Former local pastor sentenced for sex crimes in Pennsylvania

A former pastor of a Lyndonville church serving a 15-year prison term for molesting girls was sentenced for similar charges in a Pennsylvania court last week.
Roy Harriger, 73, was sentenced to two-to-five years in prison for molesting a young girl in Mercer County. The assaults took place while Harriger was serving as pastor of Mercer Community Church from 1991-97.

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/former-local-pastor-sentenced-for-sex-crimes-in-pennsylvania-20170214 

The child abuse scandal of the British children sent abroad

For several decades, the UK sent children across the world to new lives in institutions where many were abused and used as forced labour. It's a scandal that is still having repercussions now.

Imagine the 1950s, in the years before air travel became commonplace or the internet dominated our lives. Imagine being a child of those times, barely aware of life even in the next town. An orphan perhaps, living in a British children's home.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39078652?post_id=10204672433356106_10208928322110665#_=_ 

Cardinal Connell was ill-suited to deal with the child abuse scandal

Controversial former Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, dies aged 90, writes Liam Collins.

 Cardinal Desmond Connell, who died overnight last Monday in Dublin, at the age of 90, was a sincere and learned academic theologian, ill-equipped to deal with the sexual abuse scandal which had engulfed the Irish Catholic Church and into which he was plunged after his appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1988.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/cardinal-connell-was-illsuited-to-deal-with-the-child-abuse-scandal-35482847.html 

Pope quietly trims sanctions for sex abusers seeking mercy.

Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope's own advisers question.
One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope's clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.

https://apnews.com/64e1fc2312764a24bf1b2d6ec3bf4caf 

Pope Francis reversed decisions to kick paedophiles out of the priesthood

Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope’s own advisers question.
One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope’s clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/pope-francis-mercy-for-child-molesters/ 

Victim says law not requiring religious groups to police vet children's workers is dangerous

Spiritual leaders with access to children are not subject to police vetting, a loophole that urgently needs closing, according to a victim of historic sex abuse.
Ann-Marie Shelley, of Upper Hutt, was abused by Catholic priest Peter Hercock, who molested her when she was a teenager, along with three other girls. "As more voluntary groups become known for their rigorous screening practices, potential child abusers will be put off even applying for work with children."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/89731945/priest-sexual-abuse-victim-says-law-not-requiring-religious-groups-to-police-vet-childrens-workers-dangerous

The child abuse scandal of the British children sent abroad

For several decades, the UK sent children across the world to new lives in institutions where many were abused and used as forced labour. It's a scandal that is still having repercussions now.

Imagine the 1950s, in the years before air travel became commonplace or the internet dominated our lives. Imagine being a child of those times, barely aware of life even in the next town. An orphan perhaps, living in a British children's home.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39078652 

We call this residential care, I call it institutionalisation of trauma": Group calls for better child protection

SHANE GRIFFIN spent eight years of his childhood in State care. In that time he was moved through multiple foster placements, suffered sexual and physical abuse, and ran away from his place of residence multiple times.
“I’m an adult child of the Irish State,” Griffin told listeners gathered in room in Leinster House on Wednesday.

http://www.thejournal.ie/care-leavers-network-3253530-Feb2017/ 

Pope Francis Refuses To Punish Pedophile Priests

A new report reveals Pope Francis is quietly making the Catholic church a safe space for pedophile priests.
The Associated Press reports that Pope Francis is reducing sanctions against pedophile priests, and even refusing to defrock priests found guilty of sexually abusing children, all in the name of mercy.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2017/02/report-pope-francis-refuses-punish-pedophile-priests/ 

Pope Francis reversed decisions to kick paedophiles out of the priesthood

Pope Francis has reduced punishments for paedophile priests who abused children as young as 12. The leader of the world’s biggest faith wants to apply his vision of a ‘merciful’ church and has changed the punishments for a handful of priest.
Italian priest Mauro Inzoli had been sentenced to be ‘defrocked’ (removed from the priesthood) in 2012, but Pope Francis reversed the decision in 2014, telling him instead to stop public ministry and do penance and pray for the rest of his life.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/26/pope-francis-reversed-decisions-to-kick-paedophiles-out-of-the-priesthood-6473481/ 

Shining the light on church abuse

Joanne McCarthy is the brave journalist who spearheaded the Newcastle Herald’s “Shine the light” campaign which, arguably, brought about the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Abuse, and an earlier NSW special enquiry. 

She interviewed about 200 victims of sexual abuse, many of them scarred by alcohol, drugs and depression. She uncovered no less than 12 suicides or drug overdoses among former students of a priest called John Denham. McCarthy is the current holder of Australia’s highest journalism award, the Gold Walkley.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/shining-the-light-on-church-abuse/ 

Guam, Saipan diocese react to sex abuse allegations against retired bishop

Melvin Duenas says he was repeatedly raped by the now-retired bishop in the early 1970s. Guam - The Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan issued a statement this afternoon following allegations of sexual abuse against Saipan’s Bishop Emeritus Tomas Camacho

Bishop Ryan Jimenez said in a release that his diocese is cooperating with civil authorities and that they are working hard to maintain a safe church environment.

 

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/local/12689 

Pope's abuse advisory group 'underfunded'

Pope Francis' child sexual abuse advisory group is under-resourced and struggling to carry out its work, a royal commission sitting in Sydney has heard.
Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Thursday agreed the Catholic Church was still struggling to deal with its child safety responsibilities. Australian commission member Kathleen McCormack said underfunding, infrequent meetings, and structural and cultural barriers were hampering the group's work.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/23/09/56/pope-s-child-sex-group-underfunded

Regional areas ‘breeding ground’ for child sex abuse, inquiry told

Regional areas were a “breeding ground” for emotionally immature Catholic clergy who easily entrenched themselves in communities and went onto sexually abuse children undetected, an inquiry heard.  
In a frank admissions to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse said on Tuesday an “extraordinary level of trust” was invested in priests in country communities.

http://www.hepburnadvocate.com.au/story/4483983/regional-areas-breeding-ground-for-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-told/?cs=12 

Catholic church underpaid sex abuse victims-royal-commission-20170

The Christian Brothers underpaid almost 170 sexual abuse claimants millions of dollars because they believed they were "going to be taken to the cleaners", a royal commission has heard.
An inquiry into Catholic church authorities heard the order was asked to re-examine 201 compensation settlements to victims of child sexual abuse in 2014 and found 165 were too low.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/catholic-church-underpaid-sex-abuse-victims-royal-commission-20170221-guiddg.html 

'I went to bed screaming': child abuse survivor speaks as church faces moment of reckoning

Every night, as darkness fell around the boarding houses of St Virgil’s College in Hobart, Tony Rayner watched a handful of boys creep into the bedroom of Brother Patrick Timothy Farrell.
It was the 1950s and an eight-year-old Rayner was envious of the boys’ special treatment. Rumours drifted through the halls that Brother Farrell’s chosen few were rewarded with lollies.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/25/i-went-to-bed-screaming-child-abuse-survivor-speaks-as-church-faces-moment-of-reckoning 

British documentary alleges pope linked to "child abuse cover-up"

A British documentary claimed that Pope Benedict XVI was implicated in the systematic cover-up of child sex abuse allegations against Catholic priests.
Before becoming head of the church, the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger enforced church doctrinal orthodoxy, including a "secret Vatican decree which seemed to shelter the perpetrators and silence the victims of abuse", the Panorama programme said.

