Vatican 'must immediately remove' child abusers - UN
Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26044852
The UN watchdog for children's rights denounced the Holy See for adopting policies which allowed priests to sexually abuse thousands of children.
In a report, it also criticised Vatican attitudes towards homosexuality, contraception and abortion.
The Vatican responded by saying it would examine the report - but also accused its authors of interference.
A group representing the victims of abuse by priests in the US welcomed the report.
In its findings, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said the Holy See should open its files on members of the clergy who had "concealed their crimes" so that they could be held accountable by the authorities.
It said it was gravely concerned that the Holy See had not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, and expressed its "deepest concern about child sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic churches who operate under the authority of the Holy See, with clerics having been involved in the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of children worldwide".
It also lambasted the "practice of offenders' mobility", referring to the transfer of child abusers from parish to parish within countries, and sometimes abroad.
The committee said this practice placed "children in many countries at high risk of sexual abuse, as dozens of child sexual offenders are reported to be still in contact with children".
The UN report called on a Vatican commission created by Pope Francis in December to investigate all cases of child sexual abuse "as well as the conduct of the Catholic hierarchy in dealing with them".
Ireland's Magdalene laundries scandal was singled out by the report as an example of how the Vatican had failed to provide justice despite "slavery-like" conditions, including degrading treatment, violence and sexual abuse.
The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses where some 10,000 women and girls were required to do unpaid manual labour between 1922 and 1996.
The report's findings come after Vatican officials were questioned in public last month in Geneva about why they would not release data and what they were doing to prevent future abuse.
The Vatican has denied any official cover-up. However, in December it refused a UN request for data on abuse on the grounds that it only released such information if requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings.
In January, the Vatican confirmed that almost 400 priests had been defrocked in a two-year period by the former Pope Benedict XVI over claims of child abuse.
The UN committee's recommendations are non-binding and there is no enforcement mechanism.
'Non-negotiable'
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says the Vatican has set up new guidelines to protect children from predatory priests.
But, he adds, bishops in many parts of the world have tended to concentrate on protecting and defending the reputation of priests rather than listening to the complaints of victims of paedophile priests.
Meanwhile several Catholic dioceses in the US have been forced into bankruptcy after paying out huge sums in compensation to victims of abuse by clergy.
The Vatican said in a statement following the report's publication: "The Holy See takes note of the concluding observations...which will be submitted to a thorough study and examination... according to international law and practice."
But it added that it "regrets to see in some points of the concluding observations an attempt to interfere with Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of human person and in the exercise of religious freedom" and "reiterates its commitment to defending and protecting the rights of the child... according to the moral and religious values offered by Catholic doctrine".
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, head of the Holy See's delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, told Vatican Radio the report had failed to take into account the fact that the Vatican had made "a series of changes for the protection of children", and its efforts at reform were "fact, evidence, which cannot be distorted".
He added that the UN could not ask the Church to change its "non-negotiable" moral teachings.
Victims groups welcomed the report as a wake-up call to secular law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute Church officials who were still protecting "predator priests".
Barbara Blaine, president of a group representing US victims of abuse by priests - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) - told the BBC that the UN report "reaffirms everything we've been saying. It shows that the Vatican has put the reputation of Church officials above protection of children".
"Church officials knew about it and they refused to stop it. Nothing has changed. Despite all the rhetoric from Pope Francis and Vatican officials, they refuse to take action that will make this stop."
The UN watchdog for children's rights denounced the Holy See for adopting policies which allowed priests to sexually abuse thousands of children.
In a report, it also criticised Vatican attitudes towards homosexuality, contraception and abortion.
The Vatican responded by saying it would examine the report - but also accused its authors of interference.
A group representing the victims of abuse by priests in the US welcomed the report.
In its findings, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said the Holy See should open its files on members of the clergy who had "concealed their crimes" so that they could be held accountable by the authorities.
