Archdiocese: Priest accused of abuse must return to Guam by June 15

The Archdiocese of Agana instructed Father Adrian Cristobal, who has been accused of sexually abusing three boys, to return to Guam by June 15 or sanctions would be imposed on him. The sanctions would be in addition to precautionary measures imposed on Cristobal when the first allegation was filed on April 10, such as temporarily banning the priest from celebrating Mass publicly or hearing confession while investigations are ongoing. Cristobal is believed to be in the vicinity of New York, after leaving the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona in April.

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/05/25/priest-accused-sex-abuse-ordered-return-june-15/643696002/ 

Poulson arrest raises questions about bishop: Letters to the editor

The recent charges filed against an Erie Catholic diocesan priest for child sexual abuse has a number of serious implications for current Bishop Lawrence Persico and former Bishop Donald W. Trautman. Bishop Persico appears to have acted in accordance with church policy, once credible information was brought to his attention and he immediately notified law enforcement authorities. Bishop Trautman, on the other hand, was advised of sexual allegations against the same priest in 2010, according to the grand jury presentment in the Poulson case, and offered a defense of trying to contact the alleged victim. He said he didn’t get in contact and apparently filed an internal memo. All this flies in the face of diocesan policy promulgated by Trautman himself:

http://www.goerie.com/opinion/20180525/poulson-arrest-raises-questions-about-bishop-letters-to-editor 

A Boise priest abused him and kept him quiet with beer. He was 12. Police never knew.

For two decades, Mark Holden kept the secret of the man who abused him: a man he believed was next to God, a man he thought was untouchable. Holden met the Rev. James McSorley in 1971 at Boise’s Sacred Heart parish. In public, Holden served McSorley as an altar boy. In private, Holden said, the 50-year-old priest soon became exploitive, using secluded time with the children to fondle Holden — and possibly others — on multiple occasions over the course of a year.

http://www.cdapress.com/article/20180524/AP/305249933 

Bishop who ignored warnings about preacher Jeremy Dowling who went on to abuse boys is identical twin of paedophile ex-bishop

One of the bishops who ignored warnings about a preacher who went on to sexaully abuse boys is the identical twin of a paedophile ex-bishop. It emerged this week that a leading figure in the Church of England in Cornwall went on to commit child sex offences for several years after allegations about his behaviour with young boys were raised with the diocese and not acted upon, an official investigation has revealed. The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/bishop-who-ignored-warnings-preacher-1608976 

Ballarat clergy abuse survivors applaud the end of the Ellis defence loophole

Ballarat survivors who suffered abuse in Catholic Church-run institutions have applauded the end of the Ellis defence following the passing of new laws on Friday, quashing the infamous loophole. The Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, speaking in Ballarat on Friday, said the passing of the Legal Identity of Defendants (Organisational Child Abuse) Bill 2018 quashed the legal technicality and will prevent unincorporated organisations from relying upon the ‘Ellis defence’ to avoid civil lawsuits.

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5428961/survivors-cheer-end-of-ellis-defence/ 

Catholic churches get grand jury report on sexual abuse before its public release

Mark Rozzi's phone rang relentlessly after an Erie newspaper reported Thursday that a judge released copies of a statewide grand jury report on sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses to church officials more than a month before it is to be released publicly. Rozzi, a Democratic state representative from Berks County, has been a lightning rod for victims since publicly accusing a priest of molesting him more than 30 years ago and then testifying before the grand jury, which completed its investigation last month.

http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/13689563-74/catholic-churches-get-grand-jury-report-on-sexual-abuse-before-its-public 

The archbishop, the paedophile priest, the compassionate church employee and the damage done

IT’S one of the most spectacular own goals in Catholic Church history – how Archbishop Philip Wilson’s refusal to meet with a Newcastle child sex victim in 2008 laid the groundwork for his conviction for concealing a crime, a special commission of inquiry and a royal commission. It’s the extraordinary story of Anthea Halpin, notorious paedophile priest Denis McAlinden, the face-to-face apology from Wilson that never came and the documents that have helped change history.

https://www.bordermail.com.au/news/national/5430242/archbishops-spectacular-own-goal-the-missed-cuppa-thats-changing-history/ 

