Sex abuse ruling 'could open floodgates on school claims'
By Tim Healy
Saturday June 14 2008
THE Supreme Court yesterday reserved judgment on a test action to determine if the State is liable for sexual assaults by a national school principal on an eight-year-old girl.
The State could face "extraordinary" claims if it is found vicariously liable for the 20 sexual assaults by school principal Leo Hickey on Louise O'Keeffe when she was a pupil at Dunderrow National School, Co Cork, in 1973, James O'Driscoll, for the Minister for Education and State, argued yesterday.
These could include claims by people that they had not received a proper education because a teacher wasn't good or was incapable due to certain factors, counsel said.
This would be an impossible situation for the State and Ms O'Keeffe was seeking to have the court push "far too wide" the definition of vicarious liability, he said.......
The three-day hearing of the case concluded yesterday before the five-judge court and the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray, said the court would reserve its decision....
rest artikel
State is liable for sex abuse in schools, court told
By Tim Healy
Friday June 13 2008
It is "grossly utilitarian'' to argue that the State should have no liability for the sexual abuse of children in national schools because this would lead to many other claims relating to events in such places, the Supreme Court was told yesterday.
The claim came on day two of a case taken by a woman sexually assaulted by a national school principal as a child.
Louise O'Keeffe has asked the Supreme Court to rule that the Minister for Education and the State are liable for the assaults.
.....
Landmark
The action is regarded as a test case with over 200 similar cases awaiting its outcome.
A complaint was made in 1971 by another parent about Hickey to the acting school manager and local curate, Fr O Ceallaigh. However, Hickey remained in his post, the court heard. Ms O'Keeffe alleges the State is also vicariously liable for the failure of Fr O Ceallaigh to report the complaint to the Department of Education.
After parents withdrew female children from the school in protest later in 1973, Mr Hickey ultimately resigned in January 1974. He was employed the following month at a boys' school in Ballincollig, Cork and continued to teach until his recognition as a teacher was withdrawn after criminal proceedings in the late 1990s. Hickey was jailed for three years in 1998 after pleading guilty to 21 sample charges of indecent assaults on 21 girls.
Ms O'Keeffe's High Court proceedings against Hickey and the State were heard by judge Eamon de Valera in 2004 with judgment delivered in 2006.
The case is expected to conclude today with judgment reserved.
rest van artikel
Kiss up, kick down.
By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday October 29 2006
WHEN it comes to bullying, this Government picks its targets carefully. Louise O'Keeffe is just the latest in a line of vulnerable people to feel the Government's steel toecaps kicking their shins. Equipped with legal hammers provided by its learned friends (and this Government has a lot of learned friends), the habitual response to a challenge by vulnerable people is to lay about them, beating the defenceless into submission.
At which point, given that the Taoiseach relies on his famous charm, the Government finds it useful to adopt a magnanimous pose.
Confronted by the powerful, on the other hand, the Government simpers and frets - and invites them along to the Fianna Fail tent at the Galway races.
So it is in the O'Keeffe case. When this woman dared raise her head and demand justice from the State, the Government instinctively moved to crush her.
Louise O'Keeffe is 42. In 1973, when she was eight years of age and attending Dunderrow national school in Kinsale, she was sexually assaulted by Leo Hickey, the school principal, suffering catastrophic injuries. Hickey was found guilty, in June 1998, of 21 sample counts of abuse, out of 380, involving 21 girls.
In September of that year, Louise O'Keeffe began legal proceedings against Hickey, the Minister for Education, Ireland and the Attorney General. Hickey didn't defend the case. That left the Minister and the State.
Just eight months later, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologised to the children who had, over decades, been sexually abused in institutions run by the Catholic Church. He accepted that the State had some liability in the matter, since the State sent the kids to suffer the tender mercies of the church. The State began negotiations with the church, to divide up financial responsibility.
Over the next few years, as Louise O'Keeffe's case slowly made its way through the system, the State made a secret deal with the Catholic Church, over financial liability for child abuse by 18 Catholic congregations.
