittipaldi) published in November, but the reality feels a little bit more like the return of the Inquisition.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/23/vatican-puts-whistleblowers-on-trial.html

Vatican: We can indict foreign journalists, but not our own priests

Events last week showed that the Vatican has the power to indict foreign journalists … but earlier this year needed to draft new rules in order to indict its own employees for sex abuse. Let’s take a look.
Last week, the Vatican issued indictments against five journalists five people, including two journalists, who “leaked documents that informed two books alleging financial malfeasance in the Roman Catholic church bureaucracy.”
The Vatican is seeking jail terms from four to eight years. But when it comes to sexual abuse, the Vatican has said it was “powerless” to police its own employees who are located outside of the Vatican.

http://theworthyadversary.com/3787-indictment5 

Church makes it easier for victims to sue

The Catholic Church plans to make it a requirement for dioceses or religious orders to help sex abuse claimants identify who they should sue if they want take legal action.
The requirement is contained in guidelines published on Monday by the Truth, Justice and Healing Council and have been endorsed by the Church leadership. They will come into effect from January 1.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/breaking-news/church-makes-it-easier-for-victims-to-sue/news-story/375cd49cbdb6affe299d8945b746b9ab 

Church 'did nothing' about abuse

Church 'did nothing' about abuse The Catholic Church did nothing to protect children from a Melbourne priest who abused more than 50 children, an inquiry has heard.

More than 450 children have been sexually abused in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, mainly by priests, the child abuse royal commission says. Counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC says the church has paid a total of $16.8 million to 454 people since 1980, once treatment, legal and other costs are taken into account.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/breaking-news/former-priest-first-abuse-hearing-witness/news-story/b7ec24b1bd8fc3279eaea42287a93cdb 

When the truth ends up on an editing room floor

“Spotlight,” the movie about The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the coverup of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, had its general release on Friday and film critics agree: “Spotlight” is one of the best movies of the year.
Jack Dunn had a different reaction. After seeing the film at the Loews theater across from Boston Common, he stepped onto the sidewalk and threw up. The movie sickened him because he is portrayed as someone who minimized the suffering of those who were sexually abused, as someone who tried to steer Globe reporters away from the story, as someone invested in the coverup.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/21/when-truth-ends-editing-room-floor/a80DjFtwNj5CQfu6WuFBLL/story.html 

Sexually abusive priest worked in Crookston diocese in 1950s

Catholic diocese records that were previously sealed show a priest with a history of sexually abusing young girls served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston likely in the 1950s.

The Rev. Francis Schenk, former bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Duluth, wrote several letters in 1960 and 1961 stating the Rev. Charles Gormly, who died in 1968, had a history of molesting girls and had been a priest in the Crookston diocese. The Duluth diocese admitted last December the allegations against Gormly are credible.

http://www.wday.com/news/crime/3887223-sexually-abusive-priest-worked-crookston-diocese-1950s 

Portslade clergyman jailed for abusing boys online

THE Church of England has been hit by a fresh blow after another clergyman was jailed for sex crimes involving teenage boys.
Peter Keeley-Pannett has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after he used the webcam application Skype to view underage boys whom he contacted through internet chat rooms, while working as an unpaid deacon at the St Nicolas Church, Portslade. He pleaded guilty to making over 150 indecent images of underage boys, and to several counts relating to causing teenage boys between 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14094701.Portslade_clergyman_jailed_for_abusing_boys_online/ 

Ex-teachers speak about Vic church abuse

Teachers tried to get the Catholic Church to act against a suspected Melbourne pedophile priest including taking their concerns to then bishop George Pell, a royal commission will hear.

The child abuse royal commission is investigating how church authorities dealt with abusers who operated in the Holy Family Parish in Doveton and elsewhere in the Archdiocese of Melbourne for decades.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30170825/senior-church-figures-at-vic-abuse-inquiry/ 

Two more Milwaukee predator priests are exposed

Two admitted child molesting Catholic clerics who spent time in Milwaukee are being publicly exposed as predators by a victims’ group. It’s urging local Catholic officials to help prosecutors convict one of them.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are warning the public about Kevin Sloniker, an ex-seminarian who was arrested weeks ago in Menomonie for sexually abusing children and Fr. Eric Middlecamp who Catholic officials acknowledge molested kids and worked in Milwaukee.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/wi_two_more_milwaukee_predator_priests_are_exposed