It said it was gravely concerned that the Holy See had not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, and expressed its "deepest concern about child sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic churches who operate under the authority of the Holy See, with clerics having been involved in the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of children worldwide".
It also lambasted the "practice of offenders' mobility", referring to the transfer of child abusers from parish to parish within countries, and sometimes abroad.
The committee said this practice placed "children in many countries at high risk of sexual abuse, as dozens of child sexual offenders are reported to be still in contact with children".
The UN report called on a Vatican commission created by Pope Francis in December to investigate all cases of child sexual abuse "as well as the conduct of the Catholic hierarchy in dealing with them".
Ireland's Magdalene laundries scandal was singled out by the report as an example of how the Vatican had failed to provide justice despite "slavery-like" conditions, including degrading treatment, violence and sexual abuse.
The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses where some 10,000 women and girls were required to do unpaid manual labour between 1922 and 1996.
The report's findings come after Vatican officials were questioned in public last month in Geneva about why they would not release data and what they were doing to prevent future abuse.
The Vatican has denied any official cover-up. However, in December it refused a UN request for data on abuse on the grounds that it only released such information if requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings.
In January, the Vatican confirmed that almost 400 priests had been defrocked in a two-year period by the former Pope Benedict XVI over claims of child abuse.
The UN committee's recommendations are non-binding and there is no enforcement mechanism.
'Non-negotiable'
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says the Vatican has set up new guidelines to protect children from predatory priests.
But, he adds, bishops in many parts of the world have tended to concentrate on protecting and defending the reputation of priests rather than listening to the complaints of victims of paedophile priests.
Meanwhile several Catholic dioceses in the US have been forced into bankruptcy after paying out huge sums in compensation to victims of abuse by clergy.
The Vatican said in a statement following the report's publication: "The Holy See takes note of the concluding observations...which will be submitted to a thorough study and examination... according to international law and practice."
But it added that it "regrets to see in some points of the concluding observations an attempt to interfere with Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of human person and in the exercise of religious freedom" and "reiterates its commitment to defending and protecting the rights of the child... according to the moral and religious values offered by Catholic doctrine".
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, head of the Holy See's delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, told Vatican Radio the report had failed to take into account the fact that the Vatican had made "a series of changes for the protection of children", and its efforts at reform were "fact, evidence, which cannot be distorted".
He added that the UN could not ask the Church to change its "non-negotiable" moral teachings.
Victims groups welcomed the report as a wake-up call to secular law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute Church officials who were still protecting "predator priests".
Barbara Blaine, president of a group representing US victims of abuse by priests - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) - told the BBC that the UN report "reaffirms everything we've been saying. It shows that the Vatican has put the reputation of Church officials above protection of children".
"Church officials knew about it and they refused to stop it. Nothing has changed. Despite all the rhetoric from Pope Francis and Vatican officials, they refuse to take action that will make this stop."
Dominique on Friday 17 January 2014 - 09:54:00
St. Cloud Diocese reveals names of priests accused of abusing children.
Source: http://www.startribune.com/local/238658801.html
The St. Cloud Diocese on Friday released the names of 33 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with children, bringing to nearly 100 the total names of such priests revealed in the past month in Minnesota.
“It is my hope that the release of these names will provide validation to those victims who have been sexually abused and have already come forward,” St. Cloud Bishop Donald Kettler said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“I pray it will also give strength to those who have remained silent and allow them to come forward,” he wrote.
The release of the list came one day after attorneys filed a lawsuit in Stearns County District Court on behalf of Robert Ethen of Sartell. The lawsuit says Ethen, then a child, was abused in the mid-1960s by the Rev. James A. Thoennes while attending St. Anthony’s parish in St. Cloud.
Thoennes has been the subject of previous allegations of child sexual misconduct, yet the diocese moved him to another church, said Mike Finnegan, an attorney for Anderson & Associates of St. Paul, which filed the lawsuit along with attorney Mike Bryant.
