Australian archbishop faces jail time for covering up child sex abuse

An Australian archbishop was on Tuesday found guilty of covering up child sex abuse in the 1970s - one of the highest-ranked church officials globally to be successfully prosecuted for such offences. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, 67, was accused of concealing abuse by notorious paedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the Hunter region of New South Wales state by failing to report the allegations.

http://www.enca.com/world/australian-archbishop-faces-jail-time-for-covering-up-child-sex-abuse 

Argentine priest sentenced to 25 years for child molestation

An Argentine court has sentenced a Catholic priest to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing seven seminary students who were 10 to 14 years old at the time. Judge Alicia Vivian on Monday announced the decision by a panel of judges. It can be appealed. Justo Jose Ilarraz abused the boys in the 1980s and 90s when he was prefect of discipline and spiritual guide at a seminary in Parana, capital of Entre Rios province.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/argentine-priest-sentenced-25-years-child-molestation-194646795.html 

All 34 Catholic bishops resign over Chile child abuse scandal

All of Chile’s 34 Roman Catholic bishops announced their resignation Friday in the wake of a child sex scandal and cover-up in Chile. “We, all the bishops present in Rome, have tendered our resignation to the Holy Father so that he may decide freely for each of us,” the bishops said in a statement after three days of intense meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican. “We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the Pope, to God’s people and to our country for the grave errors and omissions we have committed,” the statement continued.

http://santiagotimes.cl/2018/05/18/34-catholic-bishops-resign-over-chile-child-abuse-scandal/ 

Abuse complaints against Sisters of Nazareth Homes hits 300

MORE than 300 complaints have been made to police in Scotland about alleged abuses at children's homes run by a Catholic order, an inquiry has heard. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was told that officers have received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth over a 50-year period.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16180836.Abuse_complaints_against_Sisters_of_Nazareth_Homes_hits_300/ 

Sexual abuse 'whitewashed' by children's home staff, inquiry told

A man has told an inquiry how the sexual abuse he suffered as a child was "whitewashed" during his time at a children's home. A witness told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) he was abused by older boys, priests and care assistants over two years when he stayed at Nazareth House in Lasswade, Midlothian, in the 1960s. When he tried to report the abuse to the nuns at the home, or another priest, he was beaten or told to "stop telling lies", the hearing was told.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16242251.Sexual_abuse__whitewashed__by_children_s_home_staff__inquiry_told/ 

'Whitewash' over Nazareth House children's home abuse

A man has told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) the sexual abuse he suffered as a child in the 1960s was ''whitewashed and hidden". He told the inquiry he was abused by priests, care assistants and older boys over two years when he stayed at Nazareth House in Lasswade, Midlothian. The hearing heard that when he tried to report abuse he was beaten or told to "stop telling lies". The man told the inquiry the abuse started when he was aged seven.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-44210914 

Sexual abuse victims dying before national redress scheme set up, survivor warns

Tasmanian victims of child sexual abuse in institutional settings will die before they receive redress, authorities have been warned. A national redress scheme, which was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, is expected to be up and running next year, but the Tasmanian Government has not set aside any money. Tasmanian victim Tony Rayner said it was important for the Government to take action.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-05/call-for-sexual-abuse-redress-money-in-tasmania/8588034 

Survivors call on Tasmanian Government to back redress scheme

As a child growing up in Tasmania, Pamela was raped by her father and sold by him for sex with other men in exchange for alcohol. Finally, she was removed from his care by police and put into the Mt Saint Canice residential institution and industrial laundry in Sandy Bay, only to suffer further abuse. It was the 1950s and Mt Saint Canice was run by nuns of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/forgotten-people-state-ward-tasmania-abuse-survivors-redress/9784370 

Former inmates of Good Shepherd homes want compensation for forced labour

A Magdalene laundry in England. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsIn the Netherlands at least 15,000 young girls and women were forced to work in the laundries and sewing rooms of the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd between 1860 and 1973, according to research by the NRC.Five of the women now want the abuse they suffered to be recognised and the money they were denied to be paid to them.The sisters of the Good Shepherd had homes all over Europe, Canada and Australia where girls were forced to work, with some of the most notorious abuse taking place in the Magdalene laundries in Ireland.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/05/former-inmates-of-good-shepherd-homes-want-compensation-for-forced-labour/ 