Pope Francis to Italian bishops: Don’t let gays into the seminary

Pope Francis has reportedly told the bishops of Italy that they are to exercise more discretion regarding candidates for priestly studies in diocesan seminaries, instructing them to exercise an “attentive discernment” regarding cases of possible homosexual orientation “If there is even the slightest doubt, it is better not to let them enter,” the Pope told them. The statements come in the wake of a widely-reported private conversation between Francis and a Chilean sex abuse victim who identifies as “gay,” in which Francis reportedly said, “God made you gay.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-tells-italian-bishops-to-not-let-gays-enter-the-seminary 

Cleric in Chile who recorded sex abuse charges reports himself

ROME - An ongoing crisis in Chile’s Catholic Church continues to develop, with new allegations, accusations and compromising media reports arising almost daily. Last week, most of the country’s bishops handed their resignations to Pope Francis, who had summoned them to Rome and presented them with a document accusing the Chilean hierarchy of destroying evidence and of a systematic cover up of sexual abuse. The man registering allegations reports himself

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/26/cleric-in-chile-who-recorded-sex-abuse-charges-reports-himself/ 

Timeline of Archbishop Philip Wilson's case

An emotional two-page letter written by a sexual abuse victim has been credited with helping convict an Australian Archbishop of concealing such crimes dating back decades. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson stood down on Friday after he was convicted for concealing child sex abuse at Newcastle Local Court. He is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to be convicted of covering up abuse in the church. The letter which helped bring his case before a court was penned by Peter Creigh, who was abused by paedophile priest James Fletcher more than 50 years ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5773769/Archbishop-Philip-Wilson-case-letter-led-downfall.html 

Cardinal George Pell’s Sexual Abuse Trials May Be Held in Secret

SYDNEY, Australia — An Australian court is to decide on Wednesday whether two planned trials for Cardinal George Pell, the senior Vatican official accused of sexual abuse, will be conducted in secret with the public barred from knowing what took place until the proceedings are over. On Friday, prosecutors in the state of Victoria applied for a “super injunction” against news coverage of the separate trials. Legal experts described the application as an extreme move aimed at keeping juries in both cases from learning anything that might cause bias.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/australia/george-pell-trial-super-injunction.html 

Priest faces sex charges

A priest of the Catholic Diocese of Erie has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse against two young boys over a period of eight years. David L. Poulson, 64, of Oil City, has been arraigned on a total of eight counts involving boys who were ages 8 and 15 at the time when the abuse started, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in announcing the charges Tuesday.

http://www.alliednews.com/news/priest-faces-sex-charges/article_157388d6-5498-11e8-92a2-0b4569086cd0.html 

Kenya: Witness Hitch in Catholic Priest's Sexual Abuse Case.

A Kitui court on Wednesday summoned several witnesses to testify in a case against a Catholic priest, who is alleged to have impregnated a student and attempted to kill her. The witnesses were summoned after the prosecution expressed frustration that they were unwilling to testify despite having recorded statements with police over the incident.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201805110114.html 

Pruitt Dined With Climate-Skeptic Vatican Official Charged With Sex Abuse, and the EPA Tried to Hide It

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had a $240-per-person dinner at a Rome restaurant with a Vatican cardinal who was a climate-change skeptic and under investigation for sex abuse in 2017. The EPA office did not disclose the cardinal was at the dinner on public records, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. Cardinal George Pell pleaded not guilty to historical charges of sexual abuse at the end of April in his home country of Australia.

http://www.newsweek.com/pruitt-climate-skeptic-vatican-sex-abuse-922304 

Attacks on defense lawyers because of their clients are wrong

Most Americans understand and appreciate the vital nature of our adversarial system of justice, where both sides can obtain legal representation. But some lawyers who run for public office are continuously being lambasted for having done their jobs as lawyers. Matt Flynn, a lawyer who is seeking the Wisconsin Democratic nomination for governor, is being attacked because of his past legal representation of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the sex abuse lawsuits involving priests.

https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/opinion/2018/05/11/lawyers-attacks-defense-attorneys-wrong/602878002/ 

Priests told not to report confessions of child abuse by National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

The Catholic bishops’ child-protection body is advising priests not to inform state authorities about incidents of child abuse they hear about in the confession box, in apparent contravention of the law. Guidelines published by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church exempts priests from passing on admissions of child abuse made in the confessional, it has emerged. The Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 does not allow for confessional privilege. When the law was going through the Oireachtas, Alan Shatter, as the justice minister, said mandatory reporting would apply “regardless of any internal rules of any religious grouping”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/priests-told-not-to-report-confessions-of-child-abuse-by-national-board-for-safeguarding-children-in-the-catholic-church-mz2ncqh2z 

