I’m not passing my parents’ religion on to my kids, but I am teaching their values

My children, a 3-year-girl and a 1-year-old boy, aren’t baptized. Many people take issue with this parenting decision — especially the people I know from my days as a devout, practicing Catholic. Most of the judgment comes through passive-aggressive comments. Some folks, though, have no problem telling me to my face what a great disservice I’m doing my children.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/03/28/im-not-passing-my-parents-religion-my-kids-i-am-teaching-their-values/?utm_term=.d192b32d24cc

Nun accused in new sex abuse lawsuit

Two separate sex abuse lawsuits were filed in court against the island's Catholic Church and others, with one allegation against a nun. A.B.C. alleges that around 1958 or 1959 when he was around 12 or 13 years old he was sexually molested and abused by a Catholic Nun. A.B.C., who now lives in Washington state, alleges that when he was a student at Santa Barbara Catholic School, D.E. a nun with the Sisters of Mercy and a teacher would sexually abuse him.

http://www.kuam.com/story/40207987/new-dollar5m-sex-abuse-lawsuit-filed-against-church

Catholic priest who admitted to abusing a boy in Ireland won’t be prosecuted

Rev. Paul Madden was on a mission trip to Ireland when he abused a teenage boy in 1973 Catholic priest Reverend Paul Madden won’t be prosecuted after he admitted to abusing a teenage boy in 1973 while on a mission trip in Ireland. Read More: Bishop Eamon Casey raped his niece (5) and assaulted other children The Clarion Ledger reports that Rev. Madden is amongst a group of clergymen named by the Jackson Diocese in Mississippi as having been “credibly accused of abuse.”

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/catholic-priest-abusing-boy-ireland-wont-be-prosecuted 

Sister of safety: Carmelite nun in charge of efforts to prevent abuse in New Orleans archdiocese

The all-important job of ensuring children have a safe environment in the Archdiocese of New Orleans is the responsibility of a home grown religious educator whose calm demeanor seems to belie her drive to protect minors from child abuse and to show that women must play an important role in the future of the church.

https://www.nola.com/news/2019/03/sister-of-safety-carmelite-nun-in-charge-of-efforts-to-prevent-abuse-in-new-orleans-archdiocese.html 

Member of the Catholic Church, priest abuse survivor react to Pope Francis' new law

On Friday, Pope Francis issued new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide. The mandatory reporting provision marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

https://krcgtv.com/news/local/member-of-the-catholic-church-priest-abuse-survivor-react-to-pope-francis-new-law 

Hearing Monday on extending time for child sexual assault victims to sue

People who say they were sexually assaulted by Catholic clergy and others but are prohibited from filing lawsuits due to their age are expected to testify before a General Assembly committee Monday in support of a bill that would give them a 26-month window to do so. The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 3 at 10 a.m. in Room 2C of the Legislative Office Building.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20190328/hearing-monday-on-extending-time-for-child-sexual-assault-victims-to-sue 

Religious orders targeted in New Mexico clergy abuse case

Religious orders once associated with a now-shuttered Catholic boarding school for Native Americans are being accused of failing to protect students from sexual abuse by clergy and faculty. An Ohio-based order of Franciscan Friars and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, headquartered in Pennsylvania, are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed this week in a New Mexico court by a team of lawyers that has represented dozens of abuse survivors over the years.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/Religious-orders-targeted-in-New-Mexico-clergy-13725481.php 

Taking stock of the clergy sexual abuse crisis: Holding bishops accountable

When people were first confronted with the extent of Catholic priests’ sexual abuse of children, they were angry. But when, in the early 2000s, they learned that their bishops knew about the abuse and did little to stop it, Catholics and even the wider public were outraged. As the crisis has rolled on, the demand that the bishops be held accountable for not reporting the abuse to the police, for keeping these priests in ministry and for not protecting children has become the focus of state and church inquiries, from the Vatican to attorney general offices across the U.S.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/signs-times/taking-stock-clergy-sexual-abuse-crisis-holding-bishops-accountable

Idaho prides itself on personal freedoms, but one child bride explains how her parents' freedom cost her dearly

Angel Dwyer's family came to North Idaho for the beautiful log cabin home they were able to buy in the middle of nowhere, not too far from the pristine waters of Priest Lake. They came because Idaho is a place known for respecting personal freedoms. They came because they knew people wouldn't ask questions. Questions like: How old is Angel? And how old is her husband?

