New Zealand appeared to have made reasonable progress in its work to address sexual abuse within the church and to stop it happening in the future says Fr Hans Zollner. However he said there are still challenges to be faced such as unifying the church’s approach and dealing with complex migration issues. Zollner, who has Read more
When a priest accused of sexual abuse dies, care should be taken as to how his funeral is conducted, new Irish child protection guidelines say. The National Board for Safeguarding Children published updated guidelines on Wednesday. They give recommendations if an accused priest dies before an investigation has concluded. In such a case, “careful thought Read more
An Irish church head has warned of the risk of a generation of children being deprived of normal interaction with adults because of a protection “industry”. Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Richard Clarke expressed his concerns during his church’s general synod, the Irish Times reported. While emphasising the necessity for strong child protection measures, he Read more
The Catholic Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands launched its first child protection policy on February 24. The policy outlines clear steps for investigating abuse within the Church and encourages members of report abuse. Br Frank Hough, who helped formulate the new policy, said he hoped Church members would find reporting abuse less Read more
Several of New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are pushing for widespread background checks, with a focus on anyone who works with children. In the Archdiocese of Wellington anyone who works or volunteers for the church and will have to undergo a fresh check every three years. Wellington archdiocese Director of Projects and Administration, Dave Mullin, said Read more
In his first public statement on the subject, Pope Francis has called for the Church to continue “decisive action” against clerical sex abuse. The Pope asked the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Müller, to “continue the line desired by Benedict XVI of decisive action regarding cases of sexual Read more
The Catholic Church in Scotland has come in for further criticism of its child protection procedures, with a former consultant revealing that the Church has been unable to produce the annual audits of abuse claims that it promised in 1996. The former child protection consultant, Alan Draper, who worked for the Motherwell diocese for seven Read more
The steps taken in the last 30 years to prevent the devastating trauma of child sexual abuse are making a difference. From 1990 to 2010, substantiated cases of child sexual abuse throughout the United States dropped 62 percent, according to experts David Finkelhor and Lisa Jones using a variety of sources including national surveys, FBI Read more
A finding from the annual child safety compliance plan of the US Conference of Catholic bishops warns of a “growing complacency” about child protection. The report mentions around 30 dioceses as failing to provide safe environment training for all children in parishes or schools. The auditors said several dioceses assumed that the children had undergone the training Read more
The Dublin Archdiocese could be on the verge of financial collapse as it tries to manage the child abuse payouts. Declining numbers of Catholics attending Mass and fewer donations are also significant contributing factors. The Irish Catholic reports that reserves built up by the diocese have been spent. A senior administrator for the archdiocese said Read more