5 things to know about the Dallas Catholic Diocese's tough year and plan to name 'credibly accused' clergy

This year brought heavy criticism of the Catholic Church over its handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. And in 2019, the church faces a critical challenge as it seeks to restore faith in its future while divulging the sins of its past. All 15 Catholic dioceses in Texas announced plans to, by the end of January, release the names of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of children since 1950. The goal is to restore trust among 8.5 million Catholics in 1,320 parishes across the state.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2018/12/26/5-things-know-dallas-catholic-dioceses-tough-year-plan-name-credibly-accused-clergy 

Cardinal Cupich visits Cook County Jail on Christmas, addresses church sex abuse scandal in Midnight Mass

Cardinal Blase Cupich visited with inmates at the Cook County Jail and led a special mass there on Christmas Day. The mass and visit was meant to give inmates hope and faith during the holiday season, even as they are locked up and away from their families. The cardinal assured each inmate they are never too small or unimportant to make a difference.

https://abc7chicago.com/religion/cardinal-cupich-visits-cook-county-jail-on-christmas-day/4963872/ 

From sex abuse to money, 2018 tested Pope Francis on reform

When he was elected to the papacy in March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio knew he was chosen on a “reform” mandate. However, it’s been unclear what reform means for Pope Francis: revitalizing the public image of the Church, addressing the global clerical sexual abuse crisis, reforming the Vatican itself or leading Catholics around the world into a “pastoral conversion.” Francis was forced to address reform on multiple fronts during the past 12 months, all testing him in different ways.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/12/26/from-sex-abuse-to-money-2018-tested-pope-francis-on-reform/ 

A Comfort and Sign of Hope

Last week, when we were receiving donations and sending Bright Christmas checks to parishes and diocesan organizations, we received a remarkable letter that was published last week in the Readers’ Forum. Candy Ross wrote: “My husband died in January of cancer and I haven’t celebrated any holiday or birthdays at all this year out of respect for him and because I just can’t. To ease the pain and to turn that grief into something positive, I volunteer my time to a soup kitchen on the holidays and donate gifts for the needy for Christmas at one of the churches I’m affiliated with. Grief is love with no place to go, I’m directing my grief and love to others. It’s like a hug – you give and get at the same time. It’s a win-win.”

https://thetablet.org/a-comfort-and-sign-of-hope/ 

Letter calls for Pope Francis to resign over allegations

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò caused a massive upheaval in the Catholic Church by accusing Pope Francis of a sexual abuse cover-up and calling for his resignation. Viganò, the former papal ambassador for the Vatican to the United States, wrote a 7,000-word letter published on Aug. 26, according to The New York Times, stating “the Vatican hierarchy was complicit in covering up accusations that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had sexually abused seminarians and that Pope Francis knew about the abuses …. Francis did not punish the cardinal, but instead empowered him to help choose powerful American bishops.”

http://advocate.jbu.edu/2018/12/26/8572/ 

Pope says he’s ‘ashamed’ about Catholic Church’s failure to tackle clerical abuse in Ireland

The Pope has admitted he is ‘ashamed’ about the Catholic Church’s failure to tackle clerical abuse in Ireland. The 81-year-old Pontiff was met at Dublin Castle by Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as part of his two-day visit to Ireland, the first papal visit since 1979. On the first day of his historic visit, Pope Francis said people had a right to be outraged at the response of senior church figures to the ‘repellent crimes’ inflicted on young people.

https://osburnoracle.com/pope-says-hes-ashamed-about-catholic-churchs-failure-to-tackle-clerical-abuse-in-ireland/19421/ 

Proposed laws in Virginia and D.C. would require clergy to report sexual abuse

In response to recent Catholic Church clergy sex abuse scandals, lawmakers in the District of Columbia and Virginia say they will soon propose legislation that adds clergy to the list of people mandated by law to report child abuse or neglect. Both efforts address the hot-button intersection of child protection and religious liberty, but lawmakers are expected to give them an open reception at a time when recent sexual abuse scandals in churches and others involving athletes have prompted conversation about broadening legal responsibility to extend beyond positions such as teachers and doctors.

https://www.newsadvance.com/news/state/proposed-laws-in-virginia-and-d-c-would-require-clergy/article_f6d3d022-098f-11e9-81b5-d3d1e792eb29.html 

