Cases of sextortion have soared by 400 percent in some states in the last 18 months.

Targets and perpetrators

Young people are navigating a digital world where one in seven minors are asked for nudes by a stranger online on a weekly or even a daily basis.

This complex moral and social challenge demands our collective attention, because despite ongoing research and reports calling for urgent national action, public awareness remains low.

The vast majority of four-year-olds are using the internet in some capacity, according to research. By the time those children turn 11 years old, the majority of children are using it unsupervised.

A report in 2022 revealed that of all 9-12-year-olds, the majority (two out of three) interact with unfamiliar adults online. One in six children have had romantic or sexual conversations with an online-only contact.

There is no longer an ‘online' and ‘real' world dichotomy here; for young people online is the world in which they live, meet friends and navigate relationships.

Perpetrators of online sexual exploitation are accessing children through gaming, chat functions, video calls, dating apps, social media applications and other platforms.

Recent cases of sextortion in Australia are dispelling myths of grooming occurring over long periods of time, allowing for identification and intervention.

Instead, evidence reveals that grooming can take multiple forms (often involving the deception of posing as another young person), and the grooming process, including the solicitation of images, can occur over a matter of hours, often with devastating consequences.

At particular risk are young people in out-of-home care, who identify as LGBTIQ+, who have multicultural or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, or who are living with a disability. Children from these cohorts are increasingly seeking connection via online platforms.

The notion of ‘stranger danger' is not effective here. In around 50-70 percent of cases of online child sexual abuse, the abuser is known to the child.

Research shows that adolescents who are known to the victim inflict the highest proportion of child sexual abuse, with adolescents in a romantic relationship close behind.

Nonconsensual sexting and/or distribution of self-generated images are increasingly associated with acrimonious adolescent relationships.

According to a 2022 report by the World Health Organisation, almost all the nonconsensual-distribution offenders against youth were themselves young people.

'Grooming can take multiple forms (often involving the deception of posing as another young person), and the grooming process, including the solicitation of images, can occur over a matter of hours, often with devastating consequences.'

Access to technology

Any conversation about increased unsupervised access to technology must address one key consequence: heightened exposure to pornographic content, whether stumbled upon innocently or sought out deliberately.

In Australia boys are, on average, aged 13 years at the time of their first exposure to pornography.

Exposure to pornography can strengthen attitudes supportive of sexual violence and violence against women and harmful sexual behaviour between adolescents.

A report from the eSafety Commissioner in 2023 revealed that young people described online pornography as an avenue to learn about sex.

Mitigating this problem from a schools standpoint faces numerous challenges, especially around consistency and quality of preventative education.

Myths and misconceptions that age-appropriate sexual health and safety education in schools ‘promotes' sex, and that sexual abuse is ‘happening elsewhere', continue to hamper the urgent discussion needed to increase sexual safety knowledge in Australian schools.

Providing sexual abuse evention programmes

The Victorian Child Safe Standards for education providers state that young people should be offered access to sexual abuse prevention programmes and to relevant information in an age-appropriate way.

There's a need to build our confidence and capacity to educate young people in this space.

At minimum, Australia needs a well-resourced, consistently implemented, and rigorous sexual health and safety education programme that builds upon the existing Respectful Relationships curriculum.

One such professional learning programme designed to meet these challenges is Power to Kids, from the MacKillop Institute, designed to strengthen prevention and responses to child sexual abuse, harmful sexual behaviour and dating violence for young people in residential care and school settings.

We often hear from schools of the need for deeper training for educators to build their knowledge and capacity to better prevent, identify and respond to indicators of abuse.

The long-standing gap in sex education is now impacting the confidence of the current generation of teachers who have been charged with the responsibility to teach the next generation.

Educators require the support of their school system leaders, parents and the wider school community to put that training into practice.

They need to have confidence that having sensitive and informed conversations with young people about sexual safety will be viewed as aligned with the duty of care to keep children safe and will not result in punitive action.

We also need to get better at fostering proactive conversations around ways to seek help.

A key strategy we teach through the Power to Kids programme is having ‘brave conversations' around sexual safety.

Aligned with the One Talk at a Time campaign, it is important that parents/carers and educators raise sexual safety topics proactively when opportunities arise, and ask questions or raise concerns when they notice possible indicators of abuse.

Creating safe environments

The Royal Commission confirmed that it can take over 20 years for a child to disclose sexual abuse.

Disclosures can be partial and nonlinear and are more likely to be made to a peer or sibling. This means that having proactive conversations can help establish safe environments for young people to come forward, ask questions or seek support when needed.

The other important reality for parents to grapple with is that their child may be the one causing harm. Creating safe environments for young people to share potentially problematic behaviours and have them addressed are just as critical.

A common anxiety among professionals working with young people is that addressing child sexual abuse is too daunting a problem.

