spoorbomen en spoorbomen; gele kornoelje, blaauwe amereetsia's en de kat in de tuin van de buren

Jantje zag 's pruimen hangen

DR Congo Armed Groups Increase Child Recruitment

 
Former child solider from Democratic Republic of Congo, Mulume (front left) feels hopeless about his future. In DRC, child soldiers face the double challenge of starting life afresh and proving themselves in the community.
Credit: Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

By Taylor Toeka Kakala

GOMA, DR Congo , Aug 29 2013

- Over 2,000 children are still being used as soldiers by 27 armed groups in North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo despite efforts by the United Nations Children’s Fund to remove them from the frontlines and return them to their homes.

Between January and July, about 1,700 child soldiers were part of the UNICEF demobilisation and reintegration programme. But at the end of July, UNICEF condemned the worrying increase of child victims in the ongoing conflict that has rocked North Kivu since fighting broke out in May 2012 between the Congolese armed forces and the M23 rebels.

Basile Bashimbe is a legal expert on the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme for former child soldiers at Caritas Goma, a division of Caritas International – the federation of Catholic organsations working with international development. He believes that the presence of former child soldiers within the ranks of M23 is only one dimension of the problem.

“Even though the DRC is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, our country is on the [U.N. child solider] ‘list of shame’ of armed forces and groups involved in recruiting and exploiting children,” Bashimbe said.

In a region where nationalist propaganda, ethnic claims, land disputes and minerals drive the war, “the militias use the children as a vulnerable and impressionable source of labour,” he elaborated.

Justin Akili, who participated in drafting the DDR operational plan for the DRC in 2003, said that former child soldiers who are “unleashed” onto families that are frightened of them because of their past, receive one goat as a “family reintegration” donation. Child soldiers of school-going age also receive school supplies and fees to pursue their studies until they obtain their state certificate (Baccalaureate).

When IPS met 16-year-old Maurice, he was seated under a tree, staring ahead into the distance with a dazed expression. The former child soldier, who fought on the side of both the armed forces and rebel groups, was pulled out of a North Kivu militia group called Nyatura. It was his second demobilisation after previously being removed from the Coalition of Congolese Patriotic Resistance.

“The economic hardships the first time I was reunited with my family were so hard that I decided to go back to fighting,” Maurice told IPS.

Child soldiers face the double challenge of starting life afresh and proving themselves in the community. So the DDR provides for their socio-economic reintegration through income-generating activities or apprenticeships.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visits each child soldier three months after they are reunited with their families to check on their reintegration and child protection issues, Rita Palombo the ICRC delegate in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, explained to IPS.

But “because of economic hardship and the persistence of militia, the children, who were previously armed fighters, can’t adapt to normal life, so they revolt and set their minds on returning to the bush,” Akili told IPS.
In 2003, the U.N. estimated that children constituted 40 percent of certain armed groups in the DRC. That same year, it was estimated that the DRC was home to half of the 130,000 child soldiers in Africa, out of a total of 300,000 worldwide.

According to UNICEF, by 2006, the government commission in charge of the DDR programme had only demobilised 19,000 former child soldiers before it ran into difficulties.
With the arrest of certain Congolese warlords for using child soldiers amongst other ranks, the International Criminal Court has created such alarm that the statistics have gone down, said Potient Bashonga, who is in charge monitoring former child soldiers at UNICEF, Goma.
 
He was taken to Nyakariba Transit and Orientation Centre for former child soldiers, to be reintegrated into civilian life. And he too was given a goat by Caritas Goma for returning to his family. But, he said, his family ate it when he was away.
 
But “because of economic hardship and the persistence of militia, the children, who were previously armed fighters, can’t adapt to normal life, so they revolt and set their minds on returning to the bush,” Akili told IPS.
In 2003, the U.N. estimated that children constituted 40 percent of certain armed groups in the DRC. That same year, it was estimated that the DRC was home to half of the 130,000 child soldiers in Africa, out of a total of 300,000 worldwide.

According to UNICEF, by 2006, the government commission in charge of the DDR programme had only demobilised 19,000 former child soldiers before it ran into difficulties.
With the arrest of certain Congolese warlords for using child soldiers amongst other ranks, the International Criminal Court has created such alarm that the statistics have gone down, said Potient Bashonga, who is in charge monitoring former child soldiers at UNICEF, Goma.

But Bashimbe stressed that currently “the issue of socio-economic reintegration remains critical” in every village where children were recruited into the ranks of the Congolese army or armed groups.

“I allowed my son to be reintegrated into my home because they promised him economic support. Now they have broken the promise, he is likely to take up arms again,” said the father of a former child soldier who requested anonymity.

stewballs: allez allez mon troupeau

si tu vas a Rio n'oublie pas de monter là-haut

23-8-2013


Peter Vandermeersch
NRC

Sommigen voelen nu nog niks, anderen huilen

'Mijn kinderen halen de krant uit de bus en worden ongewild geconfronteerd met vreselijke foto's van dode
kinderen'. Verschillende lezers schreven ons gisteren en vandaag mails en brieven. Ze zijn ongelukkig, boos, verontwaardigd omdat we woensdag en donderdag foto's van slachtoffers van de vermoedelijke gifgasaanval in Syrië prominent op de voorpagina van de krant brachten.

Ik begrijp de boosheid en verontwaardiging. Want de confrontatie met de beelden die ons woensdagochtend uit Syrië bereikten was hevig. Zelfs geharde fotoredacteuren die dagelijks heel veel vreselijke beelden over hun computerscherm zien passeren waren diep onder de indruk. Het was vooral de alertheid van die fotoredactie van NRC die ervoor zorgde dat we woensdagmiddag NRC Handelsblad openden met een foto van de gifaanval.

Overigens waren we die ochtend aanvankelijk erg terughoudend. De herkomst en de datering van de foto's was in het begin van de ochtend onduidelijk. Waren het geen propagandabeelden van een van de partijen? Waren de foto's wel recent? Maar in de loop van de ochtend werd duidelijk dat de aanval wel degelijk recent was en dat er sprake was van tientallen, misschien zelfs honderden doden. Toen het persagentschap Reuters ook foto's begon aan te bieden, hadden we in elk geval betrouwbaar beeldmateriaal.