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/british-documentary-alleges-pope-linked-to-child-abuse-cover-up.2498/ 

Is the Catholic Church guilty of crimes against humanity? YES...

The Catholic Church, which has presided over a decades-long international cover-up of countless cases, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of child rape and other sexual abuse is arguably guilty of crimes against humanity.In Australia, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, launched in 2013, has heard much harrowing evidence that for decades child rapists have been protected by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Only a few days ago, the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, told the commission the response of leaders of his church to allegations of child sexual abuse amounted to "criminal negligence".

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/is-the-catholic-church-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity-20170223-gujy2v

Catholic education system under a cloud after child sex abuse commission findings.

Mark Fabbro remembers most vividly the flowering callistemon and blue sky outside the window of the small room tucked behind the priest's office.
Everything else – the whip, the feel of his bare skin being pressed into the leather couch, the priest mumbling in Latin behind him – comes back in fractured snapshots, images rising unbidden from the deep wells of childhood memory.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/catholic-education-system-under-a-cloud-after-child-sex-abuse-commission-findings-20170210-gua1pv.html 

Submission tells of horrific abuse

A DARK history of abuse, torture, rape and shattered lives across the Ballarat region has been revealed by a group submission to the Victorian inquiry into clergy sexual abuse.
The tragic stories of 11 victims are included in the submission, which details sustained abuse by Catholic priests and brothers between 1963 and 1985 at St Alipius Christian Brothers School and St Patrick’s College.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/351891/submission-tells-of-horrific-abuse/

Victorian paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Best admits molesting 20 more young boys

NOTORIOUS Victorian paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Best has admitted molesting a further 20 young boys at Catholic schools where he used to teach.

The 76-year-old on Monday pleaded guilty to 24 counts of indecent assault on boys aged between eight and 11 years.  Best molested the 20 boys between 1968 and 1988 while teaching at St Alipius primary school in Ballarat, St Leo’s College in Box Hill and St Joseph’s College, Geelong, prosecutor Peter Rose QC said.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/victorian-paedophile-and-christian-brother-robert-best-admits-molesting-20-more-young-boys/news-story/a270c6af45fbfacd4bf3f18e54abdd5a 

Christian Brothers defend spending $1.5m funding paedophile Robert Best’s legal defence

THE Christian Brothers say they only paid a convicted pedophile’s latest legal fees after previously spending more than $1.5 million defending him because he decided to plead guilty.

A Victorian County Court judge says he is “blown away” that the Catholic Church still funds the legal defence for Brother Robert Best, who has been convicted of sex offences against 11 boys and this week admitted abusing a further 20.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/christian-brothers-defend-spending-15m-funding-paedophile-robert-bests-legal-defence/news-story/34f55091938bb1996caffaaf57b38bf6 

Company to hold Catholic groups to account

Catholic priests could face serious penalties if they don't meet the mark set by a new professional standards body which will publicly name non-compliant dioceses and orders.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday heard Catholic Professional Standards Limited would audit the church's authorities, with a view to holding them to account by publishing reports online.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/34449426/leaders-answer-for-churchs-abuse-failures/#page1 

Catholic Church funding defence of paedophile Robert Best 'just blows me away', Victorian judge says

The Catholic Church is continuing to cover the legal bills of convicted paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Best, who has admitted to sexually abusing a further 20 boys in his care, a Victorian court has been told.

Best, 76, admitted on Monday to 24 charges of indecent assault against the boys, mostly aged between eight and 11 years old.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-20/judge-reacts-to-catholic-church-funding-paedophiles-defence/8287830 

Australian bishop says he suffered sexual abuse at hands of Catholic clergy

The Catholic bishop of Parramatta has gone public for the first time about the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of clergy.
Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen talked about the abuse at a royal commission hearing in Sydney and called on the church to consider removing priests’ honorifics and giving parishioners more power. “I was also a victim of sexual abuse by clergy when I first came to Australia, even though I was an adult,” the former refugee told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Tuesday.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/21/australian-bishop-says-he-suffered-sexual-abuse-at-hands-of-catholic-clergy 

Scale of sexual abuse at Marist College Canberra revealed by royal commission

Royal commission documents have exposed Marist College in Canberra as the most notorious Catholic school in Australia for child sexual abuse claims. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed 63 claims of child sexual abuse made against the school.

 But Bravehearts ambassador Damian De Marco believed the total number of victims at Marist College Canberra would be much higher.  "The true figure at Marist would be well over 100 given the number of stories I have heard about people who will never present officially and those that have died from suicide and drugs," Mr De Marco said.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/scale-of-sexual-abuse-at-marist-college-canberra-revealed-by-royal-commission-20170220-gugqwk.html 

Ex-police officer accuses historical child abuse victims of LYING to win compensation

A former West Midlands Police officer has accused victims of institutional childhood abuse of LYING to a Government inquiry to win compensation.
Labour Party activist Bernard McEldowney is due to stand for the Bromsgrove ward of Woodvale in the county council elections in May. But the retired police inspector has sparked fury in Northern Ireland after attacking a Government inquiry looking at the institutional abuse of children, dating back decades.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/ex-police-officer-accuses-historical-12629639 

Costly efforts to improve access to files

More than 130,000 boxes holding about 1000 pages each of records from historical children's homes and juvenile justice facilities in NSW are being scanned and indexed. It adds to an index of child protection records for 2.8 million people in NSW.
Victoria's human services department held 80 linear kilometres of ward records spanning 150 years, much of which had not been examined or indexed as recently as 2012. More than one million paper-based records have now been indexed.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/20/17/17/costly-efforts-to-improve-access-to-files

Queens woman, repeatedly raped by priest at 14, stunned to learn he's reinstated by Catholic Church — 'He'd tell me I would have to go to confess to making him impure'

When Megan Peterson was 14, she was raped and sexually assaulted — sometimes inside the church confessional booth — over the course of a year by her parish priest.
So the abuse survivor was astounded to learn her tormentor, the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul, was reinstated earlier this month by Catholic Church officials after a suspension of roughly the same duration of her time as a victim.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens-woman-shocked-vatican-reinstates-priest-raped-article-1.2542685 