There is a wide perception that the problem of child sexual abuse to ‘too big' or ‘too hard' to take action that will make a meaningful impact. This can lead to a sense of helplessness, being overwhelmed, which can lead to a lack of public engagement.

That lack of engagement has been a longstanding concern.

Research conducted by ACCCE in 2020 revealed that many parents, carers, and educators hold negative attitudes towards the topic, but this hinders their ability to implement effective prevention measures by ‘disassociation or limited engagement'.

To make things additionally complicated, victim-blaming is more likely in instances of online sexual abuse.

The ACCCE report revealed that 80 percent of parents/carers would respond with anger at their child if they found out they had shared images online, and 73 percent would be angry if their child spoke with strangers online.

‘Many participants reported that they would be more angry at their child in the instance of online child sexual exploitation than if the abuse happened in the offline world.

This was because they assumed their children should "know better" and could easily "just switch off" the device to protect themselves'. Some parents also reported they would not report or seek help due to shame and embarrassment of perceived ‘bad parenting'.

Despite these beliefs, 89 percent of parents believed their children would tell them if something happened to them online.

Ultimately, shame and stigma can still overshadow our desire to protect and believe our children.

Unchecked, our discomfort can prevent us from educating ourselves and our children, and prevent us from listening, believing and responding to children when they come forward.

What to do

To effectively address child sexual abuse, we need to foster a sense of shared responsibility among technology companies, corporations, financial institutions, law enforcement, schools, and therapeutic services.

Collaboration across all aspects of prevention and response is essential. Victim-survivors have highlighted the need for greater consistency in quality, trauma-informed practices, collaborative problem-solving, information sharing, and communication within the service system.

Additionally, it's important to acknowledge that our attitudes towards sexual abuse are often shaped by our personal experiences and education, which may include trauma.

It's crucial to acknowledge that many educators, parents, and carers may have experienced abuse themselves. Self-care is essential as we educate ourselves on this important issue.

A shift in public attitudes will require an investment in both prevention strategies and effective responses for victims of abuse.

That means developing proactive approaches that encourage open conversations with young people, encourage help-seeking, and foster safe environments for discussing sexual safety.

• First published in Eureka Street
• Smeeta Singh is National Programs Director Power to Kids, a professional learning programme within The MacKillop Institute that strengthens prevention and responses to child sexual abuse, harmful sexual behaviour and dating violence for young people in residential care and school settings.

The government set up the task force last year to tackle what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dubbed "evil grooming gangs".

However, fewer than one in five (19%) of the cases it has investigated so far involve networks of offenders.

The figures show that 27% of cases involved family members, and 22% were abused by other children.

When he announced the new task force in April 2023, Mr Sunak said: "For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women."

The government said the task force would involve "parachuting in" officers with "extensive experience of undertaking grooming gang investigations".

Read More

There are cultural differences in the way abuse is handled within the Catholic Church, according to child protection expert Hans Zollner.

Speaking to feinschwarz.net, Fr Hans Zollner emphasised that in many countries, especially those with younger populations, "sexualised violence is still not a topic that really affects the public".

Hans Zollner SJ is a German Jesuit priest, theologian and psychologist. He is also a Professor at the Gregorian University; Director of its Institute of Anthropology, Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care; and one of the world's leading experts on safeguarding and the prevention of sexual abuse.

"In the vast majority of the world's most populous countries, it is challenging to even talk about sexuality itself in families or schools, in religions or in the media" he said.

Sexual violence is an unspeakable taboo for the majority of these societies - "even where reality speaks different volumes if you look closely".

Church leaders avoiding interactions

Zollner criticised church leaders for avoiding interactions with survivors in countries like Germany where the issue is more openly discussed.

Encounters with those affected are "so disturbing and unpleasant for many church leaders and members that they avoid them. Sufferers usually do not feel welcome, do not want to risk being recognised, are under pressure from church leaders, but also in the family".

According to Zollner, a big problem is that those responsible are not implementing standards and laws on dealing with and preventing abuse in the church.

"It's probably also because people are still reacting to individual cases, and no systemic consequences are being drawn."

Fr Hans Zollner stressed that merely expressing regret without taking systemic action undermines trust.

"Trust arises when you see that someone does what he or she says. Where the opposite happens not just once but feels like it happens all the time and everywhere ... the foundation of credibility is destroyed, namely not in the sense of a personal evaluation."

Sources

Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand

She said this in response to the recent revelation of distressing statistics on child abuse shared by the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Lynda Tabuya, during the parliamentary session last week.

According to the reported data, a staggering 950 child abuse cases had been documented from January to July of this year. She said equally distressing was the fact that four of these innocent children were below the age of one.

Ms Ali said the 950 cases were not just numbers. She said they represented the suffering and anguish endured by our most vulnerable members of society - children.

Read More

From today, it has also begun blocking Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse material (CSAM) at a network level to prevent active or inadvertent access to known child sexual abuse material on its platform and is working to actively combat dissemination of new content.

