Bronx Pastor Steps Down Following Lawsuit

Father Peter Miqueli, who was accused of scandalous behavior of a sexual and financial nature in a lawsuit filed by parishioners last week, stepped down as pastor of St. Frances de Chantal parish in the Bronx on Dec. 12.
Saying that he made the decision to step down “while this unfortunate and regrettable situation is investigated,” Father Miqueli maintained in a letter to parishioners of the Throgs Neck church that he was “not guilty of the charges” brought against him but “felt that my continued presence here would be a distraction to you, particularly during this season of Advent and Christmas.”

http://cny.org/stories/Bronx-Pastor-Steps-Down-Following-Lawsuit,13418?content_source=&category_id=33&search_filter=&search_headline=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id= 

The Sordid Story of Father Peter Miqueli and What Cardinal Dolan Knew When

Until yesterday, the story of what's happening with Father Peter Miqueli and former USCCB president Cardinal Timothy Dolan in the New York archdiocese seemed largely confined to the tabloid news, and for that reason, I haven't commented on it.
 I'm averse to wading through tabloid slime, I'm far from confident that what the tabloids report is accurately reported, and stories they break have a nasty way of twisting and turning, leaving folks who comment precipitously on them  embarrassed at having trusted a tabloid report.

http://bilgrimage.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/charles-pierce-and-joelle-casteix-on.html 

How Jehovah’s Witness leaders are responding to child abuse scrutiny

Besieged by reports that Jehovah’s Witnesses shield child sexual abusers from prosecution, the religion’s top leadership appears to have settled on a strategy: “Let the story die.”
A Portuguese news documentary released in October was yet another report from across the globe to detail the Witnesses’ policy of not reporting child abusers to law enforcement. As in other media reports, top officials refused to speak to the journalists who produced it.

https://www.revealnews.org/blog/how-jehovahs-witness-leaders-are-responding-to-child-abuse-scrutiny/?utm_source=CIR&utm_medium=social_media&utm_campaign=facebook 

Damage Control Time This could be the end for Cdl. Dolan.

If half of what is alleged in the million-plus dollar lawsuit against Cdl. Timothy Dolan and his archdiocese is true, it could be the end of him being archbishop of New York. And this is a case that other bishops should pay close attention to because if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.
There are two major areas that overlap in this tragic case. First: the sordid sexual deeds of a priest made pastor of a Bronx parish by Cdl. Dolan — Fr. Peter Miqueli — whom parishioners charge with carrying on a perverted pay-for-gay sexual relationship with a live-in lover for years. The second area which overlaps is that in order to pay for this perverted lifestyle, Fr. Miqueli embezzled nearly a million dollars over the course of years from two parishes. 

http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/damage-control-time

Sensational lawsuit against priest is ill-advised and highly suspicious

You'd think that people holding themselves out to be faithful Catholic parishioners would be wary of airing their grievances in the mainstream media, the foremost purveyor of political correctness in the United States.
After all, The Catholic Church, with its principled opposition to such things as same-sex marriage, abortion and contraceptives,

http://www.silive.com/opinion/danielleddy/index.ssf/2015/12/sensational_lawsuit_against_pr.html 

Bishop ‘scapegoated’ by clerical abuse report, funeral told

Celebrant compares Dermot O’Mahony’s suffering in final years to that of some saints.  A bishop who was sharply criticised by an inquiry into the handling of clerical abuse allegations in the Dublin archdiocese had been “scapegoated”, an auxiliary bishop of Dublin told his funeral Mass yesterday.

Defending the memory of Dermot O’Mahony, who was also an auxiliary bishop of Dublin, Bishop Eamonn Walsh told mourners he had suffered in “a society that at the time ignored the spirit of equity”.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/bishop-scapegoated-by-clerical-abuse-report-funeral-told-1.2467773 

Teen rape victim asks Ohio justices for full damages

Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of state law capping non-economic awards.  The girl was 15 years old when she was raped twice by her pastor during a counseling session in 2008 at Delaware Grace Brethren Church in Sunbury.
Church officials knew the pastor twice had been previously accused of sexual misconduct with teen-age girls, but did not investigate or document the incidents.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/12/15/ohio-supreme-court-damage-caps.html 

Final TRC report points to hard work ahead

A teary Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is vowing his government will go beyond the 94 "calls to action" cited in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Canada's residential schools system.

The commission formally wrapped up its six-year-plus odyssey Tuesday with another emotional ceremony in Ottawa, this time to deliver the complete, seven-volume, 3,766-page report that supports the three-member commission's recommendations. 