Doubt’s witchhunt atmosphere is pertinent today

It is more than just Pope Francis’s recent condemnation of Roman Catholic church officials who covered up child sexual abuse that makes Doubt, A Parable more relevant than ever. So does the disturbing spectacle of individuals passing judgment based not on knowledge, but unfettered emotion through social media, most recently in the torrent of online Muslim-bashing.
The potentially destructive impact of such blind conviction that, at its worst, is tantamount to what went during the McCarthy witchhunts and other historical blemishes, is at the core of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. It’s a powerful piece that, despite a successful run on Broadway, is probably best known because of the 2013 movie version starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

http://www.timescolonist.com/doubt-s-witchhunt-atmosphere-is-pertinent-today-1.2116742 

Has the Catholic Church really changed?

Pope Francis has made moves towards reform - but can he overcome a bedrock of opposition, asks Sarah Dunant.

Looking back on it I think I was about 10 or 11 when the sacrament of confession worked best for me. I have vivid memories of a sense of burden as I entered the confessional box. Had I remembered all the things I'd done wrong? Was I truly sorry for them? Equally powerful was the relief that came upon me afterwards. Penance was never hard - a few Hail Marys next to a colourful statue of the Virgin crushing a snake underfoot - and walking home everything seemed suddenly brighter. I was forgiven, absolved. The world, and I inside it, felt new again.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34866283 

Special investigation: New Zealand'™s shameful record of child abuse

These children have died as a result of neglect, abuse, or maltreatment in New Zealand.  New Zealand remains one of the most dangerous countries in the developed world in which to grow up, despite efforts from successive governments.
Thirteen Kiwi kids have died in suspicious circumstances so far this year – one of the worst years on record and much higher than the annual average of nine.  Every second day, a child is admitted to hospital suffering from inflicted injuries, including burns, broken bones and head wounds – with Starship children's hospital in Auckland seeing more cases of serious abuse than ever before.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/73717177/special-investigation-new-zealands-shameful-record-of-child-abuse 

Rewind to 1995: a bitter campaign results in a narrow win for Yes

They are words that have become the stuff of Irish political legend. In the charged atmosphere of the referendum count in Dublin's RDS in November 1995, anti-divorce advocate Úna Bean Mhic Mhathúna urged victorious campaigners to, "G'way, ye wife-swappin' sodomites". Her rejoinder provoked laughter, but for the months in advance of the vote there was little to arouse mirth.

It was the referendum that saw more rancour and recrimination than any before or since as the Fine Gael-Labour coalition on the Yes side, stood up to the Catholic Church and assorted conservatives, including Mhic Mhathúna's Youth Defence on the other. Fianna Fáil, in opposition, supported a Yes to divorce, an about-turn from 1986 when the party had vigorously campaigned for a No vote. And yet, veteran FF stalwarts like Des Hanafin were vehemently opposed to divorce and were aghast when the vote was carried by the slimmest of margins - just 9,114 separated Yes from No.

 

http://www.independent.ie/life/family/rewind-to-1995-a-bitter-campaign-results-in-a-narrow-win-for-yes-34217510.html 

Tom Doyle addresses priest sex abuse survivors

Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle, who has worked with survivors of priest sex abuse for more than three decades, said Friday, July 31, he continues to grapple with its full dimensions.
“It just seems too big to get my head around,” he said. Doyle spoke July 31 at the 2015 gathering of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), which drew several hundred abuse survivors and supporters to the Westin Alexandria hotel here.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/tom-doyle-addresses-priest-sex-abuse-survivors 

Abuser priests 'dumped' in Vic parish

Melbourne's Doveton parish appears to have been a "dumping ground" for problem priests, four of them pedophiles. A string of abusers operated in the Holy Family Parish and elsewhere in the Archdiocese of Melbourne for decades.
"It appears to have been a parish that might have been a dumping ground," Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley said of Doveton.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30161567/abuser-priests-dumped-in-vic-parish/ 

It Takes a Village to Abuse a Child: Further Thoughts on Spotlight

I saw the movie “Spotlight” this morning, and it exceeded my expectations in every way. It’s definitely an Oscar contender, and I think it’s a film everyone should see. Not only does “Spotlight” do a great job of dramatizing the Boston Globe’s investigation into the abuse scandal, but it also shows the extent to which Boston was controlled not just by the Catholic church but by what one could call “the old Irish boy’s club” that demanded silence from priests, police, survivors, their families, and entire communities.
Indeed, it seems like many Bostonians had direct knowledge of abusive priests, but assumed that it was just that one guy and the church knew how to handle things. The willingness for communities to turn a blind eye to abusive priests leads a lawyer working for the church to proclaim (and here I’m paraphrasing), “It takes a village to raise a child, and a village to abuse one.”