Pope Francis’ early blind spot on sex abuse threatens legacy

It has been a wretched year for Pope Francis, whose blind spot on clergy sex abuse conspired with events beyond his control to threaten his legacy and throw the Catholic hierarchy into a credibility crisis not seen in modern times. The latest development — a high-profile verdict in a far-away country — cements the impression that Francis simply didn’t “get it” when he first became pope in 2013 and began leading the church.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/popes-initial-blind-spot-on-sex-abuse-threatens-legacy/ 

Jesuits identify 33 Alaska clergy and volunteers ‘credibly accused’ of sexually abusing children

The Rev. Rene Astruc died a hero. Awarded a humanitarian prize by the governor and lionized in portraits and biographies, the French-born priest spent a lifetime celebrated as an advocate for Yup’ik culture. What Alaskans didn’t know at the time of his death in 2002 is that Astruc also sexually abused teenage girls over three decades, according to a newly published list of 33 Jesuit priests and volunteers who face “credible claims” of crimes committed in Alaska. Created by Jesuits West, the Dec. 7 report puts names, places and dates to generations of sexual abuse inflicted by ordained priests, church volunteers and employees in 35 villages and cities across the state.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2018/12/26/jesuits-identify-33-alaska-clergy-and-volunteers-credibly-accused-of-sexually-abusing-children/ 

We Saw Nuns Kill Children: The Ghosts of St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage

This is the haunting story of children who survived horrors in American orphanages, and their fight to make the world believe them. Read the full investigation: …

This is the haunting story of children who survived horrors in American orphanages, and their fight to make the world believe them. Read the full investigation: … 

Banished Babies and the price of life in Ireland's Mother and Baby homes

n 1955 the Secretary of the Department of Education, TR O Raifeartaigh, visited Daingean Reformatory School in Co Offaly and reported that: "the cows are better fed than the boys". Students of the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland are not likely to be shocked at his statement. The animals were worth money, the children were not. The same is true of babies - such as myself - who were born in Mother and Baby Homes. We were worthless in the early years of independence from 1922 until 1945 - until suddenly we were worth more alive than dead.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/banished-babies-and-the-price-of-life-in-irelands-mother-and-baby-homes-36741464.html 

This World: Ireland’s Lost Babies review – an appalling story, told with admirable restraint

There’s no point, really, in even trying to prepare yourself mentally or emotionally for a programme entitled This World: Ireland’s Lost Babies (BBC2). The bald facts, laid out by presenter Martin Sixsmith as he made his way between the emerald isle and the US, were bad enough. Between 40,000 and 60,000 babies were – by legal standards today and moral standards any time – involuntarily given up for adoption in the 1950s and 60s by Roman Catholic Irishwomen who became pregnant outside marriage. The treatment of the “fallen women” at the mother and baby homes run by fiercely unforgiving nuns was appalling. The vetting procedures for potential adoptive parents were worse. Catholic? Moneyed? You’re in. Take your pick.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/18/this-world-irelands-lost-babies-review 

Heart-breaking reality of damage caused by ‘Mother and Baby Homes’.

Please help me find my missing brothers An open letter to the Irish Government. I am writing this letter out of pure desperation. It is 2 am Irish time and I feel I’m at my wits end. I have done absolutely everything I can think of to find my missing brothers; I have written over 200 letters and emails and I have gotten nowhere. My kitchen has turned into an office, I am a one woman show, I have boxes and folders with every single letter copied and filed as proof of my search. This is my last-ditch attempt to try and find any shred of evidence regarding my brothers. Somebody, somewhere must know who they are and what happened to them.

http://claredaly.ie/heart-breaking-reality-of-damage-caused-by-mother-and-baby-homes/ 

Horrors of Irish Mother and Baby Homes revealed in new report

"He was wrenched from my breast by one of the nuns whilst I was breastfeeding him and taken away for adoption." Over 100 people interviewed for new report about Mother and Baby homes in Ireland A new report detailing the damage done by Irish Mother and Baby homes was published Monday morning in Ireland. ‘Ireland’s Unmarried Mothers and their Children: Gathering the Data,’ was published by The Clann Project, a joint initiative by Ireland's Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA), Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR), and global law firm, Hogan Lovells.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/horrors-irish-mother-baby-homes-report 

Mother reveals how her baby 'was just left to die' in Cork mother-and-baby home

A woman has revealed how her baby boy "was just left to die" days after he was born in a mother-and-baby home in Co. Cork in 1961. Bridget, who is in her 70s and lives in England, rang RTE Radio One’s Liveline today to tell of how her son William was born in Bessborough, Cork, but died after only six weeks. She described how her baby fell ill after only three days in the institution, but was only brought to hospital nearly three weeks later despite Bessborough knowing that her baby "was desperately ill".