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6194320-final-trc-report-points-to-hard-work-ahead/ 

Canada promises full reconciliation with its Aboriginal people

Canada will implement all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 recommendations, while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda says a similar process would speed up Indigenous reconciliation in Australia.
Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to work towards full reconciliation with his country's Aboriginal people. His commitment has marked the release of the final report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission into abuses within government residential schools for Indigenous children.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/12/16/canada-promises-full-reconciliation-its-aboriginal-people

Trial begins for pastors charged in alleged rape

After allegedly enduring years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of local church pastors Oscar Sanchez and Luisa Osorio-Sanchez, the victim testified that when she rebelled, she was beaten, choked and subjected to an exorcism.
"They thought I was possessed. They held me down and performed some sort of exorcism on me,'' the victim, now 19, testified during the husband and wife joint trial in Lowell Superior Court on Wednesday.

http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_29235586/trial-begins-pastors-charged-alleged-rape

Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report points to 'growing crisis' for indigenous youth

Indigenous youth are overrepresented in Canada's prisons and child-welfare system.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will make public on Tuesday its final report documenting the history and legacy of Canada's residential school system, raising serious concerns for current and future generations of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children.

The final report, titled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, is the culmination of thousands of hours of heart-wrenching testimony heard in more than 300 communities over a span of six years, from more than 6,000 indigenous women and men who were abused and lived to tell their stories.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truth-and-reconciliation-final-report-1.3361148 

Bronx Pastor Steps Down Following Lawsuit

Father Peter Miqueli, who was accused of scandalous behavior of a sexual and financial nature in a lawsuit filed by parishioners last week, stepped down as pastor of St. Frances de Chantal parish in the Bronx on Dec. 12.
Saying that he made the decision to step down “while this unfortunate and regrettable situation is investigated,” Father Miqueli maintained in a letter to parishioners of the Throgs Neck church that he was “not guilty of the charges” brought against him but “felt that my continued presence here would be a distraction to you, particularly during this season of Advent and Christmas.”

http://cny.org/stories/Bronx-Pastor-Steps-Down-Following-Lawsuit,13418?content_source=&category_id=33&search_filter=&search_headline=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id= 

Former Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns 'profoundly sorry' for moving suspect priests to new parishes

The former Bishop of Ballarat struggles to sleep at night and is "profoundly sorry" for moving priests accused of child sexual abuse to different parishes, one of his former advisers has told a royal commission.
Ronald Mulkearns, the Bishop of Ballarat between 1971 and 1997, presided over decisions to move priests, including paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, between parishes in the diocese, despite child sexual abuse allegations against them.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/former-ballarat-bishop-ronald-mulkearns-profoundly-sorryformovingsuspect-priests-to-new-parishes-20151215-glnqxc.html 

7 Ways Childhood Adversity Changes Your Brain

Early emotional trauma changes who we are, but we can do something about it. If you’ve ever wondered why you’ve been struggling a little too hard for a little too long with chronic emotional and physical health conditions that just won’t abate, feeling as if you’ve been swimming against some invisible current that never ceases, a new field of scientific research may offer hope, answers, and healing insights.

In 1995, physicians Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda launched a large-scale epidemiological study (link is external) that probed the child and adolescent histories of 17,000 subjects, comparing their childhood experiences to their later adult health records.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-last-best-cure/201508/7-ways-childhood-adversity-changes-your-brain 

Victim warned of ‘fight’ against church

VICTIM David Ridsdale says seeking legal redress against the Diocese of Ballarat for abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle was like being molested all over again.
“It was extremely traumatic, that was my experience,” Mr Ridsdale said. “It was just as traumatic in some ways and the trauma continues for me.”  Catholic Church Authorities attempted to pressure Mr Ridsdale’s parents to drop the charges against notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale, the child sex abuse inquiry heard.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3551305/victim-warned-of-fight-against-church/?cs=62 

A Catholic Brother is jailed again for another 14 of his victims

A former Catholic religious Brother, Edward Mamo, who had already spent time in jail, was jailed again in Melbourne on 11 December 2015 after 14 more of his victims contacted Broken Rites and/or the Victoria Police.
Mamo pleaded guilty to 21 additional indecent assaults, committed against these 14 victims while he worked as a Brother at Monivae College, a Catholic secondary school at Hamilton in western Victoria, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mamo has also worked at Chevalier College in Bowral, New South Wales, but this Victorian court case was only for Victorian offences. The 14 victims were boys aged in their early teens or were as young as eleven when the assaults occurred.

http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/211 

Sex slave’ priest couldn’t even show his face to resign

Worshippers at a Bronx Catholic church broke into applause Sunday when a letter from their disgraced priest was read before Masses announcing he was stepping aside in the wake of a humiliating sex scandal.
The Rev. Peter Miqueli was nowhere to be found at St. Frances de Chantal Church when another priest read a letter from him, causing cheers to break out. Craig Burner, one of the cheering parishioners, said Miqueli should have been out months ago.

http://nypost.com/2015/12/13/parishioners-ecstatic-that-sex-slave-priest-resigned/ 

