Faces of Innocents: 12 added to Child Victim Toll

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

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

Failures offer opportunity to improve protection efforts, expert says

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

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

Child abuse investigations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire: The background

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Guilty Soul of Pope Francis

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

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

Secret tapes: The moment Philip Wright confronted his sexual predator

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carver priest removed from ministry, investigated for alleged misconduct

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

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

Flix offers Difficult Choices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We need to defeat the wolves. Interview with Peter Saunders

Interview with Peter Saunders, the chief of The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Great Britain) and a suspended member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable People that was created by Pope Francis. Agata Diduszko-Zyglewska: You are a survivor of sexual abuse in childhood. Could you tell me what was your story? Peter Saunders: Yes, I am from London. I was born in a place called Wimbledon in south-west London. I was the youngest of five children born into a good Catholic family, as we were called. The first time I was sexually assaulted it was at my Catholic primary school as a very small child by a head teacher. Many years later when I disclosed the abuse I found out that he had abused many children, but we hadn’t known about each other. Going back nearly 50 years, I remember how the head teacher suddenly disappeared from school. I found out, many years later, that some children had been able to tell to their parents what was happening. So the parents went to the bishop and that man… was sent to another school. A regular, normal pattern for Catholic institutions. Also very early in my life, at 7-8 years of age, I was sexually abused by a member of my family, which lasted until I was 14 years of age. When I went to my secondary school I was also sexually assaulted by two Jesuit priests. One of whom was a head teacher, who was a layman, and the other was a retired priest who lived on the school premises.

http://politicalcritique.org/world/eu/2018/we-need-to-defeat-the-wolves-interview-with-peter-saunders/

Languages Available InEnglish Español Pope Francis Missed His Chance to Speak Up on Rights in the Americas

On Sunday, Pope Francis ended an eagerly anticipated visit to Chile and Peru, his sixth trip to Latin America as pope. The visit was an opportunity for him to set the record straight regarding several human rights concerns. For many, it ended in serious disappointment. Pope Francis could have clarified his views on the abusive rule of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which has sunk that country into the deepest human rights crisis in Venezuela’s recent history. Yet during his week in Latin America, the pope didn’t say a word in public about the crisis.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/24/pope-francis-missed-his-chance-speak-rights-americas

Pope wants journalism like the Catholic church wants child sex abuse probes: Slow, aimless...

Take it easy with those hard-hitting exclusives and investigations, said the Pope this week, lumping inconvenient quality journalism with fake news and clickbait. We can't think why the head of a church mired in decades of globe-spanning child abuse scandals would have a problem with hacks doing their job and getting straight to the point.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/24/pope_fake_news_exclusives/

Chilean survivor of clergy sex abuse denies he is lying

Despite repeated accusations by Pope Francis that survivors of clergy sex abuse in Chile are guilty of "slander" and "calumny," Juan Carlos Cruz is still speaking out about the abuse he suffered at the hands of a Chilean priest — and about the cover-up by church leaders there. During his visit to Chile last week and on the papal plane Jan. 21, Pope Francis defended Bishop Juan Barros Madrid of Osorno, Chile, insisting there is no evidence the prelate ignored or covered up sexual abuse by Fr. Fernando Karadima.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/chilean-survivor-clergy-sex-abuse-denies-he-lying

Pope Francis needs deodorant

Less idealizing means more recognition of the need to forgive and more willingness to see that Francis, like myself, is a work in progress. One of my seminary teachers once commented that every boy is shocked when he realizes that his mother needs to use deodorant. The professor’s point was that we all have idols, that they are, in spite of our idealization, fallible, and that it is always a shock to realize that. One such shock has come to those of us who have tended to idolize Pope Francis.

https://international.la-croix.com/news/pope-francis-needs-deodorant/6793

Companies Are Using Nondisclosure Agreements To Silence Women

We’ve come to a crossroads in the #MeToo movement. As the breakneck pace of bombshell revelations slows, women are rightly celebrating what feels like a victorious moment, but we’re also asking what comes next. Those of us who lived through Clarence Thomas, Bob Packwood, Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby and other fleeting periods of focus on workplace harassment are wary. Each of these prior episodes followed the same three-phase cycle: “shock and anger,” followed by “resolve to make things better,” and finally “realization that nothing will change.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-davis-harassment-ndas_us_5a6773d8e4b0022830073683

