Catholic priest among those arrested in mafia-run scam to steal from migrants

Local mafia in southern Italy have allegedly been siphoning off state funds destined for the country’s largest migrant center since 2009. A charity run by Father Edoardo Scordio operates the center, and he was among those arrested in connection to the scheme.

A Catholic priest was among at least 68 people arrested May 15 in the southern Italian region of of Calabria and accused of extortion, illegal arms possession, fraud, and association with the local mafia.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/catholic-priest-among-arrested-mafia-run-scam-steal-migrants/?newsletter=1 

Cardinal George Pell 'tried to get journalist to destroy correspondence

An ABC journalist claims Cardinal George Pell's lawyers urged her to delete any correspondence between them after she asked for an interview.

Louise Milligan said she tried to contact the cardinal and his lawyers repeatedly while working on her book 'Cardinal: The rise and fall of George Pell,' which looks at the allegations of child sexual abuse surrounding him.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4514206/Cardinal-Pell-lawyers-order-reporter-destroy-communication.html 

Another batch of clergy sex abuse cases heard...some defendants no-show

Roy Quintanilla started it all, as he announced in 2016, "I have been silent for 40 years mainly because I thought all this time I was your only victim and because I was embarrassed, humiliated, degraded, and terribly confused about what to do. I thought if I said anything that people would not believe me or people would retaliate against me for coming forward. Archbishop Apuron, I will not be silent anymore."
This week marks one year since the first victim of clergy sex abuse surfaced. Quintanilla is now joined by nearly 70 others who are suing the Archdiocese of Agana. In some cases involving former priest Father Louis Brouillard, the Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council Chamorro District are also named defendants.

http://www.kuam.com/story/35457928/2017/05/Thursday/another-batch-of-clergy-sex-abuse-cases-heardsome-defendants-no-show 

Martin Foley launches Louise Milligan’s book Cardinal

On Wednesday 17 May, Louise Milligan’s Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell was launched by Martin Foley MP, Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing, Mental Health, Equality, and Creative Industries, at the intimate setting of The Last Jar in Melbourne.
The launch was attended by an audience of friends, family, survivors, supporters and media, and Minister Foley gave a passionate, heartfelt speech about the culture of the Catholic Church and the stories of human suffering and endurance in the book.

http://mupublishing.tumblr.com/post/160789397388/martin-foley-launches-louise-milligans-book 

Australian Police Consider Charging Cardinal George Pell with Pedophilia

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian federal police in Victoria are considering whether to charge a Catholic cardinal and Vatican financial chief over allegations of child abuse, officials said Wednesday.
George Pell, a senior representative of the Australian Catholic Church, is suspected of sexually abusing minors when he served as a priest in the city of Ballarat (1976-80) and archbishop of Melbourne (1996-2001).

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2436507&CategoryId=12395 

In abuse case, too much concern for priest

This is a response to the article regarding the substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor at the hands of Rev. Larry Jensen of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church (”Waterville priest removed from duties over allegations of sexual abuse 15 years ago in Connecticut,” May 8).
I was deeply disturbed to read this, even more so, I am disturbed that this has become commonplace in the Catholic church. Perverse sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests can no longer be written off as merely an isolated incident. It is rampant. Not only is there not enough being done to prevent it, the punishment for such abuse is too light.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/05/20/in-abuse-case-too-much-concern-for-priest/ 

'The Keepers': Inside Netflix's Compelling New True-Crime Docuseries

On January 3rd, 1970, the frozen, decomposing body of Sister Catherine Cesnik was found lying in a field near a garbage dump in the Baltimore County suburb of Landsdowne, Maryland. The 26-year-old had disappeared the previous November, when she went out one evening to buy her sister an engagement present and never came home. Her car was found late that night, parked a few blocks away from her home and at an odd angle, leading investigators to suspect that her killer was someone she knew and who knew where she lived. And yet, the case went cold quickly, and Sister Cathy's murder remains unsolved.

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/the-keepers-inside-compelling-new-true-crime-docuseries-w483230 

True-crime documentary The Keepers reveals the legacy of clergy abuse

The power of television to shine a light into the dark recesses of our inhumanity is impressively evident in The Keepers, a new documentary TV series investigating the unsolved murder of a Baltimore nun.
It uncovers horrific secrets and reveals pain that lingers in the community nearly five decades later. The compelling seven-part series, which debuted on Friday on Netflix, is the latest in an increasingly popular true-crime genre that has included Making a Murderer, Amanda Knox and the podcast Serial.

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-life/television/true-crime-documentary-the-keepers-reveals-the-legacy-of-clergy-abuse 

Australia's largest tax fraud syndicate had its origins in modest Menai

From a quiet street in Menai to the sands of Bondi Beach, the largest alleged tax fraud syndicate in the country's history had somewhat humble beginnings.
Adam Cranston, 30, son of Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston, was arrested on Wednesday with police alleging he set up and ran the $165 million tax fraud syndicate that involved six others.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/australias-largest-tax-fraud-syndicate-had-its-origins-in-modest-menai-20170519-gw8onp.html 

Baptised person: you are going to run the parish from this day onwards!

Who gives birth? Who is side by side with a new born baby? Who breasts feed the baby? Who answers the child’s questions? Who teaches him about God? The answer is usually (although there are some exceptions) a woman. Women, whether we acknowledge it or not, are the apostles who speak about God to their child. They are the ones who facilitate the relationship between God and the new born child. This continues for several years. Most probably during the teen’s years, existential questions may be asked by the young teenager which leaves some parents with their mouths wide open, in awkward silence.

https://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.wordpress.com/2017/05/22/baptised-person-you-are-going-to-run-the-parish-from-this-day-onwards/ 

Seven victims name priests who sexually abused them as children.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said that participants in the program “have the absolute right to speak about their abuse and their abuser at any time, to whomever they want, however they want.”
Seven men who were abused as children by priests of the Archdiocese of New York revealed on Thursday (May 18) some of the details of the settlements they had received through the archdiocese’s new sexual abuse survivor compensation fund.

https://voicefaithful.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/seven-victims-name-priests-who-sexually-abused-them-as-children-the-new-york-times/ 

MORE PELL CLAIMS, BUT BEWARE

So many allegations against Cardinal George Pell have been dropped and disproved, and police are still unable after a year to prosecute Pell over shaky claims aired on the ABC.

But now one of the ABC reporters responsible for that report tries again: A soon-to-be-released book about Cardinal Pell contains detailed claims that he sexually abused two choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the late 1990s....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/more-pell-claimsbut-beware/news-story/f8086fc49784c84783cd6c74f3f20509 

Former music teacher named in latest sex abuse lawsuit

A total of five lawsuits were filed this week against the church. Guam - After five recent child sex abuse filings in recent weeks, there are now 65 lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana.