https://extraecclesiamestlibertas.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/it-takes-a-village-to-abuse-a-child-further-thoughts-on-spotlight/ 

Abuse royal commission: Pell’s team to cross-examine victims

TJHC chief executive Francis Sullivan reaffirmed the policy yesterday of not cross-examining abuse survivors. “We don’t cross-examine survivor witnesses,” he said. “It’s always been our policy. We don’t wish to run the risk of retraumatising them.”  Ann

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

A split has emerged at the highest levels of the Catholic Church over how to deal with child sex abuse victims who testify before the royal commission. The church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council has been represented in the commission by law firm Gilbert and Tobin and has not cross-examined any of the survivor witnesses.
Cardinal George Pell will ­appear before the commission next month and has engaged a separate legal team to represent him and cross-examine witnesses who have given evidence.
TJHC chief executive Francis Sullivan reaffirmed the policy yesterday of not cross-examining abuse survivors. “We don’t cross-examine survivor witnesses,” he said. “It’s always been our policy. We don’t wish to run the risk of retraumatising them.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/abuse-royal-commission-pells-team-to-cross-examine-victims/story-fngburq5-1227616035744?sv=3bb10f6e5ff7a3d05373d78b212a2fea 

Cardinal Pell, his lawyers and the Royal Commission;

Pell and his lawyers... have not followed through;  "From the start, the council's lawyers told the Royal Commission that they would not be cross-examining witnesses, testing their credibility, and doubting their evidence of sexual abuse by church personnel". Pell wants to keep covering up... for the catholic church crimes... of raping innocent children... he has through his lawyers... his own part of Australia... in which he indirectly told his lawyers... to get rib of the victims - survivors... and pay the lest bit of money... to keep them quite... he has rob the victims - survivors... of the justice that they so need... for them to start to heal...  Pell and his lawyers... are going to do the same thing all over again... he will keep covering up... for the catholic church... because he is a coward... he can nor face the truth... Ann 

 ================

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is about to recommence its case study on the Catholic Church in Ballarat. Last week, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported: 'Victims of child sexual abuse look set to be grilled by lawyers for Cardinal George Pell in a bid to quash explosive allegations he was complicit in a widespread cover-up.'
Cardinal Pell will have legal representation separate from the legal team appearing for the Church. He will return from Rome and give evidence at the public hearing next month.

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=45726#.VlJyZ-JPJ0Q 

Nun Abuse: How My Mother, a Former Nun, Suffered at the Hands of 'The Good Sisters'

Catholic priests have become synonymous with “abuse” in recent years, but they’ve never been the only people of the cloth guilty of inflicting physical and emotional pain on innocent victims.
Seldom talked about are the rarely maligned women of the Church: sisters who intentionally abused fellow nuns behind convent walls. Nun abuse is that other dirty little secret of the Catholic Church—and it’s a secret that affected, and crushed, the spirits of scores of young women. My mother was one of them.

http://jezebel.com/nun-abuse-how-my-mother-a-former-nun-suffered-at-the-1742877082 

New Cases against Convicted Pedophile and Haitian Orphanage Responsible for Sexual Abuse of Hundreds of Boys

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Simmons Hanly Conroy, working with Boston-based plaintiffs' attorney Mitchell Garabedian, has filed over 100 new cases alleging sex abuse of young Haitian boys at an orphanage in Haiti more than seven years ago by convicted pedophile Douglas Perlitz.
The new cases, filed Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, follow the 2013 landmark settlement for $12 million of 24 consolidated sex abuse cases alleging negligent supervision of Perlitz at the orphanage. Simmons Hanly Conroy negotiated that settlement, paid by defendants the Society of Jesus of New England; Fairfield University; the Order of Malta; Hope Carter, a volunteer at the Haitian facility; and Father Paul Carrier.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/simmons-hanly-conroy-files-new-cases-against-convicted-pedophile-and-haitian-orphanage-responsible-for-sexual-abuse-of-hundreds-of-boys-300182611.html 

Fr Brian D'Arcy: 'Nobody can stop me doing good'

As Fr Brian D'Arcy publishes his 15th book and continues to stir debate and challenge the Catholic Church on big issues, Brian Campbell profiles and speaks to the popular 70-year-old Enniskillen-based priest, writer and broadcaster.  