The list includes both diocesan priests and members of St. John’s Abbey of Collegeville, which released its own list of 18 priests charged with sexual misconduct last month. There is some overlap with the St. John’s list and with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis list released last month.
Twenty of those named in the St. Cloud list are dead. The whereabouts of five are listed as “unknown.” Three currently live in Collegeville: the Rev. Richard Eckroth, the Rev. Thomas Gillespie and the Rev. Brennan Maiers. One priest, Thoennes, lives in St. Cloud. One, transitional deacon Michael Weber, lives in the Twin Cities.
The priests served in St. Cloud as well as in smaller towns across central Minnesota, from Little Falls to Belle Prairie.
‘There’s more to this list’
Victims’ advocates immediately questioned whether the list was complete, pointing out that it contains the name of only one member of the Crosier religious order, which ran a prep school in the town of Onamia in the diocese. In 2002, the Crosiers publicly identified eight members who have sexually abused minors, according to news reports.
“There’s more to this list,” said Bob Schwiderski, Minnesota director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
The St. Cloud Diocese is the fourth diocese in the past month to make public such a list. Like the others, it has the names of priests credibly accused of abuse between 1950 and 2004. It was compiled by the diocese for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Finnegan called the release of the list a good “first step forward.”
“With the number of offenders, and the number of parishes they served at, I think there are dozens of survivors out there,” he said. “I’m hopeful that the release of this list will give them permission to break the silence.”
Kettler, who became bishop of the St. Cloud diocese in November, urged any victims to contact the diocese. “I am struck by the courage and strength of the victims of abuse who have come forward,” he wrote.
The St. Cloud Diocese on Friday released the names of 33 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with children, bringing to nearly 100 the total names of such priests revealed in the past month in Minnesota.
“It is my hope that the release of these names will provide validation to those victims who have been sexually abused and have already come forward,” St. Cloud Bishop Donald Kettler said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“I pray it will also give strength to those who have remained silent and allow them to come forward,” he wrote.
The release of the list came one day after attorneys filed a lawsuit in Stearns County District Court on behalf of Robert Ethen of Sartell. The lawsuit says Ethen, then a child, was abused in the mid-1960s by the Rev. James A. Thoennes while attending St. Anthony’s parish in St. Cloud.
Thoennes has been the subject of previous allegations of child sexual misconduct, yet the diocese moved him to another church, said Mike Finnegan, an attorney for Anderson & Associates of St. Paul, which filed the lawsuit along with attorney Mike Bryant.
The list includes both diocesan priests and members of St. John’s Abbey of Collegeville, which released its own list of 18 priests charged with sexual misconduct last month. There is some overlap with the St. John’s list and with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis list released last month.
Twenty of those named in the St. Cloud list are dead. The whereabouts of five are listed as “unknown.” Three currently live in Collegeville: the Rev. Richard Eckroth, the Rev. Thomas Gillespie and the Rev. Brennan Maiers. One priest, Thoennes, lives in St. Cloud. One, transitional deacon Michael Weber, lives in the Twin Cities.
The priests served in St. Cloud as well as in smaller towns across central Minnesota, from Little Falls to Belle Prairie.
‘There’s more to this list’
Victims’ advocates immediately questioned whether the list was complete, pointing out that it contains the name of only one member of the Crosier religious order, which ran a prep school in the town of Onamia in the diocese. In 2002, the Crosiers publicly identified eight members who have sexually abused minors, according to news reports.
“There’s more to this list,” said Bob Schwiderski, Minnesota director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
The St. Cloud Diocese is the fourth diocese in the past month to make public such a list. Like the others, it has the names of priests credibly accused of abuse between 1950 and 2004. It was compiled by the diocese for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Finnegan called the release of the list a good “first step forward.”
“With the number of offenders, and the number of parishes they served at, I think there are dozens of survivors out there,” he said. “I’m hopeful that the release of this list will give them permission to break the silence.”
Kettler, who became bishop of the St. Cloud diocese in November, urged any victims to contact the diocese. “I am struck by the courage and strength of the victims of abuse who have come forward,” he wrote.