Three out of the five alleged victims, using their initials E.T., J.S., and R.B.R., claimed that former priest and Boy Scout master, Louis Brouillard, abused them in the late 1970s when they were altar boys at the Barrigada Parish as well as boy scouts in the Barrigada troop. All three allege that Brouillard would grope them when he would make them swim naked. They claim he would also sexually abuse them in the church rectory. R.B.R.’s complaint states that Brouillard reassured him by saying “It’s okay. All of the other boys do it,” before forcing him to perform various sex acts.

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/local/13527 

New maternity hospital will be Europe’s biggest birth factory

Earlier this year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, echoed by the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, drew Ireland’s attention to the need to bring maternity services into line with international human rights standards. Human rights expert Patricia Schultz told the Government its highly centralised system of maternity care “transformed the most important experience of a lifetime for women and their partners into a production-line process”. The resources the Government plans to put into maternity care should reflect the commitment, she said, to respect the normal birth process.

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/new-maternity-hospital-will-be-europe-s-biggest-birth-factory-1.3077908 

Manny Waks: ‘My life is not what is was’

Three decades may have passed, but Manny Waks, now 41, admits not a day goes by without acknowledging the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

Raised in a strictly-Orthodox Jewish home in Melbourne, the second oldest of 17 children was betrayed by two men trusted by his family. For years, Waks resisted telling anyone, but in 2011 he went public about his experiences in an attempt to bring his abusers to justice.

http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/manny-waks-my-life-is-not-what-is-was/ 

Francis on meeting Trump: 'There are always doors that are not shut'... Marie Collins 'right' and 'capable'

On clergy abuse, the pope was asked about Collins' resignation from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Collins, an Irishwoman, left the group in March due to frustration with Vatican officials' reluctance to cooperate with its work to protect children.
Francis said he has spoken to Collins and she was "right" in the frustration she expressed at the time of her resignation.  "Marie Collins has explained things to me very well," said the pontiff. "She is a capable woman who wants to work."

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-meeting-trump-there-are-always-doors-are-not-shut 

Anne Biggs was banished by Catholic Church to US at the age of four

Anne Biggs has used her real-life story, of being banished to the U.S. by the Irish Church, as the basis of her novel, "The Swan Garden".
Anne Biggs’ mother was only fourteen when she was raped, sent to a home and forced to sign documents for her daughter’s release. Biggs, who was born in County Westmeath in 1949, was sent to St Patrick’s Home in Dublin, which secretly exported 254 Irish children to the U.S. for adoption from the 1940s to the 70s. Biggs was adopted and sent to America at the age of four.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/anne-biggs-was-banished-by-catholic-church-to-us-at-the-age-of-four#.WRN0UYUZVb8.facebook 

Abuse survivors want their own personal records handed over from institutions

Survivors of abuse in Australian children's homes and orphanages have called for a new national strategy to secure the release of their own historic personal records held by churches and charities.
As the landmark royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse prepares to hand its report to the federal government by Christmas, a national summit has discussed how to give a voice to adults whose lives have been impacted by failings of record keeping and archiving systems in institutions around the country.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4660909/abuse-survivors-want-their-own-personal-records-handed-over-from-institutions/?cs=7 

Pope aide denies new Australia abuse claims

Vatican finance chief George Pell accused sections of the Australian media of interfering in the course of justice Monday as he denied new child sex abuse allegations. Pell, Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, was interviewed in Rome by Australian police last October over historical sex assault claims against him. No charges have yet been laid.
It coincided with the final stages of a long-running national inquiry into institutional responses to child sex abuse. Pell has appeared before the royal commission three times, once in person and twice via video-link. During his evidence, he admitted he "mucked up" in dealing with paedophile priests in Victoria state in the 1970s.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4505974/Pope-aide-denies-new-Australia-abuse-claims.html 

Reader’s View: Demand that state lawmakers choose our children

Nearly one year ago I published an article titled “Call to Action: Protect our children, not predators.” Unfortunately, in 2016 New York again chose predators by failing to pass the Child Victims Act. With just over one month remaining in the current legislative session, the state legislature needs to choose our children.

Presently, there are bills pending in the Assembly and Senate to eliminate the time restrictions in criminal and civil actions to prosecute certain sex offenses committed against a child less than 18 years of age. Under current law a victim of child sex abuse has only until age 23 to bring a case against their perpetrator. Since victims of childhood sex abuse do not come to terms with their abuse until well into adulthood this protects the predator and leaves many victims without recourse.

http://www.troyrecord.com/opinion/20170515/readers-view-demand-that-state-lawmakers-choose-our-children 

Church responds to latest suit

We extend our prayers to the claimant, known by the initials of B.W.J., and his family." – Archdiocese of Agana

The same day news of a new lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic school teacher became public, the Archdiocese of Agana issued a response apologizing to the newest victim as well as those recently named in several other lawsuits.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/church-responds-to-latest-suit/article_6295ea7a-393f-11e7-9cb5-f73b54862f36.html 

The Church’s grip on Ireland has descended into farce.

The influence of the Catholic Church has always been overwhelming in Ireland. Its grip may have loosened over the past few decades, but around 90 per cent of the country’s primary schools are Catholic, the Angelus bells still chime out at 6pm on state TV and radio, and more than 78 per cent of people identified as Catholic in the 2016 census.

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/churchs-grip-on-ireland-is-descending-into-farce/

Abuse survivors want their own personal records handed over from institutions

Adoption 1999

I remember being adopted to Fetcher’s at St.  Joseph Orphanage.

Just look at this piece of paper. Is this all I was worth as a child? To be dumped from one person to another, and when they were tired of me, they took me back to the orphanage, for more torment and pain.  

I wasn’t even given a chance. I was only there 5 days! I have now been ripped apart. I feel like a little girl again, going through that abuse again, but this time it’s different. It's heart wrenching. I also asked for my medical records and any other records they had about me, and Sister Teresa told me that they had no medical records about me at all. I have copied it as it was on the paper, it was as though it was a photocopy out of a notepad. And there is the evidence that it was not my mother that handed me over to the orphanage. I was taken away from my mother, as she told her children years later. See the name:

Ann Shirley. WHO AM I??

The feelings we had when no-one picked us, are something that I will never be able to explain, but I felt it again on 4 May 1999. I phoned Sister Teresa in Auckland, the Good Shepherd nun, and requested details of the time I spent at St. Joseph’s orphanage. I never expected what I received in the mail to my request, and I experienced again the feelings of rejection when I read the report.

873

THOMASON.              ANN SHIRLEY

Admitted 30 – 5 – 1941.     Born 31 – 3 – 1941 at Wellington.    Mother Joan Thomason,   Nelson.    