Maar is het omdat een foto betrouwbaar is dat je die ook moet geven? Natuurlijk niet. Veel van de foto's toonden vreselijke en schokkende details. Daarom kozen fotoredacteuren en eindredacteuren van het Handelsblad woensdag voor een relatief ingetogen, maar heel schrijnende foto. In de middagkrant publiceerden we de foto van een oudere man die het in een laken gewikkelde lijkje van een kindje neerlegt tussen andere slachtoffers. Op de lijkwades van die slachtoffers staan teksten, vermoedelijk gaat het om de identiteitsgegevens.

Na zaktijd van NRC Handelsblad (woensdagmiddag 12 uur) bleek steeds duidelijker dat we wel degelijk te maken hadden met een groot incident in de Syrische burgeroorlog. Nieuwe beelden stroomden binnen. Onze ochtendkrant nrc.next stond voor hetzelfde dilemma. Hoe toon je aan je lezers wat er gebeurde? Next koos op de voorpagina voor de foto van een treurende jongen die de ramp overleefde en plaatste een 'disclaimer' op diezelfde pagina: 'Waarschuwing: de foto's op pagina 5 kunnen als schokkend worden ervaren'. Op die pagina stonden drie foto's waarvan met name een foto met drie lijkjes van kinderen bijzonder hard overkwam.

Donderdagmiddag vatte NRC Handelsblad in de kop op de voorpagina de situatie als volgt samen: 'Internationale afschuw, geen actie'. We plaatsten opnieuw een foto. Dit keer geen in stof gewikkelde lichamen. Maar een confronterend, bijzonder triest beeld, van twee overleden kinderen. Niet de gezichten van de kinderen, maar vooral de nummers die op hun hoofd zijn gekleefd en de voetjes van andere kinderen, maken de foto bijna iconisch. De foto grijpt naar de keel.

Maar goed. Sommige lezers zijn er boos over. En nog eens: ik begrijp ze. Ook in de schoot van de redactie gaat aan de publicatie van dergelijke foto's een lange discussie vooraf. Gaan we niet te ver? We zijn toch geen sensatiekrant? Maar we moeten toch tonen waarover het gaat? Dat is toch onze taak? Maar moet dat zo gedetailleerd? Kan het niet wat verstilder? Afstandelijker? Om maar te zeggen: niemand heeft de waarheid in pacht. We zoeken heel erg naar een middenweg. Neen, we willen niet sensationeel zijn. Maar we willen de waarheid ook niet verhullen. Neen, we willen niet bewust shockeren. Maar we willen ook niet wegkijken. Neen, we willen de lezers niet tegen het hoofd stoten. Maar we willen hen ook de waarheid, zoals wij die menen te kennen, tonen.

Tot slot: sommige lezers waren ook verontwaardigd over onze cartoonist Kamagurka. Dagelijks maakt hij op onze voorpagina een actuele cartoon bij het nieuws. Soms hilarisch, soms leuk, soms grimmig, soms verstild. Hij koos donderdag voor harde, rauwe humor. Voor hem was het die dag het de enige manier om om te gaan met de onbeschrijfelijke realiteit van Syrië, gif en dode kinderen.

29-8-2013 01.00uur : 60 reacties

Postume diepe buigingen

gestoofde kool

met jeneverbes

Dierendag Roermond Boys' Town

Boys' Town kansen, kansen, kansen

 

Boys’ Town, Beaudesert (Or: The Greatest Con of All Time)

Lewis Blayse (né Lewin Blazevich)
lewisblayse net 

26-8-2013

[Disclosure: The author may have some bias with regards to this article. He had been invited on two occasions to meet with Debbie Kilroy and her friends at the Women’s’ Correctional Centre in Brisbane in the early 1990s where they discussed children’s homes issues. Her husband, Joe, had been in Boys’ Town. The author is a firm supporter of Debbie’s “Sisters Inside” organisation  
Also, the first “mayor” of Boys’ Town, Johnny Wlodarczyk, was known to the author in the 1960s, as a teenager.]


The facility, known as “Boys’ Town” at Beaudesert, Queensland, operated by the De La Salle Brothers from 1961 to 2001, is definitely one of the old children’s homes deserving of a second look by the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse.

For over 50 years, the unsuspecting public has been supporting the “Boys’ Town Art Union” lottery, which offers houses as prizes, which, among other things, funded the Boys’ Town. It also received Queensland Government financial support. It is not known what proportion of the lottery proceeds actually went to Boys’ Town.

Beaudesert Boys’ Town had all of the usual, dangerous, characteristics of children’s homes where abusers ran rampant. It was located in the countryside outside a very small regional town, far from the capital of Brisbane. Isolation was further increased in that the boys were schooled within the facility. Finally, the boys were of low social status, usually being referred to as “at risk” or “delinquent,” etc. although this was not the situation of most of the inmates, who were state wards.

The facility was an example of a brilliant marketing strategy. It capitalized on the 1938 movie of the same name with its idealized view of child care by religious. It was promoted for sales of lottery tickets with a “home” as the prize. The public was kept well away from it, so that the differences between image and reality were not exposed.

Playing on the “town” analogy, a boy was chosen each year to be the symbolic “mayor” of the facility. This boy then became part of the marketing strategy of the de la Salle fund-raising drive. The first one, in 1962, was John “Johnny” Wlodarczyk. Johnny went on to be a part of the Painter and Dockers Union at a time when it was heavily involved in crime associations. The Union was the subject of an earlier Royal Commission.

In 1975, Johnny’s body was fished out of the Brisbane River, wrapped in barbed wire. His teeth had been knocked out, his throat cut, and he had been shot. It would be 20 years before his killers were identified. Not exactly the image the Boys’ Town officials wanted anymore, so publicity associated with him was quietly removed.

Another “old boy” who was promoted for sales of lottery tickets was former prominent footballer, “Smokin’ Joe” Kilroy. This ceased when he, and wife, Debbie, were convicted of selling pot. At the time, Joe referred to his time at Boys’ Town as follows: “When I finished primary school at 13, I was sent to Boys Town at Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, because of a lack of government accommodation and began what I describe as the worst three years of my life.”

In a recent interview, Joe noted that “They bashed us. No one ever believed us. It was all that negative stuff we were forced to live under and listen to. I was bashed regularly. If you had a little bit of spirit they tried to break you. The place was run like a prison. The only things missing were the bars. The saddest thing is that every boy in Boys Town was sent there as an uncontrollable child.

Sorry. Wake up.

 Over 60 per cent of the kids in there were orphanage kids because the only crummy spot in the whole friggin’ state where you could do grade eight, nine and 10 if you were a ward of the state. So you had all these kids who were wards of the state starting grade eights with all these crims.”