Dominique on Friday 03 January 2014 - 22:56:50
Vatican rebuffs United Nations sex abuse inquiries
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25204805
The Holy See insists it is "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church
The Vatican has refused to provide information requested by the United Nations on the alleged sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns or monks.
The Vatican said the cases were the responsibility of the judicial systems of countries where abuse took place.
The UK National Secular Society accused the Vatican of hiding behind legal technicalities.
On his appointment in March, Pope Francis said dealing with sex abuse was vital for the Church's credibility.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child put a wide-ranging questionnaire to the Holy See - the city state's diplomatic entity - last July, asking for detailed information about the particulars of all sexual abuse cases notified to the Vatican since 1995.
The questions included whether priests, nuns and monks guilty of sexual crime were allowed to remain in contact with children, what legal action had been taken against them, whether the Church required clergy to report abuse to secular authorities and whether complainants were silenced.
In its response, the Holy See insisted that it was "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church, and that it was not its practice to disclose information about the religious discipline of clergy unless specifically requested to by the authorities in the country where they were serving.
It stressed that it had changed the criteria for choosing priests and revised Church law to ensure clergy were properly disciplined.
'Filth'
The National Secular Society criticised the Holy See's response, insisting that it operated a "firm command and control structure over the worldwide Church".
Vatican officials are due to be questioned about child abuse, among other issues, by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in January.
After taking office, Pope Francis said the Vatican needed "to act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty".
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, had promised to rid his Church of the "filth" of clerical sex abuse.
Observers said he went further than ever before in tackling the legacy of abuse, though critics said that was not far enough, accusing him of failing to protect children from paedophile priests.
The Holy See insists it is "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church
The Vatican has refused to provide information requested by the United Nations on the alleged sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns or monks.
The Vatican said the cases were the responsibility of the judicial systems of countries where abuse took place.
The UK National Secular Society accused the Vatican of hiding behind legal technicalities.
On his appointment in March, Pope Francis said dealing with sex abuse was vital for the Church's credibility.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child put a wide-ranging questionnaire to the Holy See - the city state's diplomatic entity - last July, asking for detailed information about the particulars of all sexual abuse cases notified to the Vatican since 1995.
The questions included whether priests, nuns and monks guilty of sexual crime were allowed to remain in contact with children, what legal action had been taken against them, whether the Church required clergy to report abuse to secular authorities and whether complainants were silenced.
In its response, the Holy See insisted that it was "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church, and that it was not its practice to disclose information about the religious discipline of clergy unless specifically requested to by the authorities in the country where they were serving.
It stressed that it had changed the criteria for choosing priests and revised Church law to ensure clergy were properly disciplined.
'Filth'
The National Secular Society criticised the Holy See's response, insisting that it operated a "firm command and control structure over the worldwide Church".
Vatican officials are due to be questioned about child abuse, among other issues, by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in January.
After taking office, Pope Francis said the Vatican needed "to act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty".
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, had promised to rid his Church of the "filth" of clerical sex abuse.
Observers said he went further than ever before in tackling the legacy of abuse, though critics said that was not far enough, accusing him of failing to protect children from paedophile priests.
Dominique on Wednesday 04 December 2013 - 04:06:45
UN tells Vatican to hand over details of child sex abuse cases
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/
10170080/UN-tells-Vatican-to-hand-over-details-of-child-sex-abuse-cases.html
By Nick Squires, Rome7:40PM BST 09 Jul 2013
Campaigners have called on Pope Francis, who was elected in March, to make tackling the issue of sexually abusive priests an urgent priority of his papacy.
The UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child released its demands for information from the Holy See on Tuesday.
The committee said that "in the light of the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses", the Vatican should provide detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by clergy.
The Vatican was told to show whether it had implemented measures "to ensure that no member of the clergy currently accused of sexual abuse be allowed to remain in contact with children," amid claims from around the world that bishops often moved abusive priests from one parish to another.