Baptised St.  Ann’s,     Newtown, Wellington by Rev.  J.  Kelly 1 – 5 – 1941  Mary Fitzgerald

Sponsor.      

First Holy Communion 8 – 12 – 1950.     

Brought by Mrs.   Boyle,    St.  Vincent de Paul Society Wellington.

Left 31 – 12 – 1946 for adoption by Mrs.  Fletcher.     Returned

5 – 1 – 1947.      Left for  Nazareth House 14 – 5 – 1951.

                                                                                                   

***

 This is all I have of my 24 years in the two catholic church orphanages. How does it make me feel?  Worthless. No health records, No school records.  I wrote to the Good Shepherd Order of nuns and this is what they sent me in 1999, it was all they had about me. Not even my First Holy Communion Certificate did they send me.  Not even my Birth Certificate. I was nothing, I meant nothing to them. I was worth nothing to them, just another unwanted girl of the catholic church orphanages.

Nazareth House had a little note as well, They had not a word in it about my time spent down in Timaru with the Taylor family at 15years old when I was raped by a priest. It was well known that every person who came to the door to take their children out, or who had come to take other children away for the day had to sign their name in a book and the name of the children they took with them which was left at the from desk. There was always a nun at the front door she answered the phone as well as the front door, a girl or two work there as  well. The front door was well attended and no one could get in or out as they had to ring the door bell and the door was opened for them, the front door was kept locked at all times.  Ann

***

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

Survivors of abuse in Australian children's homes and orphanages have called for a new national strategy to secure the release of their own historic personal records held by churches and charities.
As the landmark royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse prepares to hand its report to the federal government by Christmas, a national summit has discussed how to give a voice to adults whose lives have been impacted by failings of record keeping and archiving systems in institutions around the country.
Care Leavers Australasia Network chief executive Leonie Sheedy said many survivors, including those who have given evidence to the royal commission process, have spent years trying to track down records about their time in institutional care.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4660909/abuse-survivors-want-their-own-personal-records-handed-over-from-institutions/?cs=7 

Sheldon Kennedy Advocacy Centre partners with Catholic school board to confront child abuse

A groundbreaking partnership is uniting schools and social services to curb child abuse. The Calgary Catholic School District and the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre are signing a memorandum of understanding Wednesday evening to formalize their collaboration.  The centre is a non-profit organization focused on ending child abuse and helping those affected.
“In the majority of cases we see, children are being hurt by their parents or caregivers, so the safest place for them, a lot of times, is in schools,” said centre founder Sheldon Kennedy.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/advocate-catholic-school-board-partner-to-confront-child-abuse

Minn. bishop rejects claim he pressured alleged abuse victim

Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minn. has rejected a lawsuit’s assertion that he coerced a deacon candidate into renouncing his claim that a priest sexually abused him as a teen.
Ronald Vasek has filed a lawsuit against the bishop and the Diocese of Crookston seeking both unspecified damages exceeding $50,000 and the release of records of sexual abuse by priests in the diocese, Reuters reports. Vasek has claimed that the bishop threatened the man’s efforts to become a deacon and his son’s career in the priesthood.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/minn-bishop-rejects-claim-he-pressured-alleged-abuse-victim-90581/ 

Child sexual abuse victims to have more time to bring civil suit under bill signed Wednesday

Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday signed a measure giving victims of sexual abuse until age 45 to bring a civil suit against the perpetrator.
The current age is 20, said Rep. Carol Bush, R-Tulsa, the House author of House Bill 1470. Bush said it often takes a long time for survivors of child abuse to heal enough to talk about what happened to them.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/child-sexual-abuse-victims-to-have-more-time-to-bring/article_ad240d71-7a00-5d62-95a8-bced0f26e80b.html 

Lawsuit claims Catholic youth minister sexually abused teen in St. Louis County

A former Catholic youth minister at the Immacolata School in Richmond Heights sexually abused a teenage girl there more than 13 years ago, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
“Jane Doe” accuses Kris D. Wilks, a former St. Louis County man who now lives in Pueblo, Colo., of sexually abusing her at the school at 8900 Clayton Road between September 2003 and March 2004 when she was 16.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawsuit-claims-catholic-youth-minister-sexually-abused-teen-in-st/article_1d35c797-3e38-5650-a572-3758abaa1442.html 

Early parole rejected for former Bishop Heather Cook

The Maryland Parole Commission on Tuesday denied the parole request of Heather Cook, the former Episcopal bishop who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for the drunken-driving crash that killed a bicyclist in 2014.
Commission chairman David Blumberg said the two commissioners who ruled on the case told him they denied Cook parole in part because she "took no responsibility" for her actions and displayed a "lack of remorse" during the 90-minute hearing at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-cook-parole-hearing-daily-20170509-story.html 

Calling Bullshit On Supposed Charedi Sexual Abuse Progress

In an article published in The Forward on May 2nd, Barbara Finkelstein painted a very optimistic picture of the shifting landscape in the Charedi world concerning child sexual abuse policies. In that article, she claimed that “Virtually no mainstream religious Jewish organization or sect publicly insists anymore that victims speak to their rabbi before going to the police.” As proof she cited the grassroots efforts of rabbis from Chabad, Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, Yeshiva University, and the Rabbinical Council of America.

https://hareiani.com/2017/05/10/calling-bullshit-on-supposed-charedi-sexual-abuse-progress/ 

PHILLY PRIEST ACCUSER UNMASKED

Bill Donohue comments on the latest bombshell in the Msgr. William Lynn case: The star witness in the Philadelphia D.A.’s ongoing witch-hunt against the Catholic Church has now been totally discredited.

The D.A.’s office had relied heavily on the incredulous claims of Danny Gallagher, a.k.a. “Billy Doe,” to send three priests and a Catholic school teacher to prison.

http://www.catholicleague.org/philly-priest-accuser-unmasked/ 

'It will never be the same without Frank'

'It will never be the same without Frank': Fellow child abuse survivor wants to live to see justice served in memory of charity founder Jim Buckley, vice-president of Incas, pays tribute to founder Frank Docherty whose lasting legacy is a public inquiry into the harrowing childhood experiences of survivors in care.