Victorian principal was warned about paedophile parish priest, inquiry told

Child abuse inquiry hears bishop Peter Connors told former St James principal about Father Wilfred ‘Bill’ Baker: ‘Once a paedophile always a paedophile’.  A Melbourne bishop told a principal who raised concerns about the new parish priest “once a paedophile always a paedophile”, an inquiry has heard.
Former St James primary school principal Patricia Taylor went to her regional bishop, Peter Connors, after being warned about Father Wilfred “Bill” Baker, who arrived at the North Richmond parish in 1992.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/30/victorian-principal-was-warned-about-paedophile-parish-priest-inquiry-told 

Bishop accused of protecting church

An Australian bishop has been accused of not being candid about his knowledge of pedophile priests in a bid to protect himself and the Catholic Church.
Brisbane auxiliary bishop Brian Finnigan had not sought to help the child abuse royal commission's investigation into pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale's offending in the Diocese of Ballarat, the inquiry heard.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/no-questions-asked-as-abuser-priests-moved/news-story/4abb5e92f986ac760de37a4fca0036ea 

Vic bishop profoundly sorry: abuse inquiry

A Victorian bishop who moved pedophile priests between parishes is profoundly sorry for what he did, an inquiry has heard.
Former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns says he struggles to sleep of a night, according to retired priest John McKinnon.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/church-needs-help-to-change-expriest/news-story/8bb8affb6061fb0975a3291ad3ee5fe6 

El Salvador lawmakers seek to end impunity in church sex abuse

El Salvador’s Congress on Thursday handed regulation to put off the statute of barriers on intercourse crimes in opposition to minors as the united states of america’s church faces more and more abuse instances.
The bill mentioned that “serious crimes” of sexual abuse of youngsters and teenagers have long gone unpunished because of the statute of barriers. In November, the church fired a senior priest and former secretary of murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero after allegations that the priest had intercourse with a minor. Any Other priest has additionally been accused.

http://currentnewstoday.net/el-salvador-lawmakers-seek-to-end-impunity-in-church-sex-abuse/ 

'Credible' Abuse Claim Against Priest Who Served in Ferndale

A decade after his death, Archdiocese says allegation of abuse by priest who served 20 southeast Michigan parishes “found to be credible.”  An allegation of sex abuse of a minor by a Roman Catholic priest who served as the pastor at St. James Catholic Church in Ferndale and in about 20 other southeast Michigan parishes has been “found to be credible,” the Archdiocese of Detroit said more than a decade after the priest’s death.
The Rev. David West, who died in 2004 at age 65, served in parishes before anyone made allegations of abuse by priests in what became a widespread sex scandal, the Detroit Free Press reports.

http://patch.com/michigan/ferndale/credible-abuse-claim-against-priest-who-served-ferndale-0 

Tony Abbott, you do know you belong to a church that has not reformed, don't you?

Jesus Mary and Joseph, Tony Abbott. Did you just tell Muslims that they need a theological reformation, like Christianity has had?
I know it was some time ago that you were in the seminary, but surely you remember that the Reformation created Protestantism. You and I are members of the unreformed strain of Christianity, the Roman Catholic church. You and I and our 1.2 billion fellow Catholics around the world have had no reformation. We are part of a church that has steadfastly refused to embrace, in both internal structures and theological development, modern concepts like democracy or gender equality.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/09/tony-abbott-you-do-know-you-belong-to-a-church-that-has-not-reformed-dont-you#_=_ 

Kerala cops arrest Catholic priest for ‘raping’ 15-year-old girl

Police on Tuesday arrested a 41-year-old fugitive Catholic priest in Kochi on the charge of repeatedly raping a teenager for more than four months when he was attached with the Kottapuram diocese in north Kerala.
Police said Father Edwin Figarez was on the run for the past six months, since he was accused of paedophilia and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl, who he had met at the church during prayers.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/fugitive-catholic-priest-held-for-rape-in-kerala/story-NeQ5KQ8g4D1eBhxjZcv8EL.html 

Catholic Church Insurance accused of dictating church policy on abuse

The Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse is taking submissions into the Catholic Church's Towards Healing protocols which were introduced in 1996 to deal with abuse committed by clergy. TONY JONES, PRESENTER: The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse is taking submissions into the Catholic Church's Towards Healing protocols, introduced in 1996 to deal with abuse committed by clergy. The protocols are meant to be driven by pastoral concerns dealing with the pain of victims through a Christian response.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3821560.htm 

Violent, sexual abuse rife at St Pats

A Former St Patrick's College student has told an inquiry of a culture of depraved sexual abuse and brutality which existed inside the school during the 1970s.  The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard from victim BWF on Tuesday.
He told the hearing how he attempted to seek help from the Catholic Church after his younger brother BWG was brutally bashed and molested by disgraced brother Edward Dowlan in 1973.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3546114/royal-commission-brutal-abuse-rife-at-school/ 

Priest linked to sex-abuse cover-up tapped as chief of California church's sex-abuse hotline, dismaying victims