The UN committee demanded to know about specific cases in which bishops or other Catholic leaders had failed to report suspected abuse to the police.
The Vatican was also urged to divulge details of its investigation of alleged sexual abuse and the outcome of those investigations, including any financial compensation or psychological counselling for victims.
The committee wants to know what measures the Holy See has taken "to prevent further sexual violence from taking place in institutions run by the Catholic Church." The Vatican has until January to compile all the information, in time for an open meeting of the UN committee in Geneva at which Vatican officials will be questioned.
Despite being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Holy See had largely ignored requests for information, said Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of the National Secular Society, who gave evidence to the committee last month.
"One of the requirements of a signatory is to compile a five yearly report on compliance – or in the Vatican's case non-compliance – with the convention. The Holy See has grossly failed to do this for something like 12 years," he told The Daily Telegraph."They allowed sexual abuse on an unbelievable scale and it hasn't all come out yet – we expect many, many more cases to emerge in the developing world."
Pope Francis's apparent determination to crack down on allegations of corruption and money-laundering within the Vatican bank gave hope that he might take a tough line on sexually abusive clergy, Mr Porteous Wood said.
"I think it's a good sign," he said. "Child abuse is a major issue, along with corruption, that he needs to sort out. His legacy will be judged, I think, on his ability to deal with these immensely difficult problems."
Geoffrey Robertson QC, the human rights lawyer, who has strongly criticised the Catholic Church's cover-up of sex abuse scandals around the world, said: "The committee's enquiries will inevitably lead it to conclude that the Vatican has broken multiple articles of the convention on a huge scale in many countries. The result in human suffering is incalculable.
"Francis's papacy could well be defined by the world's verdict on his response - more handwringing apologies or calls for a line to be drawn under the past will no longer wash.
"He will fail unless he initiates bold tangible actions, for example lifting the veil of secrecy that has protected so many clerical rapists, engaging secular authorities and offering rather than resisting appropriate compensation."
10170080/UN-tells-Vatican-to-hand-over-details-of-child-sex-abuse-cases.html
By Nick Squires, Rome7:40PM BST 09 Jul 2013
Campaigners have called on Pope Francis, who was elected in March, to make tackling the issue of sexually abusive priests an urgent priority of his papacy.
The UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child released its demands for information from the Holy See on Tuesday.
The committee said that "in the light of the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses", the Vatican should provide detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by clergy.
The Vatican was told to show whether it had implemented measures "to ensure that no member of the clergy currently accused of sexual abuse be allowed to remain in contact with children," amid claims from around the world that bishops often moved abusive priests from one parish to another.
The UN committee demanded to know about specific cases in which bishops or other Catholic leaders had failed to report suspected abuse to the police.
The Vatican was also urged to divulge details of its investigation of alleged sexual abuse and the outcome of those investigations, including any financial compensation or psychological counselling for victims.
The committee wants to know what measures the Holy See has taken "to prevent further sexual violence from taking place in institutions run by the Catholic Church." The Vatican has until January to compile all the information, in time for an open meeting of the UN committee in Geneva at which Vatican officials will be questioned.
Despite being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Holy See had largely ignored requests for information, said Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of the National Secular Society, who gave evidence to the committee last month.
"One of the requirements of a signatory is to compile a five yearly report on compliance – or in the Vatican's case non-compliance – with the convention. The Holy See has grossly failed to do this for something like 12 years," he told The Daily Telegraph."They allowed sexual abuse on an unbelievable scale and it hasn't all come out yet – we expect many, many more cases to emerge in the developing world."
Pope Francis's apparent determination to crack down on allegations of corruption and money-laundering within the Vatican bank gave hope that he might take a tough line on sexually abusive clergy, Mr Porteous Wood said.
"I think it's a good sign," he said. "Child abuse is a major issue, along with corruption, that he needs to sort out. His legacy will be judged, I think, on his ability to deal with these immensely difficult problems."