Elderly survivors of state care child abuse may not live to see the day justice is served. This is the view of Jim Buckley, vice-president of In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) as he prepared to pay his final respects to the charity's late president Frank Docherty yesterday.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/it-never-same-without-frank-10387413

New Haven Rabbi Accused Of Sexual Abuse To Testify At Trial

A prominent New Haven rabbi who’s been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has been ordered to testify at a civil trial. Jury selection for Rabbi Daniel Greer is set to begin Wednesday in federal court in Hartford.
A lawsuit filed last year accuses Greer, 76, of repeatedly raping and molesting a student who attended the Yeshiva of New Haven school. During that time, Greer was the rabbi, dean, and director.

http://wnpr.org/post/new-haven-rabbi-accused-sexual-abuse-testify-trial 

Rape Survivor Pushes for New Law to Protect Victims of Child Sex Assault

If you can call it luck, then Kat Sullivan is one of the "lucky" ones.
Sullivan is a rape survivor, which means in New York State she can seek criminal prosecution against her attacker whenever she pleases — even 20 years after the rape, which happened in 1998 on the campus of the Emma Willard School in Troy, where Sullivan attended as a student athlete.

http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2017/05/9/emma-willard-rape-survivor-rallies-for-new-law.html 

Making a Pilgrimage for the Canonization of Fátima Siblings

On bended knee they came. Thousands of Roman Catholics from around the world arrived this week on a pilgrimage to Fátima, the Portuguese town where three poor shepherd children said, 100 years ago, that they saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. There, Pope Francis proclaimed two of the shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, saints on Saturday.

Many of the pilgrims crawled the final yards to a shrine complex in Fátima, where the children, along with an older cousin, Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, said they saw the apparitions six times between May 13, 1917, and Oct. 13, 1917, when Jacinta was 7, Francisco was 9 and Lucia was 10, according the Vatican. The vision told the children three “secrets,” according to accounts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/world/europe/pilgrims-in-portugal-prepare-for-popes-visit-and-canonization-of-fatima-siblings.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170513&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=1 

Priest, 78, and two male teachers charged with multiple sexual abuse offences against four girls as young as eight in a remote school

A 78-year-old priest and two other male teachers who worked at WA's Wandering Mission school are facing historic child sex abuse charges.

The trio, who worked at the West Australian Catholic school for indigenous children in the 1960s, were arrested on multiple child abuse charges.  The day school with a dormitory for Aboriginal girls was established in 1944 and was one-and-a-half hours south east of Perth, before being closed in 1979.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4490538/Priest-teachers-face-historic-child-sex-abuse-charges.html 

7-Year-Old Boy Starved, Abused and Tortured For Months Before Being Fed to PIGS — At a Home Child Protective Services Sent Him To

Many details in a shocking abuse and murder case in Kansas City — the ended with the discovery of a little boy’s body in a pig pen — remain under wraps, as the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) has not released records about the years Adrian Jones was allegedly held captive under the guise of homeschooling by the couple who later admitted to murdering him.
In 2012, according to 41 Action News, the DCF removed Adrian Jones and his six sisters from his mother’s home and placed him in the care of his biological father, Michael Jones, and stepmother, Heather Jones — although the children’s maternal grandmother had asked for custody. Three years later, authorities would find the little boy’s decomposed body in a livestock pen near the home.

http://www.dailypresser.com/2017/05/7-year-old-boy-starved/ 

Minnesota bishop sued for coercion, blackmail over sex abuse accusation

A deacon candidate for a rural Minnesota diocese sued his bishop this week on grounds of blackmail and coercion after the prelate allegedly threatened his ordination if he didn’t renounce a prior revelation of sexual abuse by the diocese’s former vicar general.
In the civil lawsuit filed May 8, Ronald Vasek alleges that Crookston, Minnesota, Bishop Michael Hoeppner in October 2015 coerced him into signing a letter that retracted his disclosure to the bishop approximately five years earlier that Msgr. Roger Grundhaus had sexually abused him on a trip to Ohio while a teenager in the 1970s.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/minnesota-bishop-sued-coercion-blackmail-sex-abuse-accusation/?newsletter=1 

What did Cardinal George Pell know about allegations of child sex abuse within the church?

New allegations of alleged conspiracies, cover-ups and broken lives have emerged, with questions about what Pell knew about paedophilia in the Catholic Church before he become Archbishop of Melbourne. When the Most Reverend George Pell was still Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, he had the passing acquaintance of a priest in his region called Father Noel Brady.
Brady is now parish priest at Resurrection Kings Park, a thriving western suburbs community where he ministers to a distinctly multicultural group of worshippers. He is an understated man and he blanches from any colourful descriptors of Pell or indeed of Pell's motives. Brady says he prefers to stick to the facts. And the facts he alleges fly in the face of everything Pell now says about what he knew about paedophilia and how he handled it in the Catholic Church before becoming Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.

http://www.watoday.com.au/good-weekend/just-how-much-did-cardinal-george-pell-know-about-allegations-of-child-sex-abuse-within-the-church-20170511-gw29zq.html 

Monk on abuse charge can be returned to Scotland

A former Catholic monk accused of abusing boys at a Highlands boarding school is eligible for extradition, according to a magistrate in Australia.
The decision on whether to send Denis Alexander back to Scotland for trial now rests with Australia’s attorney-general. The former priest denies claims relating to Fort Augustus Abbey Roman Catholic boarding school. He was returned to Australia by the Catholic Church in 1979 after abuse allegations first surfaced.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/monk-on-abuse-charge-can-be-returned-to-scotland-sn09l7s6p 

Baltimore braces for documentary on nun's death, sex abuse at Catholic school

Donna Von Den Bosch climbed to the attic of her home so she could watch the footage alone. The images flashed on her computer screen: the police car, the churches, the priests. Her heart raced. "I'm 60," she told herself, again and again. "I'm not 15 anymore."
Von Den Bosch was watching the trailer of the upcoming Netflix documentary "The Keepers." The seven-part series focuses on sexual abuse in the 1960s and '70s at Archbishop Keough High School and the unsolved 1969 disappearance and death of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, an English teacher at the Catholic school in Southwest Baltimore.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-md-the-keepers-20170511-story.html 

Cardinal George Pell allegedly sexually abused choirboys, book claims

Explosive claims of child sex abuse have been levelled against Australia's highest-ranking Catholic official, Cardinal George Pell.
A soon-to-be-released book about Cardinal Pell contains detailed claims that he sexually abused two choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the late 1990s.

http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4659485/cardinal-george-pell-allegedly-sexually-abused-choirboys-book-claims/?cs=7 

Cardinal George Pell accused of sexually abusing two choirboys, book claims

New allegations of child abuse are being levelled against Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s financial chief and the most senior figure in the Australian Catholic church.
Fairfax Media has reported claims contained in a new book, Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, that he sexually abused two choirboys at St Patrick’s cathedral after becoming archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/13/cardinal-george-pell-accused-of-sexually-abusing-two-choirboys-book-claims 

Some Catholic saints ‘were probably gay,’ controversial Vatican consultant says

(The Blaze) Father James Martin — a Jesuit priest appointed last month by Pope Francis as a consultant to the Vatican’s secretariat for communications — said some saints “were probably gay.”
Martin’s comment was part of a Facebook thread he began Friday about a bishop who led a prayer at an LGBT Catholic gathering, which Martin called “another sign of welcome and building bridges.”

