45 victims claim abuse, new priest named

This week's complaints also mark the first female to file a complaint, and the naming of new priests.

Guam - Forty-five: that's how many people have come forward, accusing the church of sexual abuse. Five victims have filed a lawsuit recently: Donald San Agustin, and four more individuals using the initials B.T., R.B., M.B. and G.G.  Aside from former priest Father Louis Brouillard, new priests have been named as well.

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/local/13276 

New Bill Allows Child Sex Abuse Victims To Sue Abusers

A Maryland delegate’s personal story of being abused as a child is helping to push through new legislation that may make it easier for victims to sue abusers. Ava-joye Burnett tells us the bill which had opposition for years, finally received majority support in Annapolis.
Victims of child sex abuse will now have up to the age of 38 to file a lawsuit against an abuser the bill finally passed this year after a consensus was reached with the catholic church.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/04/04/new-bill-allows-child-sex-abuse-victims-to-sue-abusers/ 

Scottish police trying to extradite Saskatchewan priest over abuse claims: report

On a Tuesday afternoon in Cupar, the main doors to the two-tone brick St. Patrick’s Catholic Church are locked up. The white-on-black sign lists the next service as Saturday.
The rectory is similarly quiet. Its resident, retired priest Robert MacKenzie, has been moved to a retirement home in Regina in light of allegations of sexual abuse in Scotland dating back 36 years.  “He claims he’s innocent,” said Archdiocese of Regina Archbishop Don Bolen, who met with MacKenzie on Monday morning, just hours after returning home from Rome.

http://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/scottish-police-trying-to-extradite-cupar-priest-over-abuse-claims-report 

Former Darlington Catholic priest, now living in Newcastle, on trial for sexually abusing a teenage boy

A CATHOLIC priest repeatedly sexually abused a young boy in his care breaching that trust in a "horrific way”, it has been claimed.
The boy was just 13 and 14 years old when Father Michael Higginbottom allegedly began seriously abusing him in varied ways at a seminary in West Lancashire.  The victim “recalls the college as a cold, dark and forbidding place. He told police that for him it was the venue for ‘mental, physical and sexual abuse’,” claimed David Temkin, prosecuting.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15202027.Former_Darlington_Catholic_priest_on_trial_for_sexually_abusing_teenage_boy/ 

Former altar boy fought abuse, called priest 'bad father'

Donald Vincent San Agustin was 10 years old when he served as an altar boy at Saint Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Sinajana.
Every day he would go to the Sinajana parish to help clean up and set up the church for evening Mass and clean the church office and rectory.  Now 58 years old, San Agustin filed a civil complaint in the District Court of Guam yesterday against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America and Louis Brouillard.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/former-altar-boy-fought-abuse-called-priest-bad-father/article_bb5c8964-1920-11e7-975d-2382052012fb.html 

Pope makes appointments amid criticism of sex abuse response

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Tuesday named a new official to oversee the Vatican office that processes clerical sex abuse cases amid mounting criticism over a yearslong backlog of cases and Francis' handling of the problem.

The promotion of Monsignor John Kennedy to head of the discipline section of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith was the second abuse-related appointment in recent days. Francis named the Rev. Hans Zollner, one of the Catholic Church's top experts on fighting abuse and protecting children, as an adviser to the Vatican's office for clergy on Saturday.

http://www.startribune.com/pope-makes-appointments-amid-criticism-of-sex-abuse-response/418140603/ 

Church sex abuse training encourages victim to come forward

The Archdiocese of Agana will be holding monthly briefings to update the community on various initiatives the church is taking. Guam - Since the Archdiocese of Agana's implementation of the Task Force for the Protection of Minors, some individuals have come forward to report abuse within the catholic community.

Today, Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes and the task force gave an update on the curriculum so far. They’ve made significant progress in implementing a sexual abuse curriculum within the catholic schools and parishes. Several members provided updates to the public on that progress.

