Eleven children aged 11 to 17 known to the FACS committed suicide in 2016

THERE has been a dramatic rise in the number of children committing suicide after coming into contact with the NSW child safety system, according to a shocking new report.

The government has been alerted to the horror statistic that, in 2016, 11 children aged between 13 and 17 and known by the Department of Families and Community Services committed suicide. In the three years prior, that number had been steady at around five deaths per year. Family Services Minister Pru Goward declared the government must “continuously improve its child safety systems to keep vulnerable children and young people safe”.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/eleven-children-aged-11-to-17-known-to-the-facs-committed-suicide-in-2016/news-story/f586ed887a147d2238dac4e7a8634eb2 

Maine’s Catholic bishop shocks parishioners with details of priest’s affair with employee

Bishop Robert Deeley informs church members in Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and South Portland that retired Monsignor Michael Henchal is living with a former church administrator.
Bishop Robert Deeley personally delivered shocking news over the weekend to Roman Catholic church members in Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and South Portland, telling them that their longtime former pastor and a former parish administrator had started a relationship before he retired in July and are now living together.

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/12/03/maine-catholic-bishop-shocks-parishioners-with-details-of-priests-affair-with-employee/ 

Priests at Ampleforth physically and sexually abused children as young as six, national inquiry into child abuse told

'I think it's very sad that something like this could have happened, because there was so much focus on bureaucracy the real issues were missed' Priests at Ampleforth College physically and sexually abused children as young as six, the national inquiry into child abuse has heard.
On the third day of a three-week hearing on the English Benedictine Congregation as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), former pupils at the fee-paying Catholic school and its junior school in North Yorkshire gave evidence, and written statements by other former pupils were read.

 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8178/0/priests-at-ampleforth-physically-and-sexually-abused-children-as-young-as-six-national-inquiry-into-child-abuse-told

Ex-priest on trial in slaying of South Texas beauty queen who vanished after confessing her sins to him

Details shared with a South Texas jury Friday portrayed a former priest who was anything but priest-like in the ongoing trial of John Feit, accused of murdering a 25-year-old beauty queen over a half-century ago.

Irene Garza had been raped and bludgeoned to death when she was found in a McAllen canal in 1960, five days after she vanished from church on Easter weekend. A portable photographic slide viewer belonging to Feit was found near the body.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/12/02/witnesses-describe-odd-behavior-former-hidalgo-county-priest-accused-beauty-queen-murder

News and Events across the Diocese of Parramatta and beyond

Special edition of Catholic Outlook
At the request of Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Catholic Outlook will be back in print for a special, one-off December 2017 Christmas edition. This special edition will be a beautifully bound, 40-page, A4 magazine and will showcase the work of the parishes, ministries and agencies of the Diocese of Parramatta. Look out for copies in your parishes and schools from Monday 4 December.

https://catholicoutlook.org/news-events-weekly-update-63/ 

The hidden challenges ahead

In the Catholic church we have witnessed centuries of blind obedience. We were practically trained in order to follow rules. We were always presented with a long list of what to do and what not to do. Everything was very clear….there was the truth, and there was the lie. If one tried to go against the tide, one would have sunk immediately. There was the middle age image that if one goes against the rule of the church, one would be penniless because people would make a boycott against all his professional activity.

https://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/the-hidden-challenges-ahead/ 

David Quinn: Abuse cases show the danger of deference

We live in a time when a reputation can suffer instant destruction. Barry Walsh was forced to resign from the Fine Gael national executive because in a number of tweets, some dating back several years, he used the word “bitch” to describe some female politicians. Kate O’Connell, his party colleague, brought the tweets to public attention and, within no time at all, Walsh’s reputation, and possibly his career, was a smoking ruin

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-quinn-abuse-cases-show-the-danger-of-deference-3wj0pf9s3#_=_ 

Salvation Army officers' child speaks out on decade of alleged abuse

Just like the nazareth house nuns... they told us that there was NO WRONGDOING by their order of nuns... that is NOT saying sorry... they do not know the meaning of that word. SORRY...  to this day those nuns have NEVER admitted to the abuse they did to us men and women in their care... most of us were stolen from our mother's arms... their sold to the highest bidders... Ann

 ========================

When Merrin Wake first met a legally-trained senior Salvation Army leader and the church's lawyer to report her alleged childhood sexual abuse by five men within the church, she went away feeling like she had not been believed.
Months later, after several more meetings in the Collins Street office of the Salvation Army's law firm, Ms Wake settled her case with a substantial out-of-court payment.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5080774/salvation-army-officers-child-speaks-out-on-decade-of-alleged-abuse/

Archbishop Denis Hart begs forgiveness for church mishandling child abuse

The state's most senior Catholic said in a frank interview his faith had been tested, but had not wavered, in the wake of shocking revelations of decades-long child abuse within the church.

He is now vowing to do whatever it takes to tackle the evil scourge.
Have your say in the comments section below.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/archbishop-denis-hart-begs-forgiveness-for-church-mishandling-child-abuse/news-story/0848b83faf037bcee68d84449a7079d0?sv=1090672b405211f634ad98c6bdd4773f 

Victims accuse Xavier College of covering-up sex abuse

EXCLUSIVE: Xavier College has been dragged into a fresh child sex scandal after a “monstrous” former teacher who sexually abused a number of students was allowed to continue his career at Marcellin College.

Former Xavier teacher Vili Kovac this week appeared at the Victorian County Court over the appalling sexual abuse of two boys — the latest ­victims to come forward — in the 1960s.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/sacked-victims-accuse-xavier-college-of-coveringup-sex-abuse/news-story/403e06a67356fa4c8f113b1925ddc84b 

Vatican threat to sue altar boys who allege abuse

THE Roman Catholic church has threatened to sue former Vatican altar boys over their allegations of sexual abuse. Lawyers for the Italian diocese of Como have also warned Italian investigative news programme Le Iene (Hyenas) not to broadcast the boys’ claims and have purportedly pressed a church official to recant his suggestion of a cover-up.

The Associated Press agency reported yesterday that it had seen a letter from Opera Don Folci association lawyer Riccardo Rolando Riccardi to one of the alleged victims.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-505d-Vatican-threat-to-sue-altar-boys-who-allege-abuse 

Takeaways from the accusations of abuse and harassment

In the consternation over what's becoming a tsunami of sexual harassment and abuse allegations, there are two takeaways for those who are willing to listen. One is encouraging; the other is disheartening.
First, the disheartening: When a perpetrator tells a victim, "Nobody will believe you," he (or she) is often correct. For evidence, look at the clergy sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church.

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/11/finally_a_real_conversation_ab.html 

Christianity is no longer a growing religion

Graham Richardson’s view of the Catholic Church has some interesting perspectives which would be shared by many who like himself have pulled the pin and left a church that no longer exists (“Religious freedom is sacrosanct”, 24/11). It is a simple fact that Christianity in the West has ceased to be a religion of growth (perhaps masked in Australia by an influx of Christian migrants).

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/letters/christianity-is-no-longer-a-growing-religion/news-story/4fdbde6af4b2f1f5288d0e1a050022d4