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/catholic-saints-probably-gay-controversial-vatican-consultant-says/?newsletter=1 

61st person makes accusation of church sex abuse

More allegations of clergy sexual abuse surface, this time against Father Andy Mannetta.
Filed in the Superior Court of Guam today, N.Q. alleges he was sexually molested by the Talofofo priest over 50 times when he was a teen attending the parish. The priest allegedly groomed him for the abuse, inviting him to the rectory to eat and drink sacramental wine as well as watch X-rated videos. On such occasions, the priest would tell him to go into the room for a nap, but would instead perform sex acts on the teen boy, including full body massages with emphasis on the private parts as well as penetration.

http://www.kuam.com/story/35389345/61st-person-makes-accusation-of-church-sex-abuse 

New book levels explosive sex abuse allegations at George Pell

A new book makes some explosive allegations about Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic official. Cardinal: The Rise And Fall of George Pell, written by well-regarded ABC journalise Louise Milligan, claims that Pell sexually abused two choirboys in the late 1990s. 
Fairfax News reports that the book contains detailed claims that the abuse occurred at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, it alleges, after Pell established the church’s compensation scheme for sexual abuse victims in 1996. The boys were in the choice and abused in a back room at the church, Fairfax said, citing the book.

https://startsat60.com/trending/news/new-book-levels-explosive-sex-abuse-allegations-at-george-pell 

Cardinal Pell Reprimands Vatican’s Real Estate Body for Exceeding Its Authority

The prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy says the latest “serious irregularities” show “the moment of truth” in the Vatican’s economic reforms is approaching.

The Vatican body responsible for managing the Vatican’s real estate has been accused of far exceeding its authority by unilaterally telling Vatican departments to supply their financial information to an outside auditor.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-pell-reprimands-vaticans-real-estate-body-for-exceeding-its-author 

A priest and teacher who worked at an Aboriginal mission in the 1960s have been charged with child sex offences.

A priest and teacher who worked at an Aboriginal mission in the 1960s have been charged with child sex offences. Police will allege the priest - who now lives in Melbourne - sexually abused four girls aged between eight and 15 between 1965 and 1969.
He has been charged with rape, six counts of indecent dealing of a girl under 13, and sex counts of unlawful or indecent assault of a female.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/priest-and-teacher-abused-girls-at-aboriginal-mission-20170510-gw17c3.html 

Victim alleges priest's abuse occurred many times

A Talofofo resident alleges he was subjected to repeated sex abuse by former Guam priest Andrew Mannetta while he attended San Miguel Church in Talofofo in the 1980s.
The man, identified through initials N.Q. to protect his privacy due to the graphic nature of the child sex abuse allegations, filed a civil complaint with the Superior Court of Guam through his attorney Anthony C. Perez.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/victim-alleges-priest-abused-him-more-than-times/article_8bc9cae6-3544-11e7-ae00-77b38aac4261.html 

Victim Of Notorious Baltimore Priest Says Police Were In On Sexual Abuse

In the 60s and 70s, Father Joseph Maskell, a counselor at Archbishop Keough High School, was accused of molesting dozens of students — mostly women.
A recent WJZ investigation revealed many of those victims confided in 26-year-old Sister Cathy Cesnik just before her shocking murder nearly 50 years ago. “She confronted him and she lost her life for it,” says Teresa Lancaster.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/02/27/victim-of-notorious-baltimore-priest-says-police-were-in-on-sexual-abuse/ 

Pope Francis Comes Under Fire for Pardoning Pedophile Priest Caught Raping Children

Since taking over as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis toughened his stance against the Italian mafia within its establishment. In September 2015, Pope Francis sounded a strong warning to the various organized criminal gangs in Italy, that they have no place in the church.
The pontiff said God has rejected the mafia and that they will surely burn in hell’s fire in the hereafter if they didn’t change and seek salvation from God.

http://anonhq.com/pope-francis-comes-fire-pardoning-pedophile-priest-caught-raping-children/ 

Argentina probes sex abuse at deaf school, what Vatican knew

Handcuffed to a wheelchair, priest Nicola Corradi and the Rev. Horacio Corbacho, left, are escorted to a courtroom in Mendoza, Argentina, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. In late November, police arrested Corradi and Corbacho, after several students came forward with shocking childhood tales of the sexual abuse suffered over years at a school for hearing impaired children, in remote northwestern Argentina. Argentina –  The children said they wailed as the two Roman Catholic priests repeatedly raped them inside the small school chapel in remote northwestern Argentina. Only their tormenters would have heard their cries since the other children at the school were deaf.
The clerical sex abuse scandal unfolding at the Antonio Provolo Institute for hearing impaired children in Mendoza province would be shocking enough on its own. Except that dozens of students in the Provolo Institute's school in Italy were similarly abused for decades, allegedly by the same priest who now stands accused of raping and molesting young deaf Argentines.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/22/argentina-probes-sex-abuse-at-deaf-school-what-vatican-knew.html

About my life and my abuse by the Catholic paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale

WARNING THIS MAY BE TRIGGERING!

In the early 80's my family was introduced to Gerald Francis Ridsdale, he was a Catholic priest from the Ballarat Diocese, he was studying at The National Pastoral Institute (Catholic study institute). A nun introduced him to my family.
I was going to St Bedes school Mentone Melbourne. We went on a camping trip to White Cliffs NSW with him and some of his family (Nephews who later I found out he was abusing as well and his brother) and some other adults. This was around 1980. The abuse (sexual and mental) started in the shower block at the local caravan park. This went on for two weeks. We then returned to Melbourne.

http://www.traumainreligion.com/paul_levey0.php 

Are there women paedophiles?

The UK is leading the world in many respects when it comes to the issue of confronting and dealing with systemic and cultural sexual abuse. But like any crusade have had their  wins and their loses.
The case against Prince Andrew, one with what seems like overwhelming evidence is still being fought in the legal system. You might remember that Prince Andrew was involved with the Jeffery Epstein scandal. Epstein’s Little black book included people such as Bill Clinton, Alec Baldwin, George Soros nephew Peter, Courtney Love…and the list goes on.

http://www.givethemavoice.foundation/the-voice/are-there-women-paedophiles/ 

They destroyed Denis Ryan's police career. Now they admit he was right all along

On the ground floor of the Victoria Police Centre is the Honour Board For Courage that lists the names of nearly 500 police who risked their lives in the line of duty.
But in policing there are two types of courage. There is the instinctive act of physical bravery and the moral type that requires the strength of character to uphold the law when pressured to compromise.

http://www.boorowanewsonline.com.au/story/4093731/they-destroyed-denis-ryans-police-career-now-they-admit-he-was-right-all-along/ 

