Clergy sex victims group criticizes plan for forgiveness ritual

support group for victims of clergy sexual abuse has taken issue with Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond's plan for a special ritual in which the Roman Catholic Church will seek forgiveness from people it has hurt. The group says tangible steps are needed more than "words, gestures and apologies."
Aymond has set "a ritual of forgiveness and resurrection" as part of the annual Divine Mercy Sunday Mass that he will celebrate April 3 at St. Joseph Church in New Orleans. The rite "seeks forgiveness and reconciliation with those who have been hurt or alienated by the church either through institutional or individual offenses," the archdiocese said.

http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2016/04/victims_group_wants_action_not.html 

Churches come up short when dealing with domestic and sexual abuse

How do churches deal with issues of domestic or sexual abuse within their congregations? “Not well,” says Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz.

Amstutz is a longtime restorative justice coordinator with Mennonite Central Committee. Most of her career has been devoted to resolving issues between crime victims and offenders and helping churches in conflict.

http://lancasteronline.com/features/faith_values/churches-come-up-short-when-dealing-with-domestic-and-sexual/article_aa9c880a-f80f-11e5-bd50-03adba6cfd61.html 

Child abuse prevention advocates rally in Johnstown's Central Park: 'It's OK to speak out'

For the past few years, local nonprofits have organized a blue-ribbon "Break the Cycle, Break the Silence" rally to raise awareness of child abuse and get the word out about prevention.
This year, though, as the community headed into April – National Child Abuse Prevention month – the mood was different, Paula Eppley-Newman, executive director of Beginnings Inc., said.

http://www.tribdem.com/news/local_news/child-abuse-prevention-advocates-rally-in-johnstown-s-central-park/article_860e94ea-82c1-5d24-a389-21b30b2b0d4f.html 

Abuse victim's lawyer hits back at Establishment critics of Church apology

A SOLICITOR specialising in child sexual abuse cases has criticised a group of Establishment figures for not treating her client with the respect she deserves.
Tracey Emmott represents a woman who was abused by wartime Bishop of Chichester George Bell in the 1940s and 50s, and who received compensation and an apology from the Church of England last year.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14374552.Abuse_victim_s_lawyer_hits_back_at_Establishment_critics_of_Church_apology/ 

Priest Abuse: An Alleged Victim's Story

Centre County Report's Jaclyn Gross talks with a local man who claims a priest abused him as a teenager in Altoona. Bob Conway says the Rev. Raymond Waldruff was respected and admired, but began using overnight trips to abuse him.

This video is produced by and for the Centre County Report and is shared through a partnership with StateCollege.com.

 

http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/priest-abuse-an-alleged-victims-story,1467283/ 

Attorneys for a Roman Catholic church official are asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reject prosecutors' appeal of a decision granting him a new trial

Attorneys for a Roman Catholic church official are asking the state Supreme Court to reject prosecutors' appeal of a decision granting him a new trial.
Monsignor William Lynn's attorneys on Tuesday called the request "breathtakingly dishonest," saying there were no grounds for an appeal under state rules, The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1pHmvLC) reported.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/3f35e9a3d7a04b04b5e4e75304e9439e/PA--Priest-Abuse-Appeal 

Marist College praised for rescinding honour to official who protected abuser

Ex-students of Marist College Canberra have praised a decision to rename a student house honouring a senior official who helped protect a paedophile brother and shuffle him to another school.
Abuse victim Damian De Marco and Marist old boy Mike Desmond have urged the school to continue on a path of healing the horrors of the school's past.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/marist-college-praised-for-rescinding-honour-to-official-who-protected-abuser-20160323-gnpcyp.html 

Pedophilia victims urge N.Y. to scrap statute of limitations on certain child sex abuse charges

When you are abused and raped as a child... you try to forget about it... as if it did not happen... you know that it happened... you know the names... and the faces... because they are in your nightmares every night... you don't want to tell any one... because you know... that they will not believe you... you have told some one as a child... but you were turned away... so from that moment on... you keep everything inside... it tears at you day and night... but there is no one you can trust to tell... you have already tried that... even the police... and they to... took you back to your abusers... the older you get... the more you hide it... you feel worthless... you feel as though you are to blame... you feel helpless... and you see... every one who should be helping you... pretend not to hear your screams for help... and they turn their backs on you... your cries for help... go unnoticed...  and as we get older... the trust for all has gone... because it is the one thing... which has being thrashed out of us children... trust for all around us... who never put their hands out to help us...  and who punished us for telling them... about what they were doing to us... so the fear of being abused again... and re-abuse as adults... we kept our pain within us... Ann