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mother-reveals-how-her-baby-was-just-left-to-die-in-cork-mother-and-baby-home-780449.html 

I gave birth to my child on a metal table at 18, alone in a room in a convent'

DEIRDRE WADDING WAS 18-years-old when she entered the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork. It was 1981, and though Wadding said she was not a victim of “cruelty or physical abuse”, she, like the other girls at the home, suffered emotional and psychological abuse that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. “I shared a room with a girl who was only 13-years-old, she was a child. I was 18, she sobbed her heart out for her mother every night and I mean it was incredibly, incredibly traumatic,” she said.

https://www.thejournal.ie/bessborough-mother-and-baby-home-3273435-Mar2017/ 

After 44 years "I am still seeking my mother" says Mother and Baby home survivor

Ronan James O’Halloran was born on December 9, 1973 at St Patrick’s Mother and Baby Home on Dublin’s Navan Road. Now aged 43, he has spent the past two and a half decades searching for the woman forced to give him up at birth. “From a very young age I knew I was adopted,” he told IrishCentral, but it was only when he was 18 that he was allowed to begin the search for his birth family. With his legal majority freshly acquired he contacted the Catholic adoption agency, Cúnamh, but his efforts were bluntly rebuked.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/dublin-mother-and-baby-home-survivor-s-struggle-to-find-his-birth-mom 

Over 9,000 Irish women or 'inmates' went through these doors, forced to repent

ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS Pelletstown and later as Saint Patrick’s Mother and Baby home on the Navan Road, Dublin 7, it was originally a public workhouse and probably designated a ’special institution’ exclusively for single mothers in 1904. It was converted for such usage in 1906 by George Sheridan at a cost of £11,000. Pelletstown was owned and financed by the Poor Law Guardians and the Dublin Union (i.e the state), and run on their behalf by the Sisters of the Daughters of Saint Vincent de Paul (later called the Daughters of Charity).

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/mother-and-baby-home-st-patricks-2380868-Oct2015/ 

Mother and baby homes: a hidden history

As with the Magdalene homes, mother and baby homes have developed a strong attachment in the public mind with both Ireland and Catholicism. That is to say, these institutions seem peculiar to Irish Catholicism. This linkage in the public mind is likely to be strengthened by a new book called The Adoption Machine: The Dark History of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes which is currently receiving plenty of media coverage.

https://www.irishcatholic.com/mother-and-baby-homes-a-hidden-history/ 

Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation (officially the "Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters") is a judicial commission of investigation, established in 2015 by an order of the Irish government. It was set up in the wake of claims that the bodies of up to 800 babies and children may have been interred in an unmarked mass grave in the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, located in Tuam, County Galway, but its remit also covers investigation into the records of and the practices at an additional thirteen Mother and Baby Homes. The members of the three-person Commission are Judge Yvonne Murphy (chairperson), Dr William Duncan and Professor Mary E. Daly. Originally scheduled to issue its final report by February 2018, the Commission was granted a one-year extension and will now report by February 2019.[1] Contents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_and_Baby_Homes_Commission_of_Investigation 

Invercargill man who was sexually assaulted by Marist Brother shines light on dark past

WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT Windows covered by a psychedelic paint job concealed a dark secret in Invercargill. Now one victim of a Marist Brother who raped children is letting the sunlight in. Chris Morris reports. Simon still remembers the painted windows. He was a 12-year-old pupil at Invercargill's Marist Primary School when he first set eyes on them in 1975. A psychedelic swirl covered the glass panes on the outside, blocking any view into the classroom hidden behind the patterns.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12175619 

Over 578 kids sexually abused at US children's camps; victim describes being molested by counselor