Card. Ratzinger’s Cover-up for Fr. Kiesle

Two different newspapers in my area recently featured the story of abuser priest Stephen Kiesle. A now defrocked priest who served in the East Bay of California, Fr. Kiesle had a long tract record of sexual abuse of youth, resulting in multi-million dollar payouts by the Oakland Diocese. The lawyer for one of Kiesle's victims stated, "Of all the perpetrators I met, which were probably a couple dozen, he was the most evil, remorseless sociopath of them all, just a terrible human being." (1)

http://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/a01y_Kiesle_Arn.html

Troy man accused of hiding cameras in bathroom at church, fun complex

TROY, Mo. - A Troy, Missouri man was arrested earlier this week after admitting to hiding cameras inside bathrooms where he worked and at the church where he volunteered. According to a spokesperson for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, an investigation began January 15 after an employee at Adrenaline Zone in St. Charles discovered a covert camera in one of the bathrooms.

https://www.blogger.com/TROY,%20Mo.%20-%20A%20Troy,%20Missouri%20man%20was%20arrested%20earlier%20this%20week%20after%20admitting%20to%20hiding%20cameras%20inside%20bathrooms%20where%20he%20worked%20and%20at%20the%20church%20where%20he%20volunteered.%20According%20to%20a%20spokesperson%20for%20the%20Lincoln%20County%20Sheriff's%20Office,%20an%20investigation%20began%20January%2015%20after%20an%20employee%20at%20Adrenaline%20Zone%20in%20St.%20Charles%20discovered%20a%20covert%20camera%20in%20one%20of%20the%20bathrooms

The Women Who Were Abused By Larry Nassar Aren’t Done Sharing Their Stories

One of the many women sexually abused by disgraced USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar recalled feeling like a “shell of a child,” as three of Nassar’s victims took to the airwaves Thursday morning a day after he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. “I was a shell of a child, I thought I had no way out,” elite gymnast Mattie Larson said on the Megyn Kelly Today show, appearing alongside Kyle Stephens and Rachel Denhollander, who were also sexually abused by Nassar.

http://time.com/5118151/larry-nassar-sentencing-victims/

157th lawsuit against Guam's church says Brouillard abused altar boy repeatedly during 2-year period

Former Guam priest Louis Brouillard raped and sexually molested a Mangilao altar boy two to three times a week for two years, from about 1963 through 1964, a lawsuit filed in federal court on Sunday says. The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as S.T.J. to protect his privacy, is the 157th to file a clergy sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, priests, clergy and others associated with the Catholic Church. The Boy Scouts of America is also a named defendant when Brouillard is the accused priest, as he was also a scout master.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/01/22/157th-lawsuit-against-guams-church-says-brouillard-abused-altar-boy-repeatedly-during-2-year-period/1052475001/

When Popes Become Penitents: The History of Papal Apologies

Papal apologies for the Catholic church’s behavior are a relatively recent phenomenon. Pope John Paul II, who held the title between 1979 and 2005, was the first to issue them. His successor, Benedict XVI, timidly followed that precedent; but it is Pope Francis who has turned the symbolic apology into something of a masterstroke, helping to shift the church’s atonement from a focus on historical wrongs to accepting moral responsibility for more current events. In January 2017, Pope Francis met with Chilean survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests to apologize to them personally. It was a strikingly intimate gesture that demonstrates how the concept of papal apologies has evolved. Here’s a look at some of the most important apologies the church has made.

http://www.history.com/news/when-popes-become-penitents-the-history-of-papal-apologies

Campbell on the inquiry into the abuse of children in care

Apparently, PM Jacinda Ardern has chosen to exclude faith-based institutions from the government’s promised inquiry into the abuse of children in state care. Any role for religious institutions – eg the Catholic Church – would be only to observe and to learn from any revelations that arise from the inquiry’s self-limiting focus on state-run institutions: [Ardern] said the primary role of the inquiry was to look at the state's responsibility….She said any religious institution with concerns needed to look at the issue, ask what they have done about the issues and their own history.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1801/S00009/campbell-on-the-inquiry-into-the-abuse-of-children-in-care.htm

Pedophile Priest Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison After Extradition