Children do not have affairs with older women, they are abused by them

nuns and women rape children... until we all brake our silence... this crime will go on... children are innocent of this crime... which is force onto the children... who have no voice... because no one will believe them... when they tell of the rape... which these women and nuns did... just because a women raped a child.. .dose not . give the courts the right... to set her free of her crime... she did the crime of rape... and she should do the time... as the men have to... women who rape children... boys and girls alike... need to serve their time in jail also... rape of children by any person is a crime...raped of children by males or females is a crime...  Ann

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

There is nothing new in a victim of a sexual assault being blamed for the offence. Back in 1982 there was a national outcry when a convicted rapist was punished with just a £2,000 fine after the judge ruled that his victim, by hitch-hiking in a skirt, was “guilty of a great deal of contributory negligence”.
At least things have moved on, or so one might have thought. Yesterday, 21-year-old Jade Hatt walked out of court with a suspended sentence after being convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a child. The leniency was explained in part by mitigating testimony that the victim was “sex mad” and ‘“fully up for the experience”. The encounter was a “notch on his belt” and he was “totally unaffected by it”. The victim was just 11 years old. As if that were not sufficiently horrific, that testimony was provided by the boy’s own father, who had himself been in a previous sexual relationship with the defendant.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/06/children-older-women-abused-jade-hatt 

Catholic leaders speak of church's 'catastrophic failure' in past approach to child abuse

Australia's most senior Catholic leaders delivered a scathing assessment of their church's past approach to victims of child sexual abuse, telling a royal commission it was "criminal negligence" and "a catastrophic failure".
Five metropolitan archbishops appeared before a packed hearing room at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining Catholic church authorities in a three-week inquiry.

http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/4489560/catholic-leaders-speak-of-churchs-catastrophic-failure-in-past-approach-to-child-abuse/?cs=12 

Pope says better an atheist than a Catholic living a double life

Addressing those present in his daily morning Mass on Thursday, Francis asked them how many times they had heard someone saying “But to be a Catholic like him, better to be an atheist!”

ROME- Pope Francis on Thursday denounced Catholics living what he called a “double life,” meaning such hypocrisy as going to Mass and participating in different Church associations, but then not paying fair wages to employees or laundering money.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/23/pope-says-better-atheist-catholic-living-double-life/ 

Australia’s Grim Toll in the Church’s Sex Abuse Scandal

The global scale of the Catholic clergy’s sexual abuse scandal becomes harder for the Vatican to deny with each shocking national inquiry. The latest, from Australian government investigators, found that from 1980 to 2015 there were 4,444 victims of abuse and at least 1,880 suspected to be abusers, most of them priests and religious brothers.

Through this period, the haunting subtext is the culpability of bishops who did nothing about the crimes. The abused children were ignored or punished while priests who raped children were protected by supervisors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/opinion/australias-grim-toll-in-the-churchs-sex-abuse-scandal.html?ref=opinion 

Women also sexually abuse children, but their reasons often differ from men’s

Rape by women and men of children... boys and girls alike... is a CRIME there is no difference to the rape... I do feel that rape to children by women... is worse because of what the women use to rape a child with... I was raped by three women... from 18months to five years old... it was very painful... my god I could not walk...

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

Data from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recently revealed that, between 1950 and 2010, 60% of all abuse allegedly took place at faith-based institutions. Evidence showed that, in Catholic institutions, 95% of alleged offenders were men.
This means the remaining 5% (or 96 of the 1,880 accused) were women. This may come as a surprise. There is a common misconception that all child sex offenders are men. But women child sex offenders do exist, although they differ from male counterparts in several ways.

http://theconversation.com/women-also-sexually-abuse-children-but-their-reasons-often-differ-from-mens-72572 

The Vatican, child sex crimes and how Australia is the great facilitator

AUSTRALIA should renounce the Vatican’s diplomatic status, close its embassy to the Holy See and make senior Catholic clergy accountable to the Australian criminal justice system, say supporters of a tougher response to the church after it refused to comply with requests from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Hunter-based One Nation Senator Brian Burston is planning a private member’s bill to withdraw diplomatic recognition granted the Vatican in 1973, after public controversy about Cardinal George Pell’s failure to return to Australia to give evidence at the royal commission, and the Vatican’s refusal to provide the commission with files of Australian child sex offender priests held by the Holy See.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4477315/calls-for-vatican-diplomatic-recognition-to-end/ 

Hobart archbishop says scale of abuse by Catholic clergy 'difficult' to understand

The archbishop of Hobart said he still struggles to understand why Catholic clergy abused children on such a massive scale, and blamed the church’s response on an ignorance of “the seriousness of child sexual abuse”.
The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Tuesday heard evidence from a panel of archbishops and bishops, largely from Australia’s smaller Catholic dioceses.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/21/hobart-archbishop-says-scale-of-abuse-by-catholic-clergy-difficult-to-understand 

Priest who denied a duty to report abuse faces abuse charges

Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a prominent French priest and psychoanalyst who stirred controversy in 2015 when he advised newly appointed Catholic bishops that they were not obligated to report sex abuse allegations to the police, now faces a Church legal procedure for abuse charges himself.

Anatrella has strongly denied the abuse allegations, suggesting in the past that he’s become a target because of his critical views and writings on homosexuality.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/02/20/priest-denied-duty-report-abuse-faces-abuse-charges/ 

Catholic Church Relies on 'Secrecy and Resistance' to Scare Sex Abuse Victims

Australia's Catholic Church paid out $213 million to victims of sexual abuse by priests between 1980 and 2015, it has been revealed - although a lawyer investigating Catholic sexual abuse has told Sputnik the true compensation bill will be considerably higher, given the number of victims who have failed to come forward.

On average, victims who came forward with claims received US$70,000 (91,000 Australian dollars) each. Prosecuting barrister Gail Furness said the extent of the abuse was likely to be "much greater" than the claims made. Campaigners believe the true figure could be as high as 10,000.

https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201702171050794494-australia-catholic-church-abuse/ 

Australia Catholic Church's Child Protection Body Allowed to Keep Audits Secret

The Australian Catholic church’s body Catholic Professional Standards (CPS) will have the right to refrain from publishing its auditory reports, according to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Australian Catholic church’s body Catholic Professional Standards (CPS) aimed at examining the church’s approach to child abuse in the country will have the right to refrain from publishing its auditory reports, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found out Monday, as cited by the media.

https://sputniknews.com/world/201702201050874160-catholic-church-audit-secret-child/ 

Power of priests needs change: bishop

The Catholic Church should consider getting rid of honorifics such as "your lordship" and give lay people more power over parish priests, a NSW bishop says.
Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that titles, privileges and the Church's institutional dynamics "breed clerical superiority and elitism".


http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/21/03/33/marist-brothers-sorry-for-shameful-abuse

Ex-altar boy refuses to testify at Vatican Guam abuse trial

A former altar boy who accused Guam's longtime archbishop of sexually abusing him refused Thursday to testify before a Vatican court headed by American Cardinal Raymond Burke on the grounds that he couldn't have his lawyer present.