More than 578 children have been victims of sexual abuse at children's camps in the U.S. over the past 55 years, according to a new report. A news segment on "CBS This Morning” reported that 21 cases surfaced this year, though victims’ advocates fear many other children haven't reported the abuse they suffered. One mother in Texas who wasn’t named allowed her son to speak with a psychologist about the molestation he suffered at the hands of a camp counselor in 2009.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/over-578-kids-sexually-abused-us-childrens-camps-report.html 

The long road to justice for Polish childrens' abuse at the hands of nuns

“I endured a four-year ordeal at the Special Care Centre in Zabrze run by the Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo. I have two scars on each of my eyebrows. One of them is the remnant of my run-in with Sister Bernadette, when she pulled me by my hair and I hit a radiator so hard that I lost consciousness. The second came after I hit a fish tank as a result of a struggle with Sister Monica. I saw how Sister Francisca beat my little brother, so I verbally insulted her. She slapped me in the face and scratched my cheek with her fingernails, which caused the third scar. None of the nuns has ever apologised to me.”

https://www.euronews.com/2018/12/12/the-long-road-to-justice-for-polish-childrens-abuse-at-the-hands-of-nuns 

Pope Francis removes Cardinal George Pell, 77, from his inner circle as he faces historic child sex offence charges

Pope Francis has removed George Pell and another prominent cardinal from his inner circle after they were tainted by scandals ahead of a Church-wide meeting on the 'protection of minors' next year. The Australian cardinal, 77, and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz were both removed from the so-called C9 Council of Cardinals, an international advice body set up by Francis himself, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6489149/George-Pell-Pope-removes-scandal-hit-cardinals-inner-circle.html 

Former Miss. priest blogged about sex abuse coverups. Now he’s been ‘credibly accused.’

The first principal at Mercy Cross High School in Biloxi, a Jesuit priest named Francis Landwermeyer, in later years railed against the coverup of pedophilia in the Catholic church but did not live to see himself publicly identified as a priest who abused minors. Landwermeyer’s name was on a list of 42 Jesuit priests, scholastics and brothers whom the religious order identified as having been credibly accused of abusing minors or vulnerable adults.

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/12/13/former-biloxi-priest-credibly-accused-catholic-church-sex-abuse-scandal-coverup-blog-mississippi-ms/2301654002/ 

Did the Vatican just cover-up for Austrian bishop implicated in financial and moral scandal?

Monsignor Engelbert Guggenberger, the new administrator of the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt, is in the process of setting straight the economic affairs of the diocese after the departure of Bishop Alois Schwarz who was transferred to the Diocese of St. Pölten, on 1 July 2018. Not only financial, but also moral problems had arisen under his leadership, and Monsignor Guggenberger had wished to publish the findings of a thorough financial audit. However, after Cardinal Schönborn's seeming intervention – he is said not to have wanted the publication of the findings – Rome itself intervened one day before the planned press conference and ordered that the findings be sent, instead, to the Vatican. Guggenberger showed himself to be “somewhat shocked” about this new turn of events.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/did-the-vatican-just-cover-up-for-austrian-bishop-implicated-in-financial-a 

Cardinal grilled on how he handled sex abuse cases

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, leaves after giving evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in London  Cardinal Vincent Nichols has denied allegations of "cover-up" over child sexual abuse. His actions as Archbishop of Birmingham when it came to child sexual abuse could be characterised as “see as little evil as possible, hear as little evil as possible, speak as little evil as possible” a lawyer has told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11135/cardinal-grilled-on-how-he-handled-sex-abuse-cases

Lists of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse Are Spilling Out Across the Country

It was a list Charles L. Bailey Jr. had wanted to see for years: the names of the priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Mr. Bailey, 67, a longtime local advocate for survivors of abuse by priests, had heard excuses for why such a list was impossible to release. The last bishop said naming accused priests would be a violation of the Ten Commandments. The current bishop said he would not disclose the names, citing the request of unnamed victims.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/us/catholic-priests-sexual-abuse-lists.html 

Andrew Dickens: Justice must be done in George Pell case

Yesterday, I started the show knowing a piece of information that was ripe for discussion on many levels. It concerned a judgement in Australia on an extremely significant individual. The problem was the judgement was suppressed in Australia. But because we are in New Zealand we were not covered by that suppression and the information was freely available.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/andrew-dickens-afternoons/opinion/andrew-dickens-justice-must-be-done-in-george-pell-case/ 