https://www.inlander.com/spokane/idaho-prides-itself-on-personal-freedoms-but-one-child-bride-explains-how-her-parents-freedom-cost-her-dearly/Content?oid=17087821 

28 Priests, Brothers Credibly Accused in Kansas Diocese

Allegations of clergy sexual abuse have been substantiated against 28 priests or religious brothers in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina in central Kansas. in cases mostly stemming from the 1950s to the 1980s, according to investigations by church officials. Bishop Gerald Vincke on Friday released the names of 14 credibly accused priests after a county prosecutor, who's now a judge, audited the clergy files and a lay committee reviewed the findings. The other 14 clergy members were Capuchin brothers from two separate provinces that completed their own inquiries.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas/articles/2019-03-29/kansas-diocese-ids-14-priests-credibly-accused-of-abuse 

Religious orders targeted in New Mexico clergy abuse case

Religious orders once associated with a now-shuttered Catholic boarding school for Native Americans are being accused of failing to protect students from sexual abuse by clergy and faculty. The lawsuit naming an Ohio-based order of Franciscan Friars and the Pennsylvania-based Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament was filed this week in a New Mexico court by a law firm that has represented dozens of abuse survivors over the years.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Religious-orders-targeted-in-New-Mexico-clergy-13725481.php 

Church policy on funerals fits a long pattern of concealment

Was it sensitivity to the victims of sexual abuse or another slap in their faces? The history of the Catholic Church and the Buffalo Diocese practically shouts the latter. And if it wasn’t, then it’s at least a lesson in the price of holding terrible secrets. The question is how the local church went about acknowledging the deaths of priests credibly accused of molesting children. The 2013 policy implemented by Bishop Richard J. Malone handled those deaths differently from those of other priests, denying the use of the title “Reverend” or “Father” in death notices – though allowing it on gravestones – and prohibiting a Mass of Christian Burial in the parishes where those priests had been assigned.

https://buffalonews.com/2019/03/26/editorial-church-policy-on-funerals-fits-a-long-pattern-of-concealment/ 

Female staff at Vatican women's magazine quit due to 'male control'

Vatican City: The all-female staff of the Vatican newspaper's monthly magazine on women's issues have resigned abruptly en masse, saying the new editor was trying limit their autonomy and put them "under direct male control". The magazine Women Church World has run a series of controversial stories, including on the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and nuns working for free as servants for bishops.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/female-staff-at-vatican-women-s-magazine-quit-due-to-male-control-20190327-p517z7.html 

Pope appoints Canadian new head of Personal Ordinariate in Australia

According to CathNews the Pope made the announcement after accepting the resignation of Msgr Harry Entwistle, who has served as leader of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross since it was established in 2012. The Personal Ordinariates, of which Our Lady of the Southern Cross was the third in the world, were established to provide a way for groups of Anglicans to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church – as Catholics – while retaining distinctive elements of their theological, spiritual and liturgical patrimony.

http://mnnews.today/church/2019/40204-pope-appoints-canadian-new-head-of-personal-ordinariate-in-australia/ 

Report: 400 Ill. Catholic clergy sexually abused children

A law firm specializing in childhood sexual abuse has compiled a report on victims of Catholic clergy in Illinois and found nearly 400 clergy members were credibly accused or actually convicted over several decades. The Anderson Report – named after the law firm that compiled it – found 395 priests, deacons, seminarians and others connected to any of the six dioceses in Illinois accused of sexual misconduct of minors.

https://onenewsnow.com/church/2019/03/27/report-400-ill-catholic-clergy-sexually-abused-children 

Cardinal responsible of failing to report sex-abuser priest – Eire

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin has offered his resignation to Pope Francis after a court found him guilty of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a priest. The Lyon court’s surprise decision was seen by alleged victims as a victory for child protection and a strong signal to the Catholic Church.

http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/news/cardinal-responsible-of-failing-to-report-sex-abuser-priest-eire/

ESSAY: TAKING STOCK OF THE CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS - PROTECTING CHILDREN

Last month’s summit in Rome on child sex abuse did not break new ground for those, like myself, who have been following this crisis for more than 30 years, but it did made clear - again - that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been devastating for the victims of abuse and for the church as a whole. There are three parts to the crisis, which I plan to deal with in three successive columns.