Roland Sondia met with Burke and other Vatican officials who traveled to the Pacific island U.S. territory to take testimony for the trial of Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, attorney David Lujan said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cardinal-sent-guam-investigate-sex-abuse-claims-074542116.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw 

Catholic Church has a formal diplomatic relationship with Australia, but there are calls for that to end

Australia allows the Catholic Church to protect sexual predators, and any information the church holds on its own illegal activity, from the law. We let it do this by granting protections afforded to no other religious group. It is time this ended.
In 1973 the Australian government granted the Vatican (called the Holy See in official channels) formal diplomatic recognition. This protected the Vatican, and gave its senior officials and head office in Australia the same protection we afford embassies and staff of foreign nations. Their documents cannot be subpoenaed and their senior officials cannot be forced to attend court or provide information.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4478602/vatican-hiding-behind-the-protections-weve-given-it/ 

Catholic church claims ‘seismic shift’ after child sexual abuse scandals

The Catholic church says it has made a seismic shift in holding its leaders accountable for protecting Australian children after decades of abuse by hundreds of pedophiles.
The church says its new national professional standards body will ensure consistency across its autonomous dioceses and orders.
Each bishop and religious leader will sign a contract agreeing to abide by the standards and be monitored, audited and subject to public reporting, the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive, Francis Sullivan, said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/19/catholic-church-claims-seismic-shift-after-child-sexual-abuse-scandals 

Power of priests needs change: bishop

The Catholic Church should consider getting rid of honorifics such as "your lordship" and give lay people more power over parish priests, a NSW bishop says.

Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that titles, privileges and the Church's institutional dynamics "breed clerical superiority and elitism".

He said he cringes when parishioners call him "your lordship" and the church needs to review mandatory celibacy, which he thinks separates the clergy from parishioners.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/archbishop-would-stand-up-to-pope/news-story/c57894c762642e8b80db3539f75bcf1d 

Suffer the little children: Sexual abuse and neglect by Church and state

Where is the outrage from our government at 4,444 reported cases of child sexual abuse over 30 years? The silence is deafening, says John Passant. IMAGINE if the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had found and reported on widespread systemic abuse of children by Islamic religious leaders? The condemnation would be never ending from the Islamophobes, media and politicians.
Weeks later, there would still be analysis and calls for action, including banning Islam, banning Muslims, closing Islamic schools, policing Islam, banning Muslim refugees and asylum seekers — oh, we already do that. And on to all the usual tropes of reaction about, for example, Sharia law, halal food, the oppression of women, homophobia and – the biggie – terrorism.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/suffer-the-little-children-sexual-abuse-and-neglect-by-church-and-state,10024

Paedophile priest Brian Spillane jailed for nine years for sexually abusing boys

A "wickedly manipulative" serial paedophile priest has had his jail sentence extended until at least 2026 for the sexual abuse of boys at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst in the state's central west.

Brian Spillane, 74, was found guilty last year of sexually abusing seven students between 1974 and 1990, in what a Sydney court heard was likely to be the last in a series of child abuse cases against him relating to more than 30 children.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/paedophile-priest-jailed-for-nine-years/8275458 

Catholic Church schools and homes with the most child abuse claims revealed

The Catholic Church has released numbers on how many child sexual abuse claims have been made against staff from their religious schools and orphanages, showing one home for boys faced 219 accusations.
The church identified 28 institutions that had 20 or more claims of child sexual abuse. You can search the data below. The highest number of claims came from BoysTown at Beaudesert in Queensland, with 219 claims levelled at Catholic Church members working at the children's home.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/catholic-schools-with-highest-number-of-child-sex-abuse-claims/8277360 

Church culture contributed to abuse mishandling – theologian

Former Jesuit provincial Fr Gerry O’Hanlon has insisted that the Church’s centralised model of governance contributed to the mishandling of sexual abuse allegations against priests.

Speaking to the royal commission on abuse in Australia via a videolink from Dublin, Fr O’Hanlon also said that the Church suffered from the same defensive attitude as other institutions.

http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/church-culture-contributed-abuse-mishandling-%E2%80%93-theologian 

Swiss Catholic Church Establishes Commission for Victims of Clerical Sexual Abuse

A new commission has been launched by the Catholic Church in Switzerland that will provide financial compensation to victims of clerical sexual abuse by Swiss priests.
According to the report of "The Local", the Swiss Bishops Conference (SBK) announced in December its new 500,000 franc reparations fund that would compensate sex abuse victims who could no longer seek it via the courts.

http://chinachristiandaily.com/2017-02-16/church/swiss-catholic-church-establishes-commission-for-victims-of-clerical-sexual-abuse_4132.html 

Confronting sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

David Tombs compares the Catholic Church’s recent responses to allegations of sexual abuse in Australia and in Peru. Two documents released last week on sexual abuses in the Catholic Church in Australia and in Peru seem to show very different responses to the problem of historical sexual abuses.
The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was formally established in 2013, and it has been examining abuse by Catholic clergy and the responses of various Catholic authorities. Its report, titled "Proportion of priests and non-ordained religious subject to a claim of child sexual abuse 1950-2010" (February 2017), gives a clear sense of the scale.

https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/confronting-sexual-abuse-catholic-church 

Vatican Scandal In Guam: Priest Accused Of Sexually Abusing Children, But Accusers Refuse To Testify

Lawyers representing former altar boys who were allegedly sexually abused by a Catholic archbishop in Guam became disheartened about their case when one of the accusers refused to testify in the Vatican’s investigation into the claims Thursday.
Roland Sondia, who publicly accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of molesting him in the 1970’s when he was 15, reportedly said he wouldn’t share his testimony with the head investigator, American Cardinal Raymond Burke, because his attorney wasn’t allowed to be present while doing so.

http://www.ibtimes.com/vatican-scandal-guam-priest-accused-sexually-abusing-children-accusers-refuse-testify-2493150 

Catholic Church Relies on 'Secrecy and Resistance' to Scare Sex Abuse Victims

Australia's Catholic Church paid out $213 million to victims of sexual abuse by priests between 1980 and 2015, it has been revealed - although a lawyer investigating Catholic sexual abuse has told Sputnik the true compensation bill will be considerably higher, given the number of victims who have failed to come forward.