He then went on to say that “We were all treated like criminals. But a lot of those kids were just uncontrollable children and their parents did not have the skills. If you let a kid run wild you will end up with a feral adult. The only thing that place taught me was to resent authority. It was a wonderful facility run by the wrong bunch with the wrong morals.”

Last year, the “60 Minutes” program did a special on Boys’ Town. On the program, lawyer and former detective, Jason Parkinson, said that he is now representing 35 former Boys’ Town residents, and has begun legal action in Queensland’s Supreme Court. He commented that “I haven’t heard the degree of physical abuse, together with some of the most outrageous sexual abuse I’ve heard, in the one institution before. Things happened to some of those 12-year-old boys that wouldn’t have happened to prisoners of war.”

In 1984, the same program had done a promo-piece for Boys’ Town, in which then director, Br. Paul Smith, said that: “I think it is terribly important to be loved, and I think the boys who leave Boys’ Town can honestly say that at least they know they are loveable and that’s important.” The later program noted that “at this very same time it is now alleged some of the worst abuse was being committed.”

Br. Paul continuously tried to attribute the former residents’ claims to “false memory,” while denying all claims. However, at least two Brothers from Boys’ Town were convicted of child sex offences.
Boys’ Town was the subject of a three-year secret police investigation known as “Operation Sari” which commenced in 1999. It resulted in two staff being charged with 48 serious sexual offences – but the case collapsed when former students withdrew complaints.

As a result of the program, and the number of men coming forward, Queensland police have now launched a fresh investigation into the Boys’ Town. Former residents have been establishing contacts through the web-site: http://aussieschoolmates.com.au/forum/finding-old-friends-25/boystown-beaudesert-queesland-/

In 2011, the officials who ran Boys’ Town made a settlement with a former resident with the usual confidentiality clause, and waiver of future legal rights. It read, partially, that the victim “acknowledges that, by accepting the agreed sum and executing the deed, he is not entitled to make any further approach to the Body Corporate or the [De La Salle] institute for financial assistance, including assistance with respect to any specialist medical advice or for damages or otherwise…”

Former Boys’ Town resident, Terry McDaniel, alleged the brothers subjected him and dozens of other boys to brutal physical and sexual abuse, instead of the education and guidance promised. Since Terry and others shared their stories, the police have launched Operation Kilo Lariat to investigate their claims. About 80 former residents have since come forward with their accounts of abuse. Terry said his main motivation for speaking out was for those who could not. “There are a lot of boys that have passed on that never got the opportunity to voice their voice. We’re their voice now,” he said.

In the 1970s a report criticized Boys’ Town for its preoccupation with conformity, its regimentation, the use of corporal punishment and what was described as “reluctance” on the part of the staff to deal with the social and emotional needs of the boys. More recently, a number of former residents gave evidence at the 1998 Ford Inquiry into abuse at Queensland institutions. While most other similar institutions closed in the 1970s, Boys’ Town was not shut down until 2001, partly because, many state, of the Forde Enquiry revelations.

The De la Salle Brothers continue to deny all claims, and insist it was wonderfully run. At the time of closure, Boys’ Town Family Care board member, Trevor Carlyon, claimed that “There is no question it has had a wonderful, wonderful track record.” In 1984, Br. Paul Smith said “I think it is terribly important to be loved, and I think the boys who leave Boys’ Town can honestly say that at least they know they are loveable and that’s important.”

Brother Paul has been the recipient of many public honours. He was named “Father of the Year” for Queensland and “Queenslander of the Year” on three occasions. He was awarded the Inaugural Scouting Award for services to youth. In 1994, Brother Paul was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for work with disadvantaged youth, and served on the Des Sturgess report into paedophilia.
Recently, he was listed by Who’s Who for his administrative abilities. The citation reads “Brother Paul Smith and the De La Salle Brothers have been committed to reaching out to the last, the lost and the least through education designed to support young people and their communities.”

As recently as 2007, former Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby referred to it as having “been a shining light in this Archdiocese since it was founded.” He went on to say that “The De La Salle Brothers together with past and present staff have also been fearless in demanding that at-risk young people should be cared for and educated so that they can take their place as equal citizens of society. “

He finished his commentary with praise for the “De La Salle Brothers who generously and courageously accepted his invitation to work here in Beaudesert.

Great work has been done at Boys’ Town over many years.
Over the years, they touched the lives of thousands of young men.” And their genitalia as well, according to the boys.

The De la Salle Brothers continue to run their profitable lottery, using the Boys’ Town promotional tag.

[Postscript: In 2011, the Scenic Rim Regional Council approved stages one and two of a “master planned community” to be built by Peet Limited – one of Australia’s largest property developers – on the old Boys’ Town site in Beaudesert. Stages one and two allow for 99 residential lots. A further 12 stages are proposed for the site, with the entire development to eventually contain between 651 and 787 lots over almost 86 hectares. The value of the lots is estimated at being in excess of $55 million, which should be given to the old boys of Boys’ Town by way of compensation.]

wash away

bron

crime passionel; omarmend rijm XXI

bocht
nee schat
't moet van mijn hart
niet alle fietsen zijn hier gestolen
stomme h

World Village

  

KLIK

LEES VERDER

jamsessies

poot-aardappelen

Poot-aardappelen

“Stel, Nederlandse beleidsmakers kregen het volgende aanbod. Tienduizenden vrouwen en duizenden mannen, in de kracht van hun leven, waren bereid zich in te zetten in de zorgsector en het onderwijs. Overal waar nodig wilden ze heen. Ze werkten zes dagen per week, het hele jaar door, op acht dagen na. Ze eisten geen vakantie en zouden zich blijven bijscholen. Dit aanbod gold hun leven lang. Als vergoeding namen ze genoegen met kost, kleding en inwoning, alles op minimumniveau. Het enige dat ze vroegen, was dagelijks tijd om zich te bezinnen en gezamenlijk hun motivatie op peil te houden. Extra inkomsten zouden ze gebruiken om iets te doen tegen mensonwaardige situaties die ze om zich heen zagen.”

De zestien verzorgings- en verpleegtehuizen van De Vierstroom in Zuid-Holland gaan familieleden van dementerende bewoners verplichten om vier uur per maand te helpen. En dan gaat het niet alleen om hun eigen vader of moeder.

Directeur Jeroen van den Oever had het op een persconferentie over „een moreel appèl”, zo begint de ellende vaak.