The Catholic diocese in San Diego, California is facing a backlash after it appointed a priest who once admitted to destroying documents that detailed sexual assaults to be in charge of the church's sex abuse hotline.
According to Raw Story, Melanie Sakoda of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) demanded that Bishop Robert W. McElroy remove Fr. Steven Callahan from his position because he is "an admitted embezzler [who] shouldn't oversee bank accounts."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/priest.linked.to.sex.abuse.cover.up.tapped.as.chief.of.california.churchs.sex.abuse.hotline.dismaying.victims/72906.htm 

Indian church to deal with 'benchmark' clergy abuse case

A Catholic priest has been arrested for allegedly sodomizing a 13-year old boy in India's Mumbai Archdiocese. Mumbai police arrested Father Lawrence Johnson, 51, accused of abusing the boy on Nov. 27 at Christ the King Church parish, archdiocesan spokesman Father Nigel Barret told ucanews.com Dec. 7.
The priest is "now under judicial custody," Father Barret said adding that Father Johnson was arrested Dec. 1 following complaints from the alleged victim's family. "Representatives of the archdiocese have met with the victim and his family ... All assistance is currently being rendered to the victim's family," Father Barret said.

http://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-church-to-deal-with-benchmark-clergy-abuse-case/74747 

Senior church figures at Vic abuse inquiry

Graeme Sleeman says he wrote to Cardinal Pell, then the Melbourne archbishop, about a decade after he resigned as principal of Doveton's Holy Family Primary School in 1986 in frustration that nothing was done about parish priest Peter Searson.
 "I put my career on the line". In testimony for the Royal Commission's investigation, witnesses have charged that the cardinal was aware of a widespread abuse and even that he attempted to secure a victim's silence by offering a bribe. Then the archbishop ended the call.

http://chronicledaily.com/2015/12/08/senior-church-figures-at-vic-abuse-inquiry/ 

Bishop is responding to royal commission

WANGARATTA’S John Parkes is one of 23 Anglican bishops across Australia preparing answers to 51 questions put to them by the Commonwealth royal commission examining institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

The commission is seeking information about the structure and financial affairs of each Anglican diocese and details of clergy and lay appointees and the roles performed by them.

http://wangarattachronicle.com.au/2015/12/07/bishop-is-responding-to-royal-commission/ 

Bishop is responding to royal commission

WANGARATTA’S John Parkes is one of 23 Anglican bishops across Australia preparing answers to 51 questions put to them by the Commonwealth royal commission examining institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

The commission is seeking information about the structure and financial affairs of each Anglican diocese and details of clergy and lay appointees and the roles performed by them.

http://wangarattachronicle.com.au/2015/12/07/bishop-is-responding-to-royal-commission/ 

Priest who died in '04 now called a child sex abuser

More than a decade after the death of the popular Roman Catholic priest and pastor known as Father David West, church authorities said an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor has been “found to be credible” against West, who served in about 20 parishes across southeast Michigan.
The Rev. David West died in 2004 at age 65, well before anyone came forward charging him with sexual abuse, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/12/07/priest-sex-abuse-david-west-detroit/76954328/ 

George Pell admonished boy who tried to raise abuse, commission hears

CARDINAL George Pell shunned a young boy who begged him to help protect his brother from a notorious church paedophile, the child abuse royal commission has heard.
Witness BWF said he went to see Cardinal Pell at a Ballarat presbytery in 1973 after learning Brother Edward Dowlan was beating and molesting his brother at St Patrick's College in Ballarat.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/george-pell-admonished-boy-who-tried-to-raise-abuse-commission-hears/news-story/e4982c9e8ddd56900fc032aef724d5de 

Molested child by mistake: Priest

A priest was arrested at a church in Shivaji Nagar on Wednesday evening for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy. He has been booked under Section 377 of IPC and molestation. He was produced at court and the police has been granted his custody till December 5.
A complaint was lodged against the priest on December 1 but the arrest was made on Wednesday as the police were waiting for reports of medical tests conducted on the minor. The accused has been identified as Father Johnson Lawrence (52), the priest-in-charge of Christ The King Church, at Shivaji Nagar. “On Wednesday, after all medical checkup reports of boy turned out to be positive, we arrested the priest,” a police official said.

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/molested-child-mistake-priest-797 

Former Kings Cross sex worker opens little black book on high profile clients

A FORMER Kings Cross sex worker has opened his little black book containing the names and details of high profile clients he claims were a part of a “sick” and elaborate paedophile ring.