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/11795-essay-taking-stock-of-the-clergy-sexual-abuse-crisis-protecting-children

Schoolyard bullies in the sacristy

Half a century ago, the bishops' conference of the United States commissioned an interdisciplinary study of the priesthood in that country. Key parts of it were led by two priests who at the time were celebrities in the Catholic community, Andrew Greeley the sociologist and Eugene Kennedy the psychologist. (Disclosure: as a seminarian I was office assistant to Kennedy in the early stages of the study.)

https://international.la-croix.com/news/schoolyard-bullies-in-the-sacristy/9741# 

Cook alleged to have sodomised boys at Machakos Catholic orphanage arrested.

Police in Machakos have finally arrested a cook working at Martyrs Of Uganda Children's Home after he was accused of sodomising boys at the Machakos-based facility. Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/301507-cook-alleged-sodomised-boys-machakos-catholic-orphanage-arrested.html#301507 It is not yet clear where police are holding the suspect but according to Kenya Human Rights Commission, he is in police custody.

https://www.tuko.co.ke/301507-cook-alleged-sodomised-boys-machakos-catholic-orphanage-arrested.html#301507

Woman compares young traditional priest to ISIS and Taliban in vicious letter

A curious letter is doing the rounds on social media. It is from a parishioner of a Catholic church in Tasmania, Australia, in the small diocese of Hobart, addressed to the young, recently arrived parish priest. Maureen—for that is her name—notes that people have spat at Fr. Nicholas Rynne, and been unwelcoming to him. Far from condemning this behavior, however, she endorses it. Her criticisms are that he has started a Traditional Latin Sunday Mass in the parish, in addition to the two Ordinary Form celebrations, and that he wears clerical dress (read full letter below).

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/woman-compares-young-traditional-priest-to-isis-and-taliban-in-vicious-letter 

Bishop Eamon Casey raped his niece (5) and assaulted other children

Bishop Eamon Casey, whose 1970s affair with a young American woman produced a child and was the first major shockwave for the Irish Catholic Church, also abused three young girls, including his niece at the age of five it has been revealed. His niece, Patricia Donovan, told the Irish Daily Mail that she was raped by Casey when she was just five years old and assaulted sexually for years by the Bishop. Donovan, now 56, said, “It was rape, everything you imagine. It was the worst kind of abuse, it was horrific.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/bishop-eamon-casey-raped-assaulted-children 

West Virginia Accuses Catholic Diocese Of Covering Up Clergy Abuse

It has become an all too familiar headline - allegations of a Catholic diocese that has systematically covered up sexual abuse. This time, though, authorities are taking a different approach to prosecute the crimes. The state of West Virginia is suing the state's Catholic diocese and its former bishop. And the man who brought that suit is the attorney general of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey. And he joins us now. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

https://www.wbur.org/npr/705021448/west-virginia-accuses-catholic-diocese-of-covering-up-clergy-abuse 

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://clarksburgcaller.com/sisters-of-mercy-a-dark-misnomer/35136/ 

Germany, France to push European industry strategy at summit

Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany and France hope to win over other European Union countries to their ideas for a "European industry strategy" at a summit this week. Leaders of the 28 EU countries hold a regular summit Thursday and Friday. Merkel said in her weekly video message Saturday that she and French President Emmanuel Macron have proposed discussing the issue as they try to "secure jobs for the future in strategic business areas in Europe."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/germany-france-push-european-industry-strategy-summit-095144802--finance.html 

Australia, we're better than this and it's time to show it

Politicians and the media have been complicit in nurturing an environment conducive to racial hatred, albeit unintentionally ("'Disgusting': Morrison slams Senator's views on massacre", March 16-17). Morrison's condemnation of Fraser Anning, though warranted, smacks of hypocrisy. It is grossly irresponsible of the government to continually claim that incarcerated asylum seekers, mostly Muslim, are a threat to our security. Jacinda Adern's response to the tragedy in New Zealand was compassionate, responsible and unifying.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/australia-we-re-better-than-this-and-it-s-time-to-show-it-20190317-p514y6.html 

Lecretia Seales' widower makes his case for death with dignity

As Parliament’s Justice Select Committee prepares to report back on David Seymour’s controversial End of Life Choice Bill, Matt Vickers – the widower of assisted dying advocate Lecretia Seales – makes his case for death with dignity. Most of us take few one-way journeys in our lives. No matter how far we venture from home, whether for a day, a week, a month or for years, we usually return. Leaving home for good is generally paired with a major life event: university, a new job, marriage. A new start in a new place.