Irish Nuns Maligned In Maine Newspaper – OpEd

On the front page of the May 13 edition of the Portland Press Herald, there was a story about a young boy who was placed for adoption by nuns at the Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Ireland. In the course of the article, there is a remark made by a genealogist at the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland, that is scurrilous. Deb Sullivan Gellerson is quoted as saying the following about pregnant young women in Ireland who were in the care of nuns at the Abbey: “These young women became pregnant out-of-wedlock and due to the families being ‘strict Catholics’ they had to send them away to give birth. Then, the very same religious order abuses, sells or even kills these children, yet these abbeys and orphanages continued to operate for generations.” (My italics.) All of this is inaccurate. Few children were abused. None were sold. And none were killed.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/24052018-irish-nuns-maligned-in-maine-newspaper-oped/#.WwbB9sPc4C8.facebook

The Nuns Did Steal Us Babies From Our Mothers.

Up close with Pope Francis in Wim Wenders' film at Cannes

The famous German director didn't want to make a film about Pope Francis — he wanted to make a film with him. Wenders' documentary "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" is an intimate portrayal of a "unique human." No film has ever captured a Pope so intimately — until now. German film director Wim Wenders' documentary "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" is a journey to and with the current the head of the Catholic Church, an encounter and meditation with this unusual man in the filmmaker's best style. The 96-minute film, which the director has been laboring away on since 2013, was screened Sunday evening at the Cannes Film Festival as an out-of-competition offering. It opens in the US on May 15 and in Germany on June 14.

http://www.dw.com/en/up-close-with-pope-francis-in-wim-wenders-film-at-cannes/a-43775927 

Going home at night didn’t stop the abuse

Angel Sampson recalls being called “heathen,” “savage,” and “evil.” She also remembers the fear of attending school, where she experienced not only emotional abuse, but physical harm at the hands of the people entrusted with her education and care. From 1964 to ‘67, and starting when she was six years old, Sampson attended the Tsartlip Indian Day School in Brentwood Bay. It wasn’t what people might recognize as a residential school — the site of pain and suffering by many of Canada’s Indigenous people — but the conditions Sampson says she faced were not any different.

https://www.saanichnews.com/news/going-home-at-night-didnt-stop-the-abuse/ 

NEW ZEALAND Exclusive: Inquiry on forced adoption considered

A woman whose child was taken from her at birth and adopted out speaks up about that dark period in New Zealand history. Made with funding from NZ On Air. A possible inquiry into forced adoption is on the Prime Minister's agenda – with women parted from their babies pleading for action. An unknown number of young New Zealanders had their newborns taken from them and adopted out to married couples during the so-called "baby scoop" era, from the 1950s to 70s.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12048862 

Church abuse victims resigned to being left out of inquiry

New Zealand Church abuse survivors have resigned themselves to being excluded from the upcoming Royal Commission of Inquiry. The public consultation period about how the inquiry should run wrapped up a week ago and its chair Sir Anand Satyanand has begun going through the 300 submissions. "At this stage I have not formed any final views or recommendations," he said in a statement last night. However, Liz Tonks of the Network of Survivors of Faith-based Institutional Abuse said she got a very different impression from meeting with Sir Anand.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356867/church-abuse-victims-resigned-to-being-left-out-of-inquiry 

Bishop's account of sexual abuse cover-up conflicts with grand jury's findings

A statement by the Catholic Diocese of Erie's retired bishop insisting there was no cover-up of alleged sexual abuse by a priest against two boys conflicts with findings of fact issued by the statewide grand jury investigating the case. Donald Trautman, the retired bishop of the diocese, released a statement Wednesday stating there was no cover-up of the alleged sexual abuse by Father David Poulson and that Trautman "was aggressive in the removal of abusive priests."

http://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/bishop-s-account-of-sexual-abuse-cover-up-conflicts-with/article_be86b6c4-54a1-11e8-af20-1f19578dc6f7.html 

Archbishop expected to be called to give evidence as inquiry probes child abuse at nuns’ home

Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti may be asked to attend the hearings after witnesses accused him of previously dismissing their claims against the Sisters of Nazareth as “fantasy”. Since April, the inquiry – led by Lady Smith – has heard evidence from former residents at the Nazareth House home which was run by the Catholic order. Last week, one witness claimed she was sexually abused by a priest after she went to confession.

