The Catholic Church's only chance for redemption is to come clean about covering up sexual abuse

When the Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal was exposed in 2002, I, a practicing Catholic, waited to see what the church leaders would do. They set up panels to ensure this would never happen again and paid hundreds of millions to the victims, but they never addressed what really bothered me: the cover-up. I continued to practice my faith, but now I am torn. It appears as if the church has, once again, tried to protect the men who covered up these abuses. It is these men who need to be exposed and face consequences.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-catholic-francis-sexual-abuse-20180829-story.html 

Catholic church knew of abuse claims against paedophile priest Michael Shirres for 28 years

The Catholic Church was aware of sex abuse accusations against paedophile priest Father Michael Shirres nearly three decades before he was finally withdrawn from public ministry. Another victim of the disgraced Dominican theologian has come forward to say Shirres abused her and her sister in Auckland in 1966 and her parents reported it to a parish priest. The Herald has confirmed that the priest then told the Dominican order's provincial - the most senior cleric in Australasia at the time - and that Shirres was later sent away from Auckland to live at Aquinas College in Dunedin, but continued to work with families and children for decades.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12114773 

Cardinal Sean O’Malley Meets With 300 Priests Amid Catholic Church Scandals

Cardinal Sean O’Malley met with about 300 local priests on Tuesday as the Catholic Church continues to deal with new allegations of sex abuse. Protesters also gathered outside the Saint Julia Church in Weston where the meeting took place. “It was an acknowledgment of reality of failures of the past,” said Father Stephen Zukas. The meeting comes amid an investigation into abuse allegations at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton and as reports circle that Cardinal O’Malley may have received a letter about alleged abuse at the hands of D.C. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/08/28/cardinal-sean-omalley-catholic-church-sex-abuse-scandal-allegations-priest-meeting-saint-julia-church-weston/ 

Groomed at Lutheran church in Hanover, victim of abuse says no congregation is safe

In the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report finding more than 300 priests and clergy members guilty of child sexual abuse, the Catholic Church is not the only institution that needs to come up with a plan to protect children, according to Woodrow Wagaman Jr. No institution is safe from sexual predators, and there is no watchdog to make sure that institutions are protecting their kids sufficiently, said Wagaman of Hanover.

https://www.eveningsun.com/story/news/2018/08/30/lutheran-child-abuse-victim-wants-make-congregations-safer-hanover/1055110002/ 

Painting gay Catholics not only as sinners, but as a sinister force

I loved the Catholic Church as a boy, but left it as a young man after hearing a priest with long, groovy hair (it was the '70s) sermonize about gay people and our purportedly pernicious ways. Sort of like the slander emanating once again from certain quarters at the Vatican, where Catholic "traditionalists" — I'd call them reactionaries — are accusing Pope Francis of willfully ignoring the supposed role of "homosexual networks" in the church's ongoing sexual abuse scandals.

http://www2.philly.com/philly/columnists/kevin_riordan/catholic-church-sex-abuse-gay-sinners-20180830.html 

Mom of abused son rebukes bishop for making pro-gay priest ‘spiritual guide’ for abuse victims

ATLANTA, Georgia, August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The Catholic mother of a survivor of abuse within the Atlanta archdiocese has penned a letter to Archbishop Wilton Gregory to let him know the heartbreak he has caused her and the "disgust" she feels by appointing a homosexual-affirming priest as “spiritual guide” for victims of sexual abuse in the archdiocese. LifeSiteNews detailed in an August 14 report how Gregory had appointed Msgr. Henry Gracz as archdiocesan “Spiritual Director for Victims.” Gracz is pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, which has long held the reputation within the archdiocese as being the “gay parish.” As Pastor, Gracz oversees ongoing LGBT-affirming initiatives by the parish.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/mom-of-abused-son-rebukes-bishop-for-making-pro-gay-priest-spiritual-guide 

Church Militant claims Cdl. Wuerl fleeing to Rome to avoid U.S. arrest for abuse cover-up

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has directed Cardinal Donald Wuerl to leave the United States “before being arrested” by authorities, Church Militant’s Michael Voris reported this evening. The Washington, D.C. cardinal – successor to disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – and former bishop of Pittsburgh, where a recent grand jury report says he helped shuffle around and cover for sex abuser priests, is in hiding while “final plans for sneaking him out of the country are executed,” Voris reported. According to Voris, who says he received this information from reliable sources, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may open up a RICO case against the Catholic Church. RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is a 1970 anti-organized crime, anti-racketeering law.