A priest in Russia was convicted on charges of pedophilia and sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday. A court in Priozersk — a city in northwest Russia —sentenced 38-year-old Gleb Grozovsky for sexually molesting underage girls in recreational camps in Russia and Greece while he was a priest at a cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo outside of St. Petersburg. According to reports, he sexually assaulted two girls, aged 9 and 12, at a religious-themed youth camp on the Greek island of Kos in 2013.

http://www.ibtimes.com/pedophile-priest-sentenced-14-years-prison-after-extradition-2642237

Survivors blast pope abuse apology in Chile as ‘cheap headline’

In his first public address in Chile, Pope Francis apologized for the “irreparable damage” caused by clerical sexual abuse. In the wake of what he had to say, abuse survivor Peter Saunders, a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, wasn’t impressed. “The pope spoke today about shame, but that isn’t good enough,” Saunders told Crux on the phone. “He could have removed [Bishop Juan] Barros a long time ago, and that would have been a good symbolic move to make. Symbols are as good as words.”

https://cruxnow.com/pope-in-chile-and-peru/2018/01/16/survivors-blast-pope-abuse-apology-chile-cheap-headline/

Catholic Church disappointed in abuse inquiry's limits

The Catholic Church is disappointed a Government inquiry into state abuse of children may not expand to include faith-based institutions, including itself. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said the primary role of an inquiry would be to focus on the state's responsibility. The Labour-led government promised to set up an inquiry, but groups of survivors want its scope broadened to cover places like religious institutions and sports clubs. Faith-based institutions include churches, religious schools, communes, charities, and umbrella organisations. Bill Kilgallon, who handles complaints for the Catholic Church in New Zealand, said leaving out such institutions was a missed opportunity.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/348251/catholic-church-disappointed-in-abuse-inquiry-s-limits

PM on abuse inquiry: 'We need to be open about our mistakes'

Despite calls to broaden the government's inquiry into abuse of children in state care, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the focus should stay on the role that the state played. The Labour-led government has promised to set up an inquiry, but groups of survivors want its scope broadened to cover places like religious institutions and sports clubs. The wide-ranging inquiry into child abuse held in Australia recently did cover these aspects and found the majority of children sexually assaulted were abused in faith-based institutions.

http://https//www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/348179/pm-on-abuse-inquiry-we-need-to-be-open-about-our-mistakes

2019: the year where married priests will be accepted officially

An author has announced the year 2019 as the year where married priests will be introduced in the Catholic Church. See the link. Well, we never get tied to a particular date for various reasons. But on the other hand married priests are already here..look at those coming from the Anglican side. They are accepted with their wives. On the other hand, priesthood is forever. Hence some of the priests who have left officially are still working as priests albeit in different conditions. So strictly speaking, married priests are already here! But if the Pope says it, one knows that it’s so important. Consequently it means that married people (not connected with the Anglican side) will be considered for priesthood. No word was given about those who have left officially or about those priests who wish to marry now!

https://maltesemarriedcatholicpriest.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/2019-the-year-where-married-priests-will-be-accepted-officially/

Cardinal O’Malley: Pope’s words 'a source of great pain' for abuse survivors

The chairman of the Vatican’s commission on sexual abuse has said that recent comments from Pope Francis were painful and alienating to survivors of clerical sexual abuse. "It is understandable that Pope Francis’ statements yesterday in Santiago, Chile were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, in a Jan. 20 statement.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-omalley-popes-words-a-source-of-great-pain-for-abuse-survivors-99063

Paedophile ex-priest ‘sorry’ for abusing four boys

A former priest convicted of sexually abusing boys in his care has expressed regret for his “abhorrent” crimes. Bernard Traynor, 64, was convicted of six charges of indecent assault in 1995 for abuse carried out against four boys in the 1970s while he was a trainee priest helping out at a children’s home in Newcastle. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard that the care of the children had been arranged in Scotland.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/paedophile-ex-priest-sorry-for-abusing-four-boys-1-4666758

Mascoutah priest was ‘subpigboy4u’ online, had leather chaps and straps, police say

The Mascoutah priest facing child-porn charges used an email address with the prefix “subpigboy4u” to exchange images via the internet, according to police documents. The police documents, obtained Friday by the News-Democrat, say the Rev. Gerald Hechenberger paid to join porn-sharing sites, had leather chaps in his possession when arrested, and sent messages to others seeking to exchange pornography.