Dave*, 47, told news.com.au that high profile judges, lawyers, navy captains, a prominent lord mayor and business executives were among hundreds of clients who prowled the Sydney red light district and the “Darlinghurst Wall” pick-up spot to lure underage boys into their hotels and penthouses for sex in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/former-kings-cross-sex-worker-opens-little-black-book-on-high-profile-clients/news-story/5ba7138d98f7f7c1907f60d8d6ecbbf4 

Priest sex abuse victim challenges ‘culture of secrecy’

Brian Gutierrez, 46, said he filed a lawsuit last year against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to spare others the anguish he has endured for nearly 30 years and promote a “new era of openness” in the Catholic Church.
A key goal is to require the archdiocese to publicly disclose records that he says reveal the facts of his alleged rape by a priest in 1986, when Gutierrez was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of New Mexico. The Catholic Church still keeps too many secrets, he contends.

http://www.abqjournal.com/686736/news/priest-sex-abuse-victim-challenges-culture-of-secrecy.html 

Several priests accused of abuse sent to facility in Jemez Springs

The names of many of the former priests identified as alleged sexual abusers in recent New Mexico lawsuits have turned up frequently since the pedophile crisis erupted publicly in the early 1990s, here and in other states.
Among the former priests are those who were expelled from dioceses across the U.S. after being accused of sexually abusing children and were then sent to a treatment facility for priests in Jemez Springs operated by a Catholic religious order, Servants of the Paraclete.

http://www.abqjournal.com/686737/news/several-priests-accused-of-abuse-sent-to-facility-in-jeme-zsprings.html 

Priest accused of child abuse could be ‘disrobed’

Fr Lawrence Johnson (51), accused of abusing a teenage boy from his parish in Shivaji Nagar, could be disrobed or divested of priesthood if allegations against him are substantiated. Fr Johnson was arrested for allegedly sodomising the 13-year-old at Christ the King Church in Govandi on November 27. The police have registered offences under Section 377 of the IPC and POCSO.
Senior inspector Balasaheb Jadhav told TOI that a medical examination had revealed grievous injuries to the victim's private parts. "We have also sent fluid samples for chemical tests but those reports could become available after weeks. Such cases from all parts of the state are examined in sequential order," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Priest-accused-of-child-abuse-could-be-disrobed/articleshow/50048243.cms 

Testifying against child sexual abuse at royal commission

The latest round of royal commission hearings bear witness to despicable cover-ups and blatant disregard for victims. There is a sound you’ll hear often in these hearings. It follows a victim’s swearing in – a secular affirmation, never on a Bible – and precedes their reading of a prepared statement on their abuse.
The sound is a quick inhalation of breath, followed by an anguished release. It is swift but unmistakable. It is the sound of emotional preparation, a quick steadying of the nerves.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/religion/2015/12/05/testifying-against-child-sexual-abuse-royal-commission/14492340002714 

Lawsuit Links Cardinal to Placing Pedophile Priest in Pepperell, Lowell

New civil lawsuits accuse two priests who served in three Greater Lowell communties of sexual abuse, alleging that church leaders knew about the incidents and did nothing to stop them. A Lowell man says he was abused for four years by the Rev. Richard O. Matte, then at St. Louis De France Parish in Lowell.
And three brothers say they were molested more than 100 times each by the Rev. Mark Fleming, at John the Evangelist parish in Hudson, N.H., in the early 1980s. In the Lowell case, Derek Mousseau has sued Matte, Cardinal Bernard Law and the Archdiocese of Boston, saying that Law knew or should have known that Matte was allegedly committing sexual predatory acts. The lawsuit says Mousseau was 13 when the abuse began in 1989.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2002_04_10_Redmond_LawsuitLinks.htm 

Ex-archbishop feared Rome's reach: inquiry

Ex-archbishop feared Rome's reach: inquiry A former Melbourne archbishop feared the reach of Roman canon law and being left with egg on his face if the Vatican overturned a priest's removal, the child abuse royal commission has heard.

The commission has heard Archbishop Frank Little failed to remove a number of pedophile priests, which former vicar-general and auxiliary bishop Hilton Deakin believes was partly due to his fears about Rome.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/breaking-news/exarchbishop-feared-romes-reach-inquiry/news-story/448eebbef75dd09867f6573d1900153e 

San Diego priest who covered up sex assault placed in charge of sex abuse hotline

A group representing victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has blasted the San Diego Catholic Diocese for appointing a priest who admitted to destroying documents detailing sexual assaults to oversee their sex abuse hotline.
Likening him to “an admitted embezzler [who] shouldn’t oversee bank accounts,” Melanie Sakoda of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) said Fr. Steven Callahan shouldn’t be allowed to “oversee abuse reports.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/san-diego-priest-who-covered-up-sex-assault-placed-in-charge-of-sex-abuse-hotline/ 

Archdiocese polls Catholics on views of church, leaders

The Archdiocese of Boston has hired a top Democratic consultant to poll Catholics in Eastern Massachusetts — most of whom no longer attend weekly Mass — to find out what they think about the church and its leaders.
John Marttila, who served as a strategist for Joe Biden, John F. Kerry, and Deval Patrick, has overseen a phone survey this month on behalf of the church, asking active and inactive Catholics a wide-ranging series of 90 questions.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/28/archdiocese-boston-surveys-catholics-about-church-and-its-leaders/WoyXk8SItfglZLmj1dYv2H/story.html 

Vanishing Catholic Church seeks salvation - can it reinvigorate itself?

