Ongoing religious scandals

Hotblack Desiato

On the theme of stuff that was cut down, anyone know what happened to this yoke?

recedite

Peregrinus wrote: »

All the land in Ireland is owned by somebody, though I have no idea who owns this particular piece of land.

It's commonage, which means its in the joint ownership of numerous farmers, who farm the lower slopes.

robindch wrote: »

Yiz can all stand down the outrage and upset. The cross is to be stuck up again "as soon as possible".

http://www.killarneytoday.com/mountain-cross-to-be-re-erected/

It will be interesting to see if this disparate lot can actually get together to agree and implement a plan. Such groups exist primarily to negotiate public access rights in exchange for cash grants. I remember a few years ago there was money available for some relatively uncontroversial restoration/enhanced safety works on the Devil's Ladder, which is the slippy steep bit on the way up, and it was delayed for ages while waiting for all the stakeholders to agree.
The days of voluntary labour for erecting shrines and crosses are probably gone, but on the other hand, it may be easier nowadays to crowd-source funding from donors outside the area, and then commission a new cross and have it lifted up and dropped by helicopter.
That still leaves the planning permission. The planners in the planning dept. are not the same individuals who occupy the council chamber and spent public money erecting a crucifix there.

Nelson's Pillar may well turn out to be an apt comparison. Most people at the time did not support its destruction, but neither could they muster the enthusiasm to re-instate it. Times had changed.

Peregrinus

recedite wrote: »

It will be interesting to see if this disparate lot can actually get together to agree and implement a plan . . .

I suspect that, as long as it's believed that the previous cross was cut down in an act of antireligious vandalism, sheer bloody-mindedness will be a sufficent driver to get something put up in its place. Whereas if it's accepted that it came down due to corrosion, metal fatigue and the exposed conditions, it will all be forgotten.

recedite

The Vatican has rejected an appeal by a former priest against his dismissal from the priesthood over child sex abuse.
Dan Duane, from Mallow Co Cork, was defrocked following a canon law trial for abuse of teenagers and minors.
In March 2013 a secret canonical court set up by the Cloyne diocese’s former administrator, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dermot Clifford, ruled he should be forced to stand down as a priest having heard from a number of his victims.
Previously Duane faced two criminal charges for sex abuse but was acquitted in both cases.

source
Curious that the civil courts acquitted this guy, but the RCC obviously thought he was guilty.
I wonder if the burden of proof is higher in the criminal courts than in a canon law trial, seeing as the punishment is more tangible. It sometimes happens that someone gets acquitted in a criminal case but gets sued afterwards in a civil case where the burden of proof is lower, but the penalty is lesser; financial as opposed to jail time (eg OJ Simpson)

Or could it be that the RCC had access to some incriminating evidence that the State was never made aware of?

Hotblack Desiato

recedite wrote: »

source
Curious that the civil courts acquitted this guy, but the RCC obviously thought he was guilty.
I wonder if the burden of proof is higher in the criminal courts than in a canon law trial, seeing as the punishment is more tangible. It sometimes happens that someone gets acquitted in a criminal case but gets sued afterwards in a civil case where the burden of proof is lower, but the penalty is lesser; financial as opposed to jail time (eg OJ Simpson)

Or could it be that the RCC had access to some incriminating evidence that the State was never made aware of?

I don't know, but wouldn't be surprised if they operated closer to the civil case standard of proof (balance of probabilities) rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.

Of course it is possible that they have withheld evidence. It's also possible they have different rules on the admissibility of evidence, e.g. hearsay, so the canon law court had more evidence to consider.

Print out and frame this post, it's me possibly sticking up for the RCC.

Banbh

In a canonical court the accused may also be questioned with hot irons applied to the soles of the feet.

Peregrinus

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

I don't know, but wouldn't be surprised if they operated closer to the civil case standard of proof (balance of probabilities) rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.

Of course it is possible that they have withheld evidence. It's also possible they have different rules on the admissibility of evidence, e.g. hearsay, so the canon law court had more evidence to consider.

Print out and frame this post, it's me possibly sticking up for the RCC.