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article194494649.html

Letter: Until victims went public, sexual assaults were ignored

The recent letter excoriating witnesses for moral culpability and objecting to the revelation of sexual abuse of women under the power of men who may be innocent or may have atoned may be addressed by what happened with the revelation of sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church. Until victims went public, the assaults were ignored. Women who complained to human resource departments of workplace sexual abuse were ignored, demoted, humiliated by co-workers or let go. Parents of children abused by priests found their complaints covered up by the church and abusive priests moved to the next parish. Not until the complaints went public was action taken.

http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/12/letter-until-victims-went-public-sexual-assaults-were-ignored/

Diocese of Rockville Centre extends deadline to file clergy sexual abuse claims

The Diocese of Rockville Centre extended its deadline for those wishing to enter into its Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which was set up in October to compensate survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. Victims who had previously notified the diocese that they had suffered abuse by a member of the clergy were invited to participate in Phase One of the program, and were required to submit paperwork by Dec. 31. The new deadline is Jan. 31.

http://www.liherald.com/stories/diocese-of-rockville-centre-extends-deadline-to-file-clergy-sexual-abuse-claims,99141

Calls to include faith institutions in abuse investigation

Faith-based institutions need to be included when the government investigates the abuse of children in state care, says a psychologist involved with Australia's inquiry into abuse. The Labour-led government has promised to set up an inquiry and groups of survivors want its scope broadened. They are being backed by psychologist Michelle Mulvihill, who was a consultant to Australia's royal commission on institutional sex abuse.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/347947/calls-to-include-faith-institutions-in-abuse-investigation

Nephew accuses Archbishop Apuron of raping him during family function

Mark Apuron says he was estranged from his family as a result of being raped by his uncle. Guam – Archbishop Anthony Apuron now has five sex abuse lawsuits filed against him in District Court. The latest accusation comes from his estranged nephew, Mark Apuron. It’s perhaps the most shocking of the lawsuits filed against clergy and the local Catholic Church as of late: an allegation of sexual abuse against ousted Archbishop Anthony Apuron from his own nephew who bears the same surname, 43-year-old Mark Apuron.

http://pacificnewscenter.com/nephew-accuses-archbishop-apuron-of-raping-him-during-family-function/

Guam archbishop faces new sexual assault allegation

Catholic church officials in Guam say they have notified the Vatican of a new sexual abuse allegation against Archbishop Anthony Apuron. According to the Archdiocese of Agana, a relative of Apuron claimed to local media he was abused by the archbishop in 1990. Apuron already faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of altar boys in the 1970s. He has denied those claims and has not been criminally charged. His lawyer Jacqueline Terlaje didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

http://religionnews.com/2018/01/10/guam-archbishop-faces-new-sexual-assault-allegation/

Should the Church apologize for past use of corporal punishment in Catholic schools?

Dear Katrina, Has there been any attempt on Aleteia to address the pain expressed by Catholics who suffered abuse [in the form of corporal punishment] at Catholic schools? It would appear that some these stories are PTSD stories from decades ago. Are these people disposable Catholics? Not necessary a fun or happy fact, but a reality of the past which seems to still be with us today. Happy New Year, Dave S.

https://aleteia.org/2018/01/11/should-the-church-apologize-for-past-use-of-corporal-punishment-in-catholic-schools/

80 clergy accused of child sex abuse in Chile ahead of pope’s visit

ALMOST 80 Roman Catholic clergy have been accused of sexually abusing children in Chile since 2000, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday, ahead of a visit to the country next week by Pope Francis. Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, has spoken out against such abuse, which has rocked the church for years, but has faced calls to improve accountability and transparency.

https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/31879/

Andy Savage: Sexual assault support group sees 'red flags' in church response

Opposition to Memphis Pastor Andy Savage continued to mount Wednesday, with a petition drive calling for his firing or resignation building momentum and a national support group for sexual abuse victims speaking out against him. The online petition, saying Savage committed a crime and should be disqualified from ministerial leadership, had just under 1,700 signatures by Wednesday evening, up from about 800 Tuesday night. People nationwide have signed.

