Oxfam has been officially warned over “mismanagement” and criticised for allowing predatory staff to target and sexually abuse children in disaster zones. The charity has also been criticised for ignoring victims’ complaints. In a 150-page report, the Charity Commission (a UK watchdog organisation that reports directly to the UK parliament) laid out the outcome of Read more
Reactions in Australia to Cardinal George Pell’s six-year prison sentence were mixed when was it broadcast live from Victoria’s County Court in central Melbourne. Some clerical sex abuse survivors were reported as saying “even a week would have been enough”. Others said the ruling is too lenient. Some described the prosecution as proof the church Read more
A former priest accused of sexually molesting dozens of boys in the 1970s and ’80s has been found shot dead at his Nevada home. Police are treating the death of John Capparelli, who was 70, as a homicide. According to the coroner’s office the former priest had been shot in the neck. Although police say Read more
I can’t be the only Catholic sickened or shocked by this seemingly endless crisis. But if I could speak to the senior bishops gathered in Rome this weekend, I’d say that counsels to simply lift and shift current secular practice are not the answer. Historians are beginning to point out that secular practice to address Read more
Child sexual abuse in the United States is at epidemic levels. More than 60,000 children are reported to have been abused every year, outnumbering those killed by guns or cars. Those who survive are often left not only with physical wounds, but also with psychological wounds that may never heal. These wounds exact both a Read more
A French priest is trying to block the film “By the Grace of God”, which was shown at a Berlin film festival, from getting full release in France. The film claims to break silence on sordid goings on within the Church. The French director’s look at the sex abuse scandal that is engulfing the Church Read more
The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Mark Coleridge said at a press conference last Friday that priests will not break the seal of confession, even if that means they might face criminal charges. “We don’t believe it will make children safer, and in certain cases, we think it could make children less safe. Read more
The Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, is fighting to have charges that he covered up child sexual abuse reports thrown out of court. This is the fourth time Wilson has attempted to have the case rejected. Last year he lost an attempt in Sydney’s Court of Appeal to rule the charges invalid. His barrister Stephen Read more
Ampleforth Abbey has lost its responsibility for managing pupil welfare. The UK Charities Commission said the Abbey had lost its pupil welfare responsibilities “as a result of continued concerns about the extent to which current safeguarding risks to pupils at the schools run by the [Ampleforth] charities are being adequately managed”. The Charities Commission is Read more
A victim of sex offender Bernard McGrath is angry at how long it took to get justice. Darryl Smith was six years old when McGrath began sexually abusing him in the 1970s. The sex offending happened at Christchurch’s Marylands school for boys. McGrath was a St John of God brother when he abused at least nine Read more