Canon law, like civil law, applies different standards of proof to different questions. In "dismissal from the clerical state" cases (which this case was) the standard required is "moral certainty". I've read that commentaries on the Code of Canon Law say that, in practice, this tends to be pretty much the same as the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard applied in criminal cases in the secular courts.

In the secular courts , Duane was acquitted, in two separate trials, of charges of assaulting two teenagers. Each trial dealt with (and I expect heard evidence from) only one victim, and the fact that accusations had been made by other victims was almost certainly not mentioned.

From the newspaper report, in the canonical trial Duane was found to have abused "children and teenagers" - possibly (probably?) more than two of them - and it seems that the canonical tribunal heard from "a number of his victims". It seems likely that the canonical court heard evidence from some witnesses who didn't testify at either of his criminal trials, and the judges had the advantage of hearing the cumulative evidence of a number of victims.

It's also possible that some of the sexual abuse considered in the canonical proceeding would not have been the subject of a criminal trial because it wasn't a breach of secular law - e.g. the victim was 17 or over, or the specific acts alleged, while repellent, fell short of what could be categorised as sexual assault for the purposes of Irish law.

Factors like these might account for the different outcome of the canonical and the secular proceedings in this case.

robindch

A judge in Spain charges 10 priests with child sex abuse

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31013653

Oddly enough, the abuse happened in Granada, where the local archbishop, Francisco Javier Martinez, is a religious hardliner who came to the attention of A+A three years ago when he said that women who have abortions can be "abused without limit".

robindch

Australia 'faces A$4bn' child-abuse compensation bill

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31052631

BBC wrote:

Australia may need to pay A$4.4bn ($3.4bn; £2.3bn) as compensation to the victims of child abuse, officials say. A consultation paper, released by Australia's Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, estimated 65,000 people may be entitled to compensation. The commission is investigating how schools, churches and government bodies responded to abuse claims and cases. It has also called for a national system for checking the history of people who seek to work with children.

The commission was formed in April 2013, following pressure from lawmakers amid police claims that the Roman Catholic Church had concealed evidence of paedophile priests. There were revelations that child abusers were being moved from place to place instead of having their crimes reported and investigated. There were also accusations that adults had failed to stop further acts of abuse.

On Friday, the commission's chair, Justice Peter McClellan, called for responses to the consultation paper so that a final report could be published in the middle of this year. "It is necessary for me to stress that the commissioners do not presently have firm views about any issue in the consultation paper," said Mr McClellan. Actuaries estimated 65,000 victims may be entitled to some level of redress, with an average payment of A$65,000. "Based on these assumptions, the total cost of redress nationally would be in the order of A$4.378bn," Justice McClellan said.

In the two years since the commission was appointed, its commissioners have spoken to more than 2,850 survivors of child abuse in private sessions. It has also completed 21 public hearings and expects to hold another 17 hearings this year. Justice McClellan said the commissioners were developing a picture of a period when thousands of children were abused in a "high-risk environment", created by "prevailing social attitudes to children and unquestioning respect for the authority of institutions by adults". However, he acknowledged that the abuse of children "is not confined in time - it is happening today".

Justice McClellan said there had long been a need for a national framework to check the backgrounds of people working with children. "Its absence is a blight upon the communities' efforts to provide effectively for the protection of children," he said. The consultation paper said the compensation scheme would be funded by contributions from both governments and institutions.

If the state was a funder of last resort, a contribution of almost A$2bn would be required from various government authorities, and A$2.4bn would come from private institutions. The commission expects to provide a final report by December 2017.

robindch

Church gives up €42m in land deal for victims

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/church-gives-up-42m-in-land-deal-for-victims-30953892.html

Indo wrote:

The Government wanted the religious orders to pay half of the total bill of €1.4bn needed for redress payments and legal costs. But so far the value of the asset handover is still a long way short of the €700m the State is demanding. School buildings, convents, vestries, playing fields and associated lands across Ireland are included in the list. The highest value property handed over was grounds in Merrion, south Dublin, valued at €8.9m.

Documents sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by Sean O Foghlu, Secretary General of the Department of Education, show that the properties were handed over "under the terms of the 2002 Indemnity Agreement". According to his letter, which has been seen by this newspaper, the department agreed in principle with the Conference of Religious in Ireland to take control of 64 properties. These properties have been accepted "subject to good and marketable title and agreed valuations. This number has been reduced to 61 as the department has accepted and received a sum of cash in lieu of three properties where good and marketable title could not be established," Mr O Foghlu wrote.