On average, victims who came forward with claims received US$70,000 (91,000 Australian dollars) each. Prosecuting barrister Gail Furness said the extent of the abuse was likely to be "much greater" than the claims made. Campaigners believe the true figure could be as high as 10,000.

https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201702171050794494-australia-catholic-church-abuse/ 

Philippines: Catholic priests rarely prosecuted for abuse crimes

CATHOLIC priests in the Philippines are routinely sexually abusing children and never facing justice for their crimes, according to an explosive report from Al Jazeera.
The report also found a number of instances in which supposedly celibate priests had broken their vow and fathered children, an act that is condemned by the Vatican.

https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/02/philippines-catholic-priests-rarely-prosecuted-abuse-crimes-report/ 

'They were faced with monsters': Child sex victim speaks out

Damien Sheridan was a homesick, young boarding student who was just looking for counselling from a trusted school chaplain.  But what he endured at the hands of notorious pedophile priest Brian Spillane was to ruin his life.
Now in his 40s, Mr Sheridan describes the shattering consequences of the assault he faced at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst. He has post traumatic stress disorder, suffers anxiety, and has watched as family and friends have also suffered as a result of his hurt.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/34434083/goodbye-brian-victims-to-pedophile-priest/?cmp=st#page1 

US groups question Vatican's judge choice in Apuron trial

wo U.S.-based groups dealing with the Catholic clergy sex abuse cases worldwide are not happy with the Vatican's choice on who will preside over Guam Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron’s canonical penal trial.
The Vatican sent Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke and other members of a tribunal to Guam to hear from witnesses in the trial of Apuron, who is accused of raping and sexually abusing altar boys in the 1970s. The Archdiocese of Agana, in a statement released late Saturday, said a team of four canon lawyers and another official from Rome worked here Feb. 16-17 and left the morning of Feb. 18.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/02/19/us-groups-question-vaticans-judge-choice-apuron-trial/98032678/ 

Catholic church claims 'seismic shift' after child sexual abuse scandals

The Catholic church says it has made a seismic shift in holding its leaders accountable for protecting Australian children after decades of abuse by hundreds of pedophiles. The church says its new national professional standards body will ensure consistency across its autonomous dioceses and orders.
Each bishop and religious leader will sign a contract agreeing to abide by the standards and be monitored, audited and subject to public reporting, the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive, Francis Sullivan, said.  “It is quite a seismic shift for the Catholic church in holdings leaders to account,” Sullivan said. “It is necessary in order to achieve consistency for survivors.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/19/catholic-church-claims-seismic-shift-after-child-sexual-abuse-scandals 

Cranbrook headmaster wrote 'misleading' letters after sexual abuse allegations, royal commission finds

The headmaster of one Sydney's most expensive private schools, Cranbrook, wrote "misleading" letters about a teacher accused of child sexual abuse at his former school and failed to report the allegations to a higher authority, a royal commission has found.
Nicholas Sampson, then the headmaster of Victoria's Geelong Grammar, paid teacher Jonathan Harvey to retire early in 2004 to avoid any formal complaints of child sex abuse being made against him.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/cranbrook-headmaster-wrote-misleading-letters-after-sexual-abuse-allegations-royal-commission-finds-20170214-gucoju.html 

I Wanted To Die Rather Than Face Another John Smyth Beating: Abuse Victim Pens Open Letter To The Archbishop Of Canterbury

An abuse victim who suffered years of savage beatings at the hands of John Smyth, a Christian youth camp leader, has written an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury outlining the scale at which the activities were ignored and covered up by several organisations including the Church.
The letter published in the Telegraph, simply signed "W", details how the victim tried to commit suicide when faced with a "special beating" for his 21^st birthday.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/i.wanted.to.commit.die.rather.than.face.another.john.smyth.beating.abuse.victim.pens.open.letter.to.the.archbishop.of.canterbury/104497.htm 

Report into Church of England Boys’ Society and the Anglican Dioceses of Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney released

The Royal Commission’s report of Case Study 36 - The response of the Church of England Boys’ Society and the Anglican Dioceses of Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney to allegations of child sexual abuse - was released today.
This report follows public hearings held in Hobart, Tasmania in January and February 2016 that investigated the responses of the Church of England Boys’ Society (CEBS) and the Anglican Dioceses to allegations of child sexual abuse made against lay people and clergy associated with CEBS in the 1970s and 1980s.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2017-02/report-into-church-of-england-boys%E2%80%99-society-and-th 

Clean up your act over abuse

ALTHOUGH not yet finished, the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has produced some shocking revelations and, as Scott Sawyer says, they are truly horrific (Daily, February 8). The Federal Government has announced about $800 million in compensation.

Scott quite rightly asks: why shouldn't the Catholic Church be totally responsible for compensation for all their abuse victims, especially as he reports that it has been estimated that "the Catholic Church's tax exemptions at somewhere in the order of $16 billion annually in Australia".

https://www.noosanews.com.au/news/clean-up-your-act-over-abuse/3142049/ 

Widespread Child Sexual Abuse in Australia’s Catholic Church royal-commission

The Australian government set up the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2013. There were ongoing revelations in the media of institutions moving alleged abusers moving from school to school rather than reporting them to the police. Further, some people, usually senior church, government, and law enforcement figures, allegedly hadn’t tried to stop further abuse when they were in a position to do so.
The majority of the allegations relate to the Roman Catholic Church though they were not the only ones at the sharp end of accusations. There had been calls for a Royal Commission into the issue since the 1990s. It got to the stage there was such a flood of allegations the government could no longer ignore those calls.

http://www.heatherhastie.com/widespread-child-sexual-abuse-australias-catholic-church/ 

Australia’s Grim Toll in the Church’s Sex Abuse Scandal

The global scale of the Catholic clergy’s sexual abuse scandal becomes harder for the Vatican to deny with each shocking national inquiry. The latest, from Australian government investigators, found that from 1980 to 2015 there were 4,444 victims of abuse and at least 1,880 suspected to be abusers, most of them priests and religious brothers.

Through this period, the haunting subtext is the culpability of bishops who did nothing about the crimes. The abused children were ignored or punished while priests who raped children were protected by supervisors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/opinion/australias-grim-toll-in-the-churchs-sex-abuse-scandal.html?_r=1 

Ex-headteacher gets 18 years for sexual abuse of boys

A FORMER headmaster from Burnley, convicted of sexually abusing boys at a residential school in Yorkshire, has been jailed for 18 years. Roy Leonard Allen, 72, is beginning the prison term after vulnerable youngsters at Thorp Arch Grange, near Wetherby, were targeted in the 70s and 80s.
Allen, now of Moseley Road, was convicted of nine charges of indecent assault, two serious sexual assaults and one attempted serious sexual assault after a trial at Leeds Crown Court. He was cleared of two further indecent assaults.