https://www.noted.co.nz/health/health/lecretia-seales-matt-vickers-makes-his-case-for-death-with-dignity/ 

Catholics considering leaving the Church over sexual abuse scandal

A growing number of Catholics are now questioning their commitment to the Church in the wake of the recent sexual abuse scandal involving young people and priests, a new Gallup poll has found. The poll, which was published on Tuesday, shows that 37 percent of U.S. Catholics, a 15 percent increase since the last sexual abuse scandal in 2002, are currently questioning whether they should stay with the church body.

https://themuslimtimes.info/2019/03/20/more-catholics-considering-leaving-the-church-over-sexual-abuse-scandal/ 

Andrew Rannells Says Priest Forcibly Kissed Him When He Was A Teenager

Actor Andrew Rannells has revealed that a Catholic priest sexually assaulted him during confession when he was a high school student. Rannells, known for his work in the Broadway musical “A Book of Mormon” and the HBO series “Girls,” wrote about the assault in his newly published memoir, Too Much Is Not Enough. In an excerpt published in Vulture, Rannells, 40, described several interactions with priests ― some inappropriate ― when he was a closeted gay student at Creighton Prep, a Jesuit high school in Omaha, Nebraska.

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/andrew-rannells-says-a-priest-forcibly-kissed-him-when-he-was-a-teenager_n_5c8f9f62e4b0d7f6b0f61128

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Ireland

From the late 1980s, allegations of sexual abuse of children associated with Catholic institutions and clerics in several countries started to be the subject of sporadic, isolated reports. In Ireland, beginning in the 1990s, a series of criminal cases and Irish government enquiries established that hundreds of priests had abused thousands of children over decades.


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

Child workers in Vietnam stay safer knowing labor rights, self-defense tactics

On a cool evening in early February, Ho Thi Mai Lan smilingly invited three beer drinkers to buy salted peanuts and baked rice paper at an open-air bar along An Cuu River in Hue City. One of the men pretended to show interest in the 14-year-old girl's wares, asking the price while he was fixing her with an unblinking gaze and touching her hand. Lan, a food street vendor who makes 50,000 dong ($2.15) per day, signaled to her friends, who were also selling food nearby.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/ministry-equality/child-workers-vietnam-stay-safer-knowing-labor-rights-self-defense-tactics

About 390 Catholic priests, 6 nuns in Ill. named as alleged sexual abusers on massive list

A law firm that represents clerical sexual abuse victims released a massive list Wednesday of Roman Catholic priests in Illinois, along with six nuns and a handful of lay people, who have been credibly accused of molesting children. Some of the accusations in the 185-page Anderson Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois stretch back more than half a century. The 395 names listed are nearly double the number that church officials in the state had previously released.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/about-390-catholic-priests-6-nuns-ill-named-alleged-sexual-n985581 

German Bishops Announce ‘Synodal Process’ on Celibacy, Sexual Morality - CatholicCitizens.org

MUNICH — Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the bishops had unanimously decided on ‘synodal progression’ that could lead to a binding outcome.  Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising has announced that the Catholic Church in Germany is embarking on a “binding synodal process” to tackle what he says are the three key issues arising from the clerical abuse crisis: priestly celibacy, the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, and a reduction of clerical power.

https://catholiccitizens.org/issues/german-bishops/85571/german-bishops-announce-synodal-process-on-celibacy-sexual-morality/

The voice of hidden children of Catholic Bishops and Pastors of South Sudan: An appeal to Pope Francis

As we follow the action taken by the Vatican to discuss and hold to account those within the church leadership who were involved in the abuse of those in their care (young boys and girls), those of us in warzone country of South Sudan must also speak up so the Vatican should also investigate the practice in South Sudan by church leaders and key Vatican representatives in the country. The smoke of war cannot be used to cover abuses.

https://paanluelwel.com/2019/03/16/the-voice-of-hidden-children-of-catholic-bishops-and-pastors-of-south-sudan-an-appeal-to-pope-francis/ 

Monte Casino Girls Took Early Morning Walk To Police Station To Report Sexual Harassment

CLOSE to 150 girls from Monte Cassino Girls High School in Mashonaland East on Friday sneaked out of school and walked over 6km in soaking rain to the nearest police station where they reported sexual abuse by their teachers, among other complaints. The girls also complained of corporal punishment, a substandard food menu as well as verbal abuse by teachers who include nuns from the Roman Catholic Church which runs the school.

