Prominent Catholic priest Father Julian Fox jailed for child sex crimes

THE former Australian head of the second-largest Catholic order in the world has been jailed for child sex crimes.
Father Julian Fox, 70, is today behind bars, 16 years after being accused of child sex crimes while teaching at Melbourne schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/prominent-catholic-priest-father-julian-fox-jailed-for-child-sex-crimes/news-story/b8c8f7e75273e0d1437df5a5b1a7a62c 

Mentone pastor: Father Walshe must be held 'accountable'

A Mentone pastor has supported local families in their call for Father John Walshe's resignation, stating that church leaders must always be held "accountable" for their actions.
Senior minister at Mentone Baptist Church, Murray Campbell, has hit out at a decision to allow Father Walshe to retain his position as the Catholic Mentone-Parkdale parish priest in a blog post.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mentone-pastor-father-walshe-must-be-held-accountable-20160216-gmw2z3.html 

Victims remember Pell's trucking analogy

Clergy abuse victims have a message for Cardinal George Pell: no more trucking analogies.
Cardinal Pell has said the Catholic Church is no more legally responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company which employs a driver who molests women.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/28/14/56/victims-remember-pell-s-trucking-analogy 

Disgraced Langport bishop tried to make deal with police to avoid scandal, documents claim

A BISHOP from the Langport area convicted of sex offences attempted to make a deal with police to avoid a scandal, it has been claimed.
Bishop Peter Ball, formerly of Aller, was sentenced to 32 months' imprisonment in October, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and one count of misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.

http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Disgraced-Langport-bishop-tried-make-deal-police/story-28792942-detail/story.html 

With Predator Priests Named, Survivors Still Want to Know Who Let it Happen

Last month, the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese published a list of 77 names of priests and other clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse while working or living in western Washington. (It was updated a week later and now contains 78 names.)
As a step toward healing and transparency, it made a significant splash, but perhaps not quite the one the church had hoped. Releasing a list of names is “not a worthless gesture,” says David Clohessy, executive director of the St. Louis-based Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), but the information is, to him, infuriatingly incomplete.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/963135-129/with-predator-priests-named-survivors-still 

Christian Brothers hired private investigator to 'dig dirt' on abuse victims

The Christian Brothers hired a private investigator in 1995 to "dig up dirt" on victims of a notorious paedophile priest in Ballarat.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told today the private investigator, Glynis McNeight, of Ballarat, visited two victims of Brother Ted Dowlan at home just before Dowlan was charged by police for historical sex crimes against boys.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/christian-brothers-hired-private-investigator-to-dig-dirt-on-abuse-victims-20160224-gn2nrm.html 

The unknown chapter in the history of the Church’s abuse scandals

It is just a single line of dialogue from “Spotlight,” up for Best Picture and five other Academy Awards this Sunday, but it could be a movie in itself. It’s an allusion to an entire unknown chapter in the history of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals: the role of National Catholic Reporter in first uncovering the clerical conspiracy to shield abusing priests.
“Have you read Jason Berry’s book? He wrote about the Gauthe case,” an abuse survivor asks the Spotlight team of investigative reporters from The Boston Globe featured in the film.

http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2016/02/23/the-unknown-chapter-in-the-history-of-the-churchs-abuse-scandals/ 

Christian Brothers 'abused 850 children'

A pedophile Christian Brother was hugged by a superior after a child sex abuse complaint was made against him, an inquiry has heard.
Convicted pedophile Stephen Farrell has told the child abuse royal commission he was given a cuddle by Brother Paul Nangle after the 1970s St Patrick's Christian Brothers' superior received an abuse complaint involving Farrell and a year five student.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/02/22/christian-brothers-abused-850-children.html 

How could Pell not have known of child abuse?

Stand by, Australia.
This will be the week that Cardinal George Pell, a pillar of the Catholic Church in Australia for much of the last four decades, and now the third most powerful figure at the Vatican, faces the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse.
Sadly he will not be be giving his evidence in Australia, as – despite being capable of continuing his normal work running the Vatican finances – 24 hours in a Qantas First Class is quite beyond him.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/now-thats-progress-20160226-gn4dqu.html 

Pell denies abuse accusations and criticises suspicious timing

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney and Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, has denied outright the sex abuse allegations made against him and corroborated by Australian newspaper Herald Sun. One week before he is due to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, via video link from Rome, the cardinal also criticised the suspicious timing of the news leak
Some victims are accusing him not of actually carrying out acts of sexual abuse but of covering up cases that were reported to him in recent decades. He was responsible for the priests who are said to have committed the offences.

http://blog.gaycatholicpriests.org/2016/02/pell-denies-abuse-accusations-and-criticises-suspicious-timing/

Ballarat survivors to travel to Rome for Cardinal George Pell's Royal Commission testimony

Survivors who were abused by Catholic clergy in Victoria in the 1970s have welcomed the decision to allow them to be present in a Rome hotel room where Cardinal George Pell gives evidence to a Royal Commission via video link next week.
A group of men who still bear the scars of the treatment they received at the hands of pedophile priests at St Patrick's College in Ballarat say the importance of being able to face the cardinal, who has been accused of trying to cover-up the abuse, cannot be understated.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/24/20/29/ballarat-survivors-to-travel-to-rome-for-cardinal-george-pells-royal-commission-testimony 

Read the Original Letter That Helped Expose the Scandal in Spotligh

If you have the documents, there should be no debate about what the truth is' In 1982, Margaret Gallant sent Boston’s Cardinal Medeiros a letter professing her love for the Catholic Church and her anger at its failure to act after seven boys in her family had been sexually abused by a priest.
Two decades later, the Boston Globe‘s investigative reporting team proved that Gallant’s allegations and those made by many others were part of the Church’s systemic cover-up of such abuse.

The story behind that reporting

http://time.com/4226564/spotlight-documents-rezendes/ 

'The sin is his' in Heames case.

A therapist who has sex with a client could lose their license. The same goes for a doctor who has sex with a patient. In some states, it's illegal for a priest to have sex with a parishioner. Michigan is not one of these states.
In June 2015, former St. Mary's University Parish priest Denis Heames was placed on leave for "boundary violations" related to his priestly conduct, said Bishop Joseph Cistone of the Saginaw Diocese.

http://www.cm-life.com/article/2016/02/priest-follow-up 

Child abuse victim urges nation to follow 'life-saving' ACT disclosure scheme

A child abuse campaigner has urged Australian governments to follow the ACT's proposed mandatory disclosure scheme, saying it would have saved children like him from being molested at the hands of a Marist brother decades ago.
Damian De Marco, named ACT Local Hero of the Year for his campaigning, is set to speak at a NSW Ombudsman's conference in Sydney on Friday, where he will praise the ACT's "courageous" plans to prevent institutional child sexual abuse and urge other states and territories to follow suit.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/child-abuse-victim-urges-nation-to-follow-lifesaving-act-disclosure-scheme-20160225-gn3cjo.html 

Loud show of support for abuse victims

RIBBONS were tied to the local Catholic parish in a sign of support to local child sex abuse victims, ahead of Cardinal George Pell's address to the child abuse royal commission next week.
The Loud Fence movement has seen ribbons tied to the fences of Catholic parishes all across the country, to condemn the Catholic Church's historical silence over clergymen child sex abuse and show support to survivors.

http://www.theguardian.com.au/story/3753657/show-of-support-for-abuse-victims/?cs=2152 

Diocese of Helena Priests cases of child sexual abusers between the 1930s and 1970s.”

