Sexual assault victim's father: 'Die in prison, you prick'

Victims and their families crowded into courtroom one in Whanganui yesterday for the sentencing of a man who molested seven girls aged between 4 and 14.
An atmosphere of nervous anticipation in the gallery quickly turned to one of disgust as Daniel Bell was brought into the dock. It was not long before many people in the group of about 20 were clutching tissues or pressing their hands to their mouths to hold back sobs.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11584144&ref=NZH_FBpage 

Catholic School Teacher Faces Sex Abuse Charges

A Catholic school teacher is facing sex abuse charges after being taken into custody by police on Wednesday.
Robert Bonner, a teacher, coach and part-time assistant athletic director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School a Catholic elementary and high school in Middle River, turned himself in to Baltimore County police Wednesday after a warrant for his arrest was issued Monday, a spokesman with the Archdiocese of Baltimore said in a statement.

http://www.wbal.com/article/217769/3/catholic-school-teacher-faces-sex-abuse-charges 

What cracked open the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church? on Religion and Ethics Report

Thomas Doyle remembers exactly what he was doing 33 years ago. He was a young priest with a big future, working in the Vatican embassy in Washington D.C. You’ll hear the story from the man himself. Tom Doyle is a Dominican priest, and therapist and long-time advocate for victims of church sex abuse.Then an envelope landed on his desk and changed everything – and not just his own life.
It would crack open the scandal of clerical sex abuse and become the biggest crisis for the Catholic Church since the Protestant reformation 500 years ago. You’ll hear the story from the man himself. Tom Doyle is a Dominican priest, and therapist and long-time advocate for victims of church sex abuse.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/what-cracked-open-the-child-sex-abuse-scandal-in-the-catholic-c/8228024 

Italian priest faces defrocking over orgies in the rectory

An Italian priest will likely lose his role after allegations that he organized orgies on church property. The scandal has rocked the Catholic church, with three other clergymen said to have participated in the sex parties in northern Italy.

Don Andrea Contin, priest of a small church in Padua, is accused of organizing orgies, having as many as 30 lovers, and taking trips with them to a naturist swingers' resort in France. He reportedly lived a double life, taking the women to expensive restaurants where he posed as a lawyer.

http://www.thelocal.it/20170203/italian-priests-likely-suspended-over-orgies-in-the-rectory 

The church helped the paedophile priest Brian Spillane in his life of crime

The Catholic Church in Australia harboured the paedophile priest Brian Joseph Spillane throughout his career, enabling him to commit sexual crimes against children. Father Spillane's victims were mostly boys who were assaulted while he ministered at St Stanislaus College — a Catholic day and boarding secondary school for boys, in Bathurst, New South Wales.
 And he assaulted girls in parishes elsewhere. Spillane (now aged 73) has recently completed a series of separate criminal trials, resulting in multiple convictions. The courts heard the girls' cases first, and Spillane is now in jail regarding three girls. On 3 February 2017 he faced a pre-sentence procedure for his most recent trials regarding 18 boys. A formal sentencing will be held on a later date to announce his total time behind bars.

http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/408 

Leading Catholic leaders to be grilled at child abuse inquiry

Australia's most senior Catholic leaders, including an archbishop charged with concealing child sexual abuse, will be grilled as a royal commission investigates why widespread offending occurred in church institutions.
Six of Australia's seven archbishops, many of whom have already appeared before the royal commission, and the leaders of Catholic religious orders will give evidence at the final public hearing into the church.

 

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/03/19/31/archbishops-summoned-to-abuse-hearing

Sexual Offences Nearly 2,000 Catholic Church figures implicated in child sex abuse report

More than 20 per cent of the members of some Catholic religious orders — including Marist Brothers and Christian Brothers — were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney is told.
Archbishop airs video warning to Catholics ahead of 'grim' data
Catholic Church leaders throughout Australia are warning church-goers and school parents about the release of data on Monday at the child sex abuse royal commission, describing it as an "horrific portrait of appalling abuse".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/sexual-offences

Rolf Harris lawyer says complainants in indecent assault trial either lying or exaggerating

The lawyer for Australian entertainer Rolf Harris has accused complainants in an indecent assault trial in London of either lying or exaggerating in their evidence.