https://www.zimeye.net/2019/03/15/monte-casino-girls-took-early-morning-walk-to-police-station-to-report-sexual-harassment/ 

Catholic priest in Florida charged with drugging, raping woman

A Roman Catholic priest in Florida is facing charges that he drugged a female parishioner and raped her. The Rev. Jean Claude Jean-Philippe was in a Miami-Dade County jail late Saturday charged with sexual battery on an incapacitated victim. The Miami Herald reports that in October the 64-year-old priest invited the victim to his home at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Homestead.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/catholic-priest-in-florida-charged-with-drugging-raping-woman-1.4339290

French Writer Alleges Vatican Is One Of The World’s Largest Gay Communities

A gay French writer has lifted the lid on what he calls one of the world’s largest gay communities, the Vatican, estimating that most of its prelates are homosexually inclined and attributing much of the current crisis in the Catholic Church to an internecine war among them. In the explosive book, “In the Closet of the Vatican,” author Frederic Martel describes a gay subculture at the Vatican and calls out the hypocrisy of Catholic bishops and cardinals who in public denounce homosexuality but in private lead double lives.

https://doverdailynews.com/french-writer-alleges-vatican-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-gay-communities/33846/ 

Church must follow, accept local laws on abuse, Father Zollner says

The Catholic Church must respect the law and accept court decisions regarding clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up, said Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading expert in child protection. Interviewed by Vatican News March 15, Father Zollner noted that in 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made it clear to bishops' conferences around the world that the church must obey civil laws regarding cases of abuse.

https://angelusnews.com/news/cindy-wooden/church-must-follow-accept-local-laws-on-abuse-father-zollner-says
 

Vatican defrocks former US cardinal for sex abuse of minor

Pope Francis has defrocked a former cardinal in a first for the Roman Catholic church over accusations American Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago, a Vatican statement said Saturday. McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican's College of Cardinals in July, is the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse.

https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/World/Vatican-defrocks-former-US-cardinal-sex-abuse--minor-/688340-5028040-vvs1ku/index.html 

Legal options limited for New Mexico man who says priest molested him

It was early summer and the altar servers for Holy Cross Catholic Church were squirming in the heat of their white robes. There was no air conditioning in the sacristy behind the chapel as the children prepared the church for the 10:30 a.m. Mass. Isaac Casados, who was 10 at the time, had grown up in this church. He planned to become a priest and felt that leading his fellow altar servers was the first step.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/legal-options-limited-for-man-who-says-priest-molested-him/article_3a874088-f674-5f6f-a4e2-b1e52aa88345.html 

Ardern is a leader for our times, and we should follow her example

This nation needs more leadership, across all levels, in all parties, like that provided by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the wake of Christchurch’s mosque massacres. With steely calm, with inclusive language, seeking to unite rather than divide, she told the world, “To the people who did this: you may have chosen us, but we UTTERLY reject and condemn you.”

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ardern-is-a-leader-for-our-times-and-we-should-follow-her-example-20190315-p514lg.html 

In the shadow of Mount Cashel: The tipping point of disillusionment with the Catholic Church

As science and scandal emerged, many stopped putting their faith in the church  The spectre of Mount Cashel loomed large in my late childhood, both literally and figuratively. My family moved to St. John's from the west coast of Newfoundland when I was eight years old. It was October 1989, and a judicial inquiry's hearings on the allegations of child abuse by the Christian Brothers had begun only one month earlier.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mount-cashel-religious-decline-1.5048976 

Critics Say North Dakota Dioceses Too Slow in Naming Problem Priests

North Dakota’s Roman Catholic dioceses are mulling whether and when to release information about priests accused of sexual abuse, even as critics say they are moving too slowly following explosive revelations in Pennsylvania last year. The Bismarck Diocese, the state’s second-largest, says it plans to release the names of priests with “substantiated claims” against them of sexual misconduct with minors after it finishes reviewing its files. But the Fargo Diocese hasn’t yet decided whether to release names.