As one of the non-monetary terms for resolving the cases brought against the Diocese (Whalen, et al. v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, et al., and Does, et al. v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, et al.), the Diocese of Helena has agreed that:
“For a period of not less than ten (10) years from the Effective Date, the Diocese will post on its website home page the names of all known past and present alleged perpetrators of the Diocese who are identified in the Sexual Abuse Claims or the complaints filed in the Whalen and Does cases as child sexual abusers between the 1930s and 1970s.”

http://diocesehelena.org/4850-2/

How could Pell not have known of child abuse?

This will be the week that Cardinal George Pell, a pillar of the Catholic Church in Australia for much of the last four decades, and now the third most powerful figure at the Vatican, faces the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse.
Sadly he will not be be giving his evidence in Australia, as – despite being capable of continuing his normal work running the Vatican finances – 24 hours in a Qantas First Class is quite beyond him.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/now-thats-progress-20160226-gn4dqu.html 

Stop Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church

Target: Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Goal: Demand that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops require clergy to report all sex abuse claims to authorities.
Earlier this month, French Monsignor Tony Anatrella released a training document for new bishops. Regarding allegations of sex abuse within the clergy, the document states that “it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report [sex abuse] suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors.”

https://forcechange.com/153129/stop-sex-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/ 

Spotlight: Top Vatican cardinal to testify about sex abuse

One of the highest-ranking Vatican officials is being compelled to testify in public starting Sunday about clerical sex abuse, an unusual demonstration of holding even the most senior Catholic bishops accountable.
Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis' top financial adviser, will testify in a Rome hotel conference room for three nights running, answering questions via video link from Australia's Royal Commission with his accusers on hand to confront him.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/feb/27/spotlight-top-vatican-cardinal-to-testify-about-se/# 

Child abuse survivors arrive in Rome ahead of George Pell's royal commission appearance

Church sex abuse victims and their supporters have finished arriving in Rome to witness Cardinal George Pell front the child abuse royal commission.

Some of the victims admitted being so close to the Vatican was likely to trigger confronting memories. Andrew Collins, who was abused from the age of seven by four different men, said being in Rome would be hard.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-28/child-abuse-survivors-arrive-in-rome-ahead-of-pell-testimony/7205696 

Benedict deserves applause for his work on abuse - Francis

Pope Francis has praised the work of his predecessor Pope Benedict in tackling abuse in the Church. Speaking on his February 18 return flight from Mexico to Rome, the Pope said he wanted “to honour the man who fought in moments when he had no strength to impose himself” and said “Cardinal Ratzinger deserves applause”.
In a response to a question about abuse by the late Msgr Marcial Maciel, the disgraced Mexican founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Pontiff detailed how while still a cardinal Pope Benedict did as much as was possible to investigate allegations about Msgr Maciel. Ten days before the death of St John Paul II, Pope Francis continued, the then Cardinal Ratzinger “said to the whole Church that it needed to clean up the dirt of the Church”, repeating this before the conclave that elected him Pope.

http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/vatican-news-10 

Sean Brady says abuse kept secret to save church’s ‘good name’

Former Catholic primate faced criticism over role in meeting Smyth victims.  Clerics involved in investigating child sex abuse were bound to secrecy so the Catholic church’s “good name” could be protected, Cardinal Sean Brady has claimed.

Sean Brady, who retired on reaching the age of 75 as Archbiship of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland last year, was giving evidence to the Historical Abuse Inquiry (HIA) in Banbridge, Co Down. He said: “These were unspeakable crimes. “There was a confidentiality resting upon us too.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/sean-brady-says-abuse-kept-secret-to-save-church-s-good-name-1.2262737 

EXCLUSIVE: Teacher accused of abusing 52 boys now lives in Salt Lake

A longtime Catholic school teacher accused of molesting dozens of boys in three states for decades is living on Oahu, but his name and those of priests accused of sexual misconduct are not listed in the state’s sex offender registry.
Catholic schoolteacher brother Edward Courtney is accused of sexually abusing more than 50 boys from New York to Chicago to Seattle over three decades.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/31308619/exclusive-teacher-accused-of-abusing-52-boys-now-lives-in-salt-lake 

Queens woman, repeatedly raped by priest at 14, stunned to learn he's reinstated by Catholic Church — 'He'd tell me I would have to go to confess to making him impure'

When Megan Peterson was 14, she was raped and sexually assaulted — sometimes inside the church confessional booth — over the course of a year by her parish priest.
So the abuse survivor was astounded to learn her tormentor, the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul, was reinstated earlier this month by Catholic Church officials after a suspension of roughly the same duration of her time as a victim.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens-woman-shocked-vatican-reinstates-priest-raped-article-1.2542685 

A personal story of child sexual abuse

A few months ago, I caught up for lunch with lawyer Judy Courtin, one of the staunchest advocates for the victims of the rape and sexual abuse of children and vulnerable others by, in particular, Catholic priests, and one of the people instrumental in the successful campaign to establish the royal commission into the response of churches and other institutions to these crimes.
She did her PhD on the issue, was a guest of mine in 2012 in the advocacy column I have written for the past six years, The Zone, and is now representing victims at the commission.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/a-personal-story-of-child-sexual-abuse-20160218-gmxfco.html#comments 

Australian abuse victims journey to Rome for Vatican treasurer testimony

Australian child sex abuse victims on Friday began a journey half way around the world to watch the Vatican's Australian-born finance director testify in Rome about his knowledge of child molestation within the Catholic Church.
Cardinal George Pell will give evidence on Monday to Australia's long-running Royal Commision into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse, via a videolink from a Rome hotel, after his lawyers cited health concerns preventing his travel to Australia.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-abuse-pell-idUSKCN0VZ0DR

We really want to hear the truth' - Australian abuse survivors fly to Rome

Cardinal Pell, a former Ballarat priest and Melbourne archbishop who is now in charge of the Vatican's finances, will give evidence about the church's handling of abuse in the Ballarat diocese and Melbourne archdiocese on Monday.
Some other survivors and the parents of victims have already arranged private flights.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/we-really-want-to-hear-the-truth-australian-abuse-survivors-fly-rome 

Church wrong on abuse: Rome-bound victims

Cardinal George Pell needs to acknowledge the Catholic Church got it wrong in handling child sex abuse by clergy, survivors say.
Ballarat-born Cardinal Pell should be leading church efforts to help victims, particularly in the Victorian regional city, Ballarat clergy abuse survivor Philip Nagle said.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/church-wrong-on-abuse-romebound-victims/news-story/05b4cae8662bc55949e8dac8d4a1b8c9 

At least 40 former students assert sexual abuse at US school

The scope of a sexual abuse scandal at St George’s School in Rhode Island widened substantially yesterday (Jan 5) as lawyers reported that at least 40 former students had made credible reports of sexual abuse, and in some cases rape, by seven former staff members and four students over three decades.
At the same time, a spokesman for the school, which had made public its own investigation late last month, now characterised that investigation as “preliminary” and said that it would soon name who would be carrying the investigation forward. “The work remains ongoing,” the school said in a statement.

http://www.todayonline.com/world/americas/least-40-former-students-assert-sexual-abuse-us-school 

