Victims of a paedophile priest from Dunedin are pleased Father Magnus Murray had been laicised. The Catholic Bishop of Hamilton Steve Lowe said he laicisation had been “a complicated process because of Murray’s age and health”.. Continue reading
Posts Tagged ‘Clergy Abuse’
Poland doubles jail time for paedophiles after clergy abuse doco goes viral
Monday, May 20th, 2019
Poland is planning to double jail terms for convicted paedophiles after a documentary on priest sex abuse sparked outrage in the country. The documentary includes harrowing testimonies from victims and has been viewed more than 18 million times. Convicted paedophiles could now face up to 30 years or even life in prison. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Read more
Abuse victims suing Vatican
Thursday, May 16th, 2019
Five sexual abuse victims of priests will sue the Vatican to get names and details of the priests involved, an attorney for the group says. The lawsuit in the US federal court aims to compel the Vatican to open its archives and “release all the identities of thousands of offenders known exclusively by the Vatican Read more
Bishops criticised for attending funeral of abusive priest
Thursday, May 9th, 2019Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of clergymen are outraged three senior bishops attended a funeral celebrating the life of an abusive priest. In 2003, Laffey admitted he had sexually assaulted Mike Phillips in the mid 1960s, when Phillips was a 13-year-old altar boy at St Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington. Laffey retired from his Read more
No religion is safe if priests are forced to violate confessional seal
Thursday, May 2nd, 2019
If priests are forced to violate the confessional seal, no religion is safe a Dominican priest says. A proposed change in law in California would legally require priests to violate the sacramental seal of confession in suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. Fr Pius Pietrzyk OP, who is an assistant professor of canon law, Read more
Catholic Church sex slave doco pulled
Thursday, May 2nd, 2019
A hit documentary, “Sex Slaves in the Catholic Church”, has been pulled from the Franco-German television channel Arte after a priest complained to a German court. The big-budget media investigation, about the way some Catholic priests have abused nuns and used them for sex, was broadcast in March and sold widely internationally since. The abused Read more
Vatican finds former Guam archbishop guilty of child sex abuse
Monday, April 8th, 2019The Vatican has upheld its decision convicting the former Archbishop Anthony Apuron in the U.S. territory of Guam for sexually abusing minors. “Our church on Guam can now continue with certainty, our collective journey toward healing and reconciliation. Most importantly, the victims, survivors and their families who have suffered greatly can have some measure of Read more
Cardinal Barbarin may not be innocent, says Pope
Thursday, April 4th, 2019
Pope Francis says it’s possible French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin “is not innocent.” His comment was made in response to questions from French media about the Cardinal of Lyon during an in-flight press conference after his visit to Morocco last weekend. Last month Barbarin was found guilty on one count of failure to report a charge Read more
Sexual immaturity, poor formation behind abuse crisis
Thursday, April 4th, 2019
Sexual immaturity and poor formation are to blame for the sex abuse crisis the Church is facing, says a Canadian nun with a doctorate in clinical sexology. The crisis does not mean “the end of faith” but rather “the end of a lack of formation and the end of deviance,” and a call to return Read more
Survivors’ support group and bishop sign memorandum of understanding
Monday, March 25th, 2019
Last Friday the Catholic bishop of Dunedin, Michael Dooley, signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives from the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Aotearoa New Zealand support group (MSSAT Aotearoa) according to a report in the Otago Daily Times. The Otago branch senior manager of MSSAT Aotearoa, Dugal Armour, said the agreement meant survivors of Read more