Het ging volgens de directeur om activiteiten als wandelen, koffie schenken, spelletjes doen en „een handje toesteken”. De journalisten mochten een kijkje nemen in de woonkeuken van verzorgingstehuis De Westerweer. We zagen zeven bejaarden in een kale keuken aan een lange tafel zitten waarop een vaas met zonnebloemen stond. Eentje schilde er aardappelen, de rest keek naar mevrouw De Lange die door schoondochter Nel werd gevoerd. De ene lepel vanillevla na de andere.

Nel droeg een vormloze groene jurk en zei terwijl ze de mond van schoonmoeder afdepte dat ze het „perfect” vond allemaal. De andere dementerende bejaarden deed ze er gewoon even bij. Ter illustratie duwde ze een kop koffie tegen de lippen van een bewoonster.
„Nog meer?”

[...]

Marcel van Roosmalen NRC 

CLIQUE

Parelvissen; de balluh

Testikels niet checken voor de baas? $1.200 boete

Een medewerker aan de Pennsylvania State University hangt een boete van $1.200 boven zijn hoofd omdat hij niet een formulier met medische gegevens wil invullen voor zijn werkgever. De vragen zijn te persoonlijk.

Matthew Woessner leidt een gezond leven, en dat is ook wat de universiteit van hem verwacht, zo schrijft Reuters. Maar zijn werkgevers zijn volgens de politicoloog te ver doorgeschoten.

bron

.......

Woessner principiële bezwaren bij het geven van zeer persoonlijke informatie aan zijn werkgever. Het formulier beslaat twaalf kantjes en informeert of mannen wel op regelmatig basis hun testikels laten controleren op kanker en vrouwen moeten aangeven of ze zich wel regelmatig laten controleren op borstkanker. 

bron

Wie echter niet meedoet, krijgt iedere maand een boete van $100, wat dus op jaarlijkse basis kan oplopen tot $1.200. Het vermoeden is dat de universiteit het geld hard nodig heeft voor iets anders dan de gezondheid van het personeel. De instelling moet een enorme schadevergoeding van $60 miljoen betalen nadat bleek dat een coach jarenlang ongestraft kinderen kon misbruiken. Medewerkers van de universiteit zouden hiervan geweten hebben. De boete wordt dan ook gezien als een 'tax' om het bedrag op te hoesten. De universiteit ontkent dit.  

Tweeduizend werknemers hebben inmiddels al bezwaar aangetekend tegen het wellness-beleid.

NRC

 

 

  Lombardi tegen Dolan:  wij  verwachten dat ze dat bij Notre Dame wel uit hun hoofd  laten

Deetman dec. '11: 10.000 tot 20.000 slachtoffers; Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK 7 augustus '13 : 2789 meldingen , resulterend in 1287 klachten, 457 (gedeeltelijk) gegrond verklaard, 150 afgewezen; totaal uitgekeerde bedrag € 6.293.003

Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik

Bij het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK zijn in de maanden juni en juli18 resp. 10 nieuwe meldingen binnengekomen. Daarvan zijn deze periode 6 meldingen per maand omgezet in een klacht. De hieronder gebruikte cijfers zijn gebaseerd op de stand van zaken tot 7 augustus 2013.

Tweede derde klachten waarvan klaagschrift is ontvangen afgehandeld

Bij het Meldpunt zijn over de afgelopen 3 jaar 2.789 meldingen van seksueel misbruik in de R.K.-Kerk binnengekomen, waarvan er 1.287 zijn omgezet in een klacht door 1.036 klagers.

De Klachtencommissie heeft 706 klachten behandeld (55% van 1.287). Intussen zijn 457 klachten (71%) (gedeeltelijk) gegrond verklaard en 150 (23%) niet gegrond. De overige 39 klachten (6%) waren niet ontvankelijk, omdat er geen directe relatie kon worden vastgesteld met enig kerkelijk gezag, of omdat de klacht geen betrekking had op seksueel misbruik.

Van de lopende klachten (481) is in 226 gevallen (47%) nog geen klaagschrift ingediend; 47 (12%) van de klachten zitten in de verweerfase; 89 klachten (19%) zitten in de zittingsfase; 91 klachten (17%) zitten in de advies- en besluitfase; bij 28 klachten (6%) loopt een bezwaar en/of herzieningsverzoek. Er zijn 100 klachten aangehouden; 13 vanwege nader onderzoek, 32 vanwege mediation en 55 zijn in overleg met de juridisch adviseur van klagers on hold gezet.

Bij 122 klachten (13% van 1.287) is de klacht tussentijds ingetrokken op verzoek van klager, 29 keer vanwege een schikking of omdat in een aantal gevallen (10) de klager is overleden.

Duidelijkheid nodig omtrent uitblijvende klaagschriften
Een klacht kan pas in behandeling worden genomen bij de Klachtencommissie als deze is vervat in een klaagschrift. In 200 gevallen (15% van 1.304) is er nog steeds geen klaagschrift binnen en wacht de Klachtencommissie in relatief veel gevallen al 1-3 jaar, ondanks aandringen. Slachtoffers hebben in sommige gevallen moeite om ervaringen op papier te zetten of aan een juridisch adviseur over te brengen. Het kan ook zijn dat steunbewijs vooralsnog ontbreekt of dat nader onderzoek moet plaatsvinden. Momenteel zoekt het Meldpunt uit wat de precieze status is van de klachten waarbij het klaagschrift uitblijft. De klachtencommissie gaat proberen actief met deze klagers en hun juridisch adviseurs in gesprek te gaan om te bezien of de klacht niet alsnog in gesprek geformuleerd kan worden.

De meeste meldingen gaan over seksueel misbruik: 93%.

- 81% van de meldingen van seksueel misbruik hebben betrekking op  leden van ordes en congregaties
-16% op priesters van bisdommen
- 3% op leken

Publicatie adviezen
Van de 674 adviezen van de Klachtencommissie is 88% geanonimiseerd gepubliceerd op de website van het Meldpunt. Daarnaast zijn resp. 32 en 31 adviezen gepubliceerd van herzienings- en bezwaarprocedures.