Priests should be judged as individuals first

OPINION: The Catholic church is an easy target.  A socially conservative agenda stands in broad opposition to mainstream thought in liberal Western democracies.  The church's stance on homosexuality, contraception, abortion, transgender issues, the ordination of women and euthanasia is no longer that of the majority.
Its history is full of examples of failing to live up to the high standards of Christian behavior.  You cannot easily sweep the Crusades, the Borgias or the Spanish Inquisition under the carpet. In the 20th century, questions about how the church rose to the challenge of German Fascism can be posed.  It was on the side of Franco in Spain and there are at the very least conflicting views about its relationship with a Nazi regime, where a good portion of senior leadership claimed nominal Catholicism.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/77170884/priests-should-be-judged-as-individuals-first 

Prosecutors drop charges against defrocked priest Daniel McCormack

The final pending criminal case against defrocked Roman Catholic priest and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormack ended Wednesday, when prosecutors said they were forced to drop all charges.
McCormack, 47, who was not in court Wednesday, pleaded guilty in 2007 to molesting five boys and was sentenced to five years in prison. In 2009, prosecutors sought to have him declared a sexually violent offender and committed indefinitely to the Illinois Department of Human Services, which holds such offenders.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-father-mccormack-charges-dropped-20160224-story.html 

Savile report: Tony Blackburn said BBC 'hung me out to dry' - live updates

We’re going to pause the blog for now. Here’s a summary of what we know:
Serious failings at the BBC allowed Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall to sexually abuse nearly 100 people without detection for decades, according to two damning reports. Dame Janet Smith found that despite what had happened with Savile and Hall in previous years, those worked at the BBC were still worried about reporting potential abuse and taking on the broadcaster’s stars.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2016/feb/25/savile-bbc-abuse-report-to-be-published-live-updates 

Cardinal: John Paul approved of cover-up

The plot thickens:  ROME (AP) — Spanish media are quoting a retired Vatican cardinal as saying the late Pope John Paul II backed his letter congratulating a French bishop for risking jail for shielding a priest convicted of raping minors.
Web sites of La Verdad and other Spanish newspapers reported Saturday that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, 80, told an audience at a Catholic university in Murcia, Spain, on Friday that he consulted with John Paul and showed him the letter. He claimed the pontiff authorized him to send the letter to bishops worldwide.La Verdad said the audience at Universidad Catolica de Murcia applauded the cardinal’s remarks.

http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/roddreher/2010/04/cardinal-john-paul-approved-of-cover-up.html 

Bishop Ronald Mulkearns admits not dealing with pedophile priests properly and wanting to protect church’s reputation

A VICTORIAN bishop admits he tried to protect the Catholic Church’s reputation but denies trying to cover up abuse by pedophile priests.
Retired bishop Ronald Mulkearns says he is sorry and regrets the way he handled the problem of pedophilia in the Ballarat diocese. The child abuse royal commission has heard Bishop Mulkearns knew about pedophile priests and moved them between parishes.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/geelong/bishop-ronald-mulkearns-admits-not-dealing-with-pedophile-priests-properly-and-wanting-to-protect-churchs-reputation/news-story/2cf5bd87204ab0852229bffba2bb6f75 

Leading clergyman's link to abuse cover-ups

SEX abuse campaigners have called for investigations to look at the former head of the Anglican church in Sussex Eric Kemp after it was revealed he knew of abuse by bishop Peter Ball.
Peter Ball was jailed last year for sexual offences in the 1970s and 1980s against 18 young men who were under his guidance.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14301298.Leading_clergyman_s_link_to_abuse_cover_ups/ 

Father John Fleming suspended after Supreme Court judge finds he engaged in sexual behaviour with a minor

FATHER John Fleming has been ordered to pay the Sunday Mail’s court costs after he “rolled the dice” and lost a defamation lawsuit against a South Australian newspaper.
On Friday, Fr Fleming offered to pay a percentage of the costs associated with the Sunday Mail’s successful defence against the priest’s defamation suit.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/father-john-fleming-suspended-after-supreme-court-judge-finds-he-engaged-in-sexual-behaviour-with-a-minor/news-story/44df49e76e8f1a4afee1628b24af8c18 

Shocked by the BBC Savile report? Prepare for more of the same

A hierarchical organisation, overseeing a climate of fear, where the overriding concern is to protect reputation rather than investigate the sexual abuse of children and young people.
Remind you of anyone? Today it is the BBC taking the onslaught as Dame Janet Smith’s report highlights decades of sexual abuse carried out by Jimmy Savile under the noses of senior managers – whom Smith kindly clears because they “generally did not hear rumours”.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/25/shocked-bbc-savile-report-prepare-more-of-the-same 

The state we’re in – and how to get out of it

In a recent speech in Dublin, the master of St Benet’s Hall, Oxford, said that challenging failing structures and thinking in the Church is the most promising form of loyalty. Here he explains further the failures of the Church and warns that theologians must speak out to address them
Declining numbers of priests looking after declining numbers of practitioners is a picture that reflects just how much the Roman Catholic Church in Europe is not in good shape. Ancient parishes are restructured, combined or dissolved in order to cope with this lack of priests. Of course, the depth of Christian faith can never be comprehensively measured in terms of figures and structures, but the Church as it has been known by generations of Christians, organised in local parishes and served by an ordained clergy, is rapidly disappearing. In a few years it will be gone.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/8040/the-state-we-re-in-and-how-to-get-out-of-it 

Pell draws world spotlight to Vatican

There is huge international interest in what Cardinal George Pell has to say about the sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Ballarat region of Victoria when he gives evidence from a conference room at the elegant Hotel Quirinale in Rome.
By virtue of his position - head of the Secretariat of the Economy - Dr Pell is the third most powerful member of the Catholic Church bureaucracy.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/02/26/pell-draws-world-spotlight-vatican 

Child Sexual Abuse – A Cascade of Victims.

The sexual abuse of children creates many victims – and many levels of victimhood. Cultures, including ours, have rules about sexual activity. Cultural deviations from what is considered normal meet a range of cultural responses from approval to acceptance, to disapproval, to condemnation as immoral or, finally, criminalisation.
Our culture has a minimum age of consent for sexual activity. It criminalises sexual activity with children. Many states have laws of mandatory reporting.

http://catholicview.typepad.com/catholic_view/2016/02/child-sexual-abuse-a-cascade-of-victims.html 

Extradition hearing today for Feit

The former priest accused of murdering a McAllen beauty queen is set to appear for his first extradition hearing since his arrest.
John Feit, 83, the man long suspected by many of killing Irene Garza more than five decades ago remains in custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, where he has sat for more than two weeks as he awaits for the extradition process to run its course.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/extradition-hearing-today-for-feit/article_8ec78d72-da7e-11e5-a51c-8306cffbb084.html 

Everybody knew’: Neighbors not shocked after Ohio pastor charged with raping parishioners

A southern Ohio pastor was indicted on more than a dozen felony sex assault charges against two girls and a woman.
Dennis Wright was arrested on seven counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of gross sexual imposition, and one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, reported the Gallipolis Daily Tribune.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/02/everybody-knew-neighbors-not-shocked-after-ohio-pastor-charged-with-raping-parishioners/

Child abuse royal commission: Victims from former girls home confront nuns caring for dying bishop

They call themselves "Nazzie girls" — children who ended up in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth girls home in Ballarat in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gabrielle Short does not hesitate when she is asked to summarise her childhood here. "Ninety-five per cent hell, torture, abuse, fear, terror," she says. In the early 1960s, paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale was their chaplain.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-25/royal-commission-abuse-victims-confront-nuns-caring-for-bishop/7197812 

The Club’ Review: Tough Stuff

Complex, thought-provoking, daring and bleakly funny in the most disturbingly possible ways, Pablo Larrain’s ‘The Club’ is a savage little intimate drama.
It’s also a peculiar companion piece of sorts to this year’s awards darling ‘Spotlight’. Anyone who has seen that movie will recall the sequence in which a father discovers that a house on his street was used to shelter priests accused of child molestation. Larrain’s film takes place inside one of those houses and tackles all the icky subject matter therein head on.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/club-movie-review/ 

NSS raises alarm over major flaws in Church’s sex abuse inquiry

The National Secular Society has warned that the Church's inquiry into their handling of the Bishop Peter Ball sex abuse case could leave significant questions unanswered.