http://angelqueen.org/2018/08/30/church-militant-claims-cdl-wuerl-fleeing-to-rome-to-avoid-u-s-arrest-for-abuse-cover-up/ 

Dallas Bishop Calls for Worldwide Gathering on Sex Abuse Scandal

Bishop Edward Burns, of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, is leading an almost unprecedented effort to urge Pope Francis to call for a worldwide gathering of clergy to address the ongoing child sex abuse scandal within the church. “If the church is ever going to restore trust and credibility it would only come after consistently doing what is right and just,” Burns said during a news conference Thursday, detailing the petition signed by the two North Texas bishops and 21 priests that calls for a synod – a gathering of Catholic clergy at the Vatican.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Dallas-Bishop-492163571.html 

Guest column by man abused by Allentown priest: 'Silence and cover-up only allow abusers to continue their evil acts'

In the wake of the recent release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, it has become increasingly clear that victim-survivors must be given the opportunity to speak about their experiences if we as a society will have any chance of preventing this horror from happening over and over. Abuse thrives in secrecy. It is time to end the secrecy and stop the abuse of children and the vulnerable. To be sure, it is extremely difficult for survivors of sexual violence to overcome the shame and self-blame to speak about their abuse. It almost always takes years, and frequently decades, for victims of such violence to find their voices.

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-opi-priest-sex-abuse-victim-cerulli-20180830-story.html 

Cardinal Wuerl asks priests to forgive his 'errors in judgment' amid clergy abuse furor

Washington's Catholic archbishop has asked priests to forgive his "errors in judgment" as he faces public pressure to resign amid growing outrage over clergy sex abuse. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, in a letter published Thursday by his archdiocese, also asked priests to let parishioners know during Mass this Sunday that he shares their pain over widespread allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests and cover-ups by bishops. "I ask you ... for prayers for me, for forgiveness for my errors in judgment, for my inadequacies, and also for your acceptance of my contrition for any suffering I have caused, as well as the grace to find, with you, ways of healing, ways of offering fruitful guidance in this darkness," Wuerl wrote.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/31/us/cardinal-wuerl-letter-church-abuse-investigation/index.html 

I’m a Catholic priest. I’m ashamed at this abuse crisis.

I should not be so shocked. As a Jesuit, a Roman Catholic priest — as somebody who lives and breathes the church — I should have understood already how broken the institution of the church can be. After all, the scandal of child sex abuse and its cover-up by the church hierarchy broke in Boston in 2002. Then it happened again in Minnesota in 2012. That list could go on. I read about those scandals years ago with both anger and sadness. But in reading the recent Pennsylvania reports detailing yet another cover-up of clergy sexual abuse, I found shock giving way to shame.

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/8/31/17801204/catholic-church-abuse-scandal-pennsylvania-priest 

US priest sex victims urge Vatican to publish list of accused

WASHINGTON: US groups representing survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have called on the Vatican to publish a list of clerics accused of sexual assault. The calls came after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to Washington, dropped an 11-page bombshell letter on Saturday accusing Pope Francis of ignoring sexual abuse allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The 88-year-old former archbishop of Washington -- one of the most senior Catholic leaders to face abuse allegations -- resigned as cardinal in late July even as he denied the charges.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/aug/31/us-priest-sex-victims-urge-vatican-to-publish-list-of-accused-1865480.html 

Clergy abuse survivors push for federal investigation into Catholic Church

Survivors of clergy sex abuse stood in front of the Vatican embassy in Washington on Thursday and urged two higher powers -- the Pope and the US Department of Justice -- to take concrete steps to prevent more abuses and hold abusers accountable. "They have plenty of evidence," said Peter Isely, spokesman for the group Ending Clergy Abuse. "Let's launch this investigation. Let's do it now." Belief, religion and spirituality Catholic Church sexual abuse Catholics and catholicism Christianity Continents and regions Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal offenses Embassies and consulates Europe Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Government departments and authorities International relations International relations and national security Investigations Justice departments Misc people Papacy and the Pope Pope Francis Religious groups Religious leaders and clergy Sex and gender issues Sex crimes Sexual assault Society Southern Europe State departments and diplomatic services

http://www.wtva.com/content/national/492121641.html