 

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/local/13250 

Child sex abuse: Catholic bishops 'must meet Pope Francis to push for urgent change'

Australia's bishops must lead an urgent delegation to Pope Francis seeking changes to some of the church's most fundamental views on women, celibacy, governance and the handling of child sex cases, according to Australia's peak Catholic reform group in a call to arms to Catholics across the country.
In an open letter sent to all parishes, Catholics for Renewal has urged bishops and archbishops not to "defer to the Holy See", or wait for the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, before acting on serious issues identified by the commission that contributed to the child sexual abuse crisis.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/child-sex-abuse-catholic-bishops-must-meet-pope-francis-to-push-for-urgent-change-20170403-gvcmgu.html 

Sex abuse in Catholic institutions: key questions for the royal commission

his . . . can only be interpreted for what it is: a massive failure on the part the Catholic Church in Australia to protect children from abusers and predators, a misguided determination by leaders at the time to put the interests of the Church ahead of the most vulnerable and, a corruption of the Gospel the Church seeks to profess. As Catholics we hang our heads in shame . Frances Sullivan, CEO, (Catholic) Truth, Justice and Healing Council.
A key official report for one Catholic diocese found that:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18943

Sex crime victims express pain and anger at state inaction

Adults who were victimized by sexual predators as children and advocates for crime victims took to the steps of the state Capitol Monday to share horrific tales of abuse and express anger that lawmakers have been unwilling to open a window to allow civil lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations has expired.
The rally came a day ahead of a Tuesday committee vote on whether the state House will seek to change the law moving forward without including a clause to include victims who didn’t seek justice before the statute of limitations ran out.

http://www.tribdem.com/news/sex-crime-victims-express-pain-and-anger-at-state-inaction/article_9bac244a-acd7-5ee3-8a7f-48c1cd7dcc47.html 

Spotlight’ reporter talk free to subscribers

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sacha Pfeiffer, whose work with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team brought to light the Catholic Church’s cover-up of clergy sex abuse, will be discussing her career and the state of journalism during a talk at the Barre Opera House on Saturday, April 15, at 7 p.m.
The event, which is being hosted by The Times Argus and Rutland Herald, is free to subscribers who call the Barre Opera House box office to RSVP. Otherwise, there is a $10 fee for nonsubscribers; $5 for senior citizens and students.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/articles/spotlight-reporter-talk-free-to-subscribers/ 

This Easter, it's the Catholic Church that needs redemption

‘I mourn the loss of being part of a parish community in which I can celebrate my faith and receive the sacraments.’... The lost of our FAITH... and this is one sin which is not forgiven by God... because of the rape and abuse to us as children... and through NO FAULT of our own... we have lost our FAITH... each Saint's Day that we celebrated as children... each Christmas... each Easter blackens my SOUL even more... because i can not for the life of me... go into a catholic church... the lost of my faith has left this emptiness in me... and the fare of what was thrashed into my mind... torments me still...  Ann

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It’s Holy Week, the most sacred time in the Catholic liturgical calendar. Between Thursday and Saturday, Catholic liturgies will recount the last days of Jesus of Nazareth, including his last supper with his followers, his condemnation to death, his crucifixion and his burial.
There would have been a time in which I would have attended church every day of this week. Holy Week marks the key message of the Catholic Christian faith: that Jesus suffered, died, was buried and on the third day he rose again, breaking the bonds of death and redeeming humanity.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/this-easter-its-the-catholic-church-that-needs-redemption 

Act now against the criminals protected by the Catholic Church

Chrissie Foster... 12:00AM April 7, 2017 It is difficult to stop crying.
A child sexual abuse expert from the US, Bruce Perry, simply picked a random example. He spoke via video link to the Royal Commission into Institutional ­Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; he was one of 36 experts in the field who gave evidence last week at the final public hearing of the royal commission, titled Case Study 57: Nature, Cause and Impact of Child Sexual Abuse. Perry’s example was of “a little five-year-old child and somebody is raping you”, and he talked of what it does to the young mind.

They were painful words to hear because that is what happened to our little five-year-old Emma and, not long after, to our six-year-old Katie. To hear what their infant minds had to deal with was crushing — a dreadful add-on to the vision of rape by the priest, which already haunts us.

It was like a knife to the heart.

 

http://annfreespiritjusticeforabusedchildren.blogspot.co.nz/p/news-opinion-business-review-national.html