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2019/03/15/520817.htm 

‘Supposed to Be Infallible’: Kennington Abused Children of Family Friend

Christine Lyons saw Fr. Jack Kennington as a close family friend. Her neighbors on Manhattan’s Lower East Side saw him as a proud advocate for people struggling with drug addiction and a popular priest in the community throughout the 1980s. All the while, Brendan and Bridget Lyons, Christine’s children, knew “Uncle Jack” as a sexual abuser. The abuse, which spanned from 1984 to 1987, began a year after Kennington, a member of the Redemptorist order of the Catholic Church, finished his assignment at the Woodstock Theological Center.

https://www.thehoya.com/abuse-kennington-subject-2-lawsuits-sibling-survivors/

"Soul murdering torture": 4 sisters accuse Catholic priest of sex abuse

The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are now expanding their investigations of sex abuse inside the Catholic Church. This follows last month's scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania that accused more than 300 priests of attacking more than 1,000 children. Nikki Battiste spoke to four sisters who say they were abused by the same priest.

https://mclip.tv/video/3LRvm6lpRi0/soul-murdering-torture-4-sisters-accuse-catholic-priest-of-sex-abuse 

German Catholics accused of ‘stonewalling’ by child abuse victims

BERLIN: Germany’s under-fire Catholic Church admitted Thursday it must urgently confront its child sex abuse scandal, but victims accused it of continued “stonewalling”, especially on compensation. As in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, Germany’s Catholic Church has had to admit to abuses by predator priests and clergy and their systematic cover-up over decades.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2019/03/15/german-catholics-accused-of-stonewalling-by-child-abuse-victims/ 

When elite institutions unravel, it's not enough to cite populism and move on

It's been an extraordinary week. Words like "unprecedented", "turmoil", "crisis" and even "unhinged" flow like lava amid Britain's Brexit eruptions, the jailing of Cardinal George Pell over sexual abuse convictions, and the leadership catfight in the Coalition's junior partner, the National Party. Regarding the latter, Prime Minister Scott Morrison unintentionally chanced upon the nub of the matter when he compared his working relationship with Nationals leader Michael McCormack to that of Sir Robert Menzies and John "Black Jack" McEwan in the Coalition heyday of the 1950s.

https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/when-elite-institutions-unravel-its-not-enough-to-cite-populism-and-move-on-20190313-h1cc9w 

SNAP pushes Diocese to name priests accused of abuse outside region

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is questioning why the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo has not publicly acknowledged four priests who spent time at local schools and parishes before or after they allegedly sexually abused minors in other jurisdictions. “The bishop’s silence is the voice of complicity,” Claudia Vercellotti, a local leader for SNAP, said. “It is the reason that these types of crimes continue and it is the coverup that keeps these crimes going. The only way to stop that is to expose them and to demand accountability.”

http://www.norwalkreflector.com/Faith/2019/03/15/SNAP-pushes-Diocese-to-name-priests-accused-of-abuse-outside-region.html 

Sexual Abuse by Catholic Church Clergy is a Global Crisis

USAG sexual assault attorney Mick Grewal discusses the global crisis of child sexual abuse by Catholic Church priests, cardinals and other high-ranking officials. The Catholic Church sexual abuse allegations in the U.S. may be more conspicuous than in other nations – especially given the lack of action and response from the Catholic Church – and the “sophisticated criminal cover up” by the Church. However, more and more sexual abuse allegations from around the world are coming to light, and it is clear that the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal is a global crisis.

https://lansing.legalexaminer.com/legal/2790/ 

St. Patrick was never canonized a saint by the Catholic Church

Ireland's patron St. Patrick is a saint in name only and has never received the official title. While millions around the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day every March 17, the sad fact is that Patrick has never been canonized by the Catholic Church and is a saint in name only. Read More: The truth about St. Patrick's life from kidnapping to Irish Catholicism

https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/patrickroberts/st-patrick-never-canonized-saint-catholic 

American Irish Catholics now more liberal but faith is strong for many, IrishCentral poll reveals

Over 1500 readers responded to our latest poll on Catholicism. In a time when the Catholic Church is mired in scandal, IrishCentral readers have voiced their opinions on Catholicism loudly. Read More: St. Patrick was never canonized a saint by the Catholic Church In our latest poll published earlier this week, 1601 people responded to our questions regarding Catholicism and the Catholic Church.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/results-readers-views-catholicism 

Fr Zollner: Do justice for victims of clerical sexual abuse

Fr Hans Zollner, SJ, President of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University, discusses the initial results he has observed since the Meeting on the “Protection of Minors in the Church.” The Bishops who participated in the Meeting on the “Protection of Minors in the Church” at the end of February have “taken some initiatives,” says Fr Hans Zollner, SJ, President of the Centre for Child Protection in an interview with Vatican News’ Gudrun Sailer.

https://catholicoutlook.org/fr-zollner-do-justice-for-victims-of-clerical-sexual-abuse/ 