Meldingen en klachten naar soort, geslacht en meldingsjaar
Het Meldpunt heeft ook een overzicht gemaakt van alle meldingen en klachten vanaf 2010 naar soort, geslacht en meldingsjaar (zie bijlage)

 

Compensatiecommissie:

Bijna 60% van de aanvragers van compensatie heeft inmiddels een advies ontvangen

Is een klacht gegrond verklaard dan kunnen slachtoffers compensatie aanvragen. De Compensatiecommissie heeft per 7 augustus 2013 384 aanvragen ontvangen. In 231 aanvragen (57% van 402) is intussen definitief geadviseerd en zijn uitspraken verstuurd naar het bisdom of de orde/congregatie waartoe de dader behoort of behoorde. Bisdom of orde/congregatie zorgt voor uitbetaling aan het slachtoffer binnen 6 weken. Het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK bewaakt deze termijn. De commissie werkt permanent aan nieuwe uitspraken en die krijgen de slachtoffers zo spoedig mogelijk toegestuurd.

Het Meldpunt stuurt actief aanvraagformulieren aan slachtoffers met een gegronde klacht. Daarnaast ontvangt het Meldpunt ook aanvragen gebaseerd op de uitkomst van een mediation traject of een gerechtelijke uitspraak en soms ook niet volledige of niet ontvankelijke aanvragen.

Er zijn 170 (42% van 402) aanvragen nog in behandeling (stand per 7 augustus 2013). 

Het totaal uitgekeerde bedrag is € 6.293.003. 

Gemiddeld is er € 27.289 per aanvraag uitgekeerd.

Publicatie adviezen

De geanonimiseerde definitieve adviezen van de commissie worden op de website meldpuntmisbruikrkk.nl gepubliceerd. Dat zijn  er intussen 174 (75% van 231).

Behandeltermijn daalt fors in 2013

De Compensatiecommissie is, na de start begin 2012, begonnen met eerst de eenvoudiger zaken, omdat die op voorhand als het minst bewerkelijk werden beschouwd. Zodoende konden in de beginfase veel aanvragers relatief snel een toekenning krijgen. Ook heeft de commissie in het begin van haar activiteiten een groot aantal moeilijkere zaken eerst in kaart gebracht om aan de hand van de voorliggende casussen een verfijning van criteria, c.q. gezichtspunten te kunnen opstellen (te vinden op de website). Vervolgens hebben vooral de categorie-indelingen 3 en 4, voorlopig 5 in 2012 een relatief langere doorlooptijd gevraagd. Dat laat zich verklaren door de zorgvuldigheid die de Commissie in acht wil nemen, die te meer vereist is omdat beroep tegen een advies van de Compensatiecommissie niet mogelijk is. Deze zorgvuldigheid kost nu eenmaal tijd. En soms dienen slachtoffers pas (veel) later een aanvraag om compensatie in dan direct in aansluiting op de gegrondverklaring van hun klacht of vragen om aanhouding van hun aanvraag.

De gemiddelde behandeltermijn van aanvragen is in 2013 gedaald van gemiddeld ruim een jaar in 2012 naar bijna 4 maanden nu.

Wat doet dat kind online? A First Look at the Internet (Or: Somebody Must Be Responsible)

lewisblayse | August 14, 2013 Just an extremely brief posting today. In the past, paedophiles have concentrated on getting into organisations which have a lot of contact with children. The Royal Commission will be looking at how those organisations have responded to this threat to children. However, if it is limited in this way, and not moving with the times, the problem will continue in a new form. The reality of the new technologies to do with the world-wide-web is that children are among the major users. Parental blocks can be put on unsuitable sites by all means, but this does not protect their children from the on-line predators, often posing as children themselves. In the mid-1990s, this author was invited to Queensland State Police Headquarters to consult with the newly established child-protection unit, Taskforce Argos. It was amazing, even at that time, how advanced the methods were. What was equally amazing was just how dedicated, and willing to learn, the members of the unit were. From my background, I am not normally likely to praise coppers, since they are authority figures. Today, their methods are obviously even more advanced. It is true to say that such officers, throughout the country, are the unsung heroes of the fight against child abuse. Unfortunately, their efforts are not being supported, sufficiently, by the web-based companies, such as Google and Facebook. This has become a public issue in the U.K. recently. Anyone with even rudimentary concerns for privacy will seriously consider all factors before talking about links between internet providers, and government agencies. The recent NSA revelations by a whistleblower in the U.S., makes this point very clear. The enquiry should, nevertheless, look at how to maximize the efforts of people like the officers of Taskforce Argos, without infringing on innocent people’s privacy. If the right people make the right, informed, submissions then this is likely to become possible. It is necessary to have this debate, simply because the modern paedophile has more access to children over the net than they will have, through direct involvement with community organisations, if the Royal Commission really does its job in making those organisations institute better screening procedures. TOMORROW: The Royal Commission announces public hearings

grootvaders kastjes The caged files

Omroep Brabant
9-8-2013

Foto: Wim Jellema/WimJellema.nl 

DEN BOSCH - De 87-jarige emeritus-bisschop Jan Bluyssen van het bisdom Den Bosch is donderdagochtend overleden. Dat heeft het bisdom van Den Bosch bevestigd aan Omroep Brabant. Begin volgende week wordt Bluyssen opgebaard in het Bisschoppelijk Paleis aan de Parade. De uitvaart volgt later die week, op donderdag.

"Zijn gezondheid was al langere tijd broos, maar zijn overlijden is toch onverwacht gekomen", meldt woordvoerder Peter Broeders van het bisdom. "Wij hoorden plots van het overlijden van Bluyssen. Hij overleed vanochtend om kwart over acht." De oorzaak van de dood van de bisschop is nog niet bekend.

In een persbericht [PDF, 120kB] laat het bisdom weten: "Met verdriet laat het bisdom van 's-Hertogenbosch weten dat hedenochtend, donderdag 8 augustus 2013, is overleden Z.H.Exc. Mgr. drs. J.W.M. Bluyssen, emeritus-bisschop van 's Hertogenbosch. Daarom luidden zojuist de doodsklokken van de Sint-Janskathedraal."

Condoleanceregister in Sint-Jan
In de Sint-Jan was donderdagmiddag de mogelijkheid om een condoleanceregister te tekenen. Bluyssen was erg geliefd binnen de katholieke gemeenschap. De begrafenis is volgende week donderdag, op de katholieke feestdag Maria-TenHemelopneming. Een exacte tijd is nog niet bekend. Bluyssen is na Tiny Muskens van Breda de tweede Brabantse oud-bisschop die dit jaar is overleden.

De oud-bisschop werd in juli geopereerd in het Jeroen Boschziekenhuis in Den Bosch. Hij was gevallen en liep daarbij een bloeduitstorting op aan het linkerbeen. Toch is zijn dood nog onverwacht gekomen, ook voor de huidige bisschop Hurkmans.