"Unfortunately, this type of horrific online abuse is a growing issue in our country. The message from One New Zealand is crystal clear - there is no place for this type of behaviour or material on our network and we will do everything in our power to stamp it out," says CEO Jason Paris.

"We're taking this extremely seriously and are working with law enforcement and the relevant government agencies to provide a safer internet environment for everyone." Read more

On Monday, the Professional Standards Board for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne made the finding.

In a statement, the 88-year-old conceded while he was archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s, he failed to appropriately respond to abuse complaints but said he did not commit any crimes.

"I made mistakes and I cannot undo them," Dr Hollingworth said in a statement.

"I accept the board's recommendations and look forward to these matters finally being put to rest.

"Hardly a day has passed in the past 30 years when I have not reflected on these matters and my failings. I had devoted my life to social justice, pastoral care and healing, but I had little experience in dealing with the child abuse issues. Like other church leaders, I was unduly influenced by the advice of lawyers and insurance companies."

Read More

But recent revelations of sexual misconduct by a cardinal and a bishop on Moulins-Beaufort's watch show how complicated, time-consuming and personal stamping out abuse can be.

These new cases, which come a year after a report that estimated that France had seen 330,000 ordained and lay abusers since 1950, have tangled Moulins-Beaufort in a web, caught between falling public confidence in the bishops' ability to solve the problem — which only increases the pressure to act — and a pope who firmly condemns clerical sexual abuse but offers only vague guidance when faced with concrete cases.

The revelations last week, both involving popular and well-respected clerics, were bigger than any cases to date.

Bishop Michel Santier of Créteil, an eastern suburb of Paris, had a reputation as a prelate open to other faiths and to people sidelined in the church. In 2020, he took early retirement, citing health reasons, but it turned out he had admitted to Pope Francis in 2019 that he had made at least two young men do a striptease as part of a confession.

Only after Santier later repeated his admission to his successor did the Vatican impose canonical restrictions on him.

The story finally came out in a Catholic magazine in October, forcing Moulins-Beaufort to acknowledge that he also knew the facts but could not publicize them because the Vatican hadn't.

Three weeks later, Moulins-Beaufort read out a letter from Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, who was twice elected head of the French bishops' conference in the 2000s, confessed that he had "acted in a reprehensible way with a 14-year-old girl" 35 years ago.

When Moulins-Beaufort unveiled the Ricard scandal, it came to light that several church leaders had been informed but had taken months to inform French law enforcement or the Vatican.

Bishop Dominique Blanchet, who took over from Santier, later described how he tried to keep a distance from his popular predecessor without divulging the reason. "I was in an untenable position," he said.

French Catholic leaders initially played down clerical abuse when news of U.S. cases made headlines in The Boston Globe two decades ago, but the issue has now gone far beyond the "few bad apples" stage.

"Neither ordination nor honours protect someone from making mistakes, including some legally serious ones," a worn-down Moulins-Beaufort said at the end of the French bishops' Nov. 3-8 plenary session in Lourdes. "Every person can be haunted by troubled forces that he does not always manage to control."

Yet Santier's and Ricard's cases show that the problem is as much one of transparency as of troubled priests. "Your trust has been betrayed. You feel anger, sadness, amazement. These feelings are legitimate," Rennes Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas told parishioners in the Breton town of Montfort-sur-Meu.

D'Ornellas chose that parish because its pastor had just been jailed in Paris for yet another sexual abuse case. The Rev. Yannick Poligné, who is HIV-positive, was charged with aggravated rape, drug use and endangering the life of a 15-year-old male he met through the gay app Grindr.

At the news conference unveiling the Ricard scandal, Moulins-Beaufort said the total of French bishops involved in sexual abuse cases was now 11. But he mixed up the cases — for example, including those charged with nondenunciation of an abusive priest with prelates who actually abused victims — and thus created further distrust of the bishops in general.

Three bishops were not named, meaning more revelations may come soon. A church spokesman would only say that two were being investigated by French authorities and the Vatican, while the third had been reported to the French and restricted by the Vatican in his ministry.

The Rev. Hans Zollner, a Catholic expert on sexual abuse based in Rome, said: "The French bishops' conference should communicate names, if this is legally possible. Without this, there is a risk of bringing widespread suspicion to bear on everyone. … This is a rule of communication that we have not yet learned."

"How can we still believe that the church will get out of this, that it has the means to reform itself, when it is so deeply affected itself?" asked Isabelle de Gaulmyn, an editor and former Vatican correspondent for the Catholic daily newspaper La Croix.

"What do we see on the part of this ‘elite,' supposedly chosen carefully by the pope and his advisers? Perversion for some — serious, profound and criminal perversion. And for the others, an incomprehensible laxity that leads to immense helplessness."

• Tom Heneghan is an author at Religion News Service.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

But the 56-year-old Jesuit priest, who is director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Rome-based Gregorian University, believes the CEF should also publish the names of those bishops in order to avoid creating a general suspicion of the entire hierarchy.