With falling numbers, ageing priests and a declining congregation, the ­Catholic Church is struggling to ­survive in many parts of Ireland. Can it ­reinvigorate ­itself in a modern, secular country?

It was a dignified and moving retreat that is being replicated in towns, cities and country areas right across Ireland. Last Sunday, the Dominican friars moved out of their church in Athy in solemn procession for the last time, ending an ancient association with the Kildare town that goes back to the 13th century.  

http://www.independent.ie/life/vanishing-catholic-church-seeks-salvation-can-it-reinvigorate-itself-34237641.html

Accuser of sex abuse at Aurora church drops anonymity

Members of two groups critical of the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse by priests are calling for parishioners to withhold financial donations to an Aurora church.

And the man who sued that church, St. Rita of Cascia, under the name "John Doe" has revealed his identity. He is John Plaschke, who now lives in Maryland, and said he revealed himself to encourage other possible victims to come forward.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151130/news/151139888/ 

Abuser priests were 'ticking time bombs'

The Catholic Church knew pedophile priests were ticking time bombs but covered up their evil deeds to protect its reputation, former church leaders admit.

Minutes of a special issues committee meeting at a 1992 Australian Catholic Bishops Conference reveal: "It was agreed that there are serious time bombs ticking away in a number of diocese at the present time."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30257107/vic-pedophile-priest-also-abused-women/ 

Concerns over low conviction rate of clerics accused of abuse

The head of the Catholic Church's safeguarding watchdog has expressed concern at the low conviction rate of those accused of child sexual abuse.

Teresa Devlin, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI), said just 4pc of all allegations result in a conviction. Ms Devlin was commenting on the findings of the latest tranche of audits by the watchdog which examined 53 allegations made against 44 priests, brothers or nuns across 20 religious orders.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/concerns-over-low-conviction-rate-of-clerics-accused-of-abuse-34254964.html 

Victim (85) misses abuse compensation due to delays; Nazareth House

A WOMAN allegedly abused at a children's home up to 80 years ago would have been awarded £27,500 in damages but for delays in bringing her action, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.
Una Irvine claimed she was hit with a stick with nails in it for stealing apples as part of physical and psychological cruelty endured at Nazareth Lodge in Belfast. But despite finding that the 85-year-old was subjected to a "harsh and uncaring regime", Mr Justice Colton dismissed her case on the grounds of being statute barred.

http://linkis.com/UHLbl 

Priest booked for sexual assault of 13-year-old boy

A 52-year-old priest has been booked for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor boy on the premises of Christ the King church in Shivaji Nagar.
The accused has been identified as Fr Johnson Lawrence, who holds the post of a priest-in-charge at the church. On November 27, the 13-year-old victim accompanied by his parents attended the church proceedings in the evening. After the mass ended, the boy, who was talking with his friends, stayed back on the church premises and did not leave along with his parents.

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/priest-booked-sexual-assault-13-year-old-boy-214 

Philippine presidential candidate alleges clergy sexual abuse

At least two Catholic bishops urged a Philippine presidential candidate to speak up about his allegation that he is a victim of sex abuse by priests.
"I'm begging the good mayor on bended knees to please go to the civil court, and there file a case against these priests," said retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a 2016 presidential aspirant, claimed that he was sexually abused by priests during his years at the Ateneo de Davao, a Jesuit-run school.

http://www.ucanews.com/news/philippine-presidential-candidate-alleges-clergy-sexual-abuse/74716 

North Richmond principal left to supervise priest amid allegations of child abuse

A FORMER principal of St James primary, North Richmond was told to supervise the school’s parish priest near children, as he continued working, amid allegations of child sexual abuse in the early 1990s, the Royal Commission has heard.
Patricia Taylor told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse this week she was warned about Father Wilfred Baker during an “off the record” meeting with the Catholic Education Office in 1992.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/north-richmond-principal-left-to-supervise-priest-amid-allegations-of-child-abuse/news-story/d0cefbd08d338f3af34beb78521155a3 

Priest abuse spotlight shone on Rochester too

Roman Catholics in the Rochester region were stunned when the Rev. Eugene Emo, a priest who had served in a dozen area churches and hospitals over the course of 35 years, was placed under arrest in February 1996.
Father Emo, then 60 years old, a beloved figure to some parishioners but already a subject of scorn to others, was charged with sexual abuse. He was hauled out of a rectory on Oxford Street in the city in handcuffs.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/blogs/watchdog/2015/12/03/priest-abuse-spotlight-shone-rochester-too/76719778/ 

We owe our gratitude to those who stood with victims

The abuse of children by Catholic clergymen has exposed a major failure of society, writes Suzanne Smith. But there were those who refused to accept the status quo. I have met many honourable people in my career as a journalist, but none so inspiring as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox and Joanne McCarthy, the courageous journalist from the Newcastle Herald.

