'She supported priest sexual abuse victims'

A man who wanted to install a gravestone at a suburban Chicago cemetery that proclaimed his late mother's support for victims of 'rapist' priests has reached a resolution with a Roman Catholic diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet refused to allow the proposed marker for Marguerite Ridgeway because it included what the diocese called 'explicit language'. The diocese owns the Assumption Cemetery in suburban Wheaton where Ridgeway is buried.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5223741/Dispute-resolved-proposed-rapist-priests-gravestone.html

Above the Law?

For many, the recent death of Cardinal Bernard Law is emblematic of the Catholic Church’s own troubled past when it comes to dealing with pedophile priests within its ranks. Law, who fled Boston as the sexual abuse scandal began to unfold across the front pages of major metropolitan newspapers throughout the United States, took shelter in the Vatican for nearly 15 years, enjoying a level of protection that he never saw fit to afford the youngest members of his diocese. Like the church he served, Law’s life was a complicated and sometimes contradictory existence.

http://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20171230/above-law

Judge rejects archdiocese bankruptcy plans, orders return to mediation

A federal judge has rejected competing reorganization plans for the the bankrupt Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and ordered the church and its creditors back into mediation. In orders released Thursday, Judge Robert Kressel said plans put forth by the archdiocese and a creditors committee made up largely of sexual abuse victims both had shortcomings.

http://www.southernminn.com/waseca_county_news/news/state/article_5f0b5f06-3f6e-5563-8a6d-871e00008e5e.html

Gov. Cuomo Caught: Sexual Predator’s are Protected from Prosecution as Rape Victims are Denied Equal Rights

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is caught in his own web of lies and deception, he is protecting sexual predators and pedophiles, instead of women and children rape victims Governor Andrew Cuomo is protecting sexual predator and pedophile caregivers, just like Cardinal Bernard Law was doing with Catholic priests.” — Michael Carey - Advocate for people with disabilities and their families ALBANY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, December 29, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Thousands of sexual assaults and rapes of women and children with disabilities within Governor Andrew Cuomo’s mental health agencies have been reported in the last four and a half years to Cuomo’s internal abuse hotline, instead of to 911 emergency call centers. Almost all of these sexual assault and rape crimes have disappeared internally and have been covered-up.

http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/423809199/gov-cuomo-caught-sexual-predator-s-are-protected-from-prosecution-as-rape-victims-are-denied-equal-rights

Attleboro's Tom Carroll remembered for seeking justice for abused children

For three decades Tom Carroll investigated the most heinous and notorious child abuse and child sex abuse cases throughout Bristol County. They include the Father James Porter case, which started the avalanche of child sex abuse claims against priests in the Catholic Church that followed, and the Attleboro religious cult case in which a 6-month-old child was starved to death by his father in the name of God.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/attleboro-s-tom-carroll-remembered-for-seeking-justice-for-abused/article_7e2743dc-f1d7-54de-940f-55c682e60411.html

Dozens come forward to report abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Some 80 reports of sexual abuse involving the Jehovah’s Witnesses community have been made over the past month, Trouw said on Thursday. In total, 50 reports were made to the hotline set up by the Reclaimed Voices foundation, while a further 30 were received by the newspaper after it published a report on the growing scandal earlier this month.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/12/dozens-come-forward-to-report-abuse-by-jehovahs-witnesses/

The Lamp Post

Last week's death of Cardinal Bernard Law brought back bad memories for many people across the region — some in Haverhill. Locals remember well the story of how now ex-priest Ronald Paquin sexually abused boys when he served at Haverhill's St. John the Baptist Church decades ago. The Paquin case put the city smack in the middle of the Catholic church sex abuse scandal. The death of Law — who was accused of moving abusive priests from one parish to another — brought angry reactions from locals who have been critical of him since the scandal became public.

http://www.hgazette.com/news/local_news/the-lamp-post/article_bb99872e-ba1f-59f6-a438-9ff8a8b3fce0.html

Give citizens a voice against injustice

We have a societal tendency to give people in power undue benefit of the doubt at the expense of justice when faced with allegations of systemic abuse. Additionally, it is common that the pure chance of a victim's birth – their gender, race or economic conditions – will give enough cause to discredit their lived experience. From sexual abuse (the Catholic Church; Hollywood; U.S. Gymnastics; Missoula, Mont.) to police brutality (throughout history and nationwide), the consequences have been deep and lasting. When the arc of the universe bends toward justice, the perspective of an independent agency has been necessary to right the consistent imbalance in power, privilege and protection.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2017/12/28/give-citizens-voice-against-injustice-letters-editor-dec-28/977188001/