Bishop Ball was jailed last year for sexual offences, after escaping justice twenty years previously. A letter-writing campaign at the time saw support for the bishop come from senior establishment figures, including a member of the royal family.

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2016/02/nss-raises-alarm-over-major-flaws-in-churchs-sex-abuse-inquiry 

Cover-up let sex abuse bishop escape justice, victim claims

Documents suggest former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball's defence team sought a deal with the police to avoid scandal as the bishop was "friendly with Prince Charles.

A bishop who sexually abused young men escaped justice thanks to a "deeply sinister, co-ordinated" cover-up, one of his victims has said. Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 after pleading guilty to historical sex offences, but he had been originally investigated and cautioned by police in 1993. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12171283/Cover-up-let-sex-abuse-bishop-escape-justice-victim-claims.html 

'I'm appalled at what happened': former headmaster's regrets at child abuse inquiry

A RELIGIOUS superior has admitted to a woefully inadequate culture of protecting children and told an inquiry the Christian Brothers could have not comprehended the enormity of the trauma caused by their brutality and sexual abuse.
Superior of the Christian Brother’s Ballarat community and former headmaster of St Patrick’s College Brother Paul Nangle said the psychosexual formation of brothers was “defective” and while the rape of children could never be justified, he believed society was more relaxed about matters of sexuality during the sexual revolution in the 1970s.

http://www.theislanderonline.com.au/story/3748135/im-appalled-at-what-happened-former-headmasters-regrets-at-child-abuse-inquiry/?cs=2452 

Ballarat MP Catherine King hits out at Cardinal George Pell

Federal member for Ballarat Catherine King has made an emotional plea for Cardinal George Pell not to let the Ballarat community down again.
In a prepared speech in parliament on Tuesday, Ms King said the Cardinal’s failure to appear at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse in Ballarat were “not the actions of a man of courage”.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3750031/federal-mp-hits-out-at-cardinal-pell/?cs=2452 

Babysitter Tortured Staten Island Boy Who Died, Prosecutors Say

A babysitter charged with murdering a 16-month-old boy whose family lived in the same Staten Island building subjected him to hours of physical and sexual abuse while he was left in her care over the weekend, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The babysitter, Gloria Fields, made her first appearance in Criminal Court on Wednesday, where a prosecutor outlined accusations of torture that led to outbursts of sobbing and screaming from the child’s relatives and others packed into the courtroom.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/nyregion/babysitter-tortured-staten-island-boy-who-died-prosecutors-say.html?emc=edit_tnt_20160224&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=0 

Sexual abuse in the Church - more than 1,000 paedophile priests' victims come forward in four years

Between 2012 and 2015, 418 victims of sexual abuse commited by men of the cloth have come forward say centres established by the Catholic Church, and also a further 628, the Arbitration Centre opened at the request of the Commission Spéciale du Parlement pour le Traitement des Plaintes pour Abus Sexuels (Special Parliamentary Commission for Sexual Abuse Complaints-handling) states.

During this period, the ecclesiastical authorities have given 3.9 million euros to such victims, it emerges from a new report written by Manu Keirse, Professor Emeritus of the KULeuven (University of Leuven) and President of the Commission Interdiocésaine pour la Protection des Enfants et des Jeunes (Inter-diocesan Commission for the Protection of Children and Youths) which will be presented this Monday (today) in Brussels.

http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/5121/sexual-abuse-in-the-church-more-than-1-000-paedophile-priests-victims-come-forward-in-four-years 

Class actions against church possible

The Catholic Church in Australia could face a barrage of lawsuits from clergy abuse victims amounting to billions of dollars in compensation, a victims' advocate says.
Cardinal George Pell and a former Victorian bishop's appearances before the child abuse royal commission this month could get further key evidence on the public record to be used in class action lawsuits, victims' advocacy group Broken Rites spokesman Wayne Chamley says.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/class-actions-against-church-possible/news-story/53554c2328133f18719d1f469fea0246 

George Pell evidence: royal commission says victims can be present in Rome

Commission chair finds victims’ request to be in the same room as Pell when he gives evidence is ‘not unreasonable’ and says arrangements will be made
Arrangements are being made for child sexual abuse survivors to witness Cardinal George Pell give evidence in person in Rome after the chair of the commission found their request “not unreasonable”.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/22/george-pell-evidence-royal-commission-says-victims-can-be-present-in-rome#_=_ 

Issues for Pell at abuse royal commission

WHAT CARDINAL GEORGE PELL HAS TO ANSWER BEFORE CHILD ABUSE ROYAL COMMISSION
WHY HE'S APPEARING AGAIN
Now the Vatican's finance chief, the former Melbourne and Sydney archbishop and Ballarat priest will give evidence about abuse in the Ballarat diocese and Melbourne archdiocese.
Between 1973 and 1984 Pell was a Ballarat East priest, Episcopal Vicar for Education in the Ballarat diocese and an adviser to the Ballarat bishop.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/17/14/01/issues-for-pell-at-abuse-royal-commission#A40QlctsGykMWX5T.99 

Madonna’s Concert: What about it?

Madonna’s concert, Rebel Heart, which is touring Singapore next Sunday on 28 February 2016, is causing a stir amongst the Catholic and other Christian communities here.
Many have expressed their concern and even outrage at the performer’s disrespectful use of Catholic and other Christian symbols during her performances. Social media is rife with comments about Madonna’s blasphemous music and even props.

http://www.catholic.org.sg/notices/madonna-concert-singapore/ 

Pell case is a witch-hunt

No it is not a witch-hunt... it is that the survivors have pulled together... and are saying... NO MORE CHILD ABUSE... NO MORE RAPE OF INNOCENT CHILDREN... WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF FALSE PROMISES... AND EMPTY WORDS... no more apologize... defrock all priest and nuns... who have covered up rape of children... they are the enablers... as if they have abused the children themselves...
you can see it today... the rape of children... by the catholic church... is still happening today... Ann

=========================

Last week on Channel Ten’s news program The Project I was asked to comment on a music video written and performed by comedian Tim Minchin.