But it hasn't been an easy road for either of them. They have stood beside many victims when everyone else failed to take responsibility and left those victims to deal individually with the Catholic Church. This has been a major failure of our society. We all left these traumatised and shattered families to deal directly with a powerful institution.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-13/smith-we-owe-our-gratitude-to-those-who-stood-with-victims/4368310 

ears Feversham School abuse victims will be forgotten in child sex abuse inquiry

Systematic sexual abuse of children at Newcastle special school is not being probed by Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Vile abuse of children at a Tyneside special school has not been included in the first phase of investigations planned by an independent inquiry into child sex abuse. A former social worker who worked at Newcastle’s Feversham school has today told of his anger that the horrors he witnessed at the Throckley establishment might never be made public.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/fears-feversham-school-abuse-victims-10521279 

Did Missouri’s taxpayers foot the bill for an out-of-state sex offending priest? You bet they did.

You bet they did.

A wealthy Minnesota Catholic religious order and a Catholic-owned rehabilitation hospital engaged in potential Missouri Medicaid insurance fraud to get free health care for a sex-offending priest, a newly released document shows.

The 2014 document, released as a part of a legal settlement against the Benedictines of Minnesota and sex-offending priests, show that the order withheld money from a priest in their employ—so that he would seem indigent and his health care would be paid for by the State of Missouri. The document is stamped OSB McDONALD-OO861. It is page 420 of the pdf at the link.

http://theworthyadversary.com/3817-did-missouris-taxpayers-foot-the-bill-for-an-out-of-state-sex-offending-priest 

Fred Nile welcomes Anglican Diocese paedophile probe

Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile has applauded probes into Newcastle's Anglican Diocese, amid allegations of several paedophile networks.

Earlier this month, the ABC aired allegations about widespread paedophile networks involving politicians, senior businessmen, doctors, lawyers and teachers., Christian Democrats MP Fred Nile said abuse by clergy in the Hunter has been on his radar for many years.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-30/fred-nile-welcomes-anglican-diocese-paedophile-probe/6984832 

'Spotlight' on the 26 million men who will experience sexual violence in their lifetime

With the release of the feature film Spotlight, attention is once again being focused on the Catholic Church's flawed response to sexual abuse.
However it's important to use the attention the film is generating to shine some light on male victims of sexual abuse.. In virtually every community (both religious and secular) the sexual victimization of boys and men remains vastly under-reported and poorly addressed.

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Spotlight-on-the-26-million-men-who-will-6660435.php?cmpid=email-desktop

Glick, Waks to share stage

FORMER Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Avrohom Glick and child sexual abuse victim Manny Waks will speak at the same Yeshivah function, “Silent No More”, next month.
A senior leader at Yeshivah told The AJN this week that the event will be a key moment for the community to try and move forward following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://www.jewishnews.net.au/glick-waks-to-share-stage/50796 

Church 'failed to recognise pedophiles'

A paralysis extending from the Melbourne archbishop led to the Catholic Church failing to recognise the pedophiles in its midst, the current archbishop says.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart lays the blame firmly on former archbishop Frank Little but not on his immediate predecessor Cardinal George Pell. "What is now apparent to me is that there was knowledge and a failure to act," Archbishop Hart told the child abuse royal commission.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30224664/vic-priest-told-about-abuse-also-pedophile/ 

Judge upholds abuse charges against Hibbing priest

A judge has denied a motion to dismiss the felony charges against a Hibbing priest accused of sexually abusing underage girls, setting the stage for the case to go to trial.

In an order filed Monday, 6th Judicial District Judge David Ackerson concluded that a jury should decide whether or not Brian Michael Lederer is guilty of seven sexual assault and child pornography charges.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3894180-judge-upholds-abuse-charges-against-hibbing-priest 

School warned about predator priest

Senior Catholic education officials warned a Melbourne principal that children were not safe to be left alone with the school's new priest, the child abuse royal commission has heard.
But when former St James Primary School principal Patricia Taylor took her concerns about incoming priest Wilfred "Billy" Baker to her regional bishop Peter Connors, she claimed he told her "once a paedophile always a paedophile". She said she did not hear from the bishop again and that Baker was appointed to the parish a short time later.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-abuse-commission-school-warned-about-predator-priest-20151130-glbc2i.html 

Duterte dared: Tell all on priest abuses

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo yesterday dared Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to tell all on the sexual abuse he claims to have suffered at the hands of priests when he was a young student.
Pabillo, once the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Public Affairs Committee chairman, said the 70-year-old mayor should “immediately tell what happened.” “This is what Pope Francis had said, that people should come out so the matter can be investigated,” Pabillo said.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/12/03/1528413/duterte-dared-tell-all-priest-abuses 

Jesuits on sex abuse case: ‘Invitation to examine ourselves’

The response is prompted by a sex abuse case, the first formal complaint of such nature brought before the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. The Society of Jesus, which runs a network of prominent Ateneo schools in the Philippines, sees a recently publicized sex abuse case as a call to examine itself, especially its work of caring for minors.