He explained further in this exclusive interview with La Croix's Loup Besmond de Senneville.

What's your reaction to the revelations made by the French bishops' this week?

Hans Zollner: First of all, I'm really shocked and surprised.

This brings to light a vast failure of the institution over the course of decades. That's very clear. But paradoxically, I also see a big step forward in this move by the French bishops, even if it comes quite late.

However, there's an essential dimension that's missing: the French Bishops' Conference should publish the names, if this is legally possible.

Without this, there is a risk of creating a generalized suspicion of all bishops.

We must always admit and tell the truth, with the necessary clarity.

Should we move towards transparency of canonical sanctions?

This is a debate that has been going on for years.

It seems clear to me that decisions should be published according to the rules of transparency invoked at the summit on sexual abuse that Pope Francis convened at the Vatican in 2019.

As we can see, we're fooling ourselves if we think we can hide things in the digital age; sooner or later, things come and there's a scandal.

This is a rule of communication that we have not yet learned.

Should changes be made?

Yes, they must be made.

We in the Church have not yet understood how communication works in today's world.

We have to keep in mind that things always come out sooner or later.

Therefore, we must be transparent and sincere while respecting civil law.

As far as the transparency of canonical sanctions is concerned, it is also necessary that the victims have access to them.

This is not the case today.

Should the processes for appointing bishops be reviewed?

We have to differentiate between the issues.

On the one hand, we can never force someone to tell the truth if they do not want to reveal it.

This means that if a candidate has committed prejudicial acts and no one says so, and he does not reveal them himself, no bishop appointment process can take this into account.

On the other hand, changes could be considered for the groups of those questioning the candidate, for example, by turning to people outside ecclesial circles who have known or collaborated with the candidate for the episcopate, even in other contexts.

• Loup Besmond de Senneville has been a journalist with La Croix since 2011 and a permanent correspondent at the Vatican since 2020.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

Cardinal Ricard is a member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; the department charged with investigating abuse cases in the Catholic Church.

"I have decided not to remain silent about my situation and to place myself at the disposal of justice, both on the level of society and on that of the Church," the cardinal said in a letter.

"Thirty-five years ago, when I was a parish priest I behaved reprehensibly with a young 14-year-old girl. My behaviour has necessarily caused serious and lasting consequences for this person," the letter added.

The letter was read aloud by the French Bishops' Conference president at a press conference.

Ricard also apologised to the young girl and her family, as well as all those who will be impacted by the revelation.

In light of this situation, Ricard said he will be "taking a time to retire and pray".

According to La Croix the woman abused by Ricard has twice written to Pope Francis, most recently in May-June, but has not had a reply.

No civil complaint has yet been filed against Ricard; however, on Tuesday, a preliminary civil investigation into Ricard's abusive behaviour was opened after a letter was received from an adviser of the current bishop of Nice.

The Catholic Church in France has been under fire since a 2021 report estimated that 330,000 children were abused by clergy in the country in a span of 70 years.

Ricard's revelations came as "a shock" to the French episcopacy, as he is among 11 French bishops currently under investigation for sexual abuse.

During a press conference on a plane, while returning from Bahrain, where he had been promoting dialogue with Islam, Francis said child abuse inside the Church was a "tragic thing", and the Catholic church is working "as best we can" to fight clerical child abuse.

Francis admitted are shortfalls.

"We are working as best we can, but there are people within the Church who don't see it clearly," Francis said.

Francis has enacted a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, enforcing the mandatory reporting of abuse to authorities and making sexual abuse a criminal offence at the Vatican.

Only three cardinals have been officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church for sexual abuse.

In 1995, Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër stepped down as Archbishop of Vienna following numerous reports of sexual abuse but never underwent a canonical trial.

Benedict prohibited Cardinal Keith O'Brien from participating in the 2013 conclave due to abuse allegations; two years later, Francis stripped O'Brien of his cardinal rights.

In 2019, Francis defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after a Vatican investigation found him guilty of abusing minors and seminarians.

Ricard, who headed the archdiocese of Bordeaux between 2001 and 2019, headed the French Bishops' Conference from 2001 to 2007.

He has occupied a number of important roles at the Vatican under Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. And as well as his role in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was appointed by Francis to the Council of Economic Affairs in 2014 and served there until 2019.

Source

• Al Arabiya
• Religion News Service
• AP News
• La Croix
• Robert Mickens Twitter

The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) says that in the Cabo Delgado region this includes sexploitation for "free" food rations.

"It is prevalent. Since 2020 we have been receiving reports of women and children from whom sex was demanded in exchange for food rations."

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have published numerous reports of children being recruited by insurgents to fight.

The SACBC says Mozambique's Attorney General blames the press for failing to report the atrocities.

"The journalists responded by saying that they could only report if the government allowed them access to IDP camps," Johan Viljoen from the SACBC says.

