Sex abuse happens across denominations. Here’s how one Protestant minister is helping people heal

A young girl sits in her room as the sounds of physical violence echo down the hall. Her father regularly erupts, a volcano whose rage is fed by the notion that he is the head of a “good Christian family” and that his wife and children must submit to his will. The girl also knows that their church pastor is a pedophile who preys on her sister, but her church has turned inward to protect the pastor instead of reaching out to help her sister. The girl is terrified for her mother, her sister, herself. So she prays, and this offers her peace in the midst of the violence. That peace will sustain her for years to come.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/09/20/sex-abuse-happens-across-denominations-heres-how-one-protestant-minister-helping 

Church realised abuse damage late: Pope

Pope Francis has acknowledged the Catholic Church was "a bit late" in realising the damage done by priests who rape and molest children, and said that the decades-long practice of moving paedophiles around, rather than sanctioning them was to blame.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/church-realised-abuse-damage-late-pope/news-story/1190a0294162ebcb0202b987572638b1 

Second lawsuit accuses former Hanna Boys Center counselor of molestation

For years, a former resident of the Hanna Boys Center was taken off site by his assigned counselor and driven to the man’s home, where he endured repeated sexual abuse, fearing he’d be turned out and homeless if he reported the crimes, according to new accusations described in a civil lawsuit.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7442819-181/second-lawsuit-accuses-former-hanna?artslide=0 

Pope: "Church will apply firmest measures against those who abuse minors"

Pope Francis has reiterated his pledge to combat the evil of clerical sex abuse affirming that at all levels, the Church will continue to respond applying the firmest of measures to “all those who have betrayed their call and abused God's children.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/21/pope_church_will_apply_firmest_measures_against_those_who_/1338118

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

Catholic Bishop being sued for allegedly concealing sexual abuse

A Catholic Bishop from the Crookston Diocese is in court, as the first Bishop to be sued. A local man is accusing Bishop Michael Hoepner of concealing information about sexual abuse within the diocese.
Ron Vasek and his attorney took part in a hearing at the Pennington County Courthouse Wednesday. Vasek says he was sexually abused by Monsignor Roger Grundhaus in the 70's. Further, Vasek says he was threatened and intimidated by Bishop Hoepner to keep quiet about the sexual abuse.

https://www.wday.com/news/4331268-catholic-bishop-being-sued-allegedly-concealing-sexual-abuse 

More than a dozen abusive clergy served local parishes

Armando Martinez grew up in Questa, the village of alfalfa fields and a couple of thousand people at the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Martinez didn't look for work at the nearby molybdenum mine, like a lot of young men from the village. Instead, he went into a Catholic seminary, became a priest and headed parishes from Belen to Tucumcari, Springer to El Rito.
In May 1997, Martinez was found naked and dead, his body left in a ditch near Bernalillo. His murderer turned himself in days later.

http://www.taosnews.com/stories/taos-county-catholic-priests-sexual-abuse-dozen-served-local-parish-investigation,43139 

Church seeks reconciliation, victims seek healing

When the Archdiocese of Santa Fe revealed a list of 74 priests and religious leaders found guilty of sexually abusing children this month, it forced a wave of painful reactions among the many deeply Catholic communities that have existed in New Mexico for centuries.
But for the victims, abuse perpetrated within the Roman Catholic Church is a reality they have had to live with for many years and, in some cases, through lives that have been cut short by traumatic experiences that have gone unrecognized until only recently.

http://www.taosnews.com/stories/church-seeks-reconciliation-victims-seek-healing,43150 

Pope Francis promises to never pardon a paedophile priest

Pope Francis has said he will never pardon paedophile priests after acknowledging that the Catholic Church was too slow in dealing with the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the Vatican for almost two decades.
In the past year, the pontiff has faced mounting pressure to publicly condemn clergy abuse after one of his closest allies and Australia's highest-ranking Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, was charged with "historic sexual abuse offences."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/pope-francis-promises-never-pardon-paedophile-priest-1640420 

Dan Corkery: Weighing the news for wrong and right

At 3:02 p.m. Friday, we were in a brief state of equilibrium. At that time, the sun crossed the Earth's equator, creating a day of equal parts dark and light.
Balance is as good for humankind as it is for nights and days. The qualities of peace, harmony, fairness and cooperation are attributed to astrology's Libra, which begins with the autumnal equinox. The scales of justice often are used to symbolize Libra.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-09-24/dan-corkery-weighing-the-news-wrong-and-right.html 

Maltese married catholic priest's Blog, A Spanish love story

My name is Cris and I’m from Spain. I will refer to “my” priest as Father A. I have been thinking about sharing my story for a while but, at times it was too painful to keep thinking about it and feeling alienated because falling in love with a priest is not something common, at times, I’ve felt alone and even ridiculous. However, I’m glad there is a safe space where I can share my story with people who’s been there. I’m not going to get into details because there are too many but I will try my best to be as accurate as possible. Thank you in advance for listening.

https://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/a-spanish-love-story/

Spotlight Review “Break the Story, Break the Silence”

“Break the Story, Break the Silence” – the slogan of the 2015 crime drama film Spotlight – rings powerfully. Based on real events, Spotlight tells the story of a news team investigating widespread child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area.