Bisschop in Den Bosch
Johannes Wilhelmus Maria Bluyssen werd op 10 april 1926 in Nijmegen geboren als zoon van een handelaar in koloniale waren. Hij volgde het klein- en grootseminarie van het bisdom Den Bosch en werd daar tot priester gewijd. Bluyssen werkte van 1950 tot 1953 als kapelaan in Veghel. De drie volgende jaren studeerde hij theologie aan het Angelicum te Rome, met als specialisatie spiritualiteit en mystiek.

In 1961 benoemde paus Johannes XXIII hem onder mgr. Bekkers tot hulpbisschop van Den Bosch met als speciale taak de zorg voor de toekomstige priesters en de liturgie. Van 1966 tot 1984 was Bluyssen de achtste bisschop van Den Bosch, hij nam het over van de toen overleden bisschop Bekkers. Zijn wapenspreuk was quotidie ministrans. Dit betekent 'dagelijks dienstbaar' in het Latijn.

Memoires
Bluyssen trad af omdat het slechter ging met zijn gezondheid. Een jaar eerder onderging hij in Utrecht een open hartoperatie. Hij werd toen al vervangen. Na zijn vertrek publiceert hij samen met Gerard Rooijakkers, een vriend van hem, in twee delen zijn memoires, maar hij bemoeide zich niet met de ontwikkelingen in zijn bisdom na de voor velen teleurstellende benoeming van de hulpbisschop van Roermond, J.G. ter Schure, tot zijn opvolger.

Seksueel misbruik
Bluyssen werd de afgelopen jaren in verband gebracht met het onderzoek naar misbruik binnen de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk, dat gedaan werd door een onderzoekscommissie onder leiding van Wim Deetman. Hij zou in de jaren 70 een aantal spraakmakende dossiers hebben vernietigd waarin bruikbare informatie over seksueel misbruik stond. Ook een archief uit de jaren 90 met belastende informatie is verdwenen. Dat was onder gezag van oud-bisschop Jan ter Schure. Bluyssen zei dat hij de archieven heeft weggegooid omdat 'er weinig interessants' bij zat.

Tegen NRC Handelsblad zei de oud-bisschop destijds: "Het was voorbij, de zaken waren afgewerkt. Dat er nog een vraag over zou komen, daar heb ik toen niet bij stilgestaan.'' Bluyssen besloot zijn 50-jarige bisschopsjubileum niet te vieren uit respect voor de slachtoffers van het misbruik.

 August 14, 2013
Patrick Wall 

Throughout the last twenty years of advocating on behalf of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I have heard countless names for the secret sex abuse archives in the Roman Catholic Church.
These files, according to the Code of Canon Law, are mandatory in every Diocese or Archdiocese around the world:

Can. 489 §1. In the diocesan curia there is also to be a secret archive, or at least in the common archive there is to be a safe or cabinet, completely closed and locked, which cannot be removed; in it documents to be kept secret are to be protected most securely.
§2. Each year documents of criminal cases in matters of morals, in which the accused parties have died or ten years have elapsed from the condemnatory sentence, are to be destroyed. A brief summary of what occurred along with the text of the definitive sentence is to be retained. Can. 490 §1. Only the bishop is to have the key to the secret archive.

Now comes yet another name from Newark Archbishop John J Myers J.C.D.: the caged files

Caged files, Secret Archives, Hell files, 489 files, Confidential files, the various names speak to the same reality. Big institutions like the Archdiocese of Newark maintain documents and secret histories on people who are credible threats right now. And these “caged files” are NOT designed to protect the public.

Instead, they are locked, vaulted, and secreted away to protect the church from the dark immoral haunts whose release—they believe—could upend the institution. Thankfully, survivors in their relentless pursuit of justice continue to rattle the cage, in the hopes that it breaks and frees the secrets.
The thesis for child protection is not complex. We call upon Archbishop Myers to support a change in the statute of limitations; break open the caged files he alone controls; and protect children past, present and future by not allowing perpetrators to hide in the Diocese of Peoria’s and Archdiocese of Newark’s “cages.”

Die bekennende Kirche:post postmoderne modernisten eed en gebrul van een leeuw: Priesterkandidaten moeten politieke overtuiging bekend­maken

1 Iedereen moet het gezag van de overheid erkennen, want er is geen gezag dat niet van God komt; ook het huidige gezag is door God ingesteld. 2 Wie zich tegen dit gezag verzet, verzet zich dus tegen een instelling van God, en wie dat doet roept over zichzelf zijn veroordeling af. 3 Wie doet wat goed is heeft van de gezagsdragers niets te vrezen, alleen wie doet wat slecht is. U wilt niets van de overheid te vrezen hebben? Doe dan wat goed is en ze zal u prijzen, 4 want ze staat in dienst van God en is er voor uw welzijn. Maar wanneer u doet wat slecht is, kunt u haar beter vrezen: ze voert het zwaard niet voor niets, want ze staat in dienst van God, en door hem die het slechte doet zijn verdiende straf te geven, toont ze Gods toorn. 5 U moet haar gezag dus erkennen, en niet alleen uit angst voor Gods toorn, maar ook omwille van uw geweten. 6 Daarom betaalt u ook belasting en staat wie belasting int in dienst van God. 

bron

BONN (RKnieuws.net) – Priesterkan­di­daten in Duit­s­land moeten in de toekomst hun poli­tieke over­tuig­ing bek­end­maken. Dat zei ver­ant­wo­ordelijke Michaël Menke-Peitzmeyer van het sem­i­narie van Pader­borg dins­dag aan het inter­net­por­taal katholisch.de. Het inter­net­por­taal bevroeg meerdere sem­i­nar­iev­er­ant­wo­ordelijken over de selec­tiecri­te­ria voor priesterkan­di­daten tegen de achter­grond van rechts extreme ten­densen  bij enkele priesterkan­di­daten in Würzburg.

“Na het mis­bruikschan­daal hebben we ons bij de selec­ties meer op het psy­chol­o­gis­che gefo­cust en hebben we ook oog voor de poli­tieke over­tuig­ing van de kan­di­daten”, aldus Michaël Menke-Peitzmeyer. “Ondanks het priestertekort wor­den de selec­tiecri­te­ria zeker niet ver­soe­peld”, aldus Franz Heringer van het sem­i­narie in Pas­sau. “We gaan ook na of de kan­di­daat com­mu­ni­catief, psy­chisch sta­biel en vol­doende intel­lectuele capaciteiten heeft om de the­olo­gi­es­tud­ies af te ron­den”, zegt Thomas Ben­ner van het sem­i­narie van Ham­burg. “Globaal gezien zijn de eisen die aan priesterkan­di­daten gesteld wor­den hoger dan vroeger”, aldus Matthias Roy van het sem­i­narie van Berlijn.