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/15085885.Ex_headteacher__gets_18_years_for_sexual_abuse_of_boys/ 

Increase in overseas priests in Australia

The Catholic Church has not done enough to ensure the increasing number of overseas priests coming to Australia will not present a risk to children, the child sex abuse royal commission has heard.
Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said the Catholic Church in some countries was in denial about the problem of child sexual abuse by priests and other religious. "It's not helpful for the church in many countries to deny or to assert that the child sexual abuse issues are that of the white western world or some European countries," Mr Fitzgerald said on Monday.


http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/13/14/29/increase-in-overseas-priests-in-australia

Royal commission finds Peter Hollingworth made 'serious error of judgement' by letting child abuser stay

The former governor-general and Archbishop of Brisbane Peter Hollingworth has been found to have made a "serious error of judgement" for allowing a rector who admitted to abusing a child to continue in the ministry.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has handed down its report into the response by the Church of England Boys' Society (CEBS) and four Anglican dioceses into allegations of child sexual abuse.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-13/royal-commission-finds-hollingworth-made-serious-error-judgement/8265704 

A 'network of sexual perpetrators' operated in Anglican church youth group, royal commission finds

A "network of sexual perpetrators" used an Anglican church youth group to prey on young boys over a period of decades from the 1970s to the 1990s with church leaders failing to report allegations, a royal commission has found.
In a scathing assessment of Anglican authorities, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found leaders, including former Brisbane archbishop and governor-general Peter Hollingworth, failed to protect children.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-network-of-sexual-perpetrators-operated-in-anglican-church-youth-group-royal-commission-finds-20170213-gubi81.html 

Former pastor convicted again on child sex abuse

Convicted child molester Roy Harriger has been convicted again, this time in another state and by yet another accuser. But for the first time, he’s admitting to years of abuse.
Harriger has now been convicted of sexually abusing children within his own family and accused of molesting children associated with his church.

http://wivb.com/2017/02/10/former-pastor-convicted-again-on-child-sex-abuse/ 

Anglican church tipped to reveal WA abuse allegations

THE extent of alleged child sex abuse in the Anglican church in WA will finally be laid bare this week.

A report detailing all child sex abuse complaints received by dioceses across Australia between 1980 and 2015 is expected to be made public by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Perth diocesan secretary Brian Dixon said its response to the Anglican Data Project was provided to the royal commission “on a confidential basis”.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/anglican-church-tipped-to-reveal-wa-abuse-allegations/news-story/b78006db4aad502ab690cd93a243e529 

The End of the Road for SNAP?

Years ago, a number of Catholic World Report articles argued the case that the group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) – whom the media has called upon repeatedly over the years as a reliable voice to bash the Catholic Church over its handling of the sex abuse crisis – was actually nothing more than a front group for contingency lawyers and was driven by a deep ideological animus against the Church.

Now, recent lawsuits against the organization, including one by SNAP’s own former director of development, have, if anything, revealed that those arguments were too modest in their estimation of SNAP’s inner workings. 

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/5426/the_end_of_the_road_for_snap.aspx 

Royal commission: Brisbane schools 'failed to act' on Kevin Lynch sexual abuse allegations

A prestigious Brisbane private school harboured a culture in which children making allegations of abuse were treated as liars, the royal commission into child sexual abuse has found.

The commission has handed down its report into what it calls Case Study 34, examining allegations of abuse at Brisbane Grammar School in Spring Hill and St Paul's School in the northern Brisbane suburb of Bald Hills.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-15/brisbane-private-schools-failed-to-act-on-sexual-abuse/8273646 

Secret tribunal process revealed

A canon law expert said confidential documents obtained by the Post, which summon one of Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s accusers to appear before a Vatican-sent tribunal, are the first pieces of evidence that Apuron faces the church’s version of a criminal case, rather than an administrative proceeding.
“These documents are a big affirmation that there’s at least a semblance of truth because they’re moving against Apuron,” said attorney Patrick J. Wall, a former priest and an advocate for victims of clergy abuse. “This is a criminal case. It’s the first piece of evidence that (they) believe he committed a crime of some sort.” Wall is with Jeff Anderson & Associates, a U.S. law firm recognized as one of the nation’s premier law firms to represent survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/secret-tribunal-process-revealed/article_92592920-f371-11e6-93a1-938fc0d218ab.html 

Hear the cries of victims of sexual abuse

The shocking and almost unbelievable disclosures in recent years throughout the developed world and most recently in Australia at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse leave people shocked and staggering at the revelations.
The enquiry is looking into the response or the lack of it by churches of all denominations, sports clubs, institutions of education and the military to child sexual abuse in their organizations. The disclosures on the frequency of the sexual assaults and the lack of response to help the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice are hard for ordinary people and especially Catholics to accept and understand. Who will listen to their cries?

http://www.manilatimes.net/hear-cries-victims-sexual-abuse/311781/

Sex Abuse Charges Against Priests in Guam Spread to CNMI

A retired bishop in the Northern Marianas has been accused of sex abuse against an altar boy. The charges date back to 1971, when Tomas Camacho served as a priest in Guam and, as we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, it’s just the latest in a long series of accusations.

By this point, the outline of the charges looks very familiar.  According to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Guam, Melvin Duenas alleges that he was abused from the age of ten, when he was chief altar boy at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where Tomas Camacho served as a priest. The abuse only stopped, when Duenas ran away from the rectory sometime in 1974 or ‘75.

http://hawaiipublicradio.org/post/pacific-news-minute-sex-abuse-charges-against-priests-guam-spread-cnmi 

Woman settles sex abuse suit against Spring Grove Jehovah's Witnesses

A woman has settled a lawsuit against the Spring Grove Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and two of its supporting organizations, which alleged that elders failed to report instances of sexual abuse to law enforcement to protect their own reputation.
In the lawsuit, the woman said she’s suffered physical and emotional injuries after being abused between ages 14 and 16 by Terry Monheim, whom she met through the church.The Jehovah’s Witnesses became aware of it and “did nothing” to protect her, according to court documents.

http://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2017/02/15/lancaster-county-woman-settles-lawsuit-alleging-spring-grove-congregation-of-jehovahs-witnesses-and-other-organizations-failed-to-report-sexual-abuse/97897506/ 

Priests should be licensed, inquiry hears

Catholic leaders including priests, brothers and nuns should have to be licensed or regulated to practise, a royal commission has heard.
Franciscan Friar Dr David Leary said there were very few professions that did not have mandated supervision and that the Church had to "bite the bullet" and realise it was effectively an employer.  "I think that's the way we have to move, and I think it's inevitable that people who practise will be licensed or regulated in some way," he said at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney on Wednesday.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/15/03/34/scrutiny-may-help-restore-trust-in-church

Aboriginal sex abuse victims compensated

Former child residents who suffered years of abuse at a Northern Territory Aboriginal children's home have become the first group in Australia to win compensation from the federal government following evidence at the sex abuse royal commission.