The film gets its name from an investigative team on The Boston Globe called “Spotlight.” The Globe hires a new editor for the team named Marty Baron. A column about a lawyer named Mitchell Garabedian piques his interest in a case, in which Garabedian says Cardinal Bernard Law knew that clergyman John Geoghan was molesting children but did nothing to stop him. Baron and another reporter, Michael Rezendes, push for the Spotlight team to investigate this case that drew little press attention previously in the 1970’s.

http://njitvector.com/2017/09/spotlight-review/ 

Elder domestic violence focus of annual conference

About 45 people who work with victims of elder abuse gathered Friday at St. Anthony de Padua Catholic Church for the annual Domestic Violence Gets Old conference.
The annual symposium organized by The Task Force Against Elder Domestic Violence aims to raise awareness of the abuse elderly people suffer from their partners. The elderly are subject to physical, financial, sexual abuse and neglect, officials said. Organizers said because crimes are underreported, there are few crime statistics regarding people over 60 years old.

https://www.ksat.com/news/elder-domestic-violence-focus-of-annual-conference 

Arthur McCaffrey: Forgiveness must be earned, Bishop Perez

The Beacon Journal recently reported on the formal installation of the new Catholic bishop of Cleveland, Nelson Perez (“ Cleveland rocks,’ new ‘bishop tells the faithful,” Sept. 6). The story highlighted his personal appeal to the laity for forgiveness for the church’s “horrendous” history of child abuse, as if this was a novel gesture after the dour administration of his predecessor Bishop Lennon.

https://www.ohio.com/akron/editorial/commentary/arthur-mccaffrey-forgiveness-must-be-earned-bishop-perez 

Workplace sexual harassment condemned by Church; what it said and did

The Catholic community's top decision-making body in India has released a set of guidelines to prevent sexual assault and also included a code of conduct which is to be signed by all employees of all institutions under its control.

 The Catholic community’s top decision-making body in India has released a set of guidelines to prevent sexual assault and also included a code of conduct which is to be signed by all employees of all institutions under its control. Allegedly, the embarrassment that the Catholic church had to go through over the allegations of sexual assault involving some of its clergymen compelled them to take this step. 

http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/workplace-sexual-harassment-condemned-by-church-what-it-said-and-did/857598/ 

Vatican recalls Washington diplomat amid child pornography probe

A Vatican diplomat working in Washington has been recalled to the Holy See after the US State Department said the priest may have violated child pornography laws, the Vatican said yesterday.
Prosecutors in the Vatican have opened an investigation into the case, which represents a fresh blow to the Roman Catholic Church as it struggles to overcome repeated sex abuse scandals among its clergy.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/vatican-recalls-washington-diplomat-amid-child-pornography-probe#644FXu2FZwXy72yl.97

Groups speculate on outcome of Apuron church trial

Concerned Catholics of Guam is hopeful Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron will not only be removed as archbishop but also be stripped of his priestly faculties after his Vatican canonical trial.

But the world's largest network of priest abuse survivors is doubtful Apuron will be laicized, or removed from the priesthood, even if the church concludes he sexually abused minors.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/09/17/groups-speculate-outcome-apuron-church-trial/627418001/ 

George Pell and Denis Hart became archbishops but Father Tony Bongiorno didn't

According to Broken Rites research, the Melbourne Catholic archdiocese has been forced to admit that Father Anthony (Tony) Bongiorno committed sexual crimes against children during his 30 years working in Melbourne parishes. Anthony Bongiorno began training for the priesthood about 1960, aged 25, in the same trainee group as George Pell and Denis Hart, both of whom eventually became archbishops of Melbourne. In 1994, Pell (then an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne) officiated at a requiem mass for Bongiorno's brother Salvatore ("Sam").
Anthony Bongiorno's child-sex crimes were covered up until some were exposed in the mid-1990s. The total number of Father Bongiorno's victims is unknown. For example, in 1980, a woman (named Maria James) learned that her son (aged 11) was a Bongiorno victim but this woman was murdered before she could expose Bongiorno about her son's abuse.

http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/81

Vatican diplomat in US recalled over 'breach of child sex abuse images law'

A Vatican diplomat in Washington has been recalled to Rome after the US state department said the priest may have violated laws related to child sex abuse images.
The US state department notified the Holy See last month of a possible violation of laws. American prosecutors said they wanted the Vatican to voluntarily lift the official’s diplomatic immunity so that he could face charges, according to several reports, but the Vatican refused. The request was made on 21 August.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/15/vatican-recalls-diplomat-us-child-abuse-images