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/archbishop-called-to-give-evidence-as-inquiry-probes-child-abuse-at-nuns-home/ 

The church has been plagued with cases of sexual abuse, and it’s time the ‘omerta’ is broken

The 2015 movie ‘Spotlight’ had a profound, lasting impact worldwide, not only because it was a finely made motion picture that spoke about the long-standing issue of child sexual abuse by the church, but also for the manner in which it highlighted the fact that the church and the whole organisational system of Christian authorities go to elaborate lengths to deny, hide, hush up the crimes and take great measures to shelter and rehabilitate the guilty priests. In one powerful scene, Mitchell Garabedian tells the journalist Michael Rezendes, “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.” He was, of course, referring to the deeply rooted system of the clergy, lawyers and private patrons including government officials who go to great lengths to cover up the crimes and help the guilty go unpunished.

http://www.opindia.com/2018/05/the-church-has-been-plagued-with-cases-of-sexual-abuse-and-its-time-the-omerta-is-broken/ 

INVESTIGATION: Police probe Children of God sex cult as survivor breaks silence on childhood torment and abuse

Police Scotland confirmed an inquiry into the Children of God cult, which operated around the country in the 1980s and ’90s. The inquiry can be revealed just weeks after Alexander Watt, the first British member of the cult to stand trial for child sex abuse, was convicted in Scotland. In a harrowing interview, his daughter Verity Carter today breaks her silence to reveal her years of abuse in Children of God communities around Scotland.

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/my-hell-on-earth/ 

Inquiry hears girl sexually assaulted by priest in confessional

A girl was sexually abused by a priest after she went to confession, an inquiry has heard. The attack happened when the child went to show the priest a picture she had drawn of a chapel, the hearing was told. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) sitting in Edinburgh is currently examining children's homes, no longer operating, which were run by the Catholic congregation the Sisters of Nazareth in Scotland.

https://www.careappointments.co.uk/care-news/scotland/item/44067-inquiry-hears-girl-sexually-assaulted-by-priest-in-confessional 

Nuns Tortured 60 Children by Burning Their Skin, Shoving Faces in Toilets, Authorities Say

Sor Ines Perez and Rosa Elivra Trochez Joagui ran the Santa Clara Rebirth Home in the southwest Colombian city of Popayan. According to authorities, children in their care were repeatedly burned on their hands and had their heads shoved in toilets as a form of punishment. Authorities began an investigation after neighbors heard the children screaming and called police, according to El Tiempo.

http://www.newsweek.com/nuns-abuse-catholic-church-abuse-scandal-arrests-919904 

Rape victim begs Archbishop of Glasgow to deal with complaint against shamed priest

Father Gerry Nugent preyed on the woman when she was aged 11 and she claims the Catholic Church are dragging their heals over her complaints. A woman who claims she was raped repeatedly as a child by a disgraced priest has written an emotional letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow. The alleged victim – known as Teresa – has begged Archbishop Philip Tartaglia to deal with her complaints against shamed Father Gerry Nugent. She alleges the hierarchy have been dragging their heels over the compensation claim they advised her to make.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/victim-rape-begs-archbishop-glasgow-12487133 

Annapurna & Plan B Entertainment look to give cinematic treatment to how original New York Times exposé on Harvey Weinstein was published

This new film will reportedly be in the vein of Spotlight, which dealt with the Boston Globe's muckraking coverage of the Catholic Church's cover-up of sex abuse by clergy. Read the 2002 exposé that became the subject of 2015's Spotlight here. The Times' exposé won its authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey a Pulitzer earlier this month, and shook Hollywood to the core, with the ramifications from the fall of Weinstein and all the men who sins were brought to light after his, still very much being felt in the industry (something I have discussed quite often in interviews here). Kantor and Twohey are sharing the Pulitzer with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker, who also published a ground-breaking story on Weinstein (read it here).

https://www.thefourohfive.com/film/article/annapurna-plan-b-entertainment-look-to-give-cinematic-treatment-to-how-the-original-new-york-times-expose-on-harvey-weinstein-was-published-152 

Gianficaro: ‘Paterno’ movie about Sandusky child sexual abuse has both sides digging in

Several years after the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, the divide of how Joe Paterno is viewed remains. Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arraigned on 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys on Nov. 4, 2011. A week later, investigative reporter Jason Berry, who authored a book on the Catholic Church cover-up of priests who sexually abused children, was asked in The Atlantic about the similarities between the cover-ups at both institutions.