The SACBC is welcoming the United Nations' (UN) resolve to investigate violations against children in Mozambique. The UN is also investigating crimes against children in Ukraine and Ethiopia.

The UN report "Children and Armed Conflict" says 2,515 children were killed and 5,555 maimed in global conflicts last year. There were also 6,310 children recruited for conflicts.

Children were also victims of abductions, sexual violence, of school and hospital attacks and denial of aid during conflicts.

"There is no word strong enough to describe the horrific conditions that children in armed conflict have endured" said the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

"Those who survived will be affected for life with deep physical and emotional scars.

"But we must not let these numbers discourage our efforts. They should serve as an impetus to reinforce our determination to end and prevent grave violations against children.

"This report is a call to action to intensify our work to better protect children in armed conflict and ensure that they are given a real chance to recover and thrive."

Catholic news site Aciafrica is seriously concerned about the "prostitution, murder and recruiting of children as young as 11 and 12 years old as soldiers".

Actual figures could be much worse because the UN report is based on reported cases, Aciafrica says.

So far over 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, 35,000 of them children below the age of 18. Many have no parents.

"They are forced to have sex with adult men; they are being used for child prostitution," Aciafrica reports.

Viljoen says abused children "will be scarred for life. They will have extensive emotional and mental damage. This is likely to last for life, as there are almost no mental health facilities in Cabo Delgado".

Abusers and those allegedly supervising should be sentenced to prison, he says. He doesn't think they'll be brought to justice though if they're Frelimo party members or senior government officials.

A few people will be picked on to make it look as if something's being done, he says.

"We are glad that the United Nations is investigating," Viljoen says. "However, it would be even better if the Mozambican government were to carry out daily investigations."

He's concerned about the government and UN failure to investigate and prosecute similar abuses in the past.

Source

• Crux

Both these things have to change, say child advocacy campaigners.

They want teachers and daycare staff to get compulsory training so they can spot abuse. They also want the Children's Act to sharpen up, so it's "feared" like health and safety laws.

Their calls for change follow the murders of five-year-olds Malachi Subecz and Ferro-James Sio. In both cases, staff at their preschools knew they were being abused.

Safeguarding Children chief, Willow Duffy (pictured), says mandatory reporting "can seem like an effective solution", but it's not that simple.

Oranga Tamariki needs an effective and well resourced system around mandatory reporting first. If not, the child protection agency could become overwhelmed. Children would still be at risk or in an even more vulnerable situation.

Duffy says the Children's Act 2014 is "a weak, forgotten piece of legislation that could seriously contribute to the prevention, recognition and response to child abuse and neglect".

She wants it fully reviewed to ensure it includes mandatory child protection training for anyone - including volunteers - providing services for children and young people.

Safeguarding Children is one organisation that provides such training.

Over the past 12 years and 35,000 trainees later, Duffy says they hear the same concerns raised ahead of the training:

Fear of getting it wrong, fear of making it worse for the child, concerns over losing their relationship with the child and family, fear of breaking the law, getting into trouble at work and fears for their own safety.

"When we survey people after the training the top response is that "nothing would stop me," she said.

"Crucial to preventing and intervening early in child abuse is mandatory training.

"The sad fact is that, due to the partnership between Safeguarding Children and Sport New Zealand, there are lifeguards on the beaches of New Zealand who have had more child protection training than teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers in our country."

Regular refresher courses in spotting and reporting child abuse should also be mandatory, Duffy says. Just like First Aid courses.

Up to date training should be part of the registration process of any professional working with children and "definitely part of any government licensing or funding process." she says.

"Currently this is not the case, this is a failure of The Children's Act once again, which has become a "tick box" compliance mechanism to achieve funding. A "tick box" approach will never protect anyone."

So far the Government has chosen not to comment, similarly the Office of the Children's Commissioner, Kohanga Reo National Trust, New Zealand Principals Federation, Youth Law and The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association.

While supportive of mandating training and reporting, the New Zealand Education Institute warns that mandating reporting could create some perverse consequences with children's parents and families "that would need careful consideration."

Source

• Stuff

The purpose of their visit was to urge Francis to publicly apologize for the abuse that their ancestors - and even some of them - suffered at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

But can a pope really ask for forgiveness when it's been the Vatican's practice to leave the appropriateness of such apologies up to local bishops? And in what cases have popes issued their own apologies in the past?

Paul VI was the first Roman Pontiff to ask forgiveness of past wrongs. He did so in 1965 during a visit to Jerusalem when he and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople made an important "gesture of justice and mutual pardon" through a joint Catholic-Orthodox declaration.

The two Church leaders expressed "regret" for the "offensive words" and "reprehensible gestures" that marked a "sad period" culminating in their predecessors' reciprocal excommunications in 1054.

"The words are not the same as today, we do not speak of apologies, but we must take into account that it was 60 years ago," explained Father Bernard Ardura, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

"This declaration was indeed a request for mutual forgiveness," he pointed out.
Slave trade

Two decades later, John Paul II made another type of apology during a visit to Cameroon.