Ex-detective Denis Ryan wins compensation decades after being pushed out of Victoria Police

Denis Ryan gave up his police pension when he chose to resign from the force after being ordered to drop his investigation into Monsignor John Day, a Catholic paedophile priest who preyed on children in the Mallee. The decision had a profound impact on his life, costing him a marriage and the prospect of a comfortable retirement. Until now, he has lived in a rented unit on the proceeds of an aged pension. But a month after his plight was revealed by the ABC, the Victorian Government has reached a confidential settlement with the 86-year-old.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-07/denis-ryan-victorian-detective-police-pension-booted-force/9645982 

Confessional seal not ‘linchpin of culture of secrecy,’ Aussie prelate says

In recent months, the Australian Catholic Church has been in the spotlight, primarily due to news that the former Archbishop of Sydney and the pope’s current finance minister, Cardinal George Pell, will stand trial for “historical sexual offenses” amid continuing fallout from the Church’s clerical abuse crisis. As the Church attempts to change the narrative about its role in public life, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has been elected as the new head of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Serving as his vice-president will be Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/14/confessional-seal-not-linchpin-of-culture-of-secrecy-aussie-prelate-says/ 

Phone call from military chaplain triggered priest case

The child sex abuse charges filed against the Rev. David Poulson were largely based on evidence the Catholic Diocese of Erie gathered and gave police. The phone call was from Texas. It rang in the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Erie in late January. The call set off a series of events that culminated on Tuesday with the arrest of the Rev. David L. Poulson on charges that he sexually abused two boys from 2002 to 2010.

http://www.goerie.com/news/20180514/phone-call-from-military-chaplain-triggered-priest-case 

Chileans denounce suffering sex abuse by Marists, priests

Even as Pope Francis apologized for his failures in connection with Chile's most famous case of clerical sex abuse, the pope and that country's deeply discredited Catholic Church are under mounting pressure to address another, even bigger sex scandal. The blooming scandal of the Marist Brothers, a congregation dedicated to education, has not yet drawn great attention worldwide — unlike allegations that a bishop covered up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Fernando Karadima.

http://newsok.com/chileans-denounce-suffering-sex-abuse-by-marists-priests/article/feed/2205502 

Church Apologizes For Monsignor’s ‘Lousy Catholics’ Comments

The Chicago Archdiocese is investigating allegations of verbal abuse at a south suburban Catholic school that’s scheduled to close. According to the Patch, students and parents say the monsignor leading mass at Incarnation Church in Palos Heights yelled and called the children “lousy Catholics.” Some teachers said he further mocked students who were crying. The school later sent a robocall apologizing to parents. “Monsignor Sauraskas addressed some issues in his homily in an inappropriate way that hurt many of the children.” The situation got so tense that the school conducted a crisis intervention to help calm the students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/05/13/church-apology-monsignor-lousy-catholics/ 

Abuse of Power And it needs to be called out.

The manner in which too many bishops exercise their authority is, simply put, abusive, and it needs to stop. Behind much of the abuse is a worldview that, frankly, isn't Catholic. There is an accommodationist spirit which influences everything they do and what is being accommodated is the world. So, Catholic identity is watered down because to be truly Catholic is too confrontational. Priests are punished for preaching orthodoxy, young men are disciplined or thrown out of seminary for being too "rigid" — the establishment buzzword for being orthodox.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-abuse-of-power 

Sorrow’s not enough

The refusal by Pope Francis to apologize to victims of abuse a native residential schools in Canada is striking hard at survivors and their families in the Atlantic region. Abuses at these schools have been well documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Equally well known is the role of the Catholic Church in operating those schools. A papal apology is one of 94 recommendations made by the TRC. During a visit to the Vatican last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally asked the Pope to consider the gesture. So far, the answer is no. That refusal is hard to understand — and is unacceptable.