Australian sexual abuse case raises questions about gag orders

If a judge in a different country issues an order preventing the media from discussing a trial, do media outlets in the US have a duty to abide by that order? Or is there a larger duty to keep the public informed? This isn’t a hypothetical example. An Australian court just found Cardinal George Pell, at one time the #3 official in the Vatican and a former Archbishop of Sydney, guilty of sexual abuse of two choirboys in the 1990s. But news outlets in that country couldn’t report the conviction because of what is known as a “suppression order,” which bans any mention of Pell’s name or the details of the case. The Melbourne Herald Sun ran a front page with the word “Censored!” in large type on the day after the conviction was handed down.

https://www.cjr.org/the_new_gatekeepers/australian-sexual-abuse-gag-order.php 

National Trust accused of hiding abuse history of one of its stately homes by victims' lawyers

It is promoted by the National Trust as one of its great houses, a triumph of restoration and the former home of aristocrats. But now lawyers acting for victims of child sexual abuse are asking the Trust to come clean about the dark history of Croome Court from when it was run as a boarding school by the Catholic Church. Visitors to the stately home in Worcestershire are told that the house, once lived in by the Earl of Coventry, has a varied history including the grounds being designed by Capability Brown.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/15/national-trust-accused-hiding-abuse-history-one-stately-homes/ 

It happened everywhere': How Pa. upended deep history of priest abuse across the nation

Marcia Hince lived with it all her life. It’s difficult to explain. It was like a malignant growth, something that resided inside her being, infecting her soul, hoping against hope that ignoring it or suppressing her thoughts about it would make it disappear. She felt alone, isolated, cut off from the rest of humanity, as if she were an alien being occupying a human body.

https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2018/12/12/catholic-church-priest-clergy-sexual-abuse-how-pennsylvania-changed-history-2018/2237161002/

The long road to justice for Polish childrens' abuse at the hands of nuns

“I endured a four-year ordeal at the Special Care Centre in Zabrze run by the Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo. I have two scars on each of my eyebrows. One of them is the remnant of my run-in with Sister Bernadette, when she pulled me by my hair and I hit a radiator so hard that I lost consciousness. The second came after I hit a fish tank as a result of a struggle with Sister Monica. I saw how Sister Francisca beat my little brother, so I verbally insulted her. She slapped me in the face and scratched my cheek with her fingernails, which caused the third scar. None of the nuns has ever apologised to me.”

https://www.euronews.com/2018/12/12/the-long-road-to-justice-for-polish-childrens-abuse-at-the-hands-of-nuns 

Memories of horrific abuse lives on decades later

A Mandurah man who suffered horrific abuse at a Catholic orphanage has shared his story in the hope that no one else will ever have to endure what he did. Sacha Mahboub, 77, suffered mental torment, ridicule and floggings – by the nuns entrusted with his care over 11 years at St Joseph’s orphanage in Neerkol, Queensland. In 2015, Sacha told his story of the repeated psychological, physical and sexual abuse to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/5806864/memories-of-horrific-abuse-lives-on-decades-later/

Invercargill man who was sexually assaulted by Marist Brother shines light on dark past

WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT Windows covered by a psychedelic paint job concealed a dark secret in Invercargill. Now one victim of a Marist Brother who raped children is letting the sunlight in. Chris Morris reports. Simon still remembers the painted windows. He was a 12-year-old pupil at Invercargill's Marist Primary School when he first set eyes on them in 1975.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12175619&fbclid=IwAR0UvgO76nnnPwp3DZa4dljxfc4YrhZNtw1Q8CJYIagtVNr-RjcJ9JMreBg 

Protesters 'disgusted' after Catholic diocese vows to file appeal in sex-abuse case

Father John Comiskey met with the protesters in the lobby of the London diocese office but said the church would proceed with its appeal of the judge's decision in the Irene Deschenes case. t was a dramatic confrontation in the lobby of London's Catholic diocese head office. A group of protesters entered the building, angry at the church's plan to appeal a judge's decision to re-open an 18-year-old settlement in a child sex-abuse case against the church.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-diocese-sex-abuse-1.4942750 

