Church worker's threat to abuse inquiry witnesses

LAWYERS for Susan Sharkey, who runs the counselling, co-ordination and support office for the Catholic Church in Melbourne, have sent threatening letters to two witnesses to the state inquiry into how the churches handled child sex abuse.
The letters warn victims' advocates Helen Last and Judy Courtin that if there is ''any publication'' by them to a journalist or anyone that defames Ms Sharkey ''our client will not hesitate to take legal action against you without further notice''

.http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/church-workers-threat-to-abuse-inquiry-witnesses-20121118-29kaw.html

Child sex abuse case heading back to court

The case of a former employee at a local catholic high school is returning to the Macomb County Circuit Court.
Joseph Sturza, a former director of admissions at Austin Catholic High School in Ray Township, and a former youth minister at St. Isidore Catholic Church in Macomb Township, is charged with four felony counts: child sexual abuse activity, accosting a child for immoral purposes, and two counts of using a computer to communicate with a minor in order to commit a crime.

http://www.candgnews.com/news/child-sex-abuse-case-heading-back-court-88677 

How the Catholic and Protestant churches fill their pews in an age of declining attendance

From bells and angels, to mistletoe and nativity scenes, the holiday season brings a slew of Christian symbolism and religious traditions to the streets of Portland, but how many people care? Priests in the Portland area expect an uptick in Church attendance this month, but overall, the number of worshippers in Maine has been declining since the 1960s.
According to a 2010 study by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, fewer than 30 percent of Mainers belong to a religious institution or independent Christian Church.

http://portlandphoenix.me/2015/12/09/features/church-3-0-how-the-catholic-and-protestant-churches-fill-their-pews-in-an-age-of-declining-attendance/ 

Businessman escapes jail after admitting sexual abuse of two girls

A respected businessman has walked free from court after admitting sexually abusing two young girls he met through the church more than 40 years ago.
David O’Riordan, 79, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault in respect of the sisters- who can not be named for legal reasons. Friends of O’Riordan - who was highly regarded within his church - described his as a “True Christian” and said he was popular with children.

http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/local/businessman-escapes-jail-after-admitting-sexual-abuse-of-two-girls-1-7615641 

Indian priest arrested for sexually abusing girl

Police in Kerala state arrested a 41-year-old Catholic priest Dec. 8 on charges of sexually assaulting a girl repeatedly for three months while serving as a parish priest in the southern Indian state. Father Edwin Figarez was pastor of Lourde Matha Church in Kottapuram Diocese when he allegedly violated the 14-year-old girl, a ninth-grade student, according to police officer T.M. Varghese.
The priest, who attacked the girl several times between January and March 28 this year, became a fugitive after police registered a case against him in April following complaints from the victim's family, Varghese said.

http://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-priest-arrested-for-sexually-abusing-girl/74755 

SJC upholds time limit expansion in civil sex abuse cases

In a ruling hailed by survivors of child sexual abuse, the state’s highest court on Wednesday upheld a 2014 law that gave victims an additional 32 years to file civil lawsuits against alleged perpetrators.
The Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous decision also upheld the part of the law that applies the extension to cases that pre-dated the measure’s passage last year. “It’s just a great, great day for so many survivors,” said Rosanne Sliney, 52, of Burlington, the plaintiff at the center of the ruling.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/12/09/sjc-upholds-expanded-statute-limitations-civil-sex-abuse-cases/di7kWNcivZSh7q5Siy2YsJ/story.html 

Bishop apologises for alleged child abuse by former parish priest

BISHOP FRANCIS DUFFY has told communities in the diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois he is “shamed” by the alleged child abuse of their former parish priest, Fr Brendan Hynds, and apologised for it.
Duffy acknowledged recent testimony he had received about the conduct of Hynds, who was parish priest in Cloghan, Co Offaly and before that, Ballymahon, Co Longford. He died in 1993.

http://www.thejournal.ie/bishop-francis-duffy-brendan-hynds-child-abuse-priest-offaly-longford-apology-2493514-Dec2015/

Wentzville man's suit claims Chaminade prep school leaders hid knowledge of sex abuse

A Wentzville man who attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in the 1970s has filed a lawsuit accusing the Marianists of concealing knowledge of child sex abuse by priests at the school.
Christopher Wimmer, 57, filed the case Tuesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court alleging the Creve Coeur prep school and its leaders lied to “multiple” sex-abuse victims by telling them they were the first to report abuse by clergy.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/wentzville-man-s-suit-claims-chaminade-prep-school-leaders-hid/article_4377bcaa-4d2a-59bd-b720-75a725484680.html 

Archbishop quizzed in sexual abuse lawsuit claims he didn’t know it was illegal for priests to have sex with children in the 1980s

How crazy is this??? A St Louis archbishop embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal has claimed he didn’t know it was illegal for priests to have sex with children in the 1980s, according to a court deposition released on Monday.

Archbishop Robert Carlson, who was chancellor of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul at the time, was deposed as part of a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota involving the archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona.

http://theinternetpost.net/2014/06/11/archbishop-quizzed-in-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-claims-he-didnt-know-it-was-illegal-for-priests-to-have-sex-with-children-in-the-1980s/ 

Abuse victims seeking 'easy cash': bishop

A Catholic bishop now says he was rash when he told a pedophile priest some child sex abuse victims were trying to get "some easy cash".
The child abuse royal commission has heard Bishop Brian Finnigan, then Ballarat diocese vicar-general, told convicted pedophile Gerald Francis Ridsdale in 1994: "Some of these fellows now see the opportunity to obtain some easy cash."

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/12/11/03/34/clergy-abuse-compo-not-enough-inquiry 

Documents plunge Cardinal George Pell into further controversy over child abuse response

New documents have revealed a conflict of interest between Cardinal George Pell and the experts he appointed to investigate child sexual abuse allegations in the church.
Cardinal Pell has claimed his discredited "Melbourne Response" to abuse within the church was a world-first in assisting and compensating victims – however he faces allegations the church sought to protect pedophile priests.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/12/06/23/04/secret-documents-plunge-cardinal-george-pell-into-controversy-over-child-abuse-response

Church 'still dealing with history of abuse': bishop

Germany's branch of the Catholic Church will "never" be finished dealing with the fallout from decades of abuse against children by members of the clergy, a bishop said on Tuesday.
 "I don't believe that this chapter will ever come to an end," said Bishop Stephan Ackermann, the man charged with investigating past abuse by the Conference of German Bishops (DBK). At the beginning of 2010, it began to emerge that priests at an elite Jesuit school in Berlin had sexually assaulted dozens of students in the 1970s and 80s.

http://www.thelocal.de/20151208/church-still-dealing-with-history-of-abuse 

Priest warned police officer to drop investigation or lose job, child abuse hearing told

Father Peter Taffe ‘told officer Denis Ryan he would be out of a job’ if he pursued an investigation into the Mildura parish priest Monsignor John Day.
A Victorian priest warned a police officer to drop his investigation into a colleague over child abuse allegations, an inquiry has heard. Father Peter Taffe told the police officer he would be out of a job if he pursued an investigation into the Mildura parish priest Monsignor John Day, the child abuse royal commission was told.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/07/priest-warned-police-officer-to-drop-investigation-or-lose-job-child-abuse-hearing-told