According to the documents, apart from the significant site at Merrion, eight other properties worth more than €1m were surrendered. They include a Terenure secondary school valued at €4.5m; St Teresa's convent at Temple Hill in Blackrock, valued at €3.1m, and a Traveller site also in Blackrock, which was valued at €3.1m. Other significant properties handed over included two separate properties in Tuam, Galway, valued at €3,020,000; St Anne's Secondary School, which was valued at €2,600,000; Holy Cross Gardens, Killarney, Co Kerry (€1,270,000); 23 Parnell Square, Dublin (€1,270,000); and Goldenbridge Group Homes, which were valued at €1,269,700.

As of December 31, a total of 44 properties have been transferred to the department and "there are no outstanding issues," Mr O Foghlu said. The 44 properties, he said, represented two-thirds of the total monetary value of all properties being transferred under the Indemnity Agreement, excluding the cash in lieu settlement. The documents went on to state that 17 properties have not yet fully transferred and "arrangements are being finalised".

"As it was likely that nine of the remaining properties would not meet the standard of good and marketable title required by the 2002 agreement, the Government agreed in 2013 that such properties could not be accepted," Mr O Foghlu said. He said his department was engaging with the office of the Chief State Solicitor, who in turn is dealing with lawyers for the religious orders as well as the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The total cost of offering redress to the victims of abuse has soared to almost €1.4bn. Under a controversial 2002 indemnity agreement, 18 religious orders which ran care institutions pledged to contribute €128m in cash, property and counselling services towards redress costs for abuse survivors. However, they later agreed to contribute €352.6 million for victims of institutional abuse. So far they have paid less than a quarter of that.

[...]

smacl

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

On the theme of stuff that was cut down, anyone know what happened to this yoke?

'fraid not, totally stumped!

robindch

Over 7,000 babies died in state-run hell holes

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/over-7000-babies-died-state-run-5074339

Irish Mirror wrote:

More than 7,000 babies and children died in Ireland’s mother and baby homes during the last century, new documents reveal. But the real figure is likely to be much higher as records do not include miscarriages or stillbirths.

In some cases, babies who survived only a few hours were wrongly registered as stillborns to avoid registering the birth and the death. Now documents shown to the Irish Mirror by Paul Redmond, chairman of the Coalition of Mother And Baby Home Survivors, reveal the true extent of the shocking loss of life.

The figures relate to the nine “official” mother and baby homes with the number of women and girls estimated to have gone through these institutions at between 25,000 and 27,000. Records show at least 7,150 infants lost their lives and many are buried in designated Angels’ Plots inside or near the grounds of the homes.

Ahead of the upcoming inquiry, Mr Redmond demanded the outrageous death rates be acknowledged. He said: “I want to see memorials for all of them. There are several Angels’ Plots throughout the country of various sizes. We want to see it acknowledged.

“My group Adoption Rights Now have been asking for a long time that ownership of all the Angels’ Plots be handed over to trust committees of natural mothers and adoptees. We believe we are the only people who are fit to look after them.”

[...]

Shrap

robindch wrote: »

Church gives up €42m in land deal for victims

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/church-gives-up-42m-in-land-deal-for-victims-30953892.html

and a Traveller site also in Blackrock, which was valued at €3.1m.

Interesting. I didn't realise that was owned by the church. I was always a bit bemused at how the travellers were let be there on such a piece of prime real estate in one of the most expensive spots in Dublin. I'm quite sad it'll be taken away from them actually - I imagine that the county council won't be shy of moving them to a more appropriately isolated spot with a distinct lack of amenities.

PopePalpatine

I'd say a few Fionnuala O'Carroll-Kelly types yelped joyously when they read that little bit.

Peregrinus

Shrap wrote: »

Interesting. I didn't realise that was owned by the church. I was always a bit bemused at how the travellers were let be there on such a piece of prime real estate in one of the most expensive spots in Dublin. I'm quite sad it'll be taken away from them actually - I imagine that the county council won't be shy of moving them to a more appropriately isolated spot with a distinct lack of amenities.