All Faith Groups, Evangelicals Included, Need to Reflect on #MeToo

Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” The reality of that agony is more real than ever as this powerful imagery speaks volumes to an important issue we face as a nation, and inside our church walls, today. The issue of sexual abuse and scandal has rocked and ravaged our front pages, our computer screens, and our congregations within the past year.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2018/december/all-faith-groups-evangelicals-included-need-to-focus-on-met.html 

Sisters versus human traffickers

Here’s an interesting experiment: next time you are in a group of people – Catholic or not – ask them to name two anti-slavery organisations. Chances are that they won’t be able to think of any. But if they can, you can be pretty sure that the work of Religious Sisters won’t come up. It’s a scandal, really. Sisters (and it is overwhelmingly Sisters as opposed to male Religious or secular clergy) are doing this work in at least 80 countries – including all the areas most plagued by modern slavery. If they were united in a single NGO, they would be by far the world’s largest.

https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/sisters-versus-human-traffickers/ 

Lists of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse Are Spilling Out Across the Country

It was a list Charles L. Bailey Jr. had wanted to see for years: the names of the priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Mr. Bailey, 67, a longtime local advocate for survivors of abuse by priests, had heard excuses for why such a list was impossible to release. The last bishop said naming accused priests would be a violation of the Ten Commandments. The current bishop said he would not disclose the names, citing the request of unnamed victims.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/us/catholic-priests-sexual-abuse-lists.html 

Sisters of Mercy a dark misnomer

A Dunedin boy dumped at a Catholic orphanage by his father endured five days of violence at the hands of the Sisters of Mercy. Half a century later, he is still searching for answers. Chris Morris reports. Age is slowly catching up with the old Catholic orphanage overlooking Otago Harbour. Paint peels from doors, rust creeps across a warped iron roof and weeds sprout from cracks in a concrete courtyard, ignored by the tenants now occupying flats inside what was once St Joseph’s Boys Home.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/insight/sisters-mercy-dark-misnomer 

Postwar orphans were victims of German clergy abuse

Boys play with Legos at a Catholic orphanage in Bonn, Germany, during Advent in 1960. The number of German children in orphanages surged after World War II. The Diocese of Hildesheim is investigating reports that many children in these homes were victims of sexual abuse by clergy. An investigation by the Diocese of Hildesheim, Germany, is shedding new light on child sex abuse in Catholic children’s homes in the country in the 1950s. A central figure in the inquiry is an esteemed and controversial figure, Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen, a former priest in Nazi-occupied Poland awarded Germany’s highest federal decoration in 1966 for postwar charity work.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2018/12/14/postwar-orphans-were-victims-of-german-clergy-abuse/ 

Catholic school fires unmarried pregnant teacher for breaking the moral code

A Catholic school in Pennsylvania fired an unmarried teacher after she told the principal she was pregnant with no immediate plans to wed. Naiad Reich was fired last week from Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School in Coal Township after two years on the job, according to WNEP-TV. Reich said her excitement with her first pregnancy has been overshadowed by the loss of her job, but she said she understands the dilemma her situation presented for the principal and the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.


https://www.ajc.com/news/national/catholic-school-fires-unmarried-pregnant-teacher-for-breaking-the-moral-code/FTmkk7QzQs7EfkvU1TP6yO/

Re-opened sex abuse case against Catholic church 'continuation of my fight': survivor

When she accepted a civil settlement from the Roman Catholic Church 18 years ago, Irene Deschenes was defeated. “We are tired, we want closure and are hesitant to believe we can or will get justice from the court process,” she wrote in an email to her lawyer before accepting the terms in 2000. What Deschenes, the Catholic Diocese of London and disgraced ex-priest Charles Sylvestre wouldn’t know is that settlement would send Deschenes on a determined course to expose the abusive Sylvestre and hold the church accountable.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/local-sex-abuse-survivor-can-re-open-settled-case-against-catholic-church 

Time to Lift the Shroud of Secrecy

Survivors of sexual abuse often find it difficult to share their stories. Many in Pennsylvania were given the strength to do so a few months ago via a grand jury report, but now, the state’s Supreme Court is once again keeping them from validation. Readers may recall that the names of over 270 priests accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 total children were made public when a Pennsylvania grand jury report was issued in August. The abuses, which church officials covered up, allegedly occurred in six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses.