During a meeting in 1985 with intellectuals and Catholic students in Yaoundé, the Polish pope addressed the painful history of slavery.

"Throughout history, people belonging to Christian nations have unfortunately not always behaved well, and we ask for forgiveness from our African brothers who have suffered so much, for example, from the slave trade," he said.

It repeated those sentiments during a 1992 visit to Senegal, but this time his words were addressed to God.

"From this African sanctuary of black pain, we implore heaven's forgiveness," John Paul II said on the island of Gorée, a historic site of the French slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries.

"These men, women and children were victims of a shameful trade, in which people who were baptized, but not living their faith, took part," he continued.

"How can we forget the enormous suffering inflicted, in disregard of the most basic human rights, on the populations deported from the African continent? How can we forget the human lives destroyed by slavery," the late pope said.
The turning point of the year 2000

John Paul II continued this work of critical examination of the past. In particular, he gave his personal backing to a 1998 symposium on the Inquisition.

That same year he also embraced, as his own, a statement on anti-Semitism that was issued by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 marked a very important step in this process.

At a Mass in Rome on the March 12 "Day of Forgiveness", the pope implored "divine forgiveness for the sins of all believers".

"Let us forgive and ask forgiveness," John Paul II said.

In particular, he implored forgiveness for "the divisions which have occurred among Christians".

"The recognition of past wrongs serves to reawaken our consciences to the compromises of the present, opening the way to conversion for everyone," he said on that occasion.

"We must ask ourselves what our responsibilities are regarding atheism, religious indifference, secularism, ethical relativism, the violations of the right to life, disregard for the poor in many countries," he insisted.

This request also went hand in hand with the Church's "forgiveness" of those who had persecuted Christians throughout history.

"At the same time, as we confess our sins, let us forgive the sins committed by others against us," John Paul said.
"Distinguishing between error and those who commit it"

Other apologies would follow, including in the current pontificate.

For example, Pope Francis asked forgiveness of Italian Protestants in 2015 and specifically begged "forgiveness for the sin committed by those who have gone before us" during a 2017 symposium on Luther that was held at the Vatican.

Father Ardura said this move towards asking for pardon was all made possible by John XXIII.

"In his encyclical Pacem in terris, published in 1963, he clearly states that a distinction must always be made between error and those who commit it, 'even in the case of those who err regarding the truth or are led astray as a result of their inadequate knowledge, in matters either of religion or of the highest ethical standards'," the historian explained.

By restating this ancient distinction in a major papal document, the late Italian pope opened the possibility for the Church to ask for forgiveness.

"It is therefore possible to condemn the Church's error without condemning the Church itself," Father Ardura noted.

But he said this should be something that is done only rarely, otherwise it will lose its value.

"The pope cannot ask for forgiveness for everything, otherwise it would considerably dilute the significance of these requests," he said.

"That's how we became capable of distancing ourselves 70 years ago. But the request for forgiveness is only one step," the Vatican historian continued.

"After forgiveness comes reconciliation. And that can still take years."

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Catholic News Agency

Eivers' comment comes as abuse of New Zealand children in state care keeps increasing.

Oranga Tamariki's new Safety of Children in Care Report says almost 500 were harmed in 2020-21 alone.

The reported statistics are an indictment on the system of care, Eivers says.

"At a time when the state needs to be improving the outcomes for our young people, we as a country are moving backwards.

"Behind every statistic is a mokopuna, a child being harmed or hurt and a family, a whanau, under stress, and that is shameful.

"I am especially concerned that physical harm has increased in the context of young people being physically restrained often where there is no mandate to use force and often the holds were applied incorrectly, and the young person was harmed as a result or when unlawful physical actions were used by the staff member."

Eivers says under her powers as Commissioner, she will be asking Oranga Tamariki to report further on the degree of harm experienced by children.

"I look forward to this dialogue," she says.

Leaving State care for home doesn't mean kids will be any safer, the report notes. The statistics on parents physically harming them haven't improved.

The report's shameful statistics

• 289 children suffered 344 incidences of physical harm
• 183 children suffered 252 incidences of emotional harm
• 77 suffered 88 incidences of sexual harm
• 58 cases of neglect in 34 children
• 27 cases of staff in residences causing harm to teenagers they were restraining.
• More harm was done to children older than 10 than to younger ones.
• Maori and Pasifika suffered disproportionately.

According to the independent Children's Monitor (ICM), Oranga Tamariki was fully compliant just two per cent of the time across all 12 of its own practice requirements. It was compliant across six or more practice requirements three quarters of the time.

The ICM says Oranga Tamariki's poor self-monitoring makes gauging its performance impossible.

"In nearly two-thirds of cases, Tamariki are not visited as often as outlined in their plan. This means there may not be opportunities to continue assessing their safety, wellbeing and health and education needs."