The 71 former residents of Darwin's Retta Dixon home, who alleged physical and sexual assaults by staff between 1946 and 1980, launched a civil lawsuit in 2015 against a convicted paedophile, the Commonwealth and the religious group that ran the home.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/aboriginal-sex-abuse-victims-compensated/news-story/2c30a01b5228891df2595e1f840e320b 

Report into Brisbane Grammar and St Paul's School released

The Royal Commission’s report into Case Study 34 - The response of Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul’s School to allegations of child sexual abuse - was released today.
The report follows a public hearing held in Brisbane in November 2015, which heard about the experiences of former students at Brisbane Grammar School at Spring Hill and St Paul’s School at Bald Hills. The public hearing also examined how the schools and others responded to allegations of child sexual abuse of former students.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2017-02/report-into-brisbane-grammar-and-st-paul-s-school 

Slavedrivers. Abusers. Rapists. Men of God – The horror endured by Maltese child migrants in Australia

They were physically and sexually abused and robbed of any decent chance for a rewarding career or family life: they were child migrants in the care of the Christian Brothers sent from Malta in the hope of a better education after WWII

In 1928, Perth-based Maltese priest Fr Raphael Pace urged the Congregation of the Christian Brothers to include Maltese children in its emerging migration scheme. The Irish order was especially dedicated to the evangelisation and education of youth. Negotiations between the Maltese and Western Australian governments continued through the 1930s but the first Maltese child migrants did not arrive in Australia until after World War II. Between 1950 and 1965, 259 boys and 51 girls were sent to Catholic institutions in Western Australia and South Australia.  

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/74365/slavedrivers_abusers_rapists_men_of_god__the_horror_endured_by_maltese_child_migrants_in_australia#.WKTz8FzKF9a

The Church, pressed on every side, but not crushed

In recent weeks the Church has come under withering criticisms because of untoward and even criminal behaviour alleged to have been committed by members of the Church. The Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, in a recent damning commentary, indicated that pastors and members of the police force are among the leading high-profile cases of criminal sexual abuse of minors in the society. This is a worrying trend, and the society has been understandably incensed at what is happening to our children.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-Church--pressed-on-every-side--but-not-crushed_89595 

Demystifying 'God's Rottweiler'

When reading Last Testament the autobiography (written with Peter Seewald) of Pope Benedict XVI, I was intrigued by the discrepancy between my image of Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Congregation for the Defence of the Faith (CDF) and the person revealed in these interviews.
I had imagined him as a tall, severe man, served by a richly resourced bureaucracy, and on top of all deviations from true faith and practice throughout the world. A man who played a persistent and methodical political hand in all aspects of church policy.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50547#.WKLRYlzKF9Z 

Pope praises abuse survivor for breaking silence

The sexual abuse of children by those who have vowed to serve Christ and the church is a horrendous monstrosity that represents “a diabolical sacrifice” of innocent, defenseless lives, Pope Francis said.
The church, which must protect the weakest, has a duty “to act with extreme severity with priests who betray their mission and with the hierarchy — bishops and cardinals — who protect them,” the pope wrote in the preface to a new book written by a man raped as a child by a Capuchin priest.

http://catholicphilly.com/2017/02/news/world-news/pope-praises-abuse-survivor-for-breaking-silence/ 

Catholic Church in Australia Rocked by Sex Abuse Report

The headlines in Australian newspapers this week have not been kind to the Catholic Church. Gail Furness, the lawyer for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, delivered a blistering speech outlining its findings to date about Catholic dioceses, religious orders and institutions.
Afterwards, the Sydney Morning Herald editorialised: “Now we know too, that sexual atrocities against children of a horrendous nature and on a horrendous scale have been committed within the Catholic Church in Australia over many decades.”

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/catholic-church-australia-rocked-sex-abuse-report 

Pope Francis seeks forgiveness from clergy abuse victims

it is no good saying sorry... when all that we got from the nazareth house nuns... was... there was NO WRONG DOING... from their order of nuns... that is not an apology... that is re-victimization all over again... and my god did it hurt... no acknowledgment to the abuse what so ever... and they think that we would not see... what was really behind their false words of sorrow... they don't even know the meaning of the word sorry... all that the nuns know about... like the catholic church all over... MONEY... that is their god... and no one can tell me other wise...  Ann

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

Pope Francis has condemned clerical sex abuse as an “absolute monstrosity” and asked victims and their families for forgiveness on behalf of the Catholic Church.

In an unusual move, the pontiff’s comments were published as a preface to a new book by Daniel Pittet, a Swiss victim who was sexually abused for four years by a priest when he was a child.

http://religionnews.com/2017/02/13/pope-francis-seeks-forgiveness-from-clergy-abuse-victims/ 

Investigators on their way to Guam, says Catholic Church

The Archbishop, Anthony Apuron, is facing a Vatican trial after several former altar boys accused him of sexual assault in the 1970s, when he was a parish priest.
The Pacific Daily News reported Archbishop Michael Byrnes - who will replace Archbishop Apuron when he retires, resigns or is removed - also announced tougher policies against sexual abuse.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/324371/investigators-on-their-way-to-guam,-says-catholic-church 

Abuse inquiry looks at priest training

The Catholic Church in Australia is moving to set up national standards to ensure priests are properly trained about child protection issues and receive ongoing personal and professional development.
The child sex abuse royal commission has heard the training many priests and religious brothers received historically was inadequate to prepare them for their vocation, and that they should have ongoing formation and supervision.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2017/02/13/abuse-inquiry-looks-at-priest-training.html 

Second bishop accused of abuse

The latest sex abuse case filed in the District Court of Guam alleges that a former Guam Catholic priest, who later became bishop of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, repeatedly molested and raped an altar boy decades ago.
Melvin Duenas is the 17th victim to come forward and file a lawsuit in the District Court against the Archdiocese of Agana, retired Bishop Tomas Aguon Camacho of the CNMI, and Louis Brouillard, a former priest who worked at parishes and schools on Guam. Camacho, 83, is accused of sexually abusing Duenas for at least three years before the former altar boy ran away.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/second-bishop-accused-of-abuse/article_6dd5c31c-f1a3-11e6-9da3-0f72f4ab7aca.html 