That video runs for about four minutes and is a protest song designed to denigrate Australia’s most senior Catholic Cardinal George Pell before his latest appearance in front of a Royal Commission into child sex abuse by institutions that include the Catholic Church.

http://www.switzer.com.au/the-experts/steve-price/pell-case-is-a-witch-hunt/ 

Insider: Pope’s Child Abuse Commission Is ‘Smoke and Mirrors’

Pope Francis portrays himself as a man who leads by example, but his protection of bishops who protected child-abusing priests continues.

Pope Francis, speaking to reporters on the flight from Mexico City to Rome last week, gave his strongest comment yet on the clergy sex abuse crisis.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/23/insider-pope-s-child-abuse-commission-is-smoke-and-mirrors.html 

Victims hope 'hideous' abuse by Australian Catholic Church exposed

A clergy abuse victim hopes the royal commission exposes the extent of "hideous" child sex abuse allegedly by Christian Brothers in Australia.
The child abuse royal commission returns to Ballarat, Victoria today to focus on allegations involving the Christian Brothers and hear from a key Catholic bishop who knew about paedophile priests.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/victims-hope-hideous-abuse-by-australian-catholic-church-exposed 

Sexual revolution 'contributed to' abuse

The "sexual revolution" of the 1970s may have contributed to Christian Brothers sexually abusing children in a Victorian community, a religious superior says.
Brother Paul Nangle suggested the cultural change made it possible for things to occur that would not be accepted by society today, when asked to explain how so many Brothers could have abused children under his watch.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/23/03/42/pedophile-christian-brother-wanted-love 

Child sexual abuse: are churches covering up or opening up?

While the royal commission continues its inquiry into historic child sexual abuse, a different story of church openness has been revealed to Parliament.
Recent media coverage of Cardinal George Pell's recall to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has ignited public debate on whether churches are willing to face up to child sexual abuse. Tim Minchin's "musical attack" on Cardinal Pell has been a lightning rod for debate on social media.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/comment-john-mcmillan-on-child-abuse-20160223-gn17jk.html 

French cardinal criticised over handling of abuse allegations

Priest in France stands accused of abusing up to 45 minors French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon is facing questions about how he dealt with a priest who faces abuse and rape charges.

Proceedings opened on January 27 against Fr Bernard Preynat, charged with “sexual aggression and rape of minors” between 1986 and 1991 at Lyon’s Saint-Luc parish, where he ran a large Catholic Scout group over two decades.

http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/02/23/french-cardinal-criticised-over-handling-of-abuse-allegations/ 

Paedophile Priest Convicted in US, Now Roams Free in Ooty

A 61-year-old priest, who had faced two accusations of child sexual abuse in the USA, now roams free in Udhagamandalam, where the Catholic Church chose to remain blind to the excesses of Fr Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul.
On May 22, 2015, Jeyapaul had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl while serving in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Paedophile-Priest-Convicted-in-US-Now-Roams-Free-in-Ooty/2016/02/17/article3281730.ece 

Spotlight’ on Marty Baron’s crusade

The Academy Award-nominated drama “Spotlight” tells how a team of Boston Globe journalists uncovered rampant child sexual abuse by priests and the cover-up by the Catholic Church. The clash of institutions is high drama, but the movie’s most powerful human moments come from the istruggles the journalists confront as insiders and outsiders.
The Globe’s Catholic reporters must face the fact that, because of their own Boston Catholic backgrounds, they ignored just how deep and widespread the abuse was. Their editor, Marty Baron, must deal with the antagonism of those who see him as a Jewish interloper on an anti-Church crusade.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/rob_eshman/article/spotlight_on_marty_barons_crusade

A clergy abuse victim hopes the royal commission exposes the extent of "hideous" child sex abuse allegedly by Christian Brothers in Australia.

The child abuse royal commission returns to Ballarat, Victoria today to focus on allegations involving the Christian Brothers and hear from a key Catholic bishop who knew about paedophile priests.

Stephen Woods, who was abused by two Christian Brothers and Australia's worst paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale, wants the commission to expose the cover-up.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/victims-hope-hideous-abuse-by-australian-catholic-church-exposed?post_id=10205055781299565_10206092615299767#_=_ 

Christian Brother 'gyrated' against me: Catholic sexual abuse victim

Martinus Claassen was a Catholic schoolboy in Ballarat through the late 1960s into the 1970s. This, as we now know from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, was potentially dangerous. And he wasn't spared.
The 54-year-old's mother was waived from paying fees at St Patrick's College, a Christian Brothers high school, because her husband, Mr Claassen's father, had died. One weekend just after Mr Claassen started at the school in 1974 he went to Melbourne for the weekend and forgot to take his homework.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/christian-brother-gyrated-against-me-catholic-sexual-abuse-victim-20160222-gn09q7.html 

Hundreds of child sex abuse complaints made against Christian Brothers, royal commission hears

Commission told 281 Christian Brothers in Australia subject to one or more claims or substantiated complaints of child sexual abuse.
In Australia, 853 people have made a claim or substantiated complaint of child sexual abuse against one or more Christian Brothers, with 75% of victims under the age of 13 at the time, a royal commission has heard.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/22/hundreds-of-child-sex-abuse-complaints-made-against-christian-brothers-royal-commission-hears#_=_ 

Leifer fails to show

r principal of the Adass Yisroel Girls School in Melbourne, accused of sexual abuse, be re-evaluated by a State psychiatrist. Her fight to avoid extradition to Australia to stand trial has dragged on for 18 months. 

She has so far successfully evaded being sent back because of alleged panic attacks every time a court hearing has been set. This time, her defence lawyer unsuccessfully argued to have the case dismissed because of his client’s medical condition. However on this occasion the judge rejected the plea and ordered another evaluation by a state psychiatrist which will be presented to the court on 20 March at which time he will decide on if and how the case should proceed

http://www.jwire.com.au/leifer-fails-to-show/ 

Israeli judge rejects former Melbourne Jewish school principal's plea to drop extradition over sex abuse claims

An Israeli judge has rejected a plea to drop the extradition case of a former principal accused of molesting students at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne.

At a hearing on Sunday at the Jerusalem District Court, attorney Yehuda Fried told Judge Amnon Cohen that former Adass Israel School principal Malka Leifer went into "panic attacks" whenever her court date approached.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-22/melbourne-principal-return-to-australia-sex-abuse-claims/7188184 

Child Sex Abuse Victims to Hear Cardinal's Testimony in Rome

Victims of clergy abuse won permission on Monday to be present next week when Pope Francis's finance minister testifies from Rome to an Australian inquiry into child sex offenses within the Roman Catholic Church.

Child abuse victims angry that Cardinal George Pell will not return to Australia to testify at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had requested that they be allowed to hear in person Pell's testimony by video conference, the inquiry's chairman Justice Peter McClellan said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/child-sex-abuse-victims-hear-cardinals-testimony-rome-37105458 

Family recounts interactions with South Side pastor charged with assault

or more than a decade the modest Gresham neighborhood church was the center of the family's life.
The mother was a church council member, praise leader and Sunday school teacher. Her daughter was in the youth ministry.
They said they felt the Rev. George Waddles Sr., the charismatic pastor and leader of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, was a true man of God. Three to four days a week, the family served the church in some way.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-baptist-pastor-sexual-abuse-charge-met-20160221-story.html 

Sexual abuse in the Church - more than 1,000 paedophile priests' victims come forward in four years

Between 2012 and 2015, 418 victims of sexual abuse commited by men of the cloth have come forward say centres established by the Catholic Church, and also a further 628, the Arbitration Centre opened at the request of the Commission Spéciale du Parlement pour le Traitement des Plaintes pour Abus Sexuels (Special Parliamentary Commission for Sexual Abuse Complaints-handling) states.