http://www.thenorwester.ca/opinion/editorial-sorrows-not-enough-207270/ 

Catholic diocese IDs priests and lay people accused of abuse

ERIE, Pa. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, has published a list of 34 priests and 17 lay people who have faced credible accusations of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior. It's the first time the diocese has revealed the names of those accused of abuse. The move comes as a grand jury run by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office investigates how that diocese and five others in Pennsylvania have handled misconduct allegations against priests. Bishop Lawrence Persico said Friday that the list is different from the ones released at other dioceses because it includes lay people who are also credibly accused of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

https://www.whio.com/news/national/catholic-diocese-ids-priests-and-lay-people-accused-abuse/YDzDjIqZQ7qsbZkYZXKvEK/ 

Donald Reece | End the paedophilia propaganda

'Why is Peter Espeut so anal?' (Gleaner, May 2, 2018) was a very provocative headline to an article that seems to produce more heat than facts, particularly when the author, Maurice Tomlinson, gay activist and attorney-at-law, dismisses the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, or of any other church, as a matter of fact, when his hot button is touched, namely, LGBT and its accompanying lifestyle. What the Church teaches is one thing. The teaching of the truth about human sexuality and marriage between one man and one woman, according to the plan of God, is not proved false by the admittedly awful witness by her priests or congregants.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20180505/donald-reece-end-paedophilia-propaganda

Seattle U removes archbishop’s name from athletics center, citing role in covering up for pedophile priest

Seattle University will remove the name of the late Archbishop Thomas Connolly from its athletics and recreation center because of his role in covering up for a known pedophile priest for years beginning in the 1960s, the university announced Friday. The name change will take effect immediately, a spokesman for the university said Friday. The sports and recreation complex for the school, which is not directly affiliated with the Archdiocese of Seattle, has been named in honor of Connolly since 1969. The retired archbishop died in 1991.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-u-to-remove-name-of-former-archbishop-from-athletics-center/ 

Attorney general: Two Franciscans plead to endangering welfare of children

Two Franciscan friars accepted guilty pleas on charges of endangering the welfare of children, a first-degree misdemeanor, in a case stemming from sexual abuse committed by Brother Stephen Baker, who was under their supervision at the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception. The Revs. Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, gave Baker assignments that provided him access to children even after evidence was known he presented a danger as a sexual predator.

http://www.tribdem.com/news/attorney-general-two-franciscans-plead-to-endangering-welfare-of-children/article_ac463ce4-4fd0-11e8-a66d-7b6830ebde5b.html 

2 Pa. Clergymen Among 1st To Be Held Criminally Responsible For Covering Up Sexual Abuse

Two Franciscan friars accused of covering up the sexual abuse of more than 100 children at a high school in Johnstown have pleaded no contest to charges of endangering the welfare of children. ADVERTISING Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, were sentenced Friday in Blair County to the maximum of five years of probation. They also face fines of $1,000 and the cost of prosecution.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/05/04/franciscan-friars-plead-no-contest-sex-abuse-cover-up/ 

Response missed the point

In response to “‘The rest of the story’ on Catholicism” (letter to the editor, April 25): You missed the main point of my letter. No matter that you believe that you’re God’s appointed representatives here on earth. Not everyone believes in your God and not all Christians are Catholic. But you believe you have the God-given right to impose your religious doctrines on everybody else. The fault with the Catholic Church concerning sexual abuse of children isn’t that other people did it, it’s that it continued to happen even though it was a known secret among the church hierarchy, who instead of getting rid of the offenders simply moved them someplace else, until it was exposed in the press.

http://www.nptelegraph.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/response-missed-the-point/article_c73b8b7a-5017-11e8-8bef-dfde4defe7b1.html 

Calls for child victims of sexual offences to have intermediaries

The recent article (‘Ineffective’ system sees sexually abused children re-traumatised) has shone a light on a persistent issue in the criminal justice system: how children give evidence. It is now well accepted in our legal system that the evidence of children is not inherently less reliable than the evidence of adults. Indeed a case I recently took to the High Court, The Queen v GW, was an important development in that area. The High Court held that unsworn evidence (which generally means evidence given by children) is not any less reliable than sworn evidence.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/calls-for-child-victims-of-sexual-offences-to-have-intermediaries-20180503-p4zd4j.html 

