Catholic Church confesses to a ‘shameful, corrosive’ history

The Catholic Church has described its history regarding child abuse in Australia as “shameful, corrosive and complicit”. The church says it now expects its liability exposure to be potentially $1 billion on top of payments already made.
Catholic spokesman Francis Sullivan said the church’s history was “littered with examples of cover-ups and crimes and of church leaders failing in one of the very basic tenets of their calling”. Mr Sullivan is leading the church’s support for a national redress scheme to compensate victims of abuse. The scheme has been recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/catholic-church-confesses-tonbspa-shameful-corrosive-history/story-fngburq5-1227577664879?sv=347acd4a4e43a587f6ebe2c473237bee 

Historic child abuse panel members appointed

When will New Zealand open her eyes... there should be... An Independence Royal Commission Historic Child Abuse Inquiry in New Zealand... too many New Zealand abused children... have fallen through the cracks... CYFS just use the children as numbers... and try to get the abused children... off the books as soon as they can... out of sight... out of mind... Ann

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Two panel members have been appointed to Scotland’s Historic Child Abuse Inquiry by Education Secretary Angela Constance today. Glenn Houston and Professor Michael Lamb will undertake the work of the inquiry, alongside the chair, Susan O’Brien QC.

Mr Houston is chief executive of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority of Northern Ireland and Professor Lamb is a professor of psychology and Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, the University of Cambridge.

http://www.scottishlegal.com/2015/10/19/historic-child-abuse-panel-members-appointed/ 

Archdiocese Sued Over Alleged Abuse by Church of the Immacolata Priest Leroy Valentine

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis was sued Friday over sex abuse allegedly suffered by a young boy who attended school at the Church of the Immacolata in Richmond Heights.
The suit, filed by a pair of anonymous parents on behalf of their son, alleges that Fr. Leroy Valentine began abusing the boy when he was eleven — eventually sodomizing him in the rectory. The abuse allegedly continued for four years, from 1977 to 1981.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/10/20/archdiocese-sued-over-alleged-abuse-by-church-of-the-immocalata-priest-leroy-valentine

Ex-Australian PM is on a police list of suspected paedophiles, claims Liberal senator Bill Heffernan

An Australian senator has claimed he has a police list which names 28 prominent people, including a former prime minister, as suspected pedophiles. Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan didn't name any names but called on Attorney-General George Brandis to expand the child abuse royal commission so that it includes the legal fraternity.
He told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra he had provided the commission with documents, one naming the alleged pedophiles including "a whole lot of prominent people."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11532529 

Synod: long term effects of sexual abuse on family life

About time this has come forward... what the long affects of Rape does... not only to the victims-survivors... but to the family and friends... being raped as a child for years... torments you for the rest of your life... they say to put it behind you... forget about it... if only I could... it kills you... it eats at you every day and night...  Ann

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The Synod of Bishops on the family winds up its small language group work on Tuesday, with participants discussing further changes they’d like to see reflected in the concluding document.
Over the past two weeks the Church leaders have been seeking to resolve tensions between two different visions of family life and ministry, one focused more on the traditional teaching of the Church and the other searching for new ways of engaging with people living in relationships outside of that Church teaching.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/10/20/synod_long_term_effects_of_sexual_abuse_on_family_life/1180534 

New suit alleges another case of abuse by former St. Louis priest

A new sexual abuse lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Archbishop Robert Carlson over a priest who has been accused multiple times in the past.
The Rev. Leroy Valentine, also a defendant, is accused in the suit of repeatedly abusing a young student who attended the Church of the Immacolata in Richmond Heights between about 1977 and 1981, starting when the boy was age 11.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/new-suit-against-former-st-louis-priest-alleging-another-case/article_6cd5aba9-23ae-54d5-a1c0-a6fac647db6b.html 

Two priests suspended after GlobalPost's investigation into sexual abuse

Two priests who have been accused of sexual abuse in the United States or Europe and were the subject of a GlobalPost investigation last month are no longer actively ministering in the South American communities where they've relocated.

Another appears to have moved to a different country, and an admitted child molester continues to work at a church in Peru. A fifth priest we investigated had already left the church for personal reasons when GlobalPost caught up with him.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-10-20/update-two-priests-suspended-after-globalposts-investigation-sexual-abuse 

Public hearing into Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat

The Royal Commission will hold the second part of the public hearing regarding Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat at the County Court of Victoria, Melbourne.
This hearing will be co-ordinated with the public hearing regarding the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and evidence from witnesses common to each hearing will be received. It is anticipated that the hearing regarding Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat will commence around 7 December 2015 depending on the progress of the hearing into the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2015-10/public-hearing-into-catholic-church-authorities-in 

‘Peeping preacher’ case comes to TV

Three years into a 10-year sentence for video voyeurism, former youth evangelist Sammy Nuckolls is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to set him free. a syndicated investigative news magazine series that debuted in the United States and Canada on Sept. 14, opened with the story of Sammy Nuckolls, a once-popular speaker at youth events including LifeWay Christian Resources’ FUGE summer camps.
He is now serving 10 years in prison for planting hidden cameras to spy on women in a bathroom at his home in Olive Branch, Miss. The broadcast, shown in two parts, includes clips shown at his sentencing hearing in September 2012 of Nuckolls setting up spy cameras to capture video of female houseguests as they got undressed to shower. Victims testified to feeling shame and violation of trust with descriptions including “video rape.”

https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30580-peeping-preacher-case-comes-to-tv 

Bishops admit: We don’t know much about sex, need married advisers

Vatican City • Bishops participating in the Vatican's synod on the family have admitted that they don't know much about sex — and that they need the help of laypeople to fully understand marital intimacy.

Laypeople play an important part in the discussions at their synod on the family, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, English-language assistant to the Vatican press office, said Friday. "At the heart of the synod is human sexuality. And oftentimes it's muted and we don't know how to talk about it, because most of us in the room are male celibates," he said, citing comments of unnamed bishops.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/3078523-155/bishops-admit-we-dont-know-much 

Pell to be at 'confronting' abuse inquiry

The Catholic Church's handling of two decades of abuse by pedophile priests in a Melbourne parish will be the focus of a royal commission hearing featuring Cardinal George Pell.
Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican's finance chief, will give evidence to the commission's public hearing into the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne's response to child abuse as well as its continuing inquiry into widespread abuse by clergy in the Ballarat diocese.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/10/20/13/14/pell-gives-commission-evidence-in-december 

U.S. priests accused of sex abuse get second chance in South America

The Catholic Church has allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children in the United States and Europe to relocate to poor parishes in South America, a yearlong GlobalPost investigation has found.
Reporters confronted five accused priests in as many countries: Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. One priest who relocated to a poor parish in Peru admitted on camera to molesting a 13-year-old boy while working in the Jackson, Miss., diocese. Another is currently under investigation in Brazil after allegations arose that he abused disadvantaged children living in an orphanage he founded there.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/09/17/us-priests-sex-abuse-relocate-south-america/32551455/ 

Why is it so difficult to be a close friend with a priest?

Somebody who is new to our site would think that we’re encouraging women to fall in love with priests. Well, if they just read some of the experiences they would surely know that it is not true. Because many women are writing to show how heartbroken they are because their loved priest is so cold or not answering any kind of communication.
Well, as a husband and priest, I’ll try to bridge the gap. If I’m not successful please do not hesitate to write. Remember we’re always open to suggestions. This is your blog, so please do participate by making your voices heard!

https://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.wordpress.com/2015/10/19/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-be-a-close-friend-with-a-priest/