Nelson Catholic school's punishments too severe for Victorian New Zealand

Two Catholic Marist brothers were subjected to prolonged prosecutions after a government-appointed inquiry into a Nelson orphanage found evidence of the pair's alleged crimes against boys. "The supplejack has been freely used, and in some cases with great severity," according to a Press Association report in the Herald of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the orphanage in 1900.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12209736 

The Catholic Church should focus on the victims; not the abusers: Readers sound off

It seems to me that over the years, it has been more important for the Catholic Church to cover up clergy abuse, when the focus should be on caring for the victims. Abuse damages people and adds complications to how a victim views spiritual guidance going forward. Suffering abuse by a member of the clergy can be devastating. No more cover-ups. Care about victims! Protect our vulnerable targets, not the abusers.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/readers/2019/03/03/catholic-church-abuses-animal-testing-drug-prices-robocalls-reader/3020000002/ 

Solidarity-era priest accused of abuse a monumental problem for Polish Church.

On a day set aside for prayer and atonement for victims of sexual abuse in Poland, a statue of a Cold War-era priest was removed in the city of Gdańsk, after he was accused of abusing minors. Penitential liturgies have been organized throughout Poland on the first Friday of Lent, including the Archdiocese of Gdańsk. On the same day, a statue of the legendary priest, Father Henryk Jankowski of Solidarność, was dismantled by order of the city council.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2019/03/09/solidarity-era-priest-accused-of-abuse-a-monumental-problem-for-polish-church/ 

Tahiti Catholic priest detained for alleged sexual abuse

A Catholic priest in French Polynesia has been detained for questioning about the alleged sexual abuse of minors. The 40-year-old man was taken into custody yesterday following a number of complaints. So far, no charges have been laid.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/384340/tahiti-catholic-priest-detained-for-alleged-sexual-abuse 

Disgraced Australian Cardinal Pell sued for another sex offense

More skeletons resurface related to 1970s child abuse claims against former Melbourne archbishop.; The plaque celebrating Cardinal George Pell's tenure as Archbishop of Sydney at St Mary's Cathedral is seen splattered with green paint in Sydney, Australia, March 5. A civil claim was filed against convicted sex abuser Cardinal George Pell at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Australia on March 7.

https://international.la-croix.com/news/disgraced-australian-cardinal-pell-sued-for-another-sex-offense/9627# 

Catholic Archbishop, on his hands and knees, begged for forgiveness over abuse

Bishops across the country are reeling over accusations that they are implicated in a decadeslong cover-up to protect priests who had sexually abused children. When the Archdiocese of Hartford released a list this year identifying 48 priests accused of sexual abuse, five of them had served at the same church: St. George’s, in the small coastal town of Guilford. One had been a pastor there for more than a decade, baptizing children and hearing confessions.

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/catholic-archbishop-on-his-hands-and-knees-begged-for-forgiveness-over-abuse/ 

Acts of God or human failure?

A few weeks ago, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the Christian Broadcasting Network: “I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times. … And I think he wanted Donald Trump to become president, and that’s why he’s here.” Sanders is hardly alone in this belief as a 2017 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 18 percent of Democrats, 26 percent of independents and 45 percent of Republicans “believe God intervened to help Donald Trump win the presidency.”

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2019/03/acts-of-god-or-human-failure/ 

Catholic cardinals implicated in sex abuse, cover-ups

Vatican City • The conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for failing to report a known pedophile priest to police deepens the crisis confronting an already discredited Catholic Church hierarchy. The verdict handed down by magistrates Thursday shows the church’s once-untouchable “princes” increasingly are judged accountable for priests who abuse children and the superiors who allowed the abuse to continue.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/03/09/catholic-cardinals/ 

Legal Loophole May Be Closing for Bishops Who Hide Sex Abuse

Two U.S. cardinals have confirmed that the Vatican is working on a "clarification" to a 2016 law that was supposed to hold bishops and religious superiors accountable when they fail to protect their flocks but never really did. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston told a press conference Friday during Pope Francis' sex abuse prevention summit that he had been "guaranteed" that the new document would "come out very soon." Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said the document would "standardize" procedures within the various Vatican offices to investigate bishops and order their removal.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-02-23/legal-loophole-may-be-closing-for-bishops-who-hide-sex-abuse 