Priest accused in 124 Guam sex abuse cases ages quietly, alone

Statues of the Virgin Mary and portraits of Jesus loom over Louis Brouillard in his small apartment. He lives alone, two blocks from Pine City Elementary School and across the street from St. Mary’s Catholic preschool – close enough to hear children’s laughter when they play at recess. The retired priest no longer wears a collar, but the people in this small town an hour north of Minnesota’s Twin Cities still call him "Father." He is 96 years old. Brouillard's peaceful life stands in stark contrast to the torment of 122 men and two women – all middle-aged or retired now – who accuse him of sexually molesting them as children on the island of Guam. They have broken long-held silences and filed lawsuits. Some have protested and begged for justice. Some have left the church.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-now/priest-accused-in-124-guam-sex-abuse-cases-ages-quietly-alone/465-21fcd73d-a792-4dde-b669-9af4460a818e 

7 Ways John Paul II revolutionized the Rosary

Even Pope Francis became a devotee from JPII's example. If it wasn’t for St. John Paul II, I wouldn’t have spent the last 17 years saying a daily Rosary with my family. I’m not alone, either. As I explain in my new book, The Rosary of Saint John Paul II, there are many, many people who can say the same thing. How did John Paul do it?
1: St. John Paul made the Rosary new and exciting again. As I tell students in my class at Benedictine College in Kansas, John Paul II was a mastermind of strategy who knew how to get big things done in the Church. He didn’t just say, “Young people, come back to Church!” — he created World Youth Days. He didn’t just say, “Be faithful to Catholic doctrine” — he created the Catechism. He didn’t just invite Catholics to return to Jesus — he created the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. He also didn’t just urge people to pray the Rosary — he added five new mysteries to pique our interest and created a Year of the Rosary to insure the whole Church joined in.

https://aleteia.org/2018/04/30/7-ways-john-paul-ii-revolutionized-the-rosary/ 

Parliament to ask Pope Francis to visit Canada, apologize for church’s role in residential schools

Parliament will ask Pope Francis to visit Canada and apologize on behalf of his church for the abuses committed against children by Roman Catholic priests, nuns and other officials at this country’s former Indian residential schools. The invitation comes after the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favour of a motion tabled by MP Charlie Angus, a New Democrat from Northern Ontario who is himself a Catholic. It was supported by all members of the Liberal government, the MPs who were elected as members of the Bloc Québécois, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and all but 10 Conservatives.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-parliament-to-ask-pope-francis-to-visit-canada-apologize-for-churchs/ 

CARDINAL SIN Why Won’t Pope Francis Quit Cardinal Pell, His Sketchy No. 3?

ROME—Cardinal George Pell, the 76-year-old head of the Vatican’s Secretariat of the Economy, will stand trial in Melbourne, Australia, for criminal sexual abuse he is alleged to have inflicted on young boys in his home country during the 1970s and ’90s. Exact details of the charges have not been made public due to victim privacy laws, but one of the alleged incidents apparently took place over a 12-month period with a child from St. Joseph’s Boys Home, according to reporters in Australia. Another is purported to have occurred at various times with the same victim in a local swimming pool frequented by a Catholic youth group under Pell’s supervision.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-wont-pope-francis-quit-george-pell-his-sketchy-no-3 

Pope aide Pell to stand trial on multiple sex abuse charges

POPE'S AIDE. Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell speaks to the media at the Quirinale hotel in Rome on March 3, 2016. File photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell became the highest-ranked Catholic ever to be sent to trial over historic sex offenses Tuesday, May 1, with the elderly priest vowing to fight the charges. The 76-year-old was impassive throughout the hearing in Melbourne that ordered him to face a jury on "multiple" charges, although at least half of the allegations against him, including some of the most serious, were thrown out. "Not guilty," the top aide to Pope Francis said loudly and without hesitation when asked his plea, a stance he has taken since first being charged last year. Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington said she was "satisfied" there was enough evidence for a conviction on "multiple" charges with a directions hearing due on Wednesday, May 2, to discuss a trial date.

https://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/201485-vatican-cardinal-george-pell-trial 

Cardinal George Pell to Stand Trial on Historical Sex Offenses

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking official, must stand trial on several charges of sexual abuse, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, promising to prolong a case that has already dragged on for months, and which many see as a moment of reckoning for a church racked by scandal. Belinda Wallington, a Melbourne magistrate, found there was sufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring the cardinal’s case to trial, ending a two-month pretrial hearing, in which witnesses described abuse they said took place decades ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/world/australia/cardinal-george-pell-trial-sexual-abuse.html 