The agency cannot report on Tamariki's access to health services, whether they are informed of and understand their rights; or whether caregivers are given appropriate training and information about the Tamariki they care for.

Children's advocacy group Whakarongo Mai has similar concerns.

It also notes "important assessments around wellbeing, including cultural, health (physical and mental) and transition to independence are largely not being completed".

Where to from here

Eivers says family violence, education and mental wellbeing are key priorities for her as Children's Commissioner.

"I will be ensuring a laser-like focus in my advocacy in this area.

"Our mokopuna, our children deserve better. The release of this report is the wake up call for us as a country to address this huge issue."

Source

• 1News
• Voxy
• Image: Stuff

They coincide with the jailing of a Rotorua woman, Leza Rawiri, who watched a young boy being beaten to death by his father two years ago.

A children's charity that trains people to identify and then respond to child abuse says the Government needs to take action now. Read more

Judge Chris Sygrove told Healy, 82, on Friday that he should have spent a "long time in jail" as a younger man for his serial sexual offending against children during the 1970s and 1980s.

However, he said that justice should be tempered with mercy, and Healy was now too old and frail for a custodial sentence.

The offences dealt with in the Napier District Court on Friday happened in Wellington between 1977 and 1983, when the three boys involved were aged between 9 and 13 and Healy was principal of the Marist Miramar School. Read more

The "historical situation" must be interpreted by the standards of the time, Francis says.

The October report from an independent commission of inquiry confirmed extensive sexual abuse of minors by priests in France. The abuse dated from the 1950s to 2020.

"When we do this kind of study, we must be attentive to the interpretation we make of it," Francis (84) told reporters onboard his flight back from a trip to Greece.

"Abuse 100 years ago, 70 years ago, was brutality. But the way it was experienced is not the same as today.

"For example, in the case of abuse in the church, the attitude was to cover it up - an attitude that unfortunately still exists today in a large number of families."

Although Francis says the report's contents are shameful and that he will be discussing it with French bishops when they visited him later this month, Francis admits he had not read it yet.

Francois Devaux, head of a victims' association in France says Francis's "distressing" lack of interest in the French inquiry is "will show everyone that the pope is at the heart of the problem,".

In his opinion, Francis's comments show "ignorance, stupidity and denial".

During the flight, Francis also condemned the "injustice" surrounding the resignation of Michel Aupetit, archbishop of Paris.

Aupetit, 70,resigned after media reports of an intimate relationship with a woman.

He had categorically denied the report, but admitted to having "had ambiguous behaviour with a person he was very close to".

It was "not a loving relationship", nor sexual, he emphasised.

"When the gossip grows, grows, grows and takes away the reputation of a person, that man will not be able to govern... and that is an injustice," Francis said.

"This is why I accepted Aupetit's resignation, not on the altar of truth, but on the altar of hypocrisy.

"I ask myself, what did Aupetit do that was so serious he had to resign? If we don't know the accusation, we cannot condemn," Francis said.

He urged journalists to investigate the truth of the story.

The rumours and gossip leading to Aupetit's resignation are baseless - and his public condemnation is a sin, Francis said.

In a statement last week, when the pope accepted his offer of resignation, Aupetit said he wanted to "protect the diocese from the division that always provokes suspicion and the loss of confidence".

Source

• RFI
• Image: The Times of Israel

Last week it was widely reported that the conference would break the seal in abuse cases.

"One cannot change the canon law for France as it is international. A priest who today would violate the secrecy of the confession would be excommunicated," says Karine Dalle (pictured), the communications director of the French bishops' conference.

"This is what Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort wanted to say last week after the publication of the Sauvé report, when he said that the seal of confession was above the laws of the Republic," she says.

In no way did he say the seal of the confessional could or would be broken, Dalle emphasises.

De Moulins-Beaufort, who is the president of the French bishops' conference, did say, however, that protecting children is an "absolute priority" for the Catholic Church.

"He spoke the truth, but this truth is not audible in France for those who are not Catholic, and not understandable in France in the midst of debates on so-called ‘religious separatism,'" Dalle says.

Last week it seemed a French radio station reported bishops' conference president Moulins-Beaufort as saying protecting children from sexual abuse overrules confessional secrecy.

The radio also announced that the archbishop had conceded that priests should inform police of admissions of abuse made by penitents during confession, after meeting with French interior minister Gérald Darmanin.

The reports about breaking the confessional seal provoked consternation among Catholics.

While French law has long recognized the Church's strict rules about the confidentiality of the sacrament, the government is now contemplating amending the law for confessors. It has already pushed through changes to client confidentiality laws with lawyers and other secular professionals.

"If a lawyer or a doctor has knowledge of the abuse of a minor under 15 years of age, he or she is obliged not to respect professional secrecy. This is to prevent further crimes, because pedophile criminality is compulsive," Dalle says.

