Sex abuse and its handling by Church authorities is the top priority for the new pope, according to a recent readership survey conducted by ucanews.com. The survey – conducted from February 18-28 – attracted 2,300 responses, with the majority (72 percent) from Asia. More than three quarters identified sexual abuse and how Church authorities respond Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Sexual abuse’
Sex abuse by Catholics out of proportion with size of Church
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
The rate of convictions of Catholic Church personnel for sex abuse in Australia seems “strikingly out of proportion” with the size of the Church compared with other faith communities, according to research by a law professor at the University of Sydney. “While there are some similar patterns in terms of victims’ age and gender, the Read more
Australian child abuse inquiry a catalyst for change in the Church
Friday, February 15th, 2013
The awful record of the institutional Catholic church’s leadership in dealing with the scandal of clerical sex abuse of minors has clearly, and rightly, been a trigger for the federal government’s Royal Commission into sexual abuse of children in Australia. This is a record that has already prompted other inquiries here and overseas. It would indeed be Read more
Cardinal Mahony barred from public duties over sex abuse cases
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles has taken the unusual step of relieving his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, from all public duties for failing to protect children from clergy sex abuse. At the same time, Archbishop Gomez complied with a court order by releasing 12,000 pages of documents containing the personnel files of clergy accused Read more
Secular scrutiny can save the Church
Friday, February 1st, 2013
On Wednesday Peter McClellan, the NSW Supreme Court Judge leading the royal commission into child abuse in institutions, told the media that the commission’s task will be long and complex. No surprises there. His point was to contain expectations among the media that the commission would be anything other than a hard slog, and that Read more
New National Director for National Office for Professional Standards
Friday, February 1st, 2013
Archbishop John Dew has announced that Mr Bill Kilgallon is to replace Mr John Jamieson, who retires in February, as National Director for the Office for Professional Standards, the office which is tasked with dealing with complaints of abuse against clergy or religious. “While the complaints and reviews which are currently being processed are all Read more
Judge critical of the media for pursuing McGrath down the street
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012Bernard McGrath made a remand appearance on Monday in the Christchurch District Court, where defence counsel Phillip Allan said he had just filed a notice of opposition to the extradition application. Judge David Saunders remanded McGrath, 65, on continued bail. Judge Saunders was critical of the media for pursuing McGrath down the street after his last court Read more
Church in Aust. forms Truth, Justice and Healing Commission
Friday, December 14th, 2012
A lay-led Truth, Justice and Healing Commission will co-ordinate the Catholic Church’s response to the forthcoming Australian royal commission on sexual abuse. Its chairman will be a retired Supreme Court judge, Barry O’Keefe, QC and its chief executive officer will be another prominent layman, Francis Sullivan. The only other member named so far is Dr Read more
Most German priests accused of sex abuse were normal
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
The vast majority of German priests accused of sexually abusing minors were psychologically normal, according to research commissioned by the Catholic Church. Only 12 per cent of those studied were diagnosed as paedophiles, according to a report released by Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference spokesman on abuse cases. Psychological testing showed Read more
Bernard McGrath arrested after returning to New Zealand
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
New Zealand police have arrested Bernard McGrath, a former Catholic brother and convicted pedophile after Australian authorities filed 252 new charges against him. McGrath voluntarily left Sri Lanka last week and arrived at Christchurch International Airport on Friday. Police deny he had fled to Sri Lanka, saying he was only there for a holiday. He Read more