Sex abuse victims speak of lost childhoods

A man and a woman who were sexually abused by priests as young people have told Catholic leaders attending Pope Francis' abuse prevention summit that the trauma they suffered has haunted them ever since. The man, speaking at a penitential liturgy Saturday night, said sexual abuse is the greatest humility anyone can suffer: He says "you realize you cannot defend yourself against the strength of your oppressor. You cannot escape. You must endure it, no matter how disgusting it is."

http://www.startribune.com/the-latest-german-cardinal-urges-changes-to-vatican-secrecy/506260222/ 

Top Catholic cardinal admits church destroyed documents on clergy sexual abuse

In a remarkable admission, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said Saturday that documents that could have contained proof of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church were destroyed or never drawn up. "Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed or not even created," said Marx, the archbishop of Munich and president of the German Bishops' Conference.

https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/top-catholic-cardinal-admits-church-destroyed-documents-on-clergy-sexual-abuse 

Abuse survivor's message to Pope Francis: "Clean up your church, get rid of the pedophiles"

Three clergy abuse survivors all want to know why the Catholic Church still has not laid out concrete steps to stop child sex abuse. "CBS This Morning" has followed their fight for justice since last year, all the way from the U.S. to Rome, where they attended a summit with church leaders and called for a zero-tolerance policy for abuse. But the survivors told CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste they all want to know why the Catholic Church still has not laid out concrete steps to stop child sex abuse.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abuse-survivors-message-to-pope-francis-clean-up-your-church-get-rid-of-the-pedophiles/ 

Sioux City Diocese to release names of 28 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse

The Diocese of Sioux City will be releasing the names of 28 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors while serving in the church. This announcement comes as Pope Francis held a summit at the Vatican where the Pope promised that guidelines used by national bishops conferences to prevent abuse and punish perpetrators will be reviewed and strengthened.

https://siouxlandnews.com/news/local/sioux-city-diocese-to-release-names-of-28-priests-credibly-accused-of-sexual-abuse 

Cardinal Dew's claim met with criticism from abuse victims

One of New Zealand's most senior Catholic clergy has clashed with abuse victims over his claim bishops have no powers to remove predatory members of religious orders from their dioceses. Wellington's Cardinal John Dew is still in Rome after attending a critical four-day Vatican summit on clerical child sex abuse, which finished this morning. The 22-25 February meeting was billed by the Vatican as the beginning of a worldwide series of reforms.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/383355/cardinal-dew-s-claim-met-with-criticism-from-abuse-victims 

Child sex abuse akin to ‘human sacrifice’: Pope

The Catholic Church will stop covering up the crimes of paedophile priests “as was usual in the past”, Pope Francis said yesterday at the end of the Vatican’s anti-child abuse summit, but his much-anticipated speech was short on concrete measures. The unprecedented summit was called in response to a new spate of clergy sex abuse and cover-up allegations, including in the US, Chile, Germany and Australia, which exacerbated the Catholic Church’s decades-old sex abuse crisis.

https://www.gulf-times.com/story/623225/Child-sex-abuse-akin-to-human-sacrifice-Pope 

Iowa Diocese: 28 Priests Accused of Abusing Minors Identified

At least 28 priests are credibly accused of having sexually abused more than 100 boys and girls while working for a Roman Catholic diocese in Iowa, church officials announced. The Diocese of Sioux City identified those 28 priests as it published a long-awaited list of those who have been the subject of credible allegations of sexual abuse involving minors.

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2019/02/28/518869.htm 

Cruelty towards flock haunts clergy amid sex abuse crisis

There is no crime greater than destroying a young, vulnerable soul entrusted to your care through vicious shaming. Priests prostrate themselves in front of an altar during Holy Week rituals in a Manila church. About five years ago, a 17-year old girl took her newborn child to church for baptism in the central Philippine city of Cebu. Instead of blessings, a Redemptorist priest heaped scorn on the young mother.

https://international.la-croix.com/news/cruelty-towards-flock-haunts-clergy-amid-sex-abuse-crisis/9568 

Outrage over pedophile priests forces bishop out of St. Patrick's Day parade

The Catholic Church abuse scandals have now impacted on Buffalo’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebrations as a leading cleric is forced to cancel marching in city's parade. The Bishop of Buffalo, New York, has been forced to drop out of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade after a whistleblower on “60 Minutes” accused him of a cover-up and criticism from a local priest forced his hand. There has also been an online petition calling for him to drop out. The Buffalo St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the largest in the United States.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/pedophile-priests-bishop-st-patricks-day-parade