Father Lee's argument is deeply flawed

This is in response to two articles by Father Brendan Lee. The first, “Sexual abuse not a church only concern” (April 13) criticised Adrian Piccoli for his mockery of the seal of confession in relation to child sexual abuse, and his hypocrisy in light of abuse in NSW schools. The second, “Protection of children up to everyone” (April 20) defended confession and stressed its importance. I feel it’s necessary to preface this – this isn’t an attack on Father Lee. I don’t believe I’ve met him, but based on his writing he seems very moral, with deep convictions. Nor am I attacking Catholicism. I’m not religious, I don’t have any enmity toward it. To be honest, it’s just a response to a flawed argument.

https://www.areanews.com.au/story/5363437/fathers-argument-flawed/ 

We need a public inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church

IN 1976 in North Ayrshire the destinies of two children briefly kissed one afternoon and then spun off into different universes. A little clutch of infants from a Dreghorn nursery had been taken out to marvel at the huge papier mache shark displayed in a shop window to mark the arrival of Jaws at the local cinema. One of them would become the most powerful person in Scotland; the other would encounter a childhood and youth of unimaginable physical and sexual abuse by priests of the Catholic Church.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/16174941.Kevin_McKenna__Catholic_leadership__39_s_great_betrayal_over_shocking_sex_abuse_of_children/ 

Vatican sex abuse envoy returns with more than he expected

The Vatican's leading expert on clerical sex abuse wrapped up his fact-finding mission to Chile on Thursday and headed to Rome to brief the pope, concluding one of the most extraordinary months in the Catholic Church's long-running saga of coming to terms with priests who rape children and the church hierarchy that protects them. The Vatican's leading expert on clerical sex abuse wrapped up his fact-finding mission to Chile on Thursday and headed to Rome to brief the pope, concluding one of the most extraordinary months in the Catholic Church's long-running saga of coming to terms with priests who rape children and the church hierarchy that protects them.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/vatican-sex-abuse-envoy-returns-with-more-than-he-expected/709298737 

Accused Predator Prelate Gets Slap on the Wrist

Rome (ChurchMilitant.com) - Vatican watchers are scratching their heads after the Holy See delivered a slap on the wrist to an accused predator prelate. On March 16, a five-judge panel of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) found Guam Abp. Anthony Apuron guilty of certain unspecified abuses. The CDF removed Apuron from his office as archbishop and ordered him not to return to Guam — a mild rebuke amounting to early retirement.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/accused-predator-prelate-dodges-defrocking 

Deadline for input into abuse inquiry scope ends tonight 30.4.2018

I am a broken women and this has torn me apart... we have no justice for the rape and abuse... which was done to us men and women... of the churches in New Zealand... we are just walked all over... as if we are the dirt they walk upon... 
it is the getting up which is so hard... the fall is so easy... you just let go and yet knowing that... you don't only see yourself fall... you see your friends holding on to that last thread... you then feel that it is you... who is about to brake that thread... you say to yourself... you must not let go Ann... just a little while longer then we will be free... but it doesn't work that way... you hear the word sorry so often... knowing that it does not mean anything... to the church nuns and priest... to them it is just another meaningless word... to use when or where ever they feel... that people will believe that they just might... have a a bit of heart or feelings in them... but they have always missed out... what we are shouting to them to hear... ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO THE ABUSE... that is what we want most of all... then that will resort some faith back into our souls... 
Why do they NOT take any notice when we tell them... about the lost of our faith in god... that is what we have lost... and they do not answer that question... they turn the other way... and do not hear or see us... we are the lost children of god... not from our own doing... it has being caused by the servants and brides of Jesus Christ... nuns and priest... and that they will have to answer to gods for... Why do they not hear us?... as a child we would of given our lives to Jesus... and some of us now still would... but they do not see our hearts weeping for that lost... which we held so dear to our hearts... the pain of the rape and the abuse as children... by these men and women of god... was like to us... the devil with his pitchfork... just like they thrashed into us every day and night... pushing us into the fires of hell... and that is where we are today... living a life in hell on earth...   Ann

============================= 

The deadline for public input about the Terms of Reference for the inquiry into historic abuse in state care ends midnight. The draft Terms of Reference covers physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect with a key focus being the impact for Māori. Royal Commission Chairman Sir Anan Satyanand expects more submissions about the scope of the inquiry. "The number of submissions we've received it's north of 200, by the end of tonight, I'm thinking we'll be around the 300 mark," says Satyanand.

https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/politics/deadline-input-abuse-inquiry-scope-ends-tonight