Indigenous NT kids 'stolen away': MLA

The Northern Territory government is forcibly removing vulnerable Aboriginal children from their families in Arnhem Land without giving priority to kinship carers first, an indigenous MLA says.
"In the last month I have been made aware of eight children who have been taken from the lands of the Yolngu Nation and stolen away to Darwin by the NT government," Independent Member for Nhulunbuy Yingiya Mark Guyula said.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/14/10/49/indigenous-nt-kids-stolen-away-mla

City's Shame is still hidden

I wish that the catholic church would get this right...it is NOT the CITIES SHAME... IT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SHAME... they have blamed the children... who were raped and abused by the catholic church nuns... priest and their workers... they have BLAMED the 1960s... they have BLAMED the PARENTS of the raped victims... they have gone through so many... that they now blamed the cities... in which the rapist priest live... and did their crime...
Who or what else are on their never ending list... it is NOT the city... the catholic church need to take the blame for all of their crimes... that they have done to the innocent children world over... until they do... their apologizes need to be wash down the toilets... because that is how I think of that A word... and also the word of forgiveness... how can they in their right mind... have the nerve to ask us to forgive them... shit what do they think we are still... their little puppets... with them still pulling our strings... NO WAY MISTER... my strings for the catholic church broke a long time ago... they are nothing but MONEY HUNGRY evil men and women... NUNS and PRIEST alike...  Ann

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

A WEBSITE dedicated to supporting victims of institutional childhood sexual abuse has done “a better job” of outing paedophilia then the Royal Commission, says one journalist who spent the best part of a decade reporting on the crimes.

Former Western Advocate journalist Terry Jones said the website, Broken Rites Australia, had done a phenomenal job in outing what he described as the shame of Bathurst - decades of sexual abuse against students at Bathurst boarding schools.

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/4463889/citys-shame-is-still-hidden/ 

Pope says suicides by clerical abuse victims ‘weigh on my heart’

and who the hell is to blame for the deaths... of the men and women... no other than the catholic church priest... nuns and their workers... they did not want to die... all that they wanted was to forget... what happened to them... because RAPE and abuse... never leaves your mind... all you want is peace of mind... to run away from it all... but it is the foremost thoughts on your mind all the time... you can not run from it... you have known for years... that you can not hide from it... even though you find places to hide from the nuns... and the older girls...you soon run out of places to hide... you just think of stopping the pain and torment... it is never ending... got to stop it... so you do the only thing that you know... and that is to finish it once and for all... so you do it... 
even as a 12 year old... I did not want to live anymore... the pain was too much for me... the hatred by the nuns to us children... was so bad... that I could not cope with the nuns lies... about it being me who had to be punished... for being a daughter of the devil... it was that bad that I use to cut myself with razors blades... so as I would not have to go to school... I did not want to be laugh at all the time... I have so much inside of me... and I can't get it out... I was just a child... a baby... who the catholic church did not want... but it was them... who took me away from my mother... because they needed more slaves... to do anything that they asked for... and I did it all without questions...   Ann

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

Pope Francis has described clerical sex abuse as “diabolic sacrifice” in the preface of a new book. I Forgive You, Father, by former Swiss priest Daniel Pittet, who was himself the victim of clerical sex abuse as an eight-year-old altar boy, has been published as as suggestions emerge that the Vatican may soon be dealing with a raft of abuse cases.

La Repubblica, a daily Roman newspaper, carried the full preface in a front page article on Monday, in which it explained the background to Mr Pittet’s story. During an audience with the pope two years ago, Mr Pittet told Francis the story of his four-year-long abuse. The pope, claims Mr Pittet, not only listened to his story in tears but also encouraged the 57-year-old former priest to tell the story more widely.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/pope-describes-clerical-sex-abuse-as-diabolic-sacrifice-in-book-preface-1.2973955 

Pope describes clerical sex abuse as ‘diabolic sacrifice’ in book preface

Pope Francis has described clerical sex abuse as “diabolic sacrifice” in the preface of a new book. I Forgive You, Father, by former Swiss priest Daniel Pittet, who was himself the victim of clerical sex abuse as an eight-year-old altar boy, has been published as as suggestions emerge that the Vatican may soon be dealing with a raft of abuse cases.

La Repubblica, a daily Roman newspaper, carried the full preface in a front page article on Monday, in which it explained the background to Mr Pittet’s story. During an audience with the pope two years ago, Mr Pittet told Francis the story of his four-year-long abuse. The pope, claims Mr Pittet, not only listened to his story in tears but also encouraged the 57-year-old former priest to tell the story more widely. 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/pope-describes-clerical-sex-abuse-as-diabolic-sacrifice-in-book-preface-1.2973955 

Australia’s Grim Toll in the Church’s Sex Abuse Scandal

The global scale of the Catholic clergy’s sexual abuse scandal becomes harder for the Vatican to deny with each shocking national inquiry. The latest, from Australian government investigators, found that from 1980 to 2015 there were 4,444 victims of abuse and at least 1,880 suspected to be abusers, most of them priests and religious brothers.

Through this period, the haunting subtext is the culpability of bishops who did nothing about the crimes. The abused children were ignored or punished while priests who raped children were protected by supervisors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/opinion/australias-grim-toll-in-the-churchs-sex-abuse-scandal.html?_r=0

Royal commission into child sexual abuse: 1,880 alleged perpetrators identified in Catholic Church

More than 20 per cent of the members of some Catholic religious orders — including Marist Brothers and Christian Brothers — were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told.

Nearly 2,000 Catholic Church figures, including priests, religious brothers and sisters, and employees, were identified as alleged perpetrators in a report released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/royal-commission-into-child-sexual-abuse-begins-in-sydney/8242600 

Tables of Transparency Turn on the Litigious Left

When Pope Francis visited America in 2015, one topic that seemed mandatory to address was the old scandal over priests found guilty of the sexual abuse of children. Despite more than a decade of reforms and a more liberal-pleasing pontiff, some activists never stopped bashing the Catholic hierarchy.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2017/02/11/bozell-graham-column-tables-transparency-turn-litigious-left

Royal commission into sexual abuse: Who are the Brothers of St John of God?

Forty per cent of the members of the Brothers of St John of God had allegations of child sexual abuse made against them from 1950 until 2010, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed.

So who are the Brothers of St John of God? The Catholic order first came to Australia in 1947, establishing a special school for boys with learning difficulties at Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/who-are-the-brothers-of-st-john-of-god/8245306 

Bishop Blames Violent And Punitive Theology For Alleged Abuse By Man Who Ran Christian Summer Camps

A senior Church of England bishop has stated that people who attended John Smyth's summer camps would have known each other and talked about allegations of abuse.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, a dormitory officer at the camps in the late 1970s, has insisted he was not part of the inner circle of friends and no-one discussed any allegations of abuse with him.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishop.blames.violent.and.punitive.theology.for.alleged.abuse.by.man.who.ran.christian.summer.camps/104423.htm