Faces of Innocents: 12 added to Child Victim Toll

In a major breakthrough, police have acknowledged the public interest in the project and provided information on 12 victims missing from the database.
The toll now stands at 223. The updated information - requested under the Official Information Act - was obtained in September last year after the Ombudsman intervened. It covers the period between 2004 and 2017. Police records are incomplete before that.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/99317527/faces-of-innocents-12-added-to-child-victim-toll 

Failures offer opportunity to improve protection efforts, expert says

Failure and disappointment in the Catholic Church's response to abuse should be an impetus to reassess, refocus and rededicate oneself to improving and expanding efforts in healing and prevention, said a researcher at Rome's Center for Child Protection.
For example, "Pope Francis' infelicitous words — experienced as a 'slap' by those who have suffered abuse — during his recent visit to Chile" raises the question, "is there hope for real change in the church?" wrote Sara Boehk, a member of the center's research team. Her article appeared on the center's blog — childprotection.unigre.it — Jan. 26.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/failures-offer-opportunity-improve-protection-efforts-expert-says 

Child abuse investigations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire: The background

Details of the abuse of children in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire began to emerge in 2010, when former residents of community homes made allegations to police. Many of them concerned the notorious Beechwood home in Mapperley, which was later described by a judge as the “home from hell”.
In 2011, Nottinghamshire Police launched Operation Daybreak to investigate alleged physical and sexual abuse at Beechwood and other linked homes; then in 2014 Operation Xeres began, looking at abuse at Skegby Hall in Sutton-in-Ashfield and nine other homes.

http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/child-abuse-investigations-nottingham-nottinghamshire-1139421 

Pope dispatches ex-top cop on sex abuse to hear case against Chilean bishop

ROME - After protests over a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse marred his Jan. 15-18 trip to Chile, Pope Francis has decided to send Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna of Malta to listen to those who’ve “manifested their will to make known elements they possess” against Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid, appointed by Francis in 2015 to the Diocese of Osorno.
Scicluna is a former top prosecutor for sexual abuse crimes in the Church under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, whose most celebrated prosecution involved the late Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legion of Christ, who was found guilty in 2006 and sentenced to a life of “prayer and penance.”

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/01/30/pope-dispatches-ex-top-cop-sex-abuse-hear-case-chilean-bishop/ 

Rutgers experts: Silencing victims of sexual abuse must end | Opinion

The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society... the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it." (President John F. Kennedy in an address before the American Newspaper Association, on April 27, 1961)
Shrouding sexual harassment acts, abuse and discrimination in secret settlement agreements is just the latest in a long stream of cases in which perpetrators pay their way out and hide their sins. The results, for individuals and for society, are consequential. It's time to end the practice once and for all.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/01/rutgers_experts_silencing_victims_of_sexual_abuse_must_end_opinion.html 

The Guilty Soul of Pope Francis

There were certain words that Chileans were hoping that Pope Francis would say during his three-day visit to our country last week. They were hoping he would denounce the sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy, and particularly the offenses perpetrated by a corrupt and malevolent priest named Fernando Karadima. They were also waiting for Francis to condemn the hierarchs in the Catholic Church who had silenced and humiliated the victims and helped to cover up Karadima’s crimes. Above all, my compatriots wanted the pope to publicly chide Bishop Juan Barros, who had been Karadima’s protégé and, according to reports (denied by Barros), had witnessed his mentor’s pedophilia. The issue of Barros mattered symbolically because the pope himself, in 2015, had appointed this collaborator of Karadima’s as the bishop of Osorno, a city in southern Chile, in spite of angry complaints from the congregation.

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/01/24/the-guilty-soul-of-pope-francis/

Secret tapes: The moment Philip Wright confronted his sexual predator

When Philip Wright reached out to shake the hand of Werner Otto Schwarz, his heart was racing, his mouth was dry and he felt like throwing up. He was scared and nervous. But mostly, he was repulsed. He hadn't been this physically close to the former Armidale dentist since he was a boy. Three decades had passed, but the trauma right suffered from fortnightly sexual abuse at the hands of this highly regarded man in this picturesque town in country New South Wales was still fresh.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11981177

Why Francis sometimes may be a prophet without honor in his own land

Pope Francis just concluded the 22nd international trip of his papacy, to Chile and Peru, and it says something about the media honeymoon he’s enjoyed up to now that it’s really the first such trip about which pundits and commentators could have a meaningful debate over whether it was a success or a failure. It may also say something about the wisdom of Jesus’ saying, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place, and among his own kin and in his own house,” that Francis’s first could-be flop came in South America. (I make the distinction here between South America and Latin America because the dynamics are often different in Central America.)

https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2018/01/25/francis-sometimes-may-prophet-without-honor-land/