https://farmingtonhills.legalexaminer.com/legal/sexual-abuse/time-to-lift-the-shroud-of-secrecy/ 

Empty Pews and Collection Plates

Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center and the Hartford Institute for Religious Research indicate that one in four Americans do not belong to any religion. In fact, the largest “religious” group in the United States now is made up of ex-Catholics. At last count, there were about 385,000 churches belonging to more than 60 denominations, down about 30,000 from just five years ago. Over half of these churches have only 100 worshippers on weekends. About 30 million Catholics have left the American church and about 56 million have left the Protestant denominations in the last few decades. Over 40% of Americans raised Catholic have left the Church.

 http://hpr1.com/index.php/opinion/gadfly/empty-pews-and-collection-plates/

No answer on forced adoption: 'There must be some compassion somewhere'

Women who lost children to adoption during the so-called "baby scoop" era fear their stories will be left out of an inquiry into state and church abuse. It's been seven months since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed she was considering options to examine New Zealand's forced adoption history, including a select committee inquiry.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12171821 

Child sexual abuse survivor dies before redress approved; other terminally ill victims waiting

Child sexual abuse survivor Geoff Meyers died before seeing a cent through the National Redress Scheme, as figures reveal only 1 per cent of people have received a payout so far. Mr Meyers, who suffered as a ward of the state at Royleston Boys' Depot in Glebe, hoped redress would provide some recognition for those who suffered. It took more than seven decades for him to tell his story to the royal commission and it was "very hard on him", his son Geoff Meyers told the ABC.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-07/child-abuse-survivor-dies-before-redress-approved/10591740

Australian ex-archbishop cleared of child abuse cover-up charges

An Australian court has overturned the conviction of a former archbishop who was the world's most senior Catholic cleric held guilty of concealing child sexual abuse. The court on Thursday said the prosecutors had failed to prove their case against Philip Wilson, 68, beyond a reasonable doubt.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/australian-archbishop-cleared-child-abuse-cover-charges-181206094122808.html 

Reviving the ‘C9’

Pope Francis was elected five years ago with a mandate to reform the Roman Curia. He had a clear goal: to shift power and responsibility away from the Vatican and towards local bishops’ conferences. As he put it in his famous pre-conclave speech to cardinals, the Church had become “self-referential” and needed to turn its gaze outward again.

https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/reviving-the-c9/ 

Isolated care system ill-equipped to deal with Halifax orphanage abuse: report

A new report from an ongoing public inquiry into decades of abuse at a Halifax-area orphanage says a fragmented system of care wasn’t equipped to address the needs of children who were vulnerable. The interim report, released Friday by the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children Restorative Inquiry, says the story of the home illustrates a social system that works in isolation.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4740222/isolated-care-system-ill-equipped-to-deal-with-halifax-orphanage-abuse-report/ 

Fractured care system ill-equipped to deal with abuse at Halifax orphanage: report

A new report from an ongoing public inquiry into decades of abuse at a Halifax-area orphanage says a fragmented system of care wasn't equipped to address the needs of children who were vulnerable. The interim report, released Friday by the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children Restorative Inquiry, says the story of the home illustrates a social system that works in isolation.

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/fractured-care-system-ill-equipped-to-deal-with-abuse-at-halifax-orphanage-report-1.4209038

Pope Francis says gay priests, nuns who aren’t celibate should leave clergy

Men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the Catholic clergy, and it would be better for priests who are actively gay to leave rather than lead a double life, Pope Francis says in a new book. While he has previously spoken of the need for better screening of candidates for the religious life, his comments suggesting that priests who cannot keep their vows of celibacy should leave are some of his clearest to date.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4722000/pope-francis-gay-priests-celibate/ 

Head of missionary run Tamil Nadu orphanage arrested on charges of sexually abusing minors

Along with Luban Kumar Paul, the director of Mercy Adaikalapuram Missionary Home for children, his wife Mercy Rani and brother Justin Manavalan were also arrested. The home, which housed 50 girls between 5 and 17, was also shut down. The girls also said Luban, who resides in the same house, used to call them to his room late night and sexually abuse them. Also the girls, as they said, were threatened to remain silent.