FR BRIAN D’Arcy is many things – a priest, a writer, a broadcaster, a loyal Fermanagh GAA fan and a deep thinker. The Enniskillen-based cleric became headline news in 2012 when the Vatican censured him because his journalism and radio broadcasts had allegedly "scandalised" the Catholic faithful.

http://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2015/11/21/news/fr-brian-d-arcy-nobody-can-stop-me-doing-good--329565/

King’s University College professor and ex-Anglican priest charged with sexually assaulting First Nation boys

A London, Ont., college professor is facing sex charges dating back to the period when he was an Anglican priest at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on the Chippewa-On-The-Thames Native Reserve outside London.
Police say they investigated allegations of sexual abuse involving three First Nation boys that began in 1977 when they were seven years old, and ended in 1983 when they were 12 years old. It is alleged that the offences occurred at the home of the accused in London.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/kings-university-college-professor-and-ex-anglican-priest-charged-with-sexually-assaulting-first-nation-boys 

Bergoglio: Be careful of who you admit to the seminary

Some young men are too rigid or fundamentalist and join the priesthood because of mental deficiencies. The Pope recalled the importance of the family and the personalisation of human formation. He told bishops: “Be present in your dioceses of resign”

“Be careful of who you admit to the seminary,” because there could be people with mental deficiencies among the candidates to the priesthood. Pope Francis said this in an audience with participants of a Conference sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy marking the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Vatican II decrees “Presbyterorum ordinis” (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests) and “Optatam Totius” (Decree on Priestly Training) (Pontifical Urbaniana University, 19-20).  

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-44785/

Columbus native finds herself on big screen

When the movie Spotlight reaches theaters on Friday, audiences will see a Columbus native portrayed on-screen in the drama about reporters doggedly exposing sexual abuse by the clergy.
Sacha Pfeiffer, who graduated from Bishop Watterson High School in 1989, went on to a career in journalism and shared in a Pulitzer Prize with others on a Boston Globe investigative team that broke the sexual-abuse story in 2002.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2015/11/17/1-columbus-native-finds-herself-on-big-screen.html 

Vatican probes sex abuse claims made by former missionary in letter to Pope Francis

Allegations of sexual abuse as well as abuse of authority by certain leaders of a religious group in Barcelona have led to an internal investigation by the Vatican, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Former missionary "Paulino," 36, recently made accusations that he had been a labour and sex slave of certain members of the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle, and of Mary Mother of the Church (MCSPA) for years. The information was sent to Pope Francis.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/vatican.probes.sex.abuse.claims.made.by.former.missionary.in.letter.to.pope.francis/70766.htm 

Former Conn. Scoutmaster Named in Lawsuit Allegedly Molested Some Boys Hundreds of Times

Lawsuit says national organization ignored evidence of pedophilia. As a scoutmaster in Ridgefield in the 1960s and 1970s, Donald Dennis went on frequent camping trips with young boys. And, according to a Stamford attorney, he molested them time and time again. One young scout was allegedly assaulted more than 1,000 times.
The accusations are spelled out in an 850-page lawsuit naming the Texas-based Boy Scouts of America Corp. (BSA), the Fairfield County Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Connecticut Yankee Council. The latter is the umbrella group for scouting troops in the southwestern part of the state.

http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202743085984/Updated-Former-Conn-Scoutmaster-Named-in-Lawsuit-Allegedly-Molested-Some-Boys-Hundreds-of-Times?slreturn=20151021192037 

Abuser priests 'dumped' in Vic parish

Melbourne's Doveton parish appears to have been a "dumping ground" for problem priests, four of them pedophiles. A string of abusers operated in the Holy Family Parish and elsewhere in the Archdiocese of Melbourne for decades.
"It appears to have been a parish that might have been a dumping ground," Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley said of Doveton. "There was a series of problem priests and they all seemed to end up down there. These priests were dropped in there and it was hoped that the problem was going to go away and unfortunately it didn't."

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/22/03/34/abuser-priests-dumped-in-vic-parish

Catholic church charges five over leaked documents

Vatican magistrates charge members of special economic reform commission established by Pope Francis.  The Vatican has charged five people over the leak of damaging documents about Pope Francis’s attempts to reform the Catholic church, including two journalists and a high-ranking cleric.