During this period, the ecclesiastical authorities have given 3.9 million euros to such victims, it emerges from a new report written by Manu Keirse, Professor Emeritus of the KULeuven (University of Leuven) and President of the Commission Interdiocésaine pour la Protection des Enfants et des Jeunes (Inter-diocesan Commission for the Protection of Children and Youths) which will be presented this Monday (today) in Brussels.

http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/5121/sexual-abuse-in-the-church-more-than-1-000-paedophile-priests-victims-come-forward-in-four-years 

Nephew of jailed priest reveals sexual abuse

LIFETIME OF PAIN: Dominic Ridsdale who was sexually abused by his uncle disgraced priest Gerald Ridsdale holds childhood photos of himself with his fiancée Lana Johnston.
The first time he was sexually abused Dominic Ridsdale remembers counting the tiny holes on the vinyl roof of his uncle's car. “I just wanted to remove myself from what was happening,” he said.
His uncle disgraced paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale had taken him for a drive on the pretext of fixing the headlights on his car.  He was 12.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3735064/nephew-of-jailed-priest-reveals-sexual-abuse/?cs=62

Catholic Church Sex-Abuse Survivor, Laid Off By Vatican Commission, Praises 'Spotlight'

Peter Saunders, who is on an involuntary "leave of absence" from the Vatican commission to which he was appointed by the Pope, tells THR, "All Catholics and all thinking people should watch this film." absence" from the Vatican commission to which he was appointed by the Pope, tells THR, "All Catholics and all thinking people should watch this film."
"It's been an overwhelming few days, but also a really encouraging few days because so many people are coming forward and so many people are offering support," Peter Saunders told me when we spoke by phone Tuesday morning.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/catholic-church-sex-abuse-survivor-866300 

The Vatican’s child abuse response

The UN has accused the Vatican of "systematically" adopting policies allowing priests to sexually abuse thousands of children.

Pope Francis has said that dealing with abuse is vital for the Church's credibility, and that "sanctions" must be imposed against perpetrators. But the Church has been accused of failing to address some allegations properly.

http://almayasabdam.com/vaticans-child-abuse-response-bbc-news/ 

Has believing the victim policy sullied the name of a much-admired bishop?

Church of England compensates alleged victim despite Bishop George Bell dying in 1958. Has Bishop George Bell – the Anglican Bishop of Chichester from 1929 to 1958, and one of the Church of England’s greatest figures - become a victim of the rule that people who complain of sexual abuse must always be believed? 

This principle was applied by police forces across the country in the wake of the Jimmy Savile affair, and has caused no end of problems. Now it has caused a major problem for the Church of England too, which has been accused of rubbishing the reputation of a good man and ignoring the presumption that someone accused of crime is innocent until proved guilty. Innocent may not be quite the right word, as the bishop is dead. But there is such a thing as the benefit of the doubt, and he should be given it.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/905/0/has-believing-the-victim-policy-sullied-the-name-of-a-much-admired-bishop- 

Child Sexual Abuse, seeking leave to appear with Cardinal Pell in Rome.

IN A SENSATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, lawyers representing Catholic Church sex abuse victims are applying to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, seeking leave to appear with Cardinal Pell in Rome.
Independent Australia has learned that Ballarat based Ingrid Irwin, of Irwin & Irwin Law, instructing solicitor for victims Andrew Collins and Stephen Woods and barrister Jim Shaw, of Gordon & Jackson, William Crocket Chambers are two lawyers seeking leave to appear.

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/exclusive-victims-seek-leave-to-appear-along-with-cardinal-pell-in-rome,8695

What we say about abuse when we speak out

Having the passion and investiture in both ends of the spectrum, I continue to explore the discourse on childhood adversity as it presents in adult illnesses of mind and body.
I’m pursuing it in the hope of raising awareness of abuse, provoking inquiry, or prompting prevention initiatives for our children, based on the prevalence of later-life psychoses attributed to early-life trauma.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2016-02-17/what-we-say-about-abuse-when-we-speak-out

Guilty 50 times: 'Father F’ identity revealed after child sex abuse verdicts

A FORMER Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing three young altar boys in regional NSW in the 1980s has been found guilty of 10 child sex offences in a Sydney court. 

John Joseph Farrell, also known as “Father F”, was tried for 17 offences he was accused of committing against the boys, aged 11 and 12, between 1980 and 1984.

http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/3729951/guilty-50-times-father-f-identity-revealed-after-child-sex-abuse-verdicts/ 

Sex abuse suits are about justice, not publicity

This is not publicity for an attorney. It's news reporting. Anderson is an attorney, and his responsibility is not to seek publicity for himself, but justice for victims.  A recent Times letter writer rekindled an oft-heard complaint that St. Paul attorney Jeffery Anderson was getting too much publicity in newspapers.
The majority of the Anderson firm's work is helping victims of clergy sexual abuse seek justice, and his name is often mentioned in print when he is pursuing a case involving a child who has been raped by a Catholic priest.

http://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2016/02/18/sex-abuse-suits-justice-not-publicity/80509474/ 

Francis Sullivan on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

Soaring community outrage over the issue of child sexual abuse was this week fanned by a Tim Minchin song calling for Cardinal George Pell to return home to Australia to give evidence to the royal commission.
Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, tells Michelle Grattan that his organisation supports the crowd-funded push to fly victims to Rome and describes Pell as a lightning rod for discontent.

https://theconversation.com/politics-podcast-francis-sullivan-on-child-sexual-abuse-in-the-catholic-church-55025 

Cardinal George Pell breaks his silence on child sexual abuse claims

'I can't travel on my doctor's advice': Cardinal George Pell breaks his silence on child sexual abuse claims - and says he will 'of course co-operate' with police.
 Cardinal George Pell was in good spirits today as he repeated his insistence that he would 'of course cooperate' with Victoria Police's investigation into allegations that he sexually abused between five and ten boys.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3457098/Cardinal-George-Pell-speaks-time-allegations-sexually-abused-minors.html 

The Catholic Church Admitted in Writing to Satanic Ritual Sacrifice by Melbourne Priest

I don’t care how long it takes you, please read this article completely. It is written sensitively, with great knowledge and wisdom. I applaud the author.  If this is your first experience with this sort of information, follow the suggestion of the author — and go slowly. ~J
The most extraordinary thing about today’s allegations of murders during satanic rituals involving a Melbourne priest is not that they’ve been made, but that the Catholic Church admitted in writing that it accepted they were substantially true.”

https://jhaines6a.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/the-catholic-church-admitted-in-writing-to-satanic-ritual-sacrifice-by-melbourne-priest/ 

A Woman Trapped In A Priest's Body

He was a Catholic priest with a secret life, posing on the Internet as "Katie Caponetti," a teenage girl. The priest would email a photo of a girl's naked torso, or a video of a naked girl masturbating, and claim it was "Katie." Then he would ask the girls he met online to send back naked photos and videos of themselves.

"A predator" who sexually exploited both teenage girls and boys was how Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rotella described Father Mark Haynes in federal court today. "He surrounded himself with children," the prosecutor said. Throughout his 30-year career as a priest, he used his position to  "sexually exploit and sexually abuse children."