‘Peacekeepers’ abuse the girls in their care, yet no one is ever punished

Last week, women working for the UN became the latest to join the #MeToo gang, and for all the eye-rolling silliness of some of #MeToo, I was pleased. The UN is in many ways a seedy closed shop. It spends zillions promoting gender equality worldwide but in practice it’s a very different story. The women of the UN described (to the Guardian) a culture of abuse (including rape) after which victims are silenced and then sidelined, often sacked. I’m delighted they spoke out, but what puzzles me is why it stopped there. On Saturday, thousands marched around New York City to draw attention to the unjust treatment of women. So why didn’t those ladies of the UN — why didn’t all the thousands of righteous feminists on Manhattan Island — descend on the UN HQ tower in Turtle Bay to protest, not at their own treatment but at the continuing abuse of the most vulnerable girls in the world at the hands of UN ‘peacekeepers’?

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/peacekeepers-abuse-the-girls-in-their-care-yet-no-one-is-ever-punished/

Lawmakers want to give sex abuse victims from decades past the chance to file suit

Hawaii lawmakers want to give more abuse victims the chance to come forward and file civil lawsuits, no matter how much time has passed. Bills introduced in both the House and Senate failed last session, but a national movement to expose abusers and the high profile case against Kamehameha Schools could add momentum for the legislation. Representative Linda Ichiyama and Senator Maile Shimabukuro introduced companion bills which would extend the window for lawsuits despite the statute of limitations.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37344791/lawmakers-want-to-give-sex-abuse-victims-from-decades-past-the-chance-to-file-suit

Carver priest removed from ministry, investigated for alleged misconduct

A Carver priest has been removed from ministry following allegations of misconduct, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Wednesday. The Rev. Thomas Joseph, parochial administrator at the Church of St. Nicholas in Carver, will be removed from ministry pending the outcome of a police investigation. The archdiocese said it was contacted by an adult who alleged that Joseph had engaged in inappropriate conduct. It reported the claim to law enforcement. No details of the alleged victim or misconduct were provided. Carver priest removed from ministry, investigated for alleged misconduct He is removed from ministry pending inquiry.

http://www.startribune.com/carver-priest-removed-from-ministry-investigated-for-misconduct/470940003/

Flix offers Difficult Choices

Belfast Free Library's February Friday Night Flix films present Difficult Choices. All drama is about making choices. This month’s hosts Karen Gleeson and Paul Sheridan bring selections about characters who are having to make life-defining choices, within their religious beliefs. All will leave viewers thinking, “What would I have done?” Friday Night Flix are screened Fridays at 7 p.m. in the Abbott Room of the library, 106 High St. Admission is free. On Feb. 2, Irish actor Brendan Gleeson plays a village priest in “Calvary” (2014, Ireland/UK), a drama with some comedic moments. One day, Father James is told in the confessional that one of his parishioners is going to kill him at the end of the week as revenge for having been abused as a child by another priest. Over the next week, any of Father James' meetings might be with the potential killer. The film is rated R for sexual references, language, brief strong violence and some drug use. Screened in English (with subtitles), “Calvary” runs 102 minutes.

https://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/flix-offers-difficult-choices/1720448

Jimmy McGovern: Bloody Sunday and Hillsborough dramas helped to tell the truth

Jimmy McGovern is known for his gritty screenplays, including dramas about Bloody Sunday and the Hillsborough disaster and cover-up. Although no longer a practising Catholic, he tells Joanne Sweeney how his religious upbringing made him into the writer he is today. BAFTA-winning writer Jimmy McGovern might have given television viewers a most intimate account of priests going through in their daily lives in his hit BBC One series Broken last year, but he says his own Catholic faith seems to have been lost forever.

https://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2018/01/27/news/jimmy-mcgovern-bloody-sunday-and-hillsborough-dramas-helped-to-tell-the-truth-1241903/

Shame on Pope Francis for casting doubt on clergy-abuse victims

In scripture we find the lines, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Survivors of clerical sex abuse are tired of turning the other cheek — tired of lies and promises, especially by popes, who through the ages have formed commission after commission, held conference after conference, issued report after report, and made promise after promise. Church leadership has repeatedly sought forgiveness for what Pope Francis recently described as the “irreparable damage” caused by priests. In the midst of Francis’ tears and apologies, the systemic evil of clergy sex abuse remains alive and largely undercover within the ranks of the Catholic Church.

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/shame-on-pope-francis-for-casting-doubt-on-clergy-abuse-victims/

Opinion Larry Nassar shouldn't be the only one going to jail

Survivors reported Nassar’s abuse to coaches, trainers, parents, therapists, a training facility owner, and even law enforcement officials – but all in vain. It is tragically ironic that in the same month we applauded the courageous young survivors confronting Larry Nassar in court for his horrific abuse, we also celebrated the wisdom and legacy of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. One of King’s great lessons was that justice can be hindered by “the appalling silence of the good people”.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/26/larry-nassar-jail