http://www.theintell.com/opinion/20180502/gianficaro-paterno-movie-about-sandusky-child-sexual-abuse-has-both-sides-digging-in 

Rundown Of Sex Abuse Within The Catholic Church

Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday became the highest-ranked Catholic ever to be sent to trial for sex offences, adding to a series scandals facing the church globally. Here is a rundown of notable cases: Australia Cardinal George Pell, the third highest member of the Vatican hierarchy, has been ordered to stand trial on “multiple” historical sex charges, which he denies. His case coincided with a public enquiry that found that seven percent of priests were presumed to have committed paedophilic acts in Australia between 1950 and 2010.

https://www.channelstv.com/2018/05/01/rundown-of-sex-abuse-within-the-catholic-church/ 

Pope Francis tells sex abuse survivors, ‘I was part of the problem’

ROME - After facing heated criticism over his actions and words regarding clerical sexual abuse in Chile, this weekend Pope Francis tried to address the scandal head-on, meeting three abuse survivors from the Latin American nation ahead of a summit later this month with Chile’s bishops. “Pope Francis formally asked us for forgiveness, in his own name and on behalf of the universal Church,” the three said in a statement released on Wednesday in Rome after their meetings with the pope. This weekend, abuse survivors Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo were hosted by Francis at the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence, the hotel built under St. Pope John Paul II where he’s lived since the beginning of his pontificate

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/02/pope-francis-tells-sex-abuse-survivors-i-was-part-of-the-problem/ 

'MY DAUGHTER... AT LAST' Man who was raped by a nun when he was 12 years old meets daughter his abuser gave birth to 62 years ago

Edward Hayes, 76, fathered the girl after he was abused for three years at a care home in Lancashire. A FORMER care home boy who fathered a child after he was raped by a nun in the 1950s has finally met his 62-year-old daughter - after fearing he would die without laying eyes on her. Edward Hayes, 76, fathered the girl after he was abused for three years at the former John Reynolds Home in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6216550/edward-hayes-nun-rape-catholic-church/ 

Orphanage helper hid bed-wetting from nuns to spare child ridicule

A woman who volunteered at an Aberdeen orphanage in the 1970s tried to hide a child's bed-wetting from nuns to spare him ridicule. Margaret White was a teenage student at the University of Aberdeen and helped out at Nazareth House. The 63-year-old told the Scottish Child Abuse inquiry she would clear away dirty sheets to stop a nine-year-old boy being verbally abused. She said the child would be called "stupid" and "dirty". The witness said she had never seen children being hit but she felt the way one boy was treated for bed-wetting was "wrong".

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-43979987 

Scotland 'should be ashamed' of child care system abuse, inquiry told

The witness, who cannot be named, described a life at Nazareth House in Aberdeen between 1968 and 1972 of routine beatings, sexual assaults and emotional trauma. Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry on Tuesday, he said his experiences contributed to him serving time in "many prisons" and having a history of "serious" violence. The man, now in his 50s, said: "Scotland as a country should be ashamed that it's taken this long for this (inquiry) to happen.

https://www.careappointments.co.uk/care-news/scotland/item/44004-scotland-should-be-ashamed-of-child-care-system-abuse-inquiry-told 

Social services dismissed sisters as 'troublesome teenagers' after reporting abuse, court told

Social services dismissed two sisters as "troublesome teenagers" when they were told of sexual abuse at the hands of their mother and stepfather, and returned them repeatedly to their care, a court has heard. The two defendants, both in their 70s, are accused of repeatedly raping the older girl between 1975 and 1981, while the male defendant is accused of sexually assaulting her sister when social workers in West Sussex failed to intervene.

https://www.careappointments.co.uk/care-news/england/item/43989-social-services-dismissed-sisters-as-troublesome-teenagers-after-reporting-abuse-court-told 

Cops receive more than 300 complaints of alleged abuse by nuns at children's homes

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard claims of ­beatings at the hands of nuns, force-feeding and being locked in a dark cupboard at homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth across Scotland. More than 300 complaints about alleged abuse at children’s homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth have been received by police , the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard yesterday. The figure emerged as witnesses recalled incidents of abuse they said they suffered at the order’s home in Aberdeen in the 40s and 50s.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/cops-receive-more-300-complaints-12421585