Loyola School on Upper East Side covered up teacher who molested seven girls in 1970s, 1980s — but victims can’t sue

Louis Tambini was a legendary figure at Loyola, a history teacher, coach and athletic director who worked at the small Catholic school on the Upper East Side for more than 30 years.
Tambini was also a creep who molested seven girls who attended the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Officials at the Jesuit-run school failed to notify authorities, parents or alumni when they learned about the sexual abuse allegations, according to a report commissioned by the current Loyola administration and prepared by the Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft law firm. But despite evidence that Loyola officials covered up the abuse for decades after they learned of the allegations in December 1982, the victims can’t file lawsuits against the school because New York’s statute of limitations expired decades ago.

https://rapevictimsofthecatholicchurch.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/loyola-school-on-upper-east-side-covered-up-teacher-who-molested-seven-girls-in-1970s-1980s-but-victims-cant-sue/ 

Outdated Laws, Unpunished Child Abusers

Beginning in 1997, and then for the next 13 years, Ama Dwimoh ran the Crimes Against Children Bureau in the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, observing a theater of atrocities. Early in her tenure, Ms. Dwimoh told me recently, she handled a case involving a young man who had been sexually molested by his family’s landlord for a decade, starting when he was 5.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/nyregion/outdated-laws-unpunished-child-abusers.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170511&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y 

Crookston bishop and longtime Winona priest allegedly covered up sexual abuse

Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner, who spent 42 years as a priest in the Diocese of Winona, has been accused of covering up a decades-old case of child sexual abuse, and of blackmailing the accuser into keeping the claims to himself.

Hoeppner was named in a civil complaint filed Monday in Polk County district court.

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/crookston-bishop-and-longtime-winona-priest-allegedly-covered-up-sexual/article_4d51dd46-5967-5acc-a275-d81c5535e02f.html 

WA priest, 2 teachers on child sex charges.

A priest and two teachers who worked at a West Australian Catholic school for indigenous children in the 1960s have been arrested on multiple child abuse charges.
A 78-year-man, who was a priest at the Wandering Mission and was arrested in Melbourne, has been charged with rape and 12 other offences.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/10/10/19/wa-priest-teacher-face-historical-charges

Child abuse victims head to court following Assembly collapse

Victims of historical child abuse are being forced to take their fight for justice to the courts after being "abandoned" by Stormont's warring politicians.
In January a landmark report into state and church abuse recommended compensation, a memorial and a public apology to abuse survivors.  Dozens of victims had given evidence during a four-year public inquiry about the abuse they suffered as children in care.

http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2017/05/08/news/child-abuse-victims-head-to-court-following-assembly-collapse-1019955/ 

The Latest: Diocese denies bishop coerced deacon candidate

A Catholic diocese in Minnesota says its bishop denies coercing a deacon candidate into remaining silent about a priest he alleges abused him decades earlier.
The Diocese of Crookston says in a statement that Bishop Michael Hoeppner (HEP’-ner) “categorically denies that he in any way forced, coerced or encouraged” Ronald Vasek not to report his allegations against Monsignor Roger Grundhaus.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/2017/05/09/us-church-abuse-minnesota-the-latest/ 

Commonwealth Redress Scheme for Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse

The Turnbull Government’s redress scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse in institutional settings is planned to commence in 2018.
The Turnbull Government has listened to survivors and accepts the recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that each jurisdiction and all individual institutions must make amends and take responsibility for wrongdoing.
A national scheme with states, territories and non-government institutions able to join on a ‘responsible entity pays’ basis was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission and is the best way to ensure fairness and justice for all survivors.

http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/commonwealth-redress-scheme-for-survivors-of-institutional-child-sexual-abuse-0 

Accused of Sexually Abusing Minors, Seattle Mayor Won’t Seek Re-election

Facing allegations that he sexually abused minors in the 1980s, Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle said this week that he would not seek re-election.

Flanked by about two-dozen colleagues and family members, Mr. Murray, the city’s first openly gay mayor, announced his decision at a news conference on Tuesday. He said he would step down after one term because he did not want a scandal to dominate this year’s mayoral campaign.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/ed-murray-rape.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170510&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=1 

Whistleblowers group offers Cardinal Dolan support, criticism

Before embarking on a May 9 lobbying day in Albany in support of proposed New York state legislation that would extend the statute of limitations on child abuse claims, the watchdog group Catholic Whistleblowers offered both support and criticism of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
The group praised the New York Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program to compensate victims with claims against clergy sex abusers. The program offers compensation even to those who come forth beyond New York’s window for presenting claims, five years after a person reaches the age of 18.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/whistleblowers-group-offers-cardinal-dolan-support-criticism/?newsletter=1 

Jesuits to return 525 acres of land to Native Americans

'It's now time to give back to the tribe all of those pieces of land that were given to the church for church purposes,' Fr John Hatcher said

The Jesuits are returning more than 500 acres in South Dakota to the Rosebud Sioux. The formal return of the property is expected to be complete sometime in May.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/05/09/jesuits-to-return-525-acres-of-land-to-native-americans/ 

Guam archbishop’s first sex abuse accuser testifies before Vatican tribunal

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke and the Vatican tribunal is wrapping up the discovery phase and is entering another phase in the groundbreaking canonical trial of Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron.
John Toves, the first to publicly accuse Apuron in 2014 of sexual abuse of a minor, testified before the Vatican tribunal at the archbishop’s residence in San Francisco on Monday, about Apuron’s alleged sexual abuse of Toves’ cousin while the cousin was an altar boy at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/guam-archbishops-first-sex-abuse-accuser-testifies-vatican-tribunal/?newsletter=1 

Catholic Church’s good deeds are being erased, says archbishop

Decades of service by countless nuns and priests in education and healthcare are being “almost obliterated by a revised and narrow narrative that religious ethos cannot be good for democracy”, Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin has said.
He said there was a view that religious ethos stands “against the progress and flourishing of society and the rights of citizens” and that there was a tendency in some public discussion to give the impression that things related to faith were “unconnected with reason”.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/catholic-churchs-good-deeds-erased-says-archbishop/?newsletter=1 

George Pell has been photographed eating chips and drinking beer, despite heart claims.

