The Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed the publication of details of the case study inquiry into the former Marylands School in Christchurch announced by the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. Marylands was a residential school for children with learning difficulties, run between the mid-1950s and 1984 by the Brothers Hospitallers of Read more
The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care has published documents giving the details of its investigation into the Catholic Church. They include the Church’s part in faith-based redress for survivors – which will form part of the commission’s Inquiry into the historic abuse of children in the state and faith-based care. Cardinal John Dew, Vice-President Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops will closely review a new Vatican guide on dealing with sexual abuse by priests to see how it matches their existing rules on handling such abuse. Last week, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published Vademecum (“Handbook”) a 17-page step-by-step-guide to help bishops and other Church religious administrators Read more
A manual to protect minors from predatory clergy has been published by the Vatican. Targeted at bishops and religious superiors conducting in-house investigations into allegations of priests who rape and molest minors and vulnerable adults, the long-awaited publication offers advice about how to handle cases of clergy sex crimes. “These documents constitute an ‘instrument’ intended Read more
Pope Francis has ordered a Polish bishop to leave his diocese and let someone else run it. Bishop of Kalisz, Edward Janiak must stay away while he is being investigated for covering up sexual abuse cases. He will retain the title of bishop for the meantime, however. The cases Janiak allegedly covered up featured in Read more
Following a decision by prosecutors not to charge retired Wyoming bishop Joseph Hart for sexual abuse against minors, his alleged victims are looking to the Church’s canonical process as a last chance for the 88-year-old prelate to be brought to justice. As first reported by the Kansas City Star on Tuesday, and confirmed by Crux Read more
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry is appealing for information from survivors who reported the abuse they suffered while in faith-based care and sought redress either directly from the Church or other Faith-based Institution or by filing civil proceedings in Court or the Human Rights Review Tribunal. In a recent press release, the Read more
Many Australian publishers and journalists will be tried in November for breaking court suppression orders about Cardinal George Pell, when he was convicted of child sex abuse in December 2018. Prosecutors in the state of Victoria say 19 journalists and 21 publications aided and abetted contempt of court by overseas media and breached the trial Read more
Four Mexican bishops are among many clergy in Mexico suspected of sex crimes. The crimes are currently being investigated by two of the Vatican’s top sex crimes investigators. The investigators are on a fact-finding and assistance mission as the world’s second-largest Catholic country begins to reckon with decades of clergy sex abuse and cover-up. Nuncio Read more
Acquitted Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France has admitted to errors in governance for not denouncing former priest Bernard Preynat’s sexual abuse of minors. A week after the Court of Appeal in Lyon acquitted him Barbarin spoke of his “errors of governance” and discussed the “media tsunami” that has surrounded him in the past four Read more