In his closing argument Stephen Vullo QC said the testimonies given to the court by the seven women who allege Harris groped them in public could not be explained by memory lapses.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-01/rolf-harris-lawyer-says-complainants-lying-or-exaggerating/8228366 

Royal commission into sexual abuse: Senior Catholic leaders called to give evidence next week

Every Catholic archbishop in the country except for Hobart is being called to give evidence at a royal commission hearing starting next week in Sydney. Most of the Australia's senior Catholic leaders will front the commission in its final weeks.

Catholic leaders warn parishioners about grim data on child sexual abuse by clergy that will be produced. First time the Catholic Church has been so open about this information, victim advocates  The three-week public hearing will focus on the extent of child sexual abuse over almost seven decades and what church leaders are doing to protect children.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-03/royal-commission-most-catholic-archbishops-to-give-evidence/8240208 

Australian Catholic Church warns congregation ahead of final 'grim' royal commission hearing

Catholic Church leaders throughout Australia are warning church-goers and school parents about the release of data on Monday at the child sex abuse royal commission, describing it as an "horrific portrait of appalling abuse".

Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge was so concerned about the impact of the statistics relating to the extent of reported abuse within the Catholic Church, he emailed a video message to tens of thousands of Catholic school parents.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-03/australian-catholic-church-warns-congregation-ahead-of-grim-data/8240128 

Archbishop of Canterbury's QC friend blamed his beating of boys at a British summer camp on sleeping pill addiction

A part-time judge and friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury said he was addicted to sleeping pills at the time he was accused of subjecting boys to savage sado-masochistic beatings.
John Smyth QC, who ran Christian holiday camps attended by the Most Rev Justin Welby in the late Seventies, told church leaders his “extraordinary aberration of judgment” was linked to his addiction to prescription medication. Hampshire Police this week launched an investigation into Mr Smyth, who left Britain when the beating allegations came to light in the early Eighties, moving to Zimbabwe, where he also faces abuse claims. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/archbishop-canterburys-qc-friend-blamed-beating-boys-british/

Child Sex: 6 Australian archbishops face probe

Six Australian archbishops will be questioned by the country’s powerful royal commission as part of an investigation into widespread sexual abuse of children in Catholic churches and institutions, the commission announced on Friday.
The public hearing will begin in Sydney on Monday as part of the four-year-long inquiry into the handling of abuse cases, some as old as 70 years

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/child-sex-6-australian-archbishops-face-probe/ 

Clergy abuse cases won't be dismissed from local courts

Superior Court Judge Arthur R. Barcinas this week granted the Archdiocese of Agana’s request for more time to respond to lawsuits which accuse Catholic clergy of sexually abusing and raping former altar boys.

The judge also stated that the cases will not be dismissed in the Superior Court of Guam, even though 12 of the 15 clergy abuse lawsuits filed in local court had also been filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam as of Thursday afternoon. Attorneys representing the former altar boys have said they started filing the cases in federal court because eight Superior Court judges recused themselves. The judges cited conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest.

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/02/03/clergy-abuse-cases-wont-dismissed-local-courts/97435424/ 

Australian priest confesses to child abuse

An Australian priest used the confessional box to admit abusing altar boys, believing he was reconciling his continued offending with God. Another laughed after getting absolution, knowing the priest could not break the seal of confession.
Whether what is heard in the confessional should continue to stay in the confessional is one of the matters being considered by the child sex abuse royal commission as it again turns its focus to widespread offending in the Catholic Church in Australia.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2017/02/05/australian-priest-confesses-to-child-abuse.html 

After clash, Knights of Malta reaffirm loyalty to pope

The Order of Malta, the ancient Catholic order of knights which is now a worldwide charity, on Thursday sought to reassure members and donors that a recent showdown between its former leader and the Vatican had not weakened its loyalty to the pope.
At the same time, senior members of the Order, which was founded in 1038, acknowledged that the highly public clash led by its former top Knight, Grand Master Matthew Festing, had hurt donations.

 http://www.businessinsider.com/r-after-clash-knights-of-malta-reaffirm-loyalty-to-pope-2017-2/?r=AU&IR=T