Senior Vatican official cardinal George Pell has been photographed enjoying steak and chips and a beer in a Rome restaurant just weeks after he said he was too ill to return to Australia to face the royal commission into child abuse in the Catholic church.
Two months ago, the Vatican’s financial boss, who turns 75 in June, gave three days of testimony to the commission via videolink from Rome.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/george-pell-has-been-photographed-eating-chips-and-drinking-beer-despite-heart-claims-2016-5

Police must be at Scotland's first child abuse inquiry public hearings, say survivors

Survivors of systemic sexual and physical abuse have asked Police Scotland to send officers to the first public hearings of an unprecedented inquiry. They have also urged the independent Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to publish a detailed breakdown of spending after costs soared by more than £2m in the first three months of this year.
And there have been fresh calls to widen the inquiry to include a charity which has worked with more than 1,000 survivors but was denied “core participant” status, meaning it can’t question witnesses or view evidence.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15270041.Survivors_urge_Police_Scotland_to_attend_public_hearings_of_first_child_abuse_inquiry/?ref=rss 

Priest’s Body Exhumed As Part Of Decades Old Baltimore Nun Murder Investigation

BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Nearly 50 years ago, the body of Sister Cathy Cesnik was found in a ditch. For months, WJZ has been investigating the case that’s haunted the community.
Baltimore County Police revealed only to WJZ that they’ve dug up the body of a powerful priest who has long been suspected in Cesnik’s death, to get his DNA. In January of 1970, the decomposed body of 26-year-old Cathy Cesnik was discovered in a field in Lansdowne.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/05/03/a-major-break-in-the-murder-of-a-baltimore-nun/ 

These men were trained liars' - women duped into relationships with undercover police call for Irish inquiry

A NUMBER OF women who discovered that they were in relationships with undercover British policemen have called for a public inquiry in Ireland to determine whether the gardaí had a working understanding in place with those undercover agents when they were present here.
Several of those British agents have been exposed as having embarked on long-term relationships with female protesters and activists – women who were involved in activist actions on Irish soil like the Mayo Shell-to-Sea protests between 2004 and 2006 or the 2004 Dublin May Day demonstrations, women who had no idea who their partners really were.

http://www.thejournal.ie/lisa-mark-kennedy-ireland-inquiry-gardai-3370955-May2017/

The Un-Reformed Vatican

Every pope “possesses supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely” according to the Code of Canon Law. Members of the Roman Curia are appointed and granted authority by the pope.
 Pope Francis has also changed the Curia administration. First he created a Secretariat for the Economy and a Council for the Economy. Next, he created a Secretariat for Communications.

https://opentabernacle.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/the-un-reformed-vatican/ 

Scottish girl abused by Jehovah's Witness dad asked church for help - but was molested by trusted elder too

Mum-of-four Angie Rodgers waived her right to anonymity in a bid to help other sufferers of child sex abuse after being abused by her father for five years.  Cowering under her duvet at night, 11-year-old Angie prayed that God would keep her safe.
Sadly for the terrified youngster, the church she trusted were on the side of the very man who haunted her nightmares – her abusive father. Now a mum of four, 36-year-old Angie Rodgers said: “I turned to the church for help and I was abused a second time. I was a child and they should have helped but instead they turned on me.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/girl-abused-jehovahs-witness-dad-10370979 

Pastor under sex pressure

The Church in Jamaica has been thrown into further disarray, with news that another man of the cloth has been arrested and charged by the police with a sexual offence against a minor.Host pastor of the Bunker's Hill New Testament Church of God in Trelawny, Presley Smith will face the Falmouth Parish Court later this week, after he was arrested and charged on Friday with acts of sexual offences.

Allegations are that between January 2016 and January of this year, Smith, 27, a native of Kingston but who currently lives in this rural Trelawny community, committed a number of sexual offences against a 15-year-old male student who hails from the district and is now residing in Montego Bay, St James.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Pastor-under-sex-pressure-trelawny-churchman-arrested-charged-with-buggery-of-a-minor_98080?profile=1373 

Vatican gets testimony from more Apuron accusers

The Vatican tribunal working on Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron’s canonical penal trial will be hearing testimony in California from John Toves, the first person to publicly accuse Apuron in 2014 of sexual abuse, of his cousin.
Led by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, the tribunal also received a written testimony from John Michael “Champ” Quinata, alleging that Apuron raped his brother, the now deceased former altar boy Joseph Anthony “Sonny” Quinata, when his brother was 9 years old

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/05/07/vatican-gets-testimony-more-apuron-accusers/101396486/ 

FBI, Europol Use Malware to Catch 900 More Pedophiles in “Operation Pacifier”

The FBI in conjunction with Europol have arrested almost 900 people thought to be connected with the Playpen pedophilia network. The Playpen investigation has spanned over 2 years and 100 nations, and recently saw Steven Chase, founder of the Playpen pedophilia network sentenced to 30 years in prison. Chase was arrested in 2014.
The dark net allowed pedophiles to access the network and participate in illegal activities through the use of encryption software to protect the users’ identity. A forum platform helped the anonymous users to engage in photo and file sharing of children sexually abused.

http://anonhq.com/fbi-europol-use-malware-to-catch-900-more-pedophiles-in-operation-pacifier/ 

13yo Boy Sentenced to 90 Days for Not Wanting to Be With His Mom.

There are far too many children put on Therapy and medication... which sends them nutty... Children should never be put on drugs by their Doctors and so-forth... this child had done NO WRONG... SHAME on you JUDGE TIMOTHY GERKING....  Ann

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

A thirteen-year-old Oregon boy was sentenced to 90 days for not wanting to associate or communicate with his mother. The boy claims that his mother bit his ear and that she is now denying doing so. This young man did nothing wrong, yet he has basically been incarcerated without having committed any crime whatsoever – unbelievable!
On February 1, 2017, Brian Hegler, under court order by Jackson Co. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Gerking reluctantly drove his thirteen-year-old son to New Vision Wilderness Therapy, almost 200 miles away from their home in Medford, OR. The court order stated that Brian’s son would have to attend the program which specializes in, “treating issues of adoption, trauma, anxiety and addiction,” for 90 days, or until completion.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/13yo-boy-sentenced-to-90-days-for-for/ 

Catholic clergy sexual abuse continues to scandalize the Church

With National Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States having ended yesterday, April 30, we’re reminded that Catholic clergy sexual abuse continues to scandalize the Church and affect its dioceses and that allegations of historic Catholic clergy child abuse are still being made around the world. Here are a few recent examples:

https://voicefaithful.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/catholic-clergy-sexual-abuse-continues-to-scandalize-the-church/ 

300,000 babies stolen from their parents - and sold for adoption:

Up to 300,000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five decades, a new investigation reveals.
The children were trafficked by a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns in a widespread practice that began during General Franco’s dictatorship and continued until the early Nineties.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049647/BBC-documentary-exposes-50-year-scandal-baby-trafficking-Catholic-church-Spain.html 

Priest’s Body Exhumed As Part Of Decades Old Baltimore Nun Murder Investigation

This nuns was murdered because she dared to challenge  the priest who raped many children... they went to her for help... and she did what was right... and was murdered for protecting children... she was brave enough to question a priest...  about his immoral ways of raping young girls... Ann

 ===============================

For months, WJZ has been investigating the case that’s haunted the community.  Baltimore County Police revealed only to WJZ that they’ve dug up the body of a powerful priest who has long been suspected in Cesnik’s death, to get his DNA.
In January of 1970, the decomposed body of 26-year-old Cathy Cesnik was discovered in a field in Lansdowne. It’s a murder that’s gone unsolved for decades. A recent.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/05/03/a-major-break-in-the-murder-of-a-baltimore-nun/ 

Female paedophiles: Why women sexually abuse children

Marie Black, 34, has been sexually abusing children for the last 10 years. She was at the centre of an “utterly depraved” sex abuse ring where two boys and three girls - all aged under 13 - were raped and abused.