https://indiablooms.com/news-details/N/44536/head-of-missionary-run-tamil-nadu-orphanage-arrested-on-charges-of-sexually-abusing-minors.html

Father Kuriakose’s Death: Police Files Unnatural Death Case

The Punjab police on Tuesday, 23 October, filed a case of unnatural death, a day after Father Kuriakose Kattuthara was found dead in Hoshiarpur, reported CNN-News18. Father Kuriakose was one of the prime witnesses who had testified against rape accused Franco Mulakkal. On Monday, the priest’s family has filed a complaint with the Alappuzha Police, seeking an inquiry into his death.

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/kerala-nun-rape-case-live-updates 

Healing the soul and body: Sisters reunite as the nation says sorry to survivors of child sexual abuse

As Josephine Littlehawk stands on the forecourt outside Parliament House, a light wind blows her long, greying locks across her face. Her sister Katie Kellegher gently brushes them aside. This is all so new. These two sisters have not seen each other, touched each other, or spoken together for more than 40 years. “We don’t really know each other,” Katie says with a surprised laugh. “Don’t we?” says Jo. And her sister nods in agreement. Yes. Somehow, deep down, they do.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/healing-the-soul-and-body-sisters-reunite-as-the-nation-says-sorry-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-abuse-20181022-p50b54.html 

Sisters reunite as Australia says sorry to survivors of child sexual abuse

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses Parliament House in Canberra to issue a national apology for the victims and survivors of child sexual abuse that was enabled by institutions. As Josephine Littlehawk stands on the forecourt outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, a light wind blows her long, greying locks across her face. Her sister Katie Kellegher gently brushes them aside. This is all so new. These two sisters have not seen each other, touched each other, or spoken together for more than 40 years.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/108025605/sisters-reunite-as-australia-says-sorry-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-abuse 

Pat Flanagan column: Irish State has blood of 798 dead babies from Tuam Mother and Baby Home in Galway on its hands

The news that the death pit where 798 children’s bodies were dumped is to be dug up is seen as a sign this country is at last dealing with its dark and sinister past. But the disclosure the new National Maternity Hospital could be overseen by a religious order of nuns which has abused children takes us right back there.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/pat-flanagan-column-irish-state-13483169 

Woman shares stories of horrific abuse at Vermont orphanage

WCAX News has an exclusive interview with an elderly woman 70 years after she left St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington, where she claims nuns physically and mentally abused her and other children. Burlington's Roman Catholic Diocese is waiving all nondisclosure agreements signed with the church, opening the door for victims to come forward with their stories. Bishop Christopher Coyne says the decision comes as authorities investigate allegations of abuse-- and even murder-- at the now-shuttered orphanage.

https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Woman-shares-stories-of-horrific-abuse-at-Vermont-orphanage-498584101.html 

See names, more about 57 New Orleans-area clergy members on archdiocese's official sex abuse list

Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Friday released the names of 30 diocesan priests, 25 religious order priests and two deacons who, in the last century, were removed from ministry after accusations that they sexually abused minors were deemed credible. This is the first time in the history of the Archdiocese of New Orleans that a Catholic archbishop has attempted to provide an accounting of the identities of the alleged abusers in church ranks.

https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/collection_0474a82a-dde7-11e8-93f0-ff504d7ae832.html 

Unspeakable evil in the name of God

There are important hearings taking place at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. This week the inquiry has focused, as a case study, on the Archdiocese of Birmingham in the Roman Catholic Church. Although I have been unable to follow it as closely as I would like, the transcripts made grim reading. The transcript from the first day is here and the second day is here.

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/unspeakable-evil-in-the-name-of-god/ 

National Inuit org commits itself to child sexual abuse prevention

“I pledge as ITK president to ensure that ITK does the absolute most that it can,” says Natan Obed Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, vowed yesterday that Canada’s national Inuit organization will dedicate itself to the prevention of child sexual abuse in Inuit Nunangat. “I pledge as ITK president to ensure that ITK does the absolute most that it can to respond to the truth that we know, and to build our society to what we know it can be,” Obed said at a forum on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

http://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674national_inuit_org_commits_itself_to_child_sexual_abuse_prevention/