 

http://www.bigtrial.net/2016/02/a-woman-trapped-in-priests-body-gets-20.html 

Former priest reported over historic child sex abuse claims

A former priest has been reported to prosecutors over historic child sex abuse allegations. Father Paul Moore, 80, from Kilmarnock was arrested in December and has now been reported for the procurator fiscal over the claims.
Police are investigating the allegations and prosecutors say they are considering the case. The incidents are alleged to have occurred over more than 20 years from 1975 to 1996.

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1343291-former-priest-reported-over-historic-child-sex-abuse-claims/ 

Abuse survivors welcome offer to meet George Pell, but still want to see hearing

David Ridsdale, a nephew and victim of paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, says the priority is to see the cardinal give evidence in Rome to the royal commission.  Survivors of child sexual abuse have welcomed news that Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, will meet them in Rome, but say their priority is still seeing him give evidence before a royal commission.

Child sex abuse survivor: 'My belief in truth and justice has taken a beating' David Ridsdale, who is the nephew and victim of notorious paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale, is one of those co-ordinating a group of child sex abuse survivors and their supporters to fly to Rome following the success of a fundraising campaign which has raised more than $170,000.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/18/cardinal-pell-responds-to-calls-to-return-to-australia-for-child-sex-abuse-inquiry 

Ex-chaplain in St. George's School scandal sued 20 years ago in West Virginia

In his 1996 complaint, Richard Albright stated that the Episcopal Diocese "knew, or should have known" of White's “alleged proclivity for deviant sexual behavior, but failed to alert its parishioners of the potential danger to their children," and was vicariously liable for White's actions. 

An Episcopal priest embroiled in a sex-abuse scandal at the elite St. George’s School in Middletown was sued 20 years ago by a West Virginia man who said the Rev. Howard W. White Jr. sexually molested him when he was approximately 11 years old.

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20160217/NEWS/160219357 

Protestant Clergy And Sexual Abuse

We’ve all heard of the child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. It is widely covered because the Church itself has a huge press staff and promotes itself in world news constantly.
There is no reason to believe, however, abuse of children is greater in the Catholic branch than in the Protestant branch. There is right now a large ongoing story in the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Like the Catholics, it has been forced to make budget cuts in order to pay victims.

http://redriverfreethinkers.areavoices.com/2016/02/18/protestant-clergy-and-sexual-abuse/ 

Ballarat Bishop to stand in as defendant in historic child sexual abuse civil claims

The decision of Ballarat Bishop Paul Bird cssr to make himself a defendant in historic child sex abuse civil claims was lauded for its leadership in restoring the credibility and trust in the Catholic Church. 19 February 2016 Abuse survivors in Ballarat have welcomed Ballarat Bishop Paul Bird’s decision to make himself available as a defendant in historic child sex abuse civil claims.
Bishop Bird, along with a number of other senior Church leaders including Archbishop Fisher in Sydney and Archbishop Coleridge in Brisbane, have now publically endorsed the new policy which requires a Church organisation facing a civil claim of child sexual abuse to help identify an entity to sue.

http://www.catholicreligiousaustralia.org/index.php/news-a-views/media-releases/item/2064-ballarat-bishop-to-stand-in-as-defendant-in-historic-child-sexual-abuse-civil-claims 

Catholic archdiocese reaffirms strict policy on child abuse

News reports claiming that new Vatican guidelines exclude bishops from being liable for reporting clerical child abuse cases to the police are being refuted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and by some local churches.
According to recent media reports, French Monsignor Tony Anatrella told newly appointed bishops they are not required to report abuse to law officials. The duty, he said, is the responsibility of the victims and their families. Anatrella’s comments were reported in Catholic news sites and in magazines, including Newsweek

http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2016-02-19/Faith/Catholic_archdiocese_reaffirms_strict_policy_on_ch.html 

Priest's Edina home is searched after neighbors get suspicious

The Edina home of a priest who serves a Catholic church in Fridley was searched this week by police investigating possible possession of child pornography.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis informed members of the Church of St. William in Fridley Friday night, shortly after the Star Tribune contacted them about the investigation.

http://www.startribune.com/fridley-priest-s-home-is-searched-following-neighbors-suspicions-of-abuse/369494572/ 

Ballarat prepares for child sexual abuse inquiry while Cardinal Pell stays away

‘Pell is the head Catholic figure in the country, and he should be here, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the survivors,’ says lawyer representing victims. abuse survivors. On Monday, survivors of child sexual abuse, their supporters, lawyers, solicitors and representatives of the Catholic church will descend on the bucolic Australian town of Ballarat for the second time in nine months.
The royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse, tasked by the federal government in 2013 to take on the massive job of independently investigating child sexual abuse within churches and other institutions throughout Australia, will once again turn its attention to the Diocese of Ballarat.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/20/ballarat-prepares-for-child-sexual-abuse-inquiry-while-cardinal-pell-stays-away

Sunbury church abuse survivor heads to Rome

A Sunbury man who was abused as a child by a Ballarat diocese Catholic priest has urged people not to forget the survivors of the horrors that occurred at Salesian College.

Paul Levey said while the spotlight of the ongoing Royal Commission into sex abuse had shone brightly on Ballarat, there was a feeling that Sunbury had been forgotten by some. ‘‘I’ve had guys come up to me and say ‘Paul, what about Sunbury? No-one is talking about Salesian’,’’ he said

http://www.starweekly.com.au/news/sunbury-church-abuse-survivor-heads-to-rome/ 

Spotlight: We need mandatory reporting laws to uncover institutional child abuse

Spotlight, which recounts the battle of reporters on the Boston Globe in 2000-2002 to expose a decades-long child abuse scandal in one of the world’s richest and most powerful Catholic dioceses, could not be more topical.

Only a few days ago Peter Saunders, a clerical sexual abuse survivor who has been highly critical of the Vatican’s response to recent scandals, was forced to take a ‘leave of absence’ from the Vatican’s abuse commission.

http://thejusticegap.com/2016/02/12540/ 

Cardinal George Pell ‘under investigation’ over allegations of child abuse

CARDINAL George Pell has vehemently rejected allegations he sexually abused minors, after a Melbourne newspaper reported he has been under investigation.

