George Pell's appeal against his child sex abuse convictions will be decided by a court next week

Cardinal George Pell could be released from custody next week if his appeal against his child sex abuse convictions is successful.
Key points: If the jury's verdict is judged to be unreasonable, Pell's conviction will be overturned If the judges find the court erred, a retrial could be ordered

The appeal outcome could itself be subject to a High Court appeal The Victorian Court of Appeal will rule on whether to overturn Pell's convictions for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. It was announced today that judgment will be handed down on Wednesday, August 21.

A jury found Pell guilty last December of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with a child, making him the highest ranked Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex abuse. Three judges have scrutinised the case and will take their seats behind the bench to announce their decision from 9:30am on Wednesday. The proceedings will be live streamed on the Supreme Court of Victoria's website. So what are the possible outcomes?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/george-pells-child-sex-abuse-appeal-court-decision-explainer/11250226 

VIDEO: Pope Francis’ disturbing support of a Cardinal caught covering up sex abuse

One of the most problematic aspects of Pope Francis’ pontificate has been his promotion and support for prelates who undermine Church teaching. There are numerous examples, but today on Episode 5 of The John-Henry Westen Show, I’m going to talk about one of the most disturbing and prominent cases. Cardinal Godfried Danneels died on March 14 this year.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/video-pope-francis-disturbing-support-of-a-cardinal-caught-covering-up-sex-abuse

Next Columbus Diocese Bishop issues statement on clergy sex abuse

The Rev. Robert Brennan, the next bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, said that he was aware of allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members in the New York diocese where he has worked for 30 years, but that he was not personally responsible for responding to them.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190316/next-columbus-diocese-bishop-issues-statement-on-clergy-sex-abuse

More Catholics Are Considering Leaving Church Over Sex Abuse Scandal

A growing number of American Catholics are reconsidering their loyalty to the global church as it continues on a slow path toward reforming how it handles clerical sexual abuse. A Gallup poll published Wednesday found that 37 percent of U.S. Catholics have questioned whether they will remain part of the church this year amid recent news about sexual abuse of young people by priests. This is up from 22 percent who said the same in 2002, the last time Gallup conducted polling on this question.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gallup-catholics-sex-abuse_n_5c8a647ce4b038892f4b313d 

Germany's Catholic Church addresses child sex abuse scandal amid protests

Germany's under-fire Catholic Church admitted Thursday it must urgently confront its child sex abuse scandal, but victims accused it of continued "stonewalling", especially on compensation. As in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, Germany's Catholic Church has had to admit to abuses by predator priests and clergy and their systematic cover-up over decades. SEE ALSO: German Catholic Church apologizes as scale of child abuse laid bare


https://www.thelocal.de/20190314/germanys-catholic-church-to-address-child-sex-abuse-scandal-as-protests-take-place

Hong Kong’s Cardinal John Tong announces measures against sex abuse of church minors, saying there is ‘no place for culture of silence’

Catholic priests and other adults who serve the church in Hong Kong have been told they should not be alone with children in a confined space, the head of the city’s 400,000-strong diocese has said as he announced new measures against sex abuse. In his latest pastoral letter printed in the diocese’s weekly publication Kung Kao Po, Cardinal John Tong Hon wrote: “There is no place for a culture of silence and covering up in church circles.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3001778/hong-kong-cardinal-john-tong-announces-measures-against-sex 

Poland's Catholic Church says 625 minors abused by priests since 1990

Poland's Catholic Church leaders released a study on Thursday that said 625 minors have been abused by 382 priests from 1990 through June of last year — a revelation marking the first time officials have ever presented statistics about the scope of the child sex abuse problem there, the AP reports. Details: Officials found that 345 victims were under age 15, 280 victims between 15 to 18 and 58% of the victims were male, per the AP.

https://www.axios.com/polands-catholic-church-625-minors-abused-priests-0dfa9d9f-03e1-4653-9c27-153b32a3ca6a.html

Memorial proposed for Ballarat survivors of child sexual abuse after Cardinal George Pell jailed

As the fallout from Cardinal George Pell’s six-year jail sentence continues, now is the time for action to support survivors of child sexual abuse in Ballarat. There have been repeated calls from the survivors themselves for more support, and now the son of a man who was abused as a child by priests and later committed suicide, is renewing a push for a memorial in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Peter Curran was an early crusader, with Stephen Woods, who fought to give survivors a voice.

https://www.theleader.com.au/story/5956019/calls-for-memorial-to-victims-of-child-sexual-abuse-in-ballarat-after-pell-sentenced/ 

Nessel warns Catholic Church: Let state investigate clergy sexual abuse

As Pope Francis holds a summit on clergy sex abuse at the Vatican, survivors are demanding accountability and transparency from church leaders and assert that the time of sex abuse cover-ups is over. Michigan AG: "If an investigator comes to your door and asks to speak with you, please ask to see their badge and not their rosary"