Eind mei raakte bek­end dat twee priesterkan­di­daten in Würzburg op grond van rechts extreme uitin­gen en han­delin­gen naar huis wer­den ges­tu­urd. Zij vertelden onder meer grap­pen over joden en voer­den Hitler par­o­dieën uit.

en toen ze het kind haalden

want ik was geen kind

vrij naar  Martin Niemöller

Church adviser says insurance company dictated protocol on how to treat victims of clerical abuse; Church's insurance company 'dictated policy' on sex abuse

BRON

The Age
 8-8-2013

The Catholic Church's insurance company destroyed records relating to sexual abuse and drove the church's handling of victims of abuse, according to a former adviser to the church.

Psychologist Dr Robert Grant, who advised the Catholic Church committee dealing with sexual abuse, told ABC's Lateline on Thursday that Catholic Church Insurance dictated how victims should be treated under the Towards Healing protocol, a claim CCI denies.

US-based Dr Grant said meetings he attended in the late 1990s with the National Committee for Professional Standards, which was drafting the Towards Healing document, were attended by senior representatives of church-owned CCI or their lawyers.


Dr Grant, who has worked with the Catholic Church on sexual abuse in seven countries, said discussions devising the Towards Healing protocols centred on church liability and priests “being unjustly accused” rather than the wellbeing of victims.

Objections were raised to any document inclusions that may put the church at risk of admitting culpability.
“At first I thought maybe they were there to advise the church about the risk of taking certain pastoral stances but I began to realise quite quickly that they were actually dictating policy.”

Warning bells rang for Dr Grant when a senior CCI official boasted about destroying 40 boxes of personnel records.
“I was shocked, I was dumbfounded … I realised it was a statement to me how things were going to be run.”

The insurer, established in 1911 to insure church properties against fire, has paid out $30 million in compensation and counselling costs to about 600 child sexual abuse victims since 1990.

As a charitable institution CCI is exempt from income tax, returning any surplus funds to the Church.

Porters Lawyers principal Jason Parkinson, who has represented hundreds of clerical abuse victims, said the relationship between the church and CCI is a clear conflict of interest.
“They are profiting from the money that they've saved by not paying proper damages to victims of child sexual abuse.”

He told Lateline victims are told not to seek legal representation and incorrectly informed they will be unable to sue the church because their abuse occurred too long ago.

In an email to Lateline, CCI chief executive Peter Rush wrote he had no knowledge of Dr Grant or the alleged destruction of personnel records.
“I do not accept that any senior officer of CCI would have engaged in the inappropriate destruction of documents.”

Mr Rush, who also sits on the National Committee for Professional Standards, told the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry that CCI was distanced from the Towards Healing process.

But Lateline revealed a 2003 file note showing a CCI lawyer present during a meeting in which an abuse victim was offered $40,000 compensation.

The claims come as Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne executive director Francis Moore used the church's right of reply to submissions to attack the Victorian parliamentary committee inquiry into the handling of child abuse.

He accused inquiry chair Georgie Crozier of publishing “incorrect, unfair and misleading” figures on the number of victims dissatisfied with the Catholic Church's processes.
Francis Sullivan, chief executive of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, said Towards Healing was all about putting victims' interests first.

"[Dr Grant] was part of the working up of the document and in the end it is the document we have to look at. I accept nothing's perfect and sometimes implementation is not what it could be."
He denied Towards Healing was about the church buying silence.

 "I heard more about church liability and there was talk about priests that were being unjustly accused. (KLIK)

14-12-2011 canvas

Bah Anansi; Haagse Jantje met z'n vingertje en z'n duim

1
SEX & ABUSE BY CATHOLIC CLERGY
Plenary Session July 27, 2013
3:00 — 4:15

SIPE ON THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

PAST: Putting sexual abuse in perspective.
Sexual abuse of minors is not a recent phenomenon; the reality of
clergy sexual activity has existed, as long as there have been priests and bishops

Church documents from the earliest centuries record the ideal of
religious celibacy and its violations. (Cf. Doyle, Sipe & Wall 2006)
There is an element of basic asceticism in the practice of religious

Celibacy — the imitation of Jesus in having nothing: not a place “to lay
his head”; poverty by choice; and forsaking all family relationships in
order to be like Jesus. Treating others as Jesus did was the object
of the discipline.
This ideal was found especially in the earliest monks of the desert.

But the other side of the coin is the corruption of the ideal.

In our time, publicity about abuse has refocused our
knowledge of the frequency of sexual violations by clergy
and the horrendous and long lasting damage done to victims.
Purity was thought to be the source of clerical power.

Sexual abuse of minors does not stand alone within clerical culture.

It is a symptom and always has been of a corrupt system of
double lives and duplicity that reaches from local parishes to the
Vatican; it destroys the myth of clerical purity.

The whole idea that clergy practice celibacy has imploded.

-----1-----

Celibate practice of clerics (even the appearance of it) gave early
Christians considerable power .The early institution attempted to 
“bottle” this element of power as early as the 4th Century. (Cf. 
Council of Elvira 309 C.E.) That earliest council record dealt explicitly 
with many sexual aberrations of the clergy. By the way , records of 
the Desert Fathers also include accounts of their sexual struggles
including some accounts of violations of minors by “holy” men

The institution wrestled for centuries to control its clergy and its property
This process of consolodating power political, religious 
and temporal was furthered by three medieval church maneuvers:

1.) In 1049 C.E. St. Peter Damian wrote to Pope Leo IX and decried 
the prevalence of sexual abuse by clergy that he called “criminal 
vice” and said it was epidemic (Letter 31) Even then he 
encouraged the pope to have zero tolerance and have offending
priests reduced to the lay state. The pope was more tolerant and 
thought that was too stringent and said steps should be taken 
only if the behavior was persistent

2.) Mandating in 1139 C.E. (1074) that all men ordained to

Roman priesthood had to make a prior promise of “perfect 

and perpetual chastity that involved celibacy, (non marriage ). The 
rule was never very successful. Deprived of a chance to marry a 
majority of the clergy continued to have sexual companions.
[Even in the 1960s Jesuit sociologist Joseph Fichter estimated 
that 30% of priests in Germany were living intimately with 
women.] Although statistics are hard to come by sophisticated 
estimates from scholars around the world do not support 
a vigorous practice of celibacy, from cardinals to parish priests.