Black organised sex parties where children were ‘raffled’ to people who would then rape and abuse them.

A judge, who jailed her for life, said it was ‘the most harrowing case’ he’d ever seen. “The children were subjected to sexual abuse of the worst kind,” he said. “They were simply passed around like toys.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11899484/Female-paedophiles-Why-women-sexually-abuse-children.html 

Australian bishops gather in the light of the royal commission

The government and the Catholic Church both face difficulties when commending values. The difficulties will dog events during the next week in which both institutions are on public display — the bringing down of the budget and the meeting of the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference.
In each case the difficulty has its roots in defects of governance: a lack of leadership, authority, transparency and inclusiveness. When the government appeals to values with respect to the Australian community or education, its appeal is commonly assumed to mask electoral self-interest and internal party conflict. That underlying its rhetoric is a lack of transparency, inclusiveness and authority is taken for granted.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52314#.WQ6CJKIlGUl 

Sexual abuse a vital concern

Large numbers of church-goers live with the sexual abuse they suffered as children, Odessa ministers say, but never go to their pastors or seek the help they need. As a result, their lives are often distorted by marital problems, drug and alcohol abuse and obsessive work that keeps those sensitive issues in the dark.
The Revs. Russell Nebhut, Mark Woodruff and Becky Hand and support group leader Kim Baker say a reassuring atmosphere is necessary for the victim to confide in a pastor or counselor.

http://www.oaoa.com/article_44cf70a2-31fa-11e7-bee1-a3242fc91430.html 

Argentina: Nun arrested for allegedly abusing deaf children

A Roman Catholic nun from Japan has been arrested and charged on suspicion of helping priests sexually abuse children at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina, authorities said.
Kosaka Kumiko was also charged with physically abusing the students at the Antonio Provolo Institute for children with hearing impairment in northwestern Mendoza province.

https://www.newdelhitimes.com/argentina-nun-arrested-for-allegedly-abusing-deaf-children123/ 

Corey Joseph Edward Leech

Corey Joseph Edward Leech, 31; Johnstown. This is the story of Corey Joseph Edward Leech.   It was a promising beginning that ended far too soon at the ripe age of 31.  Corey, the third-eldest brother of 10, enjoyed playing and watching sports. His favorite professional teams were the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Atlanta Braves.
Corey was also a talented athlete, playing baseball, basketball, and football for Bishop McCort high school. Through his Catholic educators, Corey was introduced to a “man of the cloth,” a predator, who aimed to take advantage of a trusting, handsome, and athletic boy.  Despite his years of private suffering, Corey went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from the nursing program at Mt. Aloysius, where he also played baseball and earned his Bachelor’s degree in 2008. 

http://www.fgozogfuneralhome.com/notices/Corey-Leech 

Religious wealth revealed as Catholic Church has assets worth almost €4 billion

THE Catholic Church has assets valued at almost €4billion that campaigners say should be controlled and owned by the State. The future site of the €300million National Maternity Hospital — which will be built on Church land and owned by the Church — has reignited a debate about the role of the ­Vatican in this country.

And an analysis by the Irish Sun shows that Pope Francis has a far bigger grip on the State than this crisis shows. We totted up the total value of the schools, hospitals and disability ­services which are owned and controlled by religious orders in Ireland.

https://www.thesun.ie/news/948902/religious-wealth-revealed-as-catholic-church-has-assets-worth-almost-e4-billion/

Takedown of underground pedophile network nets 900 arrests: police

Nearly 900 suspected pedophiles have been arrested and almost 300 children identified or rescued from their abusers following the massive takedown of an underground online pedophile network, US and European police said Friday.
A more than two-year investigation into the notorious Playpen network and its members led to the arrests, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Europol said, an announcement that came just days after a US court sentenced Playpen founder and administrator Steven Chase to 30 years in prison.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/takedown-of-underground-pedophile-network-nets-900-arrests-police/ar-BBAMJuT

Angel from hell: Nun is arrested for helping five priests 'sexually abuse' dozens of deaf children.

and she is smiling as if she has done no wrong... you know what they did to us children when we smiled?... they would say to us,,, I will give you something to take that smile off your face... and down would come their fist across your face... even though you heard them tell you... you could not more... for fear of getting the hidden of your life... Ann Free Spirit it is just not right... that most things the you see or hear... takes you back to your childhood abuse...  Ann

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

A Roman Catholic nun from Japan has been arrested and charged on suspicion of helping priests sexually abuse children at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina.

Kosaka Kumiko, 42, was charged with helping the priests with anal and vaginal rapes, fondling and oral sex, which were allegedly committed in the bathrooms, dormitories, garden and a basement at the school in Lujan de Cuyo, a city about 620 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4480530/Nun-arrested-helping-priests-rape-deaf-kids.html 

Clergy-abuse survivor feels she cannot ignore the headlines

there is always something out there which bring it all back... mostly is how people talk down to you... and treat you as if you should not be alive... the best thing is not to have anything to do with those people... Sexual abuse and abuse has a very big part of my life... they tell me that it gets better... BUT IT WILL NOT GO AWAY...
The only way I can do anything about child abuse and child rape... is to bring it right into the eyes of the people of this world... children are still being raped and abused today... and with the world being silent about it... it is hidden from sight... WAKE UP WORLD... SEE... HEAR AND FEEL... the cries and pain of the innocent abused children... by talking about it... you just might be able to save one child from being abused or raped... be the ears and voice of the abused children... help to save them from the hell... which the children are put through every day and night... just think of how many people are here on face-book... you can save the lives of millions of children by being their voice...  Ann

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MY silence has been disturbing me. It’s a familiar reaction for survivors like me. But I can’t keep silent any longer. Silence keeps things in darkness and prevents us from seeing clearly in the light of day.
I don’t have the right to speak for or against Seattle Mayor Ed Murray or the man, Delvonn Heckard, who has accused the mayor of raping him as a teen. Nor do I want to. However, I do have the right and responsibility to speak for myself, as a survivor of sexual abuse, and possibly for other survivors who have been sexually violated.

http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/clergy-abuse-survivor-feels-she-cannot-ignore-the-headlines/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1