What a Recovering Catholic and Out Gay Man Makes of the Priest Who Just Came Out

On Dec. 17, the Rev. Gregory Greiten shared a secret with parishioners at the St. Bernadette Catholic Parish: “I am gay.” Greiten was then greeted with a standing ovation, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 'I am gay': Wisconsin priest comes out to parishioners, gets standing ovation Father Gregory Greiten said he revealed his sexual orientation because he wants to be a role model. The next day, Greiten wrote a column in the National Catholic Reporter. As someone who now uses the descriptor “recovering Catholic” to answer questions about my religious identity, was once approached for the priesthood, struggled with reconciling my faith with my sexual orientation, and just finished writing about these experiences and more in a book called I Can’t Date Jesus, much of what Greiten wrote felt all too familiar.

https://www.theroot.com/what-a-recovering-catholic-and-practicing-gay-man-makes-1821535761

Pope will extend the commission for the protection of children for three more years / America: The Jesuit Review

It remains unclear clear whether the P.C.P.M. (Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors) will continue to include survivors among its members in its next three-year term, as it did in its first term. America (magazine) has learned that there has been “considerable discussion” on how best to involve survivors in the work of the commission. (America: The Jesuit Review) Pope Francis will renew the mandate of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for another three years, informed sources told America this week. Its membership, however, will not be announced until the New Year. While many of its current members will be renewed for a second three-year term, others will be replaced.

https://voicefaithful.wordpress.com/2017/12/19/pope-will-extend-the-commission-for-the-protection-of-children-for-three-more-years-america-the-jesuit-review/

Ex-priest extradited from PH to North Dakota for child molestation

FARGO, North Dakota — An ex-priest accused of molesting two boys in the 1990s has been extradited from the Philippines to North Dakota to face charges. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Dakota announced Friday that Fernando Laude Sayasaya is back in the United States and will face child sexual abuse charges in Cass County.

http://usa.inquirer.net/8333/ex-priest-extradited-us-sex-abuse-minors

Clergy abuse survivor: 'I hope he gets what he deserves in hell'

BOSTON — Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented many of the survivors of clergy sexual abuse, is gathering survivors of the abuse Wednesday to discuss the death of Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston. Law, whose failure to stop child molesters in the priesthood sparked what would become the worst crisis in American Catholicism, died early Wednesday, the Vatican said. He was 86.

http://www.wcvb.com/article/clergy-abuse-survivors-comment-on-death-of-cardinal-law/14470257

It saddens me and turns my stomach upside down.'

TWO LOCAL priests reflected with sadness on the history of child sexual abuse within Catholic institutions after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse presented its final report to the Governor General on Friday, December 15. After 54 years working as a Catholic priest in the Darling Downs and beyond, Fr Terry Hickling said the thought of abuse within the Church shocked and disappointed him. "I am very, very sad that these things have occurred and that priests religious and people involved in our Church have been involved in pedophilia," Fr Hickling said. "It saddens me and turns my stomach upside down."

https://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/local-priests-respond-to-abuse/3296735/

Will priest ever return to face Scottish intercourse abuse trial?

Fears are growing that an Australian former monk accused of sexually abusing children at a Catholic boarding school in Scotland may never face trial. Father Denis “Chrysostom” Alexander is in custody in Sydney and is contesting moves to extradite him back to Scotland, on the grounds of ill health. The 81-year-old was among several monks accused in a Scotland documentary in 2013 of sexual and physical abuse at the Fort Augustus Abbey school. Fr Alexander denies the allegations.

https://kaplanherald.com/2017/12/22/aberdeen-bypass-contractor-penalised-280000-over-river-air-pollution/" target="_blank">https://kaplanherald.com/2017/12/22/aberdeen-bypass-contractor-penalised-280000-over-river-air-pollution/

Adrian Piccoli slams the Catholic Church's response to the Royal Commission

The 189 recommendations handed down by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have sparked a heated debate within the Griffith community. If the recommendations were to be taken on board by the Catholic Church, it would see the ‘seal’ of the religious confessional tossed aside, meaning priests would be forced to report any child sexual abuse revealed to them, currently not required by law.

http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/5139040/no-religion-gets-to-choose-which-australian-laws-they-obey/?cs=12