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/01/10/andy-savage-sexual-assault-support-groups-sees-red-flags-church-response/1020846001/

Vatican takes over scandal-hit Catholic society on eve of pope's trip to Peru

The Vatican has taken over a Peru-based Catholic movement whose founder was accused of sexual and psychological abuse, just days before Pope Francis starts a trip to Chile and Peru where the sexual abuse scandal is expected to play out on the sidelines. A Vatican statement said the congregation for religious orders had issued a decree naming a commissioner to take over the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a conservative movement that has chapters and about 20,000 members throughout South America and the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/10/vatican-catholicism-peru-pope-francis

Former Haverhill priest settles allegations of sexual assault

A priest who retired to a rectory at All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Haverhill and then to a Lawrence nursing home has reached a five-figure settlement with a man who said the priest sexually assaulted him at a Jamaica Plain parish over a three-year period, beginning when the boy was 10 years old in 1973. The man, William Brown, who now lives in Abington, reached the settlement with Father Arnold Kelley 20 months after suing Kelley in Essex County Superior Court. His complaint accused Kelley of fondling, sodomizing and performing oral sex on him at St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Dorchester where Brown was then a parishioner and where Kelley was assigned. Brown's suit also said Kelley misrepresented “the wrongful nature of the explicit sexual behavior” so that Brown – now 54 – only recently realized he had been assaulted.

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/haverhill/former-haverhill-priest-settles-allegations-of-sexual-assault/article_070f7b25-9e82-51cb-917d-d09cbee92429.html

Will the Pope Address Sexual Abuse in the Chilean Church?

On Monday, Pope Francis begins a four-day visit to Chile. For his trip to be successful, he must confront the scandalous sexual crimes of a vile Chilean priest, Fernando Karadima. Newspapers and television broadcasts in Santiago are filled with reports about Father Karadima’s abuse of minors and his impunity. The allegations against Father Karadima were brought to the attention of the Chilean church in 2004. No inquiry was opened until the victims — after being pressured into silence for years — finally went public.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/opinion/pope-francis-karadima-chile-abuse.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180112&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y

Calls to include faith institutions in abuse investigation

Faith-based institutions need to be included when the government investigates the abuse of children in state care, says a psychologist involved with Australia's inquiry into abuse. The Labour-led government has promised to set up an inquiry and groups of survivors want its scope broadened. They are being backed by psychologist Michelle Mulvihill, who was a consultant to Australia's royal commission on institutional sex abuse.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/347947/calls-to-include-faith-institutions-in-abuse-investigation

Albany, Pass the Child Victims Act

If the #MeToo movement of the last few months has taught us anything, it’s that it is extremely painful and risky for victims of sexual harassment or assault — even those with power, money and connections — to speak out against their abusers. Now consider how much harder it must be for a child. It should surprise no one that a vast majority of people who were sexually abused as children never report it. For those who do, it takes years, and often decades, to recognize what happened to them, realize it wasn’t their fault and tell someone. The trauma leads to higher rates of alcoholism and drug abuse, depression, suicide and other physical and psychological problems that cost millions or billions to treat — money that should be paid not by taxpayers, but by the offenders and the institutions that cover for them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/opinion/albany-child-victims-act.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180111&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse the toughest test for the Catholic Church.

A FORMER trainee Catholic priest whose evidence to the child abuse royal commission exposed the secret 20th century Vatican decisions behind a global child sex scandal said the church can heal if Pope Francis is up to the challenge. While royal commission final report recommendations in December on celibacy and the secrecy of the confessional attracted the headlines, less publicised recommendations presented more significant and fundamental challenges that the church had to grapple with, lawyer, author and former trainee priest Kieran Tapsell said.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5161337/former-trainee-priest-exposes-vatican-secrets-and-pope-francis-challenge/#slide=1

Catholic ex-priest refuses to speak at sexual abuse trial in Germany

It's the second court session in which the 53-year-old declined to speak. He faces sexual abuse and other charges. He was expelled from the priesthood in 2008 but continued to pose as a cleric. A 53-year-old former priest is currently on trial in a district court in the Bavarian city of Deggendorf. Thomas Maria B., who was born in Wuppertal, is accused of having sexually abused five German boys under the age of 14 a total of 110 times between 1997 and 2016. The man is also accused of the attempted rape of an 18-year-old in Austria. The attorney defending the former Catholic priest has said that the man "feels incapable" of testifying before the court. He also refused to address the court in December.