It won't necessarily be taken away from them. The land is being handed over to the State, not the County Council, so the Council doesn't have a huge incentive to move the travellers - they won't benefit from the freeing-up of the land, and there will be inevitable blowback from wherever the new site is located. The State would like to see the halting site moved, obviously, but the Council which actually provides and runs the halting site has no great incentive to co-operate. They'll have to work something out between them; that could take time.

And this highlights a wider issue with the whole business of religious orders transferring land to the state. The land is valued on the basis of its commercial or development potential (and when people say that the religious orders hold x million euros in assets this is usually the basis on which they are valuing the assets) but in fact much of it is in non-commercial use - halting sites, women's refuges, schools, hospitals, convalescent homes, old people's homes, etc. If these are handed over to the state, the state can't realise the commercial or development potential of the land unless it either closes or moves the halting sites, refuges, schools, etc. Closure would be unpopular, to put it mildly; moving could be expensive and would require some other land not to be exploited to maximim financial advantage. There's a distinct risk that what we'll see is a lot of social service institutions of various kinds moved to smaller, less pleasant, less convenient and less suitable sites in order to free up their existing sites for development or sale.

robindch

Religious orders blame property crash for redress shortfall

The religious orders have explained that they can't/won't make up the shortfall in their contributions to the redress fund as property prices have fallen. There is so much wrong with their report that it defies belief that they apparently expect to be taken seriously.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/religious-orders-blame-property-crash-for-redress-shortfall-1.2091752

Irish Times wrote:

Religious congregations who have failed to make promised payments to cover their share of institutional redress costs have blamed the shortfall on fluctuations in the property market. The orders claim that their property assets have suffered a 30 per cent drop in value since 2009. Correspondence between the congregations and the Department of Education, obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, shows religious orders are taking a firm line against further contributions that would meet the Government’s target of an equal sharing of redress costs.

The congregations have to date lodged €81.44 million in the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund through cash payments and proceeds from property sales. A further €42 million of property has been transferred to State ownership, leaving the congregations more than €300 million short of pledged contributions. To pay their half-share of the redress bill, as sought by the Government, the congregations will have to meet these existing commitments and come up with a further €245 million in cash or property. The cost of the redress scheme for institutional child abuse is estimated to reach €1.45 billion.

Daughters of Charity
The Daughters of Charity has in recent weeks made a further cash contribution of €1 million to the fund, but it is still €7 million short of its pledged contribution. According to the department, the order has said this would be difficult to meet “without serious damage to the future of the congregation”. The Presentation Sisters order has paid €4 million to date.

However, plans to hand over premises in Fethard, Co Tipperary, to the Health Service Executive (HSE) have stalled, during which time its valuation has fallen from a 2009 price tag of €1 million. In a letter to the department, the congregation said: “If the value of the property has changed since our offer was made and accepted, we cannot take responsibility for fluctuations in the property market.”

Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy similarly pointed to falling property prices for its shortfall. In 2009, the order offered cash of €20 million and properties worth €107.5 million. While the cash payments have been made, most of the properties have either failed to achieve their valuation or have been held up by legal problems. Of 18 properties prepared by the congregation for sale, 11 had been sold by last October. These included a convent in Cobh (valued at €1 million but sold for €246,747); Ardagh Demesne, in Co Longford (valued at €2.2 million but sold for €1.35 million); and a former convent in Dundalk (valued at €500,000 but sold for €180,714).

Overall, the Sisters of Mercy said the order had achieved only 65 per cent of the €6.7 million valuation made in 2009 for the 11 properties. The congregation also agreed to transfer 13 educational properties, valued at €19.6 million, to the department, and four health properties, valued at €61.3 million, to the HSE. These include the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. All of these transfers are part of a €352.6 million commitment in funding made by the congregations following the publication of the Ryan report in 2009.

An additional €128 million was pledged by the congregations under a 2002 indemnity agreement with the State. This agreement included cash contributions of €54 million, which have been met, and the transfer of 61 properties, 44 of which have been achieved.

Bannasidhe

robindch wrote: »

There is so much wrong with their *theology/doctrine/world view/historicity/* that it defies belief that they apparently expect to be taken seriously.