"What Interior Minister Darmanin said is that in the future, the seal of confession could fit into this framework. It wouldn't concern all confessional secrecy, of course, but I don't know where that will lead.

"But if the state tells us [that priests must report crimes against minors revealed in confession] there would be an obligation to leave the secrecy of confession. This would mean that the priests concerned would be excommunicated by Rome.

"There will certainly be some adjustments proposed, which Rome will accept or not.

Among the report's 45 recommendations was a request for the Church to reconsider whether to uphold the confessional seal in cases of abuse.

Source

• CNA
• CathNews
• Image: ESSCA Alumini

The UN experts' statement will probably be made under the guise of demands that the Vatican takes all necessary steps to prevent abuse. It has the hallmarks of an attempt to undermine Catholic doctrine by using the sex abuse scandals, says Catholic commentator Andrea Gagliarducci (pictured).

The UN experts cannot urge a state to adopt procedures or to change its law. Nor can they question how a state is putting into action their proposals, Gagliarducci points out.

He says back in February 2014, a U.N. Convention for the Rights of the Child committee report took on the Church's teaching on human sexuality and canon law.

In May that same year, another UN report - from the Convention against Torture - suggested child abuse was torture. Its aim in doing so was to push the Holy See to introduce new measures, Gagliarducci says.

In December 2019, Dutch jurist Maud de Boer-Buquicchio was the U.N. Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children.

While she praised the pope's decision that the pontifical secret would no longer apply in cases of accusations and trials involving abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, she urged the Vatican to "enforce mandatory reporting for all clergy and staff who have knowledge of these heinous acts."

Gagliarducci says the final scope of these statements aims to force the Holy See to change canon law to adapt it to a "human rights protocol".

This protocol would subtly back or mention "gender perspective" and "sexual and reproductive rights" - meaning a push for the "right" to abortion.

He says he has seen a statement from the "experts" in advance of publication in which they refer to a letter addressed to the Holy See in April.

Gagliarducci says they expressed "utmost concern about the numerous allegations around the world of sexual abuse and violence" against children" and the Church's attempts to protect the abusers.

They also complained the Holy See's concordats and agreements with states "limit the ability of the civil authority to question, compel the production of documents, or prosecute people" associated with the Church."

The Holy See should "refrain from obstructive practices and to cooperate fully with the civil, judicial, and law enforcement authorities of the countries concerned."

Two Catholic principles are targeted in the article, Gagliarducci says.

One involves the confessional seal, which prevents priests from reporting the contents of confessions to civil authorities.

The second principle is that of the Holy See's sovereignty.

Gagliarducci says the experts specifically want to see an end to the distinction between the Holy See and the Vatican City State, which ensures the protection of religious freedom. This will enable states to have full jurisdiction over the Church.

The expected letter follows up de Boer-Buquicchio's statement and will be signed by four other special rapporteurs.

Source

• The Catholic Telegraph
• CBCP News
• Image:YouTube
  

The grim statistics were released to Hawke's Bay Today under the Official Information Act for the years 2016 to 2021.

The data covers the period of July 1 to June 30, apart from the current financial year, for which data covers from July 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Between 2016 and 2020 there were a total of 23,798 reports of concern of physical and sexual abuse in Napier and Hastings, of which a total of 784 cases (3.2 percent) were substantiated. Read more

He described child abuse, paedophilia and child pornography, as "psychological murder."

Speaking to members of the Meter Association in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on May 15, the pope noted that the Internet is facilitating child abuse.

"Your work is more necessary than ever because, unfortunately, the abuse of children continues.

"I refer in particular to the solicitations that take place through the Internet and various social media, with pages and portals dedicated to child pornography."

In February, the Guardian newspaper reported that the rapidly expanding volume of child abuse material online is threatening to overwhelm U.K. police.

It said that the U.K.'s child abuse image database contained 17 million unique images, with half a million more added every two months.

"This is a scourge that, on the one hand, needs to be addressed with renewed determination by institutions. On the other hand, it requires an even stronger awareness on the part of families and the various educational agencies."

Adding, "Even today, we see how often in families, the first reaction is to cover everything up."

"A first reaction that is always there in other institutions and even in the Church."

"We have to fight with this old habit of covering up."

"I know that you are always vigilant in protecting children even in the context of the most modern media."

The Meter group was founded in Sicily, Italy, in 1989 by Father Fortunato Di Noto. It has been championing the rights of children, especially against child pornography and paedophilia.

Thanking all those who support the association in defending abused and mistreated children, Francis said Meter members have "contributed to making visible the Church's love for the smallest and most defenceless."

He said the group has reached out to children with respect, closeness, compassion and tenderness, to welcome, console and protect them, binding up their "spiritual wounds" like the Good Samaritan.

"How many times, like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, have you reached out [to children] with respect and compassion, to welcome, console, and protect [them]. How many spiritual wounds have you healed? For all this, the Church community is grateful to you. We can compare your Association to a home."

Sources

Vatican News

CBS News

Asia News