http://www.dw.com/en/catholic-ex-priest-refuses-to-speak-at-sexual-abuse-trial-in-germany/a-42078560

Cardinal Pell living at Sydney seminary ahead of historic sex abuse hearing

An Australian seminary where Cardinal George Pell is living while he fights charges of historic sexual abuse says the top Vatican figure is "very much looking forward" to the start of a key court hearing, where dozens of witnesses will give evidence. It had been unclear where Pell, the most senior cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church to face criminal charges, had been living since he was given a leave of absence from his role at the Holy See and returned to his native Australia.

http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/10/asia/australia-pell-seminary-sydney-intl/

Catastrophic institutional failure' can be fixed

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse spent five years interviewing over 8,000 survivors, their abusers and personnel from institutions that had covered up the abuse. The Commission found that 61.8 percent of all survivors within religious institutions had been under the care of the Catholic Church.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/catastrophic-institutional-failure-cataloged-australian-abuse-commission-can-be

Wales Prepares to Ban Physical Punishment of Children

LONDON — The government of Wales has a question for parents: Is it ever right to physically punish your children? It began a 12-week feedback process on the issue on Tuesday, with officials saying they hoped to join more than 50 countries that have adopted an outright ban on the practice. They would also be following the example of Scotland, which announced plans for a ban after a consultation of its own last summer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/world/europe/wales-ban-children-physical-punishment.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180109&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y

Thanks to NCR, my crisis became a cause Barbara Blaine

Editor's note: This story is part of a weeklong series dedicated to looking back on 30 years of the abuse crisis in the Catholic church. Read all parts of the series. A single issue of NCR changed the course of my life and eventually led to my starting an international movement of survivors of clergy abuse. I am extremely grateful to NCR! In the summer of 1985, I was a Catholic Worker at a house of hospitality in Chicago filled with about 30 mentally ill men and women. Many more crossed the threshold of the dining room at mealtimes. There were not many quiet moments, but when a quiet afternoon did present itself, I used it to read through a stack of old newspapers and magazines, and I came across the June 7, 1985, issue of NCR.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/thanks-ncr-my-crisis-became-cause

Editorial: The Bell, the Smell Of Ink on Newsprint

It is instructive of the entertainment industry’s core values that the new film, “The Post,” may be destined for the same accolades as “Spotlight,” the Academy Award-winning film from two years ago about the Boston Globe’s investigation into the New England Catholic Church’s coverup of sexual abuse accusations against scores of priests. The critical role of the media’s capacity to dig for the truth is an indispensable cornerstone of our democracy, and compared to “Spotlight,” this year’s potential best picture is even more poignant given the disposition of the current occupants of the White House to discredit the media as “fake news.”

https://fcnp.com/2018/01/03/editorial-bell-smell-ink-newsprint/

Family of late Stone Mountain priest settles child molestation suit

Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Stone Mountain was the site of alleged abuse incidents at the hands of the Rev. Stanley Idziak in the 1980s. When a 47-year-old man decided to sue a former DeKalb County priest in 2017, he dreamed of facing his alleged abuser in court. But it turned out Father Stanley Idziak, who’d been accused of molesting multiple children in Dunwoody and Stone Mountain, had died months earlier, leaving the only legal recourse suing his estate. On Tuesday, the plaintiff withdrew the complaint after receiving a settlement from the priest’s family, attorney John Burdges said. “It just meant a lot to him that he had that opportunity to fight back,” Burdges said of his client, whose name is sealed in court filings. “His statement to me was, ‘John, it’s finally over.’” Burdges declined to say how much money was involved in the settlement, other than that it was all the family could give from the estate after administrative costs. Idziak’s estate was worth $62,000, according to a copy of his will obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

http://www.ajc.com/news/local/family-late-stone-mountain-priest-settles-child-molestation-suit/kIRowi2VETQa9pJMpHKEpK/

Father Tom Doyle says tax concessions should be on table as church responds to royal commion

Be bold: Dominican priest Tom Doyle outside the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2017 after giving evidence. He says government deference towards the Catholic church has to end because of the child sex scandal. THE Australian Government should ignore the church/state divide and put “massive pressure” on the Catholic Church to name child sexual abuse as a crime in church law, says the American Catholic cleric who first blew the whistle on the global abuse scandal in 1984.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5145496/catholic-church-whistleblower-cleric-urges-australian-government-to-be-bold/

Abuse survivor says conviction rate 'a joke'

A Dunedin survivor of historic abuse in state care says the number of prosecutions resulting from a national listening service is ''a joke''. Figures released to the Otago Daily Times, following an Official Information Act request, showed just two offenders had been successfully prosecuted as a result of referrals to police by the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service (CLAS).