3) In1215  C.E. The IV Lateran Council proclaimed that everyone

-----2-----

had to confess his/her mortal sins to a priest  in the private and
personal sacrament of penance at least once a year Every sexual
thought word desire and action constituted a mortal
sin according to church teaching We were all taught this in grade school

.Control by guilt and shame forms powerful and destructive
shackles for priests and people. The chasm between the law
imposed by Vatican decree and the practice of the clergy renders
the teaching unbelievable. Essentially the priest is touted as
another Christ (Cf. statement from IV Lateran) ...

”Confession is the only ordinary way to receive the forgiveness of
God for serious (mortal) sins , which if unforgiven condemn a
person to Hell. The Church teaches that Catholic priests have
been given the authority by God to exercise the forgiveness of
sins here on earth and it is in God's name by which the person
confessing is forgiven. In theological terms, the priest acts in 
persona Christi and receives from the Church the power of 
jurisdiction over the penitent."

The reason I point out these dates is to show how the church tried to
expand its control over human sexuality in priests and people, at the
same time its countenanced corruption and constructed structures
that were dangerous under the guise of pastoral care
.
Personal confession was and is a precarious site for domination and
potential sexual abuse of the vulnerable. I wish that I had kept a
record of the number of cases in which confession was the occasion
for a violating cleric to target his victim.

PRESENT:
Abuse knows no social, economic, ethnic or religious
boundaries. You are one important voice among many
suffering to

 -----3-----

be heard and healed; crying not only for your own torturous 

experiences but to support and protect children and the vulnerable

to prevent them from the trauma you know only too well
.
The work that abuse survivors, their supporters, lawyers,
and press do is tremendously valuable beyond the boun
daries of the Catholic Church.

Your witness is now taken seriously. The clergy victim/survivors
movement contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of
minor abuse in every other cultural system from the family to
colleges to the military and beyond the U.S. This makes you 

valuable.

You are real. You are telling the forbidden truth

Sexual abuse and cover up is central to clerical culture and its
inherent narcissism. The future cannot sustain a culture that
effectively: 

.hates women, 

.imposes impossible and irrational sexual standards

.extolls itself as unerring.

Sex is the core problematic issue for religion in our time. The 

sexual agenda that trips up the church was defined by Wm. Shea
already in 1986: "family life, divorce & remarriage, premarital & 

extra marital sex, birth control, abortion, homosexuality (same 

sex marriage), masturbation, women in ministry (& their 

ordination to the priesthood) & the male monopoly on power."

This morass requires not a simple tweak, but a Copernican shift 

to address it. The basis on which the institution of the church
builds its sexual is false. We must be part of the solution.

-----4----- 

FUTURE.

What is a vision for the future? Pope Francis has
already said that "Ecclesiastical Narcissism" is one of the
fundamental sources of the current corruption in the church  

He said that four days before his election as pope in an address  

to the cardinals. He is correct in identifying it as the Church’s  

fundamental illness. Certainly narcissism self-interest —is at

the root of abuse of the vulnerable and the pattern and practice  

of covering up violations to preserve image and money.

Certainly ecclesiastical agencies and power have not been
proactive but strongly resistant to coming to grips with the crisis
of clerical abuse Every action they have taken has been reactive
and largely continues in every possible way.

We can divorce ourselves from the institutional church all we
want, but we cannot shake our own narcissism so easily. We 

 need to support honest and reform anywhere we find it.

AU Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s voice is worth hearing and his  

call for a Council is brave and prophetic. Rare in the hierarchy.

The Capuchins of Milwaukee have been unique and bold in their
efforts to review the records of all their personnel.

Our own integrity is our primary concern and responsibility. But
integrity does exist even in the midst of corruption. Seek, find,
and support the reformation of an institution that is sexually
and financially distorted. Truth will out.

-----5----- 

BREAKOUT —SaturdayJuly 27, 2013   4:30-5:30

SPIRITUALITY BEYOND TRAUMA
 

The long- term adverse effects of early trauma are
physical/medical, psychological and spiritual. (cf.
ACE Study- adverse childhood events)
As you know those effects can be dire.

Sexual trauma or betrayal by a clergy person often leaves
deep scars that some times necessarily involve the rejection
of the structure of any church and hierarchy. (23.9 % of

Americans raised as Roman Catholic no longer claim this as their 

faith. One in five Americans claim “none” as their 

religious preference. Cf Pew Forum on Religion.)

No one can fault anyone for rejecting Catholicism. Co-

lateral victims - family, friends, advocates and 

many Roman Catholic lawyers- have testified: " I can 

no longer believe in the Catholic Church.”
 

The moral credibility of the institution has been so deeply
compromised that it is empty. An institution that cannot tell
the truth about itself has nothing to say.

Individuals of integrity exist (they are not generally the
hierarchy of the Church).

-----6-----

But the need for non-clerical spirituality continues and can
be found.

We can exist without a church, without rules and without
dogmas.

We cannot exist without spirituality. One of the great
leaders of the 20th Century said: “We must find some
spiritual basis for living, else we die.” (Bill W)

This discussion will explore ways of healing and
fulfillment that go beyond institutions
and clerical control.

STEPS TO A SPIRITUALITY

* We need powers beyond ourselves.
Awareness that we are not spiritually self
sufficient is essential to a spiritual life.

*It takes daily attention in mindfulness or meditation.

*Honesty is necessary for any spirituality.

*Empathy, gratitude and forgiveness are also required.

*A system or group of like minded people may be helpful.
The 12 steps demonstrated by AA is one of
the most profound spiritual programs ever devised.

*Spirituality is beyond rules and dogmas. It is an
internal process that will demonstrate itself to others
on the outside.
St. Augustine in his confessions articulates the core of his
personal spirituality: It is an internal relationship that is not
institutionally confined: Late have I loved you, Beauty ever
ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within, but I  

-----7----- 

was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my
unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things that you created. You
were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from
you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all.
You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You
flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed
your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I
have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You t
ouched me, and I burned for your peace. (St. Augustine, Confessions)

-----8-----

BRON

Tureluurs, pimpelmezen en nijlganzen