Priests told not to report confessions of child abuse by National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

The Catholic bishops’ child-protection body is advising priests not to inform state authorities about incidents of child abuse they hear about in the confession box, in apparent contravention of the law. Guidelines published by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church exempts priests from passing on admissions of child abuse made in the confessional, it has emerged. The Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 does not allow for confessional privilege. When the law was going through the Oireachtas, Alan Shatter, as the justice minister, said mandatory reporting would apply “regardless of any internal rules of any religious grouping”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/priests-told-not-to-report-confessions-of-child-abuse-by-national-board-for-safeguarding-children-in-the-catholic-church-mz2ncqh2z 

Ex-detective Denis Ryan wins compensation decades after being pushed out of Victoria Police

Denis Ryan gave up his police pension when he chose to resign from the force after being ordered to drop his investigation into Monsignor John Day, a Catholic paedophile priest who preyed on children in the Mallee. The decision had a profound impact on his life, costing him a marriage and the prospect of a comfortable retirement. Until now, he has lived in a rented unit on the proceeds of an aged pension. But a month after his plight was revealed by the ABC, the Victorian Government has reached a confidential settlement with the 86-year-old.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-07/denis-ryan-victorian-detective-police-pension-booted-force/9645982 

Confessional seal not ‘linchpin of culture of secrecy,’ Aussie prelate says

In recent months, the Australian Catholic Church has been in the spotlight, primarily due to news that the former Archbishop of Sydney and the pope’s current finance minister, Cardinal George Pell, will stand trial for “historical sexual offenses” amid continuing fallout from the Church’s clerical abuse crisis. As the Church attempts to change the narrative about its role in public life, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has been elected as the new head of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Serving as his vice-president will be Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/14/confessional-seal-not-linchpin-of-culture-of-secrecy-aussie-prelate-says/ 

Phone call from military chaplain triggered priest case

The child sex abuse charges filed against the Rev. David Poulson were largely based on evidence the Catholic Diocese of Erie gathered and gave police. The phone call was from Texas. It rang in the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Erie in late January. The call set off a series of events that culminated on Tuesday with the arrest of the Rev. David L. Poulson on charges that he sexually abused two boys from 2002 to 2010.

http://www.goerie.com/news/20180514/phone-call-from-military-chaplain-triggered-priest-case 

Chileans denounce suffering sex abuse by Marists, priests

Even as Pope Francis apologized for his failures in connection with Chile's most famous case of clerical sex abuse, the pope and that country's deeply discredited Catholic Church are under mounting pressure to address another, even bigger sex scandal. The blooming scandal of the Marist Brothers, a congregation dedicated to education, has not yet drawn great attention worldwide — unlike allegations that a bishop covered up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Fernando Karadima.

http://newsok.com/chileans-denounce-suffering-sex-abuse-by-marists-priests/article/feed/2205502 

Church Apologizes For Monsignor’s ‘Lousy Catholics’ Comments

The Chicago Archdiocese is investigating allegations of verbal abuse at a south suburban Catholic school that’s scheduled to close. According to the Patch, students and parents say the monsignor leading mass at Incarnation Church in Palos Heights yelled and called the children “lousy Catholics.” Some teachers said he further mocked students who were crying. The school later sent a robocall apologizing to parents. “Monsignor Sauraskas addressed some issues in his homily in an inappropriate way that hurt many of the children.” The situation got so tense that the school conducted a crisis intervention to help calm the students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/05/13/church-apology-monsignor-lousy-catholics/ 

Abuse of Power And it needs to be called out.

The manner in which too many bishops exercise their authority is, simply put, abusive, and it needs to stop. Behind much of the abuse is a worldview that, frankly, isn't Catholic. There is an accommodationist spirit which influences everything they do and what is being accommodated is the world. So, Catholic identity is watered down because to be truly Catholic is too confrontational. Priests are punished for preaching orthodoxy, young men are disciplined or thrown out of seminary for being too "rigid" — the establishment buzzword for being orthodox.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-abuse-of-power 

Sorrow’s not enough

The refusal by Pope Francis to apologize to victims of abuse a native residential schools in Canada is striking hard at survivors and their families in the Atlantic region. Abuses at these schools have been well documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Equally well known is the role of the Catholic Church in operating those schools. A papal apology is one of 94 recommendations made by the TRC. During a visit to the Vatican last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally asked the Pope to consider the gesture. So far, the answer is no. That refusal is hard to understand — and is unacceptable.

http://www.thenorwester.ca/opinion/editorial-sorrows-not-enough-207270/ 

Catholic diocese IDs priests and lay people accused of abuse

ERIE, Pa. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, has published a list of 34 priests and 17 lay people who have faced credible accusations of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior. It's the first time the diocese has revealed the names of those accused of abuse. The move comes as a grand jury run by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office investigates how that diocese and five others in Pennsylvania have handled misconduct allegations against priests. Bishop Lawrence Persico said Friday that the list is different from the ones released at other dioceses because it includes lay people who are also credibly accused of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

https://www.whio.com/news/national/catholic-diocese-ids-priests-and-lay-people-accused-abuse/YDzDjIqZQ7qsbZkYZXKvEK/ 

Donald Reece | End the paedophilia propaganda

'Why is Peter Espeut so anal?' (Gleaner, May 2, 2018) was a very provocative headline to an article that seems to produce more heat than facts, particularly when the author, Maurice Tomlinson, gay activist and attorney-at-law, dismisses the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, or of any other church, as a matter of fact, when his hot button is touched, namely, LGBT and its accompanying lifestyle. What the Church teaches is one thing. The teaching of the truth about human sexuality and marriage between one man and one woman, according to the plan of God, is not proved false by the admittedly awful witness by her priests or congregants.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20180505/donald-reece-end-paedophilia-propaganda

Seattle U removes archbishop’s name from athletics center, citing role in covering up for pedophile priest

Seattle University will remove the name of the late Archbishop Thomas Connolly from its athletics and recreation center because of his role in covering up for a known pedophile priest for years beginning in the 1960s, the university announced Friday. The name change will take effect immediately, a spokesman for the university said Friday. The sports and recreation complex for the school, which is not directly affiliated with the Archdiocese of Seattle, has been named in honor of Connolly since 1969. The retired archbishop died in 1991.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-u-to-remove-name-of-former-archbishop-from-athletics-center/ 

Attorney general: Two Franciscans plead to endangering welfare of children

Two Franciscan friars accepted guilty pleas on charges of endangering the welfare of children, a first-degree misdemeanor, in a case stemming from sexual abuse committed by Brother Stephen Baker, who was under their supervision at the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception. The Revs. Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, gave Baker assignments that provided him access to children even after evidence was known he presented a danger as a sexual predator.

http://www.tribdem.com/news/attorney-general-two-franciscans-plead-to-endangering-welfare-of-children/article_ac463ce4-4fd0-11e8-a66d-7b6830ebde5b.html 

2 Pa. Clergymen Among 1st To Be Held Criminally Responsible For Covering Up Sexual Abuse

Two Franciscan friars accused of covering up the sexual abuse of more than 100 children at a high school in Johnstown have pleaded no contest to charges of endangering the welfare of children. ADVERTISING Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, were sentenced Friday in Blair County to the maximum of five years of probation. They also face fines of $1,000 and the cost of prosecution.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/05/04/franciscan-friars-plead-no-contest-sex-abuse-cover-up/