Two members of the pope’s reforms commission and a newly identified assistant were charged with disclosing confidential Vatican information and documents, while two journalists were charged with soliciting and exerting pressure to obtain the information, according to the indictments released by the Vatican on Saturday.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/21/catholic-church-charges-five-over-leaked-documents 

Cardinal Pell 'lightning rod for outrage'

Cardinal George Pell has been described as a lightning rod for outrage and his third time before the child abuse royal commission will be no different.
Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican's financial chief, will return from Rome next month to give evidence to the commission's resumed inquiry into widespread abuse in the Ballarat diocese and to answer what he knew about offenders in the Melbourne archdiocese.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/22/03/33/cardinal-pell-lightning-rod-for-outrage 

Letter: Clergy should see "Spotlight"

I am writing to encourage area clergy to watch the movie "Spotlight," the true story of The Boston Globe’s investigation of the conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
In the early '70s, a close friend and I were abused by our pastor, so I am sensitive to this issue. Though the Catholic Church has taken steps in abuse prevention, major problems remain (see bishopaccountability.org). One glaring example: Bernard Law, the bishop responsible for the coverup in Boston, remained a Cardinal and even now lives in opulence at the Vatican.

http://www.sj-r.com/article/20151116/OPINION/151119643 

Pope: Bishops who covered up for abuse guilty of wrongdoing

Pope Francis has defended his words of consolation to U.S. bishops over the priest sex abuse scandal but says — for the first time — that those who covered up for abusers are guilty of wrongdoing.
In a wide-ranging press conference en route to Rome from his first-ever visit to the United States, Francis also declared conscientious objection a "human right," explained his admiration for American nuns and discussed his own star power, which was fully on display during his six-day, three-city tour.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-pope-us-visit-20150928-story.html 

Catholic Church to announce abuse reforms

An independent body is to be established by the Catholic Church in Scotland to oversee the safeguarding of victims and potential victims of abuse. The move will form part of a major overhaul of how the Church deals with abuse cases as it implements recommendations by the McLellan Commission on protecting children and vulnerable adults.

The Church accepted the findings in full when the report was published in August. It aims to implement most of the recommendations within two years. The commission report said creating proper safeguards was the “greatest challenge” facing the Church following decades of child abuse.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/catholic-church-to-announce-abuse-reforms-1-3954233 

Men in their 70s charged with glut of sexual and physical offences in connection with Shefford boys’ home abuse

A 79-year-old man from Swaffham in Norfolk has been charged with 66 offences – 18 sexual and 48 physical – which are alleged to have taken place at St Francis Boys’ Home between 1963 and 1974. The 25 boys were aged between five and 16.
A 73-year-old man from Bedford has also been charged with six sexual offences against four boys aged between 11 and 16. Both men will appear at Luton Magistrates’ Court on 30 November.

http://www.thecomet.net/news/men_in_their_70s_charged_with_glut_of_sexual_and_physical_offences_in_connection_with_shefford_boys_home_abuse_1_4320164 

Pope Francis wants families to talk, not text, at the (dinner) table

Many have called Pope Francis a “Pope of the People” or “The People’s Pope”, due in no small part to his way of doing things. and he recently took the opportunity during a November 11th sermon at St. Peter’s Square to share his thoughts on tech at the table:
“A family that almost never eats together, or that never speaks at the table but looks at the television or the smartphone, is hardly a family.” He then added that, “When children at the table are attached to the computer or the phone and don’t listen to each other, this is not a family, this is a pensioner!”

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/11/19/pope-francis-wants-families-to-talk-not-text-at-dinner-table.html 

Pope Francis: ‘If you’re unstable, see a doctor – don’t become a priest

POPE FRANCIS TODAY described some Catholic priests as so scary and neurotic he keeps well away from them. In comments at a conference on training for the priesthood, the 78-year-old pontiff revealed he is instinctively suspicious of overly pious candidates. I will tell you sincerely, I’m scared of rigid priests.
 I keep away from them. They bite!  His remarks drew laughs from the audience, but Francis was making the serious point that some people drawn to a clerical career are fundamentally unstable, and that this inevitably creates problems for the church if they are not weeded out. If you are sick, if you are neurotic, go and see a doctor, spiritual or physical. The doctor will give you pills. But, please, don’t let the faithful pay for neurotic priests.

http://www.thejournal.ie/pope-francis-neurotic-priests-unstable-doctor-2458376-Nov2015/