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/02/21/catholic-church-abuse-michigan/2936561002/ 

No Christmas salary for Catholic priests as public donations drop

GOOD = All their are missing is their GOD = MONEY... Ann

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The diocese of Waterford and Lismore has revealed they are being forced to use their own funds to pay Catholic priests as donations from congregations have seen a massive drop. The Catholic diocese of Waterford and Lismore has been using internal funds for priest’s salaries, rather than money collected from Mass goers three-times a year, due to a major downturn in the amounts collected from parishioners.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/christmas-salary-catholic-priests-public-donations-drop

Catholic Church 'nowhere close' to confronting global 'epidemic' of child sex abuse by priests

The Catholic Church is "nowhere close" to enacting the reforms needed to stop the "epidemic" of sex abuse by predatory priests and bishops against children, campaigners warned on Tuesday. Pope Francis is "in retreat" from any meaningful effort to bring abusers to justice, said Bishop Accountability, a leading pressure group.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/19/catholic-church-nowhere-close-confronting-global-epidemic-child/ 

Thirteen states now investigating alleged sexual abuse linked to Catholic church

Florida's attorney general said Thursday she is launching an investigation of potential sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church, making Florida at least the 13th state with an ongoing statewide probe of the church. "Any priest that would exploit a position of power and trust to abuse a child is a disgrace to the church and a threat to society," said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/thirteen-states-now-investigating-alleged-sexual-abuse-linked-catholic-church-n916646 

Syracuse bishop to release list of abusive priests before successor is named

Syracuse Bishop Robert Cunningham plans to release a list of priests with credible claims of child abuse against them as he awaits the naming of his successor. Consideration for the next bishop was one of the reasons Cunningham, 75, gave in a letter distributed this weekend to the people of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

https://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2018/12/syracuse_bishop_to_release_list_of_abusive_priests_before_successor_is_named.html 

‘The tongue kills like a knife’: Pope Francis equates gossiping with terrorism

In a strongly worded warning, Pope Francis decried gossip as a form of “terrorism” which ruins reputations, and said that fake news is a modern day scourge of the church faithful. During his Wednesday address to the general public in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope explored the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

https://www.rt.com/news/443981-pope-francis-gossip-terrorism/ 

Australian Prime Minister Apologises to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse

The apology followed the culmination of a five-year government inquiry that exposed institutional sexual abuse as well as the countless cover-ups of the accusations. New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered a national apology on Monday to survivors and their families who had suffered institutional child sexual abuse. The prime minister acknowledged the government’s failure to protect the children from systemic abuse.

https://thewire.in/world/australian-prime-minister-apologises-to-survivors-of-institutional-child-sexual-abuse 

Long Island LI diocese settles nearly 300 claims filed by clergy sexual abuse victims

Nearly 300 men and women will be compensated by the Diocese of Rockville Centre for the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of priests, in some cases decades ago. The diocese has received 293 claims since it established a special compensation program last fall, said Camille Biros, the program's co-administrator. So far, she said, 221 victims have been offered financial settlements and the others will receive offers within a few months. Most of the claims, Biros said, were filed by men. She would not comment on the number of priests accused of sexual abuse.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/catholic-church-sex-abuse-victims-1.20989707 

Chilean police raid bishops' offices over abuse accusations - prosecutor

Chilean police and prosecutors investigating accusations of sexual abuse by clerics launched simultaneous raids on Friday on the offices of archbishops in two cities in the country’s south, officials said. Sexual crimes specialists from Chile’s investigative police unit questioned staff and seized documents in the offices of the Roman Catholic archbishops of Temuco and Villarrica in the region of Araucanía 450 miles south of Santiago.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-chile-abuse/chilean-police-raid-bishops-offices-over-abuse-accusations-prosecutor-idUKKBN1K331T 

What’s Next for Cardinal McCarrick? How the Church Addresses Sex-Abuse Allegations

WASHINGTON — The allegation that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a teenager is a bombshell for the Catholic Church in America. Cardinal McCarrick has stepped down from active priestly ministry at the direction of the Holy See, after an initial investigation judged the allegation to be “credible and substantiated.”  What does that mean, and what might be next for McCarrick?

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/whats-next-for-cardinal-mccarrick-how-the-church-addresses-sex-abuse-allega 

Women from 'The Keepers' discuss experience at Baltimore conference on child sexual abuse prevention

Three women featured in the documentary “The Keepers” renewed calls Thursday for the Archdiocese of Baltimore to release its files on the priest at the center of the Netflix series. “Open your books, release your records,” Abbie Schaub said at a conference at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Schaub, along with Lil Hughes Knipp and Teresa Lancaster, was featured in a panel at the annual symposium of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, which is part of the public health school.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-the-keepers-panel-20180418-story.html