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 Mhora Lorentson, 53, a survivor of incest and child abuse, said the young victims often try to forget about what happened rather than go to law enforcement.  It wasn't until after his 33rd birthday that the crippling flashbacks began for Michael DeSantis.
The one where he’s a grammar school kid, innocently riding his skateboard to the apartment of a parish priest. Once inside, he’s raped by one cleric and forced to perform oral sex on another.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pedophilia-victims-urge-n-y-scrap-statute-limitations-article-1.2580595

Boy's parents sue archdiocese over priest

The parents of a boy allegedly photographed by the Rev. Stephen Pohl at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church have sued the Archdiocese of Louisville, saying that for decades he engaged in the bizarre practice of taking pictures of clothed children in sexual poses and that the church should have put a stop to it.
Pohl also was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months in federal prison for accessing pornography using computers in the church’s office and rectory.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/03/29/boys-parents-sue-archdiocese-over-priest/82376988/ 

Credible' Abuse Claim Against Ex-Royal Oak Priest: Church

The former priest, Richard Lauinger, served parishes in Farmington, Royal Oak, St. Clair Shores and Detroit.
Sexual abuse allegations against a former Catholic priest who served parishes in Farmington, Royal Oak, St. Clair Shores have been “found to be credible” after an internal review of complaints against him, the Archdiocese of Detroit said in a statement Tuesday.

http://patch.com/michigan/royaloak/abuse-complaints-against-priest-credible-archdiocese-detroit 

Ways to Pursue Criminal Liability From the Catholic Church

In 2002, the prominent trial of Father Geoghan for at least 200 counts of Catholic Church child abuse of minors brought to light a massive cover-up that went on for thirty-three years. Aside from the Archbishop Cardinal Law, this conspiracy also implicated at least six bishops from the Boston archdiocese, which continued to reassign the predatory priest to places where he had frequent contact with children.
During the trial, a review of church records revealed that diocese officials and their staff knew very well about Geoghan's sexual abuse of children, but chose to ignore the priest's behavior that put more children in harm's way. After the trial, Cardinal Law's exile to Rome following his forced abdication as Archbishop brought a more satisfying sense of closure to nearly 140 victims who accepted an off-court settlement of over twenty million dollars in 2002.

http://law.todayquestions.com/308602-07009874/?title=Ways+to+Pursue+Criminal+Liability+From+the+Catholic+Church 

Disclosures Disclosures of Names of Priests Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor

In March 2016, the Diocese of New Ulm, working in close cooperation with the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates, disclosed the names of 16 men they mutually identified as being credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor while they were assigned as priests.
The disclosure of names is the result of discussions and sharing of information between the Diocese of New Ulm and Jeff Anderson & Associates, which both recognize that the disclosure of names is an important part of the healing process for many victims and survivors of abuse.

http://protectandheal-dnu.org/pledge-to-heal/disclosures/ 

Pope's record on paedophile priests tarnishes report card

Pope Francis has made it clear... that bishops who cover up for abusers... have no place in the Church... and has put in place... legal structures enabling paedophile priests... to be tried under Vatican law...
With all eyes turned to Rome... as us victim - survivors... watch with patience... and so much despair... as we see and hear... about the priest who have being proven to be guilty... of raping innocent children worldwide... being put back into the priesthood... and serving the devil... because that is what I see happening... in the catholic church today... and years gone by...
the pope is still covering up... for the devil's servants... they should never be called priest or nuns... they have never feared god... as they made us little children do... they have never walked in Jesus shoes... or given to the poor... their God is their money... I have seen for 25years what they have done to children... who were under their care... they DID NOT CARE THEN.... and they DO NOT CARE NOW... we are still just numbers to them... do you know how that makes me feel?... the low of the lowest... just a person with no name... I don't think any one will ever know... the toll that the child abuse... and child rape... by the catholic church priest and nuns... has had on my life...  Ann

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Many words, little action: three years after Pope Francis's election, victims of priest sex abuse are bitter and disappointed, accusing the Church of having failed to punish guilty clerics and end a culture of complacency on the issue.

The recent Australian Royal Commission hearings of Vatican number three George Pell and a preliminary criminal probe into accusations that Lyon's archbishop, Philippe Barbarin, covered up for a paedophile priest have reopened old wounds, with Francis perceived as having stood by both senior clerics.

http://news.yahoo.com/popes-record-paedophile-priests-tarnishes-three-report-card-071820381.html