The Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert, on Sunday issued an apology for the abuse allegedly suffered by young boys at a Scottish boarding school over 30 years. “It is a most bitter, and distressing and shameful thing that in this former Abbey school there were a small number of baptised, consecrated, ordained Christian men, who Read more
A retired social worker in Scotland who did a research on “problem priests” said a “secret archives” of the Church could contain allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 100 priests and other staff in cases stretching back 50 years. Alan Draper said an independent commission should be allowed access to the archives of Read more
Confidential personnel records from five Catholic religious orders in Los Angeles, California, were released to victims of clergy sex abuse on Wednesday. The papers, which were released under the terms of a $660 million settlement agreement reached in 2007, pertain to a dozen priests, brothers and nuns accused of sexual misconduct in the landmark 2007 Read more
A judge has granted the extradition of former Catholic brother Bernard McGrath to Australia to face hundreds of sex abuse charges. The Australian Government’s application for extradition was granted by Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court today. In Australia, charges have been laid against McGrath, 65, alleging that he raped, molested and abused 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
A United Nations committee has taken the United States to task for failing to pursue and prosecute clerical sex abusers. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the US to “take all necessary measures to investigate all cases of sexual abuse of children whether single or on a massive and long-term scale, Read more
A senior Australian parish priest has told the Victoria inquiry into clergy sex abuse that the Catholic Church’s procedures for dealing with abuse have failed and should be closed down. “Time is up, the Church has had more than a fair chance. The Melbourne Response and Towards Healing have lost all credibility and are beyond Read more
Research into the behaviour of Catholic clergy treated by the Encompass Australasia clinic in New South Wales was under way when it was closed in 2008, according to a Fairfax Media report. The clergy sex abuse study, titled ”Sexual Boundary Violations Among Catholic Religious”, was conducted under the approval of the human research ethics committee Read more
A former priest told an Australian state inquiry into the Catholic Church’s handling of child abuse cases that more than one in 20 Victorian Catholic priests became a child abuser. Des Cahill, an intercultural studies professor and a former priest, said the Church’s senior leaders may have to go to jail for covering up the Read more
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