Some Australians, including many victims of child sexual abuse, revile George Pell. Others hold him in high esteem. Neither of these groups will have their minds changed about Cardinal Pell, regardless of what any court might determine. The majority of Australians fall into neither camp. Victorian Police In the midst of controversy and with allegations Read more
Institutional child sex abuse survivors in West Australia will not benefit from most recommendations a parliamentary inquiry found would help them. The State government rejected 22 of the inquiry’s 33 recommendations, which included allowing the names of known child abusers to be published prominently on church websites. Just 11 of the 33 inquiry committee’s recommendations Read more
A Fijian survivor of abuse by Marist Brothers is calling for Pope Francis to issue a formal apology to Pacific victims as well as those in New Zealand. Felix Fremlin, abused by two New Zealand Marist brothers while attending Primary School in Suva, says the apology should extend beyond New Zealand victims. Fremlin was just Read more
The Government is causing more harm with its plan to limit the number of people who can attend the national apology for abuse in state care, survivors say. Just last week the coalition was being praised for agreeing to cover travel costs for survivors heading to the apology in Wellington, after RNZ revealed in July Read more
In this predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian country, cases of paedophilia are still shrouded in deep secrecy. However, the issue is expected to receive considerable attention in the coming days, as Pope Francis arrived this Monday, September 9, in East Timor, the third stage of his major Asian tour. The 87-year-old pope will visit Dili, the Read more
Palmerston North bishop John Adams is doubling down on a culture change in the Catholic Church and its efforts to make the Church safe. Adams had commented earlier in response to a letter to the editor published in the Manawatu Standard by Dr Christopher Longhurst, leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Read more
Abuse in church contexts “has been a widespread problem” that is now being dealt with, according to Professor David Tombs, the Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago. It’s been prevalent in the Catholic Church, in other churches and within wider society, he says. Tomb’s view is shared by Read more
As accusations of sexual abuse have mounted against Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, his art has come under a microscope. Recently attentive observers noted a curiosity – the face of the artist himself, along with two of his closest friends and allies, appears in an obscure section of perhaps his most famous work. Rupnik’s mosaic Rupnik’s Read more
Women religious in Africa suffer at the hands of some priests. Abuse and sexuality are taboo topics in Africa and women religious were reluctant to speak about their experiences, even in a safe environment with one of their own. Women religious and priests Sister Mary Lembo from Togo says she had to work for several Read more
A Vatican review has cleared Cardinal John Dew of an abuse accusation. He is now free to resume public Church activities. After reviewing the complaint dated back to the 1970s, the Vatican decided no further Church inquiry was required. The Vatican’s finding is similar to that of the New Zealand Police, which concluded earlier this Read more