Geoffrey Robertson QC, the human rights lawyer, who has strongly criticised the Catholic Church's cover-up of sex abuse scandals around the world, said: "The committee's enquiries will inevitably lead it to conclude that the Vatican has broken multiple articles of the convention on a huge scale in many countries. The result in human suffering is incalculable.
"Francis's papacy could well be defined by the world's verdict on his response - more handwringing apologies or calls for a line to be drawn under the past will no longer wash.
"He will fail unless he initiates bold tangible actions, for example lifting the veil of secrecy that has protected so many clerical rapists, engaging secular authorities and offering rather than resisting appropriate compensation."
Dominique on Tuesday 09 July 2013 - 21:23:00
Cardinal Mahony relieved of duties over handling of abuse
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/01/local/la-me-0201-mahony-curry-20130201
In a move unprecedented in the American Catholic Church, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced Thursday that he had relieved his predecessor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, of all public duties over his mishandling of clergy sex abuse of children decades ago.
Gomez also said that Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry, who worked with Mahony to conceal abusers from police in the 1980s, had resigned his post as a regional bishop in Santa Barbara.
The announcement came as the church posted on its website tens of thousands of pages of previously secret personnel files for 122 priests accused of molesting children.
[ Read the rest ... ]
In a move unprecedented in the American Catholic Church, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced Thursday that he had relieved his predecessor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, of all public duties over his mishandling of clergy sex abuse of children decades ago.
Gomez also said that Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry, who worked with Mahony to conceal abusers from police in the 1980s, had resigned his post as a regional bishop in Santa Barbara.
The announcement came as the church posted on its website tens of thousands of pages of previously secret personnel files for 122 priests accused of molesting children.
[ Read the rest ... ]
adam on Saturday 02 February 2013 - 03:25:40
L.A. church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/21/local/la-me-church-files-20130122
Documents from the late 1980s show that Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and another archdiocese official discussed strategies to keep police from discovering that children were being sexually abused by priests.
Fifteen years before the clergy sex abuse scandal came to light, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a top advisor plotted to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement, including keeping them out of California to avoid prosecution, according to internal Catholic church records released Monday.
The archdiocese's failure to purge pedophile clergy and reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement has previously been known. But the memos written in 1986 and 1987 by Mahony and Msgr. Thomas J. Curry, then the archdiocese's chief advisor on sex abuse cases, offer the strongest evidence yet of a concerted effort by officials in the nation's largest Catholic diocese to shield abusers from police. The newly released records, which the archdiocese fought for years to keep secret, reveal in church leaders' own words a desire to keep authorities from discovering that children were being molested.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Documents from the late 1980s show that Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and another archdiocese official discussed strategies to keep police from discovering that children were being sexually abused by priests.
Fifteen years before the clergy sex abuse scandal came to light, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a top advisor plotted to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement, including keeping them out of California to avoid prosecution, according to internal Catholic church records released Monday.
The archdiocese's failure to purge pedophile clergy and reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement has previously been known. But the memos written in 1986 and 1987 by Mahony and Msgr. Thomas J. Curry, then the archdiocese's chief advisor on sex abuse cases, offer the strongest evidence yet of a concerted effort by officials in the nation's largest Catholic diocese to shield abusers from police. The newly released records, which the archdiocese fought for years to keep secret, reveal in church leaders' own words a desire to keep authorities from discovering that children were being molested.
[ Read the rest ... ]
adam on Monday 21 January 2013 - 22:34:55
German Priests Carried Out Sexual Abuse for Years
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/world/europe/report-details-sexual-abuse-of-children-by-german-priests.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130119&_r=0
BERLIN — A report about child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, based on victim accounts and released by the church this week, showed that priests carefully planned their assaults and frequently abused the same children repeatedly for years.
