Saturday Soapbox: Catholic church whistleblowers need protection to expose abuse.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a gay man in a church that teaches homosexual behavior is sinful, has been exposed as a sexual predator who targeted males, mostly seminarians, and young boys. According to Kenneth Woodward (former religious editor for Newsweek, Commonweal -11/9/18), McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., was not only protected by his high office but by a network of gay clerics that had secrets to keep. Woodward writes, “By network, I mean groups of gay priests, diocesan and religious, who encourage the sexual grooming of seminarians and young priests for decades, and who themselves lead double lives – breaking their vows of chastity while ministering to the laity and staffing the various bureaucracies of the church.”

https://www.yakimaherald.com/opinion/saturday-soapbox-catholic-church-whistleblowers-need-protection-to-expose-abuse/article_7bd503d6-e929-11e8-b016-778929e01d80.html 

Paedophile priest was paid by church AFTER he was jailed for his sex abuse

The Catholic Church in Birmingham gave money for years to a priest AFTER he was released from prison for abusing children. Father Samuel Penney, who was based at St Mary and St Modwen Church, in Burton upon Trent in the 1970s, was given the cash so he could settle in another part of the country, an inquiry has heard. The shamed priest was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in 1993 for sex assaults on boys and girls.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/paedophile-priest-paid-church-after-15460496 

15 more victims of sexual abuse in Scouting Ireland come forward

An internal review has so far identified 108 alleged abuse victims and 71 alleged abusers in the youth organization, with most cases dating between the 1960s and 1980s, TheJournal.ie reports. Safeguarding expert Ian Elliott, the former chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, told the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs that the reports have come from a number of sources including “an increasing number of people coming forward.”

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/victims-sexual-abuse-scouting-ireland-come-forward 

'He was inside my sleeping bag... I was half asleep' - unlocked filing cabinet at Scouting HQ exposes history of child abuse

Mark was an excited six-year-old when he joined the Catholic Boy Scouts. His family was enthusiastic too. His mother joined in with other mothers baking for cake sales and jumble sales to fund scouting trips. The Scout Master became a good friend of his parents, dropping in on the family unannounced.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/he-was-inside-my-sleeping-bag-i-was-half-asleep-unlocked-filing-cabinet-at-scouting-hq-exposes-history-of-child-abuse-37562741.html 

Convicted Archbishop 'knew about' claims on paedophile priest. NZ

A survivor of clerical sex abuse says the Archbishop of Adelaide would have known about allegations of offending by a paedophile priest who abused at least one girl in New Zealand. Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson, the highest ranked Catholic in the world convicted for concealing clerical child abuse, was sentenced yesterday to a year in detention. He covered up for priest James Fletcher in New South Wales in the 1970s.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/361045/convicted-archbishop-knew-about-claims-on-paedophile-priest

Police investigating former Catholic priest. NZ

An ex-Catholic priest living in Asia who was nicknamed "the Phantom Feeler" by boys at a leading Wellington Catholic school is being investigated by police. A man who says he witnessed the priest groping boys in the 1970s said the Church and school must do more to uncover the extent of Father AM Donnelly's crimes. Police recently interviewed two men in their 50s who said they saw the dormitory master groping a boy under the sheets one night in a dorm at St Patrick's College, Silverstream, in 1974.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368900/police-investigating-former-catholic-priest

Support group reveals more victims as Church stands silent. NZ

More survivors of clerical sex abuse are coming forward after Catholic school Old Boys formed an online support network as the Church continues stonewalling over the extent of sexual predation. As the new victims emerged, a Catholic religious order used the upcoming Royal Commission as a reason for not providing information to RNZ about known child abusers, even though a report on faith-based abuse is not due until 2023.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/376800/support-group-reveals-more-victims-as-church-stands-silent 

Understanding Sex Abuse: An Interview with Cyndie Randall, MA, LLPC

If we want to fight sex abuse in the church, the first step is educating ourselves. We have to understand what abuse is and how predators operate. I asked Cyndie Randall, MA, LLPC to answer some questions so we can be better equipped to fight this evil. As you read, look out for links to resources she’s provided for us so we can learn even more.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/waystationinthewilderness/2018/11/understanding-sex-abuse/ 

Monday Mix: Sex abuse probes, 'controlling' church, Mormon Jesus, sanctuary arrest, empty churches

Welcome to another edition of the Monday Mix, where we focus on headlines and insights you might have missed from the weekend and late in the week. The fine print: Just because we include a headline here doesn't mean we won't offer additional analysis in a different post, particularly if it's a major story. In fact, if you read a piece linked here and have questions or concerns that we might address, please don't hesitate to comment below or tweet us at @GetReligion. The goal here is to point at important news and say, "Hey, look at this."

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2018/11/26/monday-mix-clergy-abuse-inquiries-controlling-church-lds-and-jesus-immigration-arrest-empty-churches 

‘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/ 

Head of U.S. Catholic bishops kept 2 priests accused of abuse in active ministry

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, making him one of the most powerful Catholic officials in the country. He has also been one of the most vocal critics of the church’s handling of its sex abuse scandal. But this summer, Rev. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, a priest whom DiNardo had promoted, was arrested for allegedly molesting two children. DiNardo, the archbishop of Galveston-Houston since 2006, has vowed to release by January a list of all the priests in Houston who have been, in the church’s judgment, “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a child.

https://kpax.com/news/national-news/2018/11/21/head-of-u-s-catholic-bishops-kept-2-priests-accused-of-abuse-in-active-ministry/ 

Spring mother of church abuse accuser not too hopeful son's priest will be on clergy list

Ahead of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston publishing a list of all clergy "credibly accused' of sexual abuse, a mother of one alleged victim isn't hopeful the priest her son says abused him will be on it. Carol LaBonte, of Spring, has been frustrated with the church she loves for years. "It has been covered up and covered up and covered up," she said. "I've had it."

https://abc13.com/mom-of-church-abuse-accuser-not-too-hopeful-in-clergy-list/4737024/ 

Catholic Cardinal: LGBTQ People Are to Blame for Sex Abuse Scandal

The former doctrine chief for the Catholic Church told a conservative website the child sex abuse scandal in the church is tied to growing influence of LGBTQ ideology, which he said was based on atheism and the denial of God. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke with the far-right website LifeSite regarding the recent resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

https://www.advocate.com/religion/2018/11/23/catholic-cardinal-lgbtq-people-are-blame-sex-abuse-scandal 

Why Catholic bishops are terrified of investigations

The Pennsylvania Grand Jury report into clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church and the Australian Royal Commission on child sex-abuse have an English equivalent in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is currently taking evidence from witnesses, in public hearings.

https://catholiccitizens.org/views/82277/why-catholic-bishops-are-terrified-of-investigations/ 

Even as the Catholic Church claims to come clean, something is not right

The only thing that can save the Roman Catholic Church in America is the truth, and the truth is going to hurt. This is the choice facing the ecclesial establishment, which must decide either to release its vast records related to clergy sexual abuse, or wait for state and federal investigations to deprive them of those documents by force of law. If the church awaits the latter, then the Pennsylvania grand jury report that sparked this summer’s blistering revisitation of the sex abuse crisis will only be the beginning.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-catholic-churchs-future-depends-on-making-a-true-confession/2018/11/23/7b20c7ca-eb42-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html?utm_term=.da8b56ef5095