The Herald Sun claims Victoria Police Sano taskforce has a collection of documents alleging Cardinal Pell committed “multiple offences” while he was a priest in Ballarat and also the Archbishop of Melbourne.

http://www.news.com.au/national/cardinal-george-pell-under-investigation-over-allegations-of-child-abuse/news-story/5d2f12f27a554b296331dc7a77797e20

Catholic school sex abuse scandal: Finding the courage to confront the past

St Alipius Presbytary, church and old boys school in Ballarat have ribbons tied to the fence to pay tribute to the victims and survivors of child abuse. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer
It took decades – and a firm psychologist – for Peter Blenkiron​ to find the courage to return to his old school. He didn't want to, but he knew he must. Not just for him; for all those other kids.

http://myinforms.com/en-au/a/24804674-catholic-school-sex-abuse-scandal-finding-the-courage-to-confront-the-past/ 

The Pope’s mid-air press conference will understandably anger abuse victims

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors will feel even more frustrated following the Pope's comments yesterday

The papal mid-air press conference has become an almost clichéd source of tension ever since Francis first grabbed a microphone at the back of a plane and started fielding questions.

http://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/02/19/ed-condon-blog/ 

Editorial: Collins is right -- let the commission do its work

The truth of the clergy sex abuse scandal would never have surfaced without the sustained courage of victims. In the same way, it will take the courage and work of victims, above all, to help return the church to health.
Marie Collins provides a stunning example of the kind of determination and courage required to get on with that latter phase of dealing with the scandal. It is enough that this abuse survivor from Ireland has dedicated so much of her life to establishing organizations and structures to protect children. That she would accept appointment to Pope Francis' Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is a most generous gift to the church. The risks in taking the assignment were both enormous and inherent.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/editorial-collins-right-let-commission-do-its-work 

Abuse Commission Shake-up

Whatever the merits of the decision, the optics of removing one of the two survivors of clerical sexual abuse serving on the Holy See’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors were not good.
Peter Saunders, the founder of the U.K.-based National Association for People Abused in Childhood, was given a leave of absence following a 15-to-0 vote of no confidence by the 17-member commission (with one abstention) at a meeting in Rome on Feb. 6.

http://americamagazine.org/issue/abuse-commission-shake 

Cardinal Pell calls for inquiry into press leaks accusing him of abuse

Australian Cardinal George Pell called for an inquiry into the leaking of accusations that he is under police investigation for the alleged abuse of minors.
Calling the accusations "without foundation and utterly false," the cardinal "strongly denies any wrongdoing. If the police wish to question him, he will cooperate, as he has with each and every public inquiry," said a statement from the cardinal's office in Rome Feb. 19.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/cardinal-pell-calls-inquiry-press-leaks-accusing-him-abuse 

Books blog: Archbishop Charles Scicluna is right. We should all know the grim story behind Spotlight

'Betrayal' is a grim story but every Catholic should read it  I have just been reading a grim book: Betrayal (Profile Books, £8.99).

First published in 2002, it has now been reissued and updated to coincide with the release of the film Spotlight. For those few remaining people who might not know what the film is about, the Spotlight team were a small group of investigative reporters on the Boston Globe newspaper, who first alerted America to the systemic sexual abuse of young people by a small group of priests in the Boston archdiocese.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/02/19/books-blog-archbishop-charles-scicluna-is-right-we-should-all-know-the-grim-story-behind-spotlight/ 

If the Pope is so keen on tearing down walls, he could start with the wall of silence that's protected pervert priests for decades

Your mother probably told you—mine told me—that you should never talk about religion or politics in polite company. Fortunately most of the company I keep is not very polite.

But I happen to like it when people speak their mind. I believe this world would be a far safer place if we all said exactly what we thought and were not cowed by consequences, silenced by the strong arm of the law or the madness of the mob on twitter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3454574/KATIE-HOPKINS-Pope-keen-tearing-walls-start-wall-silence-s-protected-pervert-priests-decades.html 

Issues for Pell at abuse royal commission

WHAT CARDINAL GEORGE PELL HAS TO ANSWER BEFORE CHILD ABUSE ROYAL COMMISSION
WHY HE'S APPEARING AGAIN
Now the Vatican's finance chief, the former Melbourne and Sydney archbishop and Ballarat priest will give evidence about abuse in the Ballarat diocese and Melbourne archdiocese.
Between 1973 and 1984 Pell was a Ballarat East priest, Episcopal Vicar for Education in the Ballarat diocese and an adviser to the Ballarat bishop.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/17/14/01/issues-for-pell-at-abuse-royal-commission 

"Catholic culture is a response to life threatening trauma at an early age" JohnB

Meshel Laurie, thank you. To those who think it is not necessary for the survivors to go face Pell, and perhaps are a bit sick of hearing about all this ( isn't it time for survivors to stop picking at the scabs of their history?), my response is this.
First of all, get in the queue. We're all sick of hearing about this. None more so than the survivors themselves. Not to mention their partners, children, and friends. But the reality is, their whole lives were changed forever when the organisation that was supposed to protect them, didn't. In fact didn't only fail to protect them, but KNOWINGLY shuffled the pedophiles to new parishes, to abuse more children. When the survivors are convinced this will not happen again; when they see a genuine remorse and strategy by the church to rid itself of it's culture of pedophilia, THEN they might stop 'picking at the scabs'.

http://www.molestedcatholics.com/index.php?id=1140 

The same, sad sex abuse story in the Catholic Church

To the editor: It's so sad to read yet another account of how the Roman Catholic Church enabled its clergy's sexual abuse of children over the last century. It's the same old story:
The church kept Edward Courtney's suspected crimes concealed, enabling him to inflict unthinkable abuse on dozens of children across the country for more than three decades. ("After sexually abusing children for decades, Catholic brother lives under the radar in Hawaii," Feb. 12)

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0217-wednesday-cahtolic-priest-abuse-20160217-story.html 

Spiritual abuse and childhood, a painful reality

In spite of the care and good intention, there is a lack of a theological and educated perspective of child treatment in many churches. “God expects me to fulfill his commands and if I don’t do that, He will send me to hell” (17 year-old teenager raised in an evangelical Christian family).
“The God of the Bible ordered those who didn’t obey him to be killed” (15-year-old teenager raised in an evangelical Christian home). “At my church’s camps for children, the monitors would stick our heads in the toilet and flush it to punish us or to joke. The pastor would be the first one to do it.” (A young adult raised in an evangelical Christian family)

http://evangelicalfocus.com/family/1372/Spiritual_abuse_and_childhood_a_painful_reality 

Church leaders (including George Pell) know the story of 'Father F'

Research by Broken Rites has demonstrated how Catholic Church leaders kept quiet about a certain Australian priest, "Father F" (from Moree and Armidale in northern New South Wales), for THIRTY years. And in 2002, after George Pell became the new archbishop of Sydney, he too learned about Father F.
The matter of Father F was finally revealed by Broken Rites and the media (not by the church) in 2012. Broken Rites (but not the church leaders) advised the victims to contact the Sex Crime Squad detectives of the NSW Police. The church leaders now need to explain why they remained silent for so long.

http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/210 

Indian activists slam Vatican for revoking priest`s ban

New Delhi: Children`s activists in India on Wednesday criticised the Vatican for revoking the suspension of a Catholic priest who was convicted by a US court of sexually abusing a minor.
Indian priest Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, 61, was suspended by his local diocese in India five years ago after being accused of sexually abusing two girls during a posting to Minnesota.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/indian-activists-slam-vatican-for-revoking-priests-ban_1856549.html 

Catholic Church Continues To Ignore Child Sex Abuse

Though it seems completely inconsistent with their own ideology, the Catholic Church has told new Bishops that they don’t have to report sex abuse of children. Though it is shocking, this guidance is fairly consistent with the church’s long history of protecting priests who have sexually abused children.
This is the type of bullshit that allows and encourages systemic breakdowns in protecting children. For a belief system that emphasizes morality, this type of statement seems incredibly hypocritical, though it is consistent with the church’s repulsive history of protecting pedophiles. Victims of sex abuse, especially children, often withhold disclosures of being sexually abused. Some of the reasons for this may be lack of proper body safety education, shaming, and fear of a negative reaction from their parents and/or retribution from their abuser.

http://ascienceenthusiast.com/catholic-church-continues-to-ignore-child-sex-abuse/