Think about it Rob...

Of course they expect to be taken seriously.

PopePalpatine

robindch wrote: »

Religious orders blame property crash for redress shortfall

The religious orders have explained that they can't/won't make up the shortfall in their contributions to the redress fund as property prices have fallen. There is so much wrong with their report that it defies belief that they apparently expect to be taken seriously.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/religious-orders-blame-property-crash-for-redress-shortfall-1.2091752

They'll probably make excuses like this:

Trite. A journalist's article which while fine at pushing a particular agenda fails to address the historical economic problems faced by Irish at the time which the government sought to address by exporting the poor and leaving the Church to cope with the remnant.

robindch

The Vatican has announced that it's going to have a think about requiring its senior representatives to comply with national law regarding the protection of pedophiles priests:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/plan-to-draw-up-sanctions-for-bishops-in-abuse-cases-1.2097456

Irish Times wrote:

The Holy See’s Commission for the Protection of Minors officially acknowledged yesterday that one of the first issues it intends to address is “bishop accountability”. Essentially, this entails the implementation of disciplinary sanctions against those bishops who cover up for abuser priests and who fail to impose zero-tolerance policies in their dioceses.

Since the emergence of the clerical sex abuse phenomenon 20 years ago, the Catholic Church has, slowly and with much difficulty, developed tough accountability measures for priests found to be sex abusers. Speaking at a UN hearing in Geneva a year ago, the Vatican’s UN ambassador, Silvano Tomasi, pointed out that in the course of just two years, 2011 and 2012, Pope Benedict had “defrocked” nearly 400 priests for offences relating to child abuse. Until now, no similarly tough sanctions have applied to bishops who covered up for abuser priests. Speaking at a Vatican press conference last Saturday, British abuse survivor Peter Saunders, a member of the Holy See commission, said that he and other commission members want to see swift action on this.

Yesterday’s communiqué, at the end of a three-day plenary session in Rome last weekend, stated: “The commission is keenly aware that the issue of accountability is of major importance. In its assembly, members agreed on an initial proposal to submit to Pope Francis for consideration. Moreover, the commission is developing processes to ensure accountability for everyone in the church – clergy, religious, and laity – who works with minors.” The exact nature of the proposal is not yet clear, but it seems that the commission intends to move on from the present situation in which, basically, the only person/body who can discipline a bishop is the pope himself. In other words, the commission is proposing that some entity, at local or Roman level, be given powers of sanction over bishops.

On Saturday, both Peter Saunders and fellow abuse survivor and commission member, Irish woman Marie Collins, indicated that if, within about two years, they felt that the commission was making no progress, they would resign their posts. Ms Collins said: “I think I probably would mirror what Peter said this morning. In other words . . . if we don’t have something solid in place in relation to bishop accountability within the next two years, I don’t know if I would want to remain on the commission . . . That is a survivor’s point of view.”

In its statement, the 17-person commission also argued that part of the process of “ensuring accountability is raising awareness and understanding at all levels of the church”. To that end, the commission has called for seminars to educate the church leadership on child protection. Yesterday’s statement also said that the commission was keen to “collaborate with churches on a local level”.

Speaking last Saturday, commission president Cardinal Seán O’Malley, of Boston, said that the commission intended to establish a “contact person” with all bishops’ conferences and with all religious orders. Furthermore, yesterday’s statement said that the commission is also preparing a “day of prayer” for all those harmed by sexual abuse.

Cabaal

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/02/10/hard-habits-to-break/

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) published this morninbg its overview of the safeguarding practice conducted in the Religious Congregations.

They included The Augustinians; The Passionists: The Sacred Hearts Fathers of Jesus and Mary; The Discalced Carmelites (OCD); The Franciscan Friars; The Franciscan Brothers; The Servites; The Marist Fathers and The Dominican Sisters

The inspection process revealed:

* Poor record management in many cases making an assessment of practice difficult.
* Opportunities to safeguard children were missed, known abusers allowed to remain in ministry in 1990s.
* Variable delays in reporting allegations to the civil authorities up until 2009 (introduction of Safeguarding Children, Standards and Guidance) for most Orders and Congregations, however for some practice did not improve until 2013.