The report, compiled from information collected from victims and other witnesses who called a hot line run by the church from 2010 until the end of last year, includes the ages of the victims, the locations of the assaults and the repercussions they have suffered since. The accounts were provided in 8,500 calls to the hot line; they are not representative of abuse cases over all and cannot be individually verified. The church said the report contained information from 1,824 people, of whom 1,165 described themselves as victims.
[ Read the rest ... ]
BERLIN — A report about child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, based on victim accounts and released by the church this week, showed that priests carefully planned their assaults and frequently abused the same children repeatedly for years.
The report, compiled from information collected from victims and other witnesses who called a hot line run by the church from 2010 until the end of last year, includes the ages of the victims, the locations of the assaults and the repercussions they have suffered since. The accounts were provided in 8,500 calls to the hot line; they are not representative of abuse cases over all and cannot be individually verified. The church said the report contained information from 1,824 people, of whom 1,165 described themselves as victims.
[ Read the rest ... ]
adam on Friday 18 January 2013 - 22:28:08
Montreal deacon known for criticizing pedophiles charged in child porn case
A deacon known to be strong critic of the way the Catholic Church has dealt with sex abuse by the clergy is to appear in front of a judge on charges of producing and distributing child pornography.
The sixty-five year-old, William Kokesch of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Beaconsfield, was arrested Friday after police carried out searches at his house and church, securing more than 2,000 files on his computer as well as messages left on chat-room sites.
Following the news of his arrest, the Archdiocese of Montreal has immediately banned him from pastoral activity, saying in a statement that “child pornography is an affront to human dignity, and our first concern rests with those who are its victims.”
The arrest was the result of a tip-off from a member of the local community.
Montreal police have urged anyone with more information on the case to contact their local police station.
The sixty-five year-old, William Kokesch of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Beaconsfield, was arrested Friday after police carried out searches at his house and church, securing more than 2,000 files on his computer as well as messages left on chat-room sites.
Following the news of his arrest, the Archdiocese of Montreal has immediately banned him from pastoral activity, saying in a statement that “child pornography is an affront to human dignity, and our first concern rests with those who are its victims.”
The arrest was the result of a tip-off from a member of the local community.
Montreal police have urged anyone with more information on the case to contact their local police station.
adam on Monday 24 December 2012 - 12:23:40
Australian Roman Catholic Church admits child sex abuse
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19683925
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, described the figures as "horrific and shameful".
They were released in a submission to a state parliamentary inquiry into the handling of abuse cases.
Campaigners say the true number of abuse victims could be up to 10,000.
[ Read the rest ... ]
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, described the figures as "horrific and shameful".
They were released in a submission to a state parliamentary inquiry into the handling of abuse cases.
Campaigners say the true number of abuse victims could be up to 10,000.
[ Read the rest ... ]
adam on Saturday 22 September 2012 - 22:35:34
Kansas City Bishop Convicted of Shielding Pedophile Priest
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/us/kansas-city-bishop-convicted-of-shielding-pedophile-priest.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120907
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Roman Catholic bishop was found guilty on Thursday of failing to report suspected child abuse, becoming the first American bishop in the decades-long sexual abuse scandal to be convicted of shielding a pedophile priest.
In a hastily announced bench trial that lasted a little over an hour, a judge found the bishop, Robert W. Finn, guilty on one misdemeanor charge and not guilty on a second charge, for failing to report a priest who had taken hundreds of pornographic pictures of young girls. The counts each carried a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, but Bishop Finn was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Roman Catholic bishop was found guilty on Thursday of failing to report suspected child abuse, becoming the first American bishop in the decades-long sexual abuse scandal to be convicted of shielding a pedophile priest.
In a hastily announced bench trial that lasted a little over an hour, a judge found the bishop, Robert W. Finn, guilty on one misdemeanor charge and not guilty on a second charge, for failing to report a priest who had taken hundreds of pornographic pictures of young girls. The counts each carried a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, but Bishop Finn was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation.
[ Read the rest ... ]
adam on Thursday 06 September 2012 - 10:27:54