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/abuse-survivor-says-conviction-rate-joke

Kenneally: ‘It’s a cover-up’

Charlie Flanagan has adopted a “no can do” attitude to a promised inquiry into claims of mishandling of child abuse allegations in Waterford, a victim has said. The justice minister said on Thursday that on the attorney-general’s advice a commission of inquiry into the response to complaints of abuse by Bill Kenneally, a convicted paedophile, would not proceed. He added that no action could be taken by the government until new cases being investigated by gardaí and considered by the director of public prosecutions had been resolved.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kenneally-its-a-cover-up-tp55rsnzm

Priest Accused of Abusing Boys in OC in the 80s Turns Up in Peru

A former Catholic priest in heavily brown SoCal parishes who was listed among alleged child abusers in 2004 has turned up a remote port city in Peru. The former priest, Horacio Edgardo Arrunátegui Jimenez, appears in a Peruvian television magazine investigation that aired last month confirming that the long-hiding priest was happily posted in Chimbote, on Peru’s northern coast, serving as a hospital chaplain under the auspices of the local diocese. Jimenez has been moving around between assignments in his native Peru and in Spain since he was abruptly removed from the ministry in Orange County. He was a popular priest in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the largely Latino parishes of St. Mary in Fullerton and St. Anthony Claret in Anaheim (yes, in Orange County). And then he disappeared.

http://www.lataco.com/priest-accused-of-abusing-boys-in-oc-in-the-80s-turns-up-in-peru/

Bishop warns parishioners about 'extremely dangerous' paedophile ex priest living 150 yards from primary school.

A bishop has warned parishioners about “an extremely dangerous paedophile” ex-priest who lives about 150 yards from a primary school. Convicted paedophile Oliver O’Grady, 72, originally from Limerick, now lives near six schools and a Montessori in the heart of Waterford city. The sicko was convicted for raping and abusing at least 25 children in California from 1973 onwards. Astonishingly, O’Grady lives close to an all-boys primary school.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/oliver-ogrady-waterford-roman-catholic-11803071

Catholic Church rocked by new sex abuse scandal as 10 paedophile priests named in Switzerland

The Catholic Church has been rocked by new sex abuse allegations, with victims in Switzerland identifying ten paedophile priests who abused children between the 1950s and 1990s. Jean-Marie Lovey, the bishop of the Swiss city Sion, apologised this week to the victims for the suffering they endured. Celibacy in spotlight as Australia slams Catholic Church for child sex abuse Around 220 victims came forward with allegations between 2010 and 2016, according to Swiss news agency SDA.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/catholic-church-rocked-by-new-sex-abuse-scandal-10-paedophile-priests-named-switzerland-1653774

Lawsuit: Priest sexually abused boy during confession night in 1958

Father Louis Brouillard allegedly sexually abused an altar boy during confession night in or around 1958, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court. The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as G.M. to protect his privacy, said Brouillard's sexual molestation and abuse included fondling, masturbation and oral copulation during the time G.M. was a minor altar boy at the Mangilao parish and as a Boy Scout in the Mangilao troop.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/01/05/lawsuit-priest-sexually-abused-boy-during-confession-night-1958/1006438001/

Fury as State probe axed into 'cover up' of Waterford paedophile Bill Kenneally's abuse

Victims say they and their families' lives are on hold waiting for investigation into how sex abuse complaints were not acted upon. Victims of Ireland’s worst paedophile were told yesterday that an inquiry promised last year into claims the State covered up the horrific abuse, has been shelved. They had hoped the probe would finally expose the organisations which knew - but did nothing about - the decades-long torture they suffered at the hands of depraved basketball coach Bill Kenneally. But Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday said it can not proceed because of fresh allegations against the jailed pervert.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/fury-state-probe-axed-cover-11798467