Teresa Devlin, CEO of NBSCCCI sez:

“In relation to the large reviews, I’m disappointed that, for the majority of Orders, the whole area of safeguarding is only being bedded down in the last couple of years,” said . “Of the 9 only two Orders have demonstrated good compliance with the standards, and have demonstrated their commitment to putting in place good safeguards for children as well as prompt responses to allegations of abuse. For the other 7 there is considerable work to be done. “A series of recommendations have been made within each report and the Board expects that these will be acted upon…We will request an update on their progress in implementing those recommendations in 9 months.”

Good times.

Franciscans express ‘regret’ over failure to protect children (RTÉ)

http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0210/679127-franciscans/

regret?
Oh that makes it all ok then, lets move along and forget about their evil past

Hotblack Desiato

More here:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/church-body-disappointed-at-tardy-compliance-by-orders-1.2098183

Of the eight male and one female congregations reviewed, there were 109 allegations against 28 Franciscan Friars with 3 convicted in the courts; 42 allegations against 28 Passionists with no convictions; 56 allegations against 14 Franciscan Brothers with 3 convictions; 33 allegations against 11 Augustinians with no convictions; 18 allegations against 7 Marist Fathers with no convictions; 11 allegations against 6 Discalced Carmelites with no convictions; 8 allegations against 6 Servites with 2 convictions; 5 allegations against 3 Sacred Heart Fathers with no convictions; 3 allegations against 3 Dominican Sisters with no convictions.

That is a shockingly low conviction rate. I know the conviction rate for sexual offences is very low here in general, but still.

Peregrinus

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

That is a shockingly low conviction rate. I know the conviction rate for sexual offences is very low here in general, but still.

Well, the article there is comparing conviction rates with allegations. More usually conviction rates are expressed in relation to complaints (to the police) or charges.

Normally you'd expect the number of allegations of a particular crime to the similar to the number of complaints to the police, but we are dealing here with allegations of sexual abuse committed between 1940 and 1998; it might be deplorable but it wouldn't be surprising if many of those allegations (to religious authorities) did not turn into complaints (to the police) or only did so much later. And the same delay factor might explain why a relatively high proportion of complaints might not turn into charges - the passage of time might make assembling the evidence for a prosecution impossible, or the accused may be dead.

I think this low conviction rate is wrapping up a number of factors - failure/reluctance of victims or their families to complaint to the police; actions/attitudes by church authorities which discouraged reporting; late reporting; evidentiary problems in the way of charges/convictions.

I think it would be easier to disentangle these statistics if we knew how many people had been charged, and also if we knew how many allegations were also the subject of police complaints at or near to the time.

robindch

Australian archbishop charged with concealing child abuse

http://www.thejournal.ie/australian-archbishop-charged-child-sex-abuse-1996378-Mar2015/?utm_source=email

The Journal wrote:

THE CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP of Adelaide was today charged with concealing child sex abuse and has taken leave from his high-level position to fight the allegation. Philip Wilson was charged by New South Wales police in relation to an offence allegedly committed during the 1970s by known-paedophile priest Jim Fletcher, now dead, when both men worked at a diocese near Newcastle, north of Sydney.

Local media said the 64-year-old is thought to be the most senior Catholic official in the world to face charges of this nature, and if sentenced could face up to two years behind bars. The charge is the work of Strike Force Lantle, which since 2010 has investigated claims of child abuse concealment by former and current clergy attached to the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese of the Catholic Church.

Wilson issued a statement acknowledging the developments. “I am disappointed to have been notified by the NSW Police that it has decided to file a charge in respect of this matter,” he said, adding that he would “vigorously defend” his innocence. "I intend to take some leave to consult with a wide range of people in response to the information I have received today,” he said.
A victim of Fletcher, Peter Gogarty, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he felt overwhelming relief that charges had been laid.

“I think it’s a very, very important day for Australia, that we’ve now had someone in such a high position charged,” he said. “I hasten to add, everyone in this country is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but… the fact that our legal system has decided to charge someone this senior is enormously significant.”