The sex abuse case involves a former Jesuit, now dead, who allegedly abused a Jesuit high school student named Lucas (not his real name) from 1984 to 1987. At the time, the alleged abuser was a Jesuit seminarian. Citing “institutional culpability,” Lucas wants the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, to pay him $16 million in damages. He also wants justice, making those in positions of power, who were allegedly complicit in the abuse, accountable.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/114301-jesuits-sex-abuse-case-philippines-reaction 

Challenges and opportunities for the Catholic Church in the 21st century

I thank you for the opportunity to join such an ecumenical panel and to be joined by Mr Dean Sahu Khan, a Muslim lawyer who has generously given his time to be with us who are a diverse group of Christians contemplating challenges and opportunities for the Church in the 21st century.
I have five challenges to present, and each of them is an opportunity. People of faith, hope and love always view a challenge as an opportunity.

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=45757#.Vl5b3eJPJ0R 

Church 'failed to recognise pedophiles'

A paralysis extending from the Melbourne archbishop led to the Catholic Church failing to recognise the pedophiles in its midst, the current archbishop says.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart lays the blame firmly on former archbishop Frank Little but not on his immediate predecessor Cardinal George Pell.  "What is now apparent to me is that there was knowledge and a failure to act," Archbishop Hart told the child abuse royal commission.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/11/30/03/35/vic-priest-told-about-abuse-also-pedophile

Church Safeguarding Commission appoints new chair

A former social worker has been appointed the new chair of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC).
Christopher Pearson will replace former chair, Danny Sullivan, who stepped down from his role in July 2015 to spend more time with his family. Commenting on his appointment, Chris Pearson, who was previously lay Vice Chair of the NCSC, said: “I am delighted to take up the role of Chair of the NCSC. I value the independence the Church affords to the role of the Commission and recognise how vital that independent voice is.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/11/30/church-safeguarding-commission-appoints-new-chair/ 

Former Irish priest loses Vatican defrocking appeal after being acquitted on child sex abuse charges

A former Irish priest who was tried and acquitted twice by Irish courts on child sex abuse charges has lost an appeal against his defrocking by the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Daniel Duane, believed to be in his 70s, from Cork, was defrocked following a canon law trial regarding abuse of teenagers and minors, it was announced last January. Duane appealed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome but his appeal has failed it was announced over the weekend.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/2870/0/former-irish-priest-loses-vatican-defrocking-appeal-after-being-acquitted-on-child-sex-abuse-charges 

Accuser of sex abuse at Aurora church drops anonymity

Members of two groups critical of the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse by priests are calling for parishioners to withhold financial donations to an Aurora church. And the man who sued that church, St. Rita of Cascia, under the name "John Doe" has revealed his… 
Members of two groups critical of the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse by priests are calling for parishioners to withhold financial donations to an Aurora church.

http://myinforms.com/en/a/19938626-accuser-of-sex-abuse-at-aurora-church-drops-anonymity/ 

WDR documentary on abuse scandal – Church rejects accusation coverup

“Judge of God – The secret processes of the Church” on the eve had raised Vowürfe towards the Diocese of Hildesheim. Photograph: AP

In the 70s and 80s, a priest ought to have at least a hundred young children at the Berlin Canisius University sexually abused. 2010 reported a girl the diocese Hildesheim that the man had also sexually harassed them. But initial, nothing at all took place. 

 

http://news.newsdirectory2.com/wdr-documentary-on-abuse-scandal-church-rejects-accusation-coverup/ 

Sex, lies and spies: Vatileaks plot thickens

The Vatican's controversial trial of journalists and whistleblowers was put on hold Monday as new claims about sex, lies and spies gave the scandal an intriguing twist.
The trial, in which three Vatican insiders and two Italian reporters face potential prison terms of up to eight years, was adjourned until next week after one of the accused asked for more time to prepare her defence.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/world/a/30233492/vatileaks-trial-delayed/ 

CBCP hits Duterte; hits back on its child abuse

Archbishop Socrates Villegas didn’t think Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s expletive against Pope Francis was funny.
“When a revered and loved and admired man like Pope Francis is cursed by a political candidate and the audience laugh, I can only bow my head and grieve in great shame. My countrymen have gone to the dregs,” said the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/744041/cbcp-hits-duterte-hits-back-on-its-child-abuse

Owner of Varsity Theater, Loring Pasta Bar accused in Children's Theatre sex-abuse suit

Alleging sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, two former student actors at Children’s Theatre Company have filed suit against the Minneapolis theater, co-founder John Clark Donahue and Minneapolis entrepreneur Jason McLean.

The civil complaint, filed Monday in Hennepin County District Court, revisits a disturbing chapter of CTC’s past that sent Donahue to jail after he pleaded guilty in 1984 to sexual misconduct with three teenage boys.

http://www.startribune.com/owner-of-varsity-loring-pasta-bar-accused-in-children-s-theatre-sex-abuse-suit/359635921/