Seven reports reviewing child protection practices in a number of Ireland’s Catholic dioceses and religious orders have been published. The audits have found a higher incidence of abuse allegations against members of religious congregations than against priests in the four dioceses that have been audited. Reports on the audits say full compliance with child protection Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Sexual abuse’
Irish Bishop: Paedophilia is a “friendship that crossed boundary line”
Thursday, September 6th, 2012The Bishop of Clonfert in Galway has said he thought paedophilia was “a friendship that crossed a boundary line”. John Kirby has made the comments as the Catholic Church publishes 7 reports into child safe-guarding practices. It is the second batch of reviews to be carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding Children which Read more
Australian priest arrested in sexual abuse cover-up
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
A retired Australian priest, Tom Brennan, has been arrested on charges of failing to report two serious cases of sexual abuse of two children. Brennan, a former vicar-general in the NSW Maitland-Newcastle diocese, was school principal when former priest John Denham is alleged to have committed the sex offences in the 1970’s. ABC reports Denham Read more
Taking its medicine does the Vatican some good
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
“Be careful what you wish for,” as the saying goes, “because you will surely get it.” In light of a couple of recent Vatican stories, the corollary also seems to apply: Be careful what you try to avoid, because it might actually be good for you. A stringent European money laundering exam in July and Read more
Judge rules US priest was not employed by the Vatican
Friday, August 24th, 2012
Dismissing a 10-year-old attempt to hold the Holy See liable for sexual abuse, a federal judge in the United States has ruled that a priest accused of molestation was not employed by the Vatican. The ruling in an Oregon courtroom came in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the late Father Andrew Ronan, Read more
Fixing the system that put Monsignor Lynn in jail
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Monsignor William J. Lynn, former Secretary for the Clergy, in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has been sentenced to 3-6 years in prison for child endangerment. A jury found Monsignor Lynn culpable in reassigning predator priests to unwary parishes. Bill Lynn was my classmate. I have known him for forty years. He is a good man Read more
Sex abuse costing Aust. diocese more than $19 million
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Out-of-court settlements for victims of sex abuse are predicted to total more than $NZ19 million in the Australian diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, where a lawyer says the concentration of claims is far higher than in any other diocese in the country. The diocese, in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, has settled at least 78 claims, Read more
The Economist finds messy finances in US Church
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
After an in-depth investigation of the finances of the Catholic Church in the United States, The Economist says its financial mismanagement and questionable business practices would have seen widespread resignations in any other public institution. “Of all the organisations that serve America’s poor, few do more good work than the Catholic Church: its schools and Read more
A new conversation about Church sex abuse
Friday, July 27th, 2012
Since my ordination to the priesthood 12 years ago, the millstone of sexual abuse revelations within the Catholic Church has weighed heavily. Indeed, such is the extent of the crisis, that in some circles priest and paedophile have become interchangeable words. It is as if we have moved from an unhealthy ‘A priest would never do that’ to an Read more
Church transparency and the seal of the confessional
Friday, July 27th, 2012
The Church’s handling of sexual abuse claims has been back in the media spotlight. Following the 4 Corners program ‘Unholy Silence’ which exposed the dastardly deeds of ‘Fr F’ in the diocese of Armidale during the 1980s, the bishops of Armidale and Parramatta, seeking to be completely transparent, have appointed a respected lawyer, Tony Whitlam QC, to Read more