The matter is listed for mention in court on April 30. The charges come as Australia is in the midst of a nationwide investigation into claims of paedophilia in institutions such as religious organisations, schools and state care. It was established by former prime minister Julia Gillard in 2013 after more than a decade of pressure and has heard damaging allegations of child abuse involving churches, orphanages, schools and other groups dating back decades.

Wilson has given evidence to the royal commission and he said this was indicative of his efforts to adopt “best-practice child protection measures which I have pioneered since becoming a bishop”.

Hotblack Desiato

^ That will never happen here :mad:

robindch

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

^ That will never happen here :mad:

No, I don't expect it will.

robindch

More suspicious financial activities involving the RCC and funds for cemetery maintenance:

Last time it came up on A+A was here and here.

Now, it seems that there might be significant financial irregularities in Milwaukee. While at the same time, the RCC there is also claiming that money seems to have been rapidly transferred into a mausoleum fund, can't be used to settle abuse claims.

Not sure about anybody else, but I'd love to see how money flows in, around and through the RCC.

obplayer

Priest arrested for exorcism on anorexic girl.

http://www.thelocal.es/20150318/priest-arrested-for-exorcism-on-underage-girl

A judge in Burgos has called for the arrest of exorcist, Jesús Hernández Sahagún, along with the girl’s priest after she went through 13 exorcisms while still a minor.

Sahagún, the official exorcist of Valladolid, is facing charges of gender violence, causing injury and mistreatment according to local newspaper, Diario de Burgos, and has been asked to make a statement on the events.

The events date back to 2012, when the girl began to suffer from anorexia. According to El País, her religious parents became convinced she was possessed by the devil and decided to have their child exorcised.

She was tied up and had crucifixes positioned over her head, according to El País.

The girl subsequently attempted suicide and an investigation was launched after her aunts and uncles filed a complaint.

In a statement the girl’s parents told the court that the exorcist was aware that the young girl was in medical treatment at the time and had full access to her clinical records.

The priest reportedly assured the parents that the exorcism would not interfere with their daughter’s medical treatment, but voiced disapproval of the number of medicines the girl had been prescribed.

In an interview with El Mundo in December 2014, Hernández Sahagún defended the 13 exorcisms, explaining the girl was "possessed by the devil". He also told the Spanish newspaper that he had performed 200 exorcisms over the past four and a half years.

In December 2014, the archbishop of Burgos issued a statement saying "the young woman’s suicide attempt was not a result of the exorcisms practiced on her."

He also defended exorcisms as "a religious practice maintained as part of the Church’s tradition, as a right available to all the faithful."

In July 2014, Pope Francis made exorcisms official Catholic practice, with the Vatican hailing them as "a form of charity".

There are currently around 15 priests in Spain with Church authorization to conduct exorcisms and in 2013 a specialist exorcism squad was chosen in Madrid to tackle the "unprecented rise in demonic possession"

robindch

Survivors outraged at plan to seal abuse reports for 75 years

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/survivors-outraged-at-plan-to-seal-abuse-reports-for-75-years-31086753.html

Indo wrote:

Surviviors of institutional abuse have expressed outrage over Government plans to seal all major industrial school and orphanage investigation records for 75 years. The move, which also allows for the possible destruction of documents, must now be ratified by the Dáil in a bill which will be brought forward by Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan.

The Irish Independent has learned that the bill has been approved by Cabinet for drafting. The Retention of Records Bill 2015 will provide for the strict and confidential sealing of documents from the Commission into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Review Committee.

Tom Cronin of Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International said abuse survivors were "shocked and horrified" that the records would be sealed for so long. "I can understand that these documents are sensitive and that they might need to be sealed for a period of years.

"But why seal them for 75 years? Why not seal them for five or 10 years? By the time they can be accessed again, everyone associated with this most shameful period of Irish history will be long dead. The whole thing won't be anything more than a footnote in history by 2090," he said. [...]

PopePalpatine

I would have expected such a dick move from the likes of Ronan Mullen.

eire4

robindch wrote: »

Survivors outraged at plan to seal abuse reports for 75 years

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/survivors-outraged-at-plan-to-seal-abuse-reports-for-75-years-31086753.html

This is just horrible. Beyond an insult to injury for the victims who suffered so much. This is shameful if allowed to pass.