Last week in the Dail, the Taoiseach spoke of Louise O'Keeffe's effort to establish that the State had responsibilities to the children abused, because it employed a child abuser. Mr Ahern said the State had "a strong defence". Depends how you look at it.
The evidence that Louise O'Keeffe was dreadfully sexually assaulted was not opposed. The State put up three purely technical defences. First, that 25 years had passed between the assault in 1973 and the proceedings in 1998. Therefore, the case was barred by the Statute of Limitations.
Second, the passage of time placed an unfair burden on the defence - for instance, the State was deprived of hearing the evidence of the manager of the school, Canon Stritch, who had since died. Therefore the case shouldn't go ahead.
Third, the State didn't employ Leo Hickey, the manager did.
Last January, Mr Justice de Valera shot down the first two technicalities. He upheld the third, based on precedents set in cases heard in 2002 and 2003.
The State immediately applied for its costs, ensuring that Louise O'Keeffe now faces a bill for about half a million euro. O'Keeffe won against Leo Hickey, and was awarded €300,000. It's doubtful if Hickey has any money. O'Keeffe fears she may lose her house.
The judge was entitled to reach such a conclusion and did so fairly and sincerely. One could also fairly and sincerely disagree with that conclusion.
Essentially the judge decided that 1) the State paid Hickey's salary; 2) it was responsible for ensuring he was suitably qualified for the job; but, 3) the State didn't technically employ him. The school manager, the late Canon Stritch, did.
To some of us, the contention that the State does not employ national school teachers flies in the face of reality. The State determines how many teachers are employed in any national school, lays down the conditions of employment, pays their salaries and supervises their performance. But, in the words of the Taoiseach, "they are not State employees".
The State required that O'Keeffe and the other kids attend the school, just as the State required that children be sent to other Catholic institutions for which it accepts liability.
The Government's "strong defence" involved hiding behind legal technicalities. It offered no moral defence of its position - it had none.
The nearest thing to a moral defence came from the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin: "The State has a responsibility to the taxpayer to fight cases where it knows it has a strong defence", and to demand costs.
Ah, the sainted 'taxpayer'.
This from the Government that without apology squandered millions on the PPARS fiasco, and the electronic voting machines, both of which continue to drain the public purse. This from the Government that wasted tens of millions clearing the way for the Bertie Bowl that was never built.
This from the Government that made a sweetheart deal with the Catholic Church, under which the taxpayer is liable for £1.3 billion, while the Church has to cough up less than a tenth of that.
In that sweetheart deal, the Catholic Church in Ireland is liable for an average of about £9,000 per child abused by 18 Catholic congregations. In comparison, last week the Catholic Church in Los Angeles agreed a settlement with seven victims abused by the Carmelite order that averaged $1.4m each.
The excuse for the sweetheart deal was that the church couldn't afford the compensation. But the Government never audited the wealth of the church, and eventually accepted a settlement involving useless land transfers and other derisory elements.
And the fact that Louise O'Keeffe can't afford half a million didn't stop the State tackling her with its studs showing.
Now comes the spurious magnanimity.
In the Dail, Ahern said the State is approaching O'Keeffe in "a measured and sensitive way", and "there was no question whatsoever of her losing her house".
However, "arrangements would have to be made regarding costs". In short, for eight years, the State has faced down a woman to whom it knew it was morally liable, hiding behind technicalities. In the sainted name of the taxpayer. Even now, it holds over her the threat of 'arrangements' to which she must agree.
This isn't about money - half a million is peanuts in the context of this Government's ability to squander. It's about teaching people like O'Keeffe not to be uppity. Mess with us, we'll put you through the grinder.
This kind of thing isn't unique to Fianna Fail and the PDs. Remember how a Fine Gael government used legal threats to bully a dying woman, Brigid McCole? It's a technique of government. Kiss-up, kick-down.
Proven thieves are welcome, along with the great and the good, in the tents where donations are solicited. The powerful get to rub shoulders, to network and to compound their power, however anti-social or just downright illegal the behaviour of some. At budget time, the powerful have the ear of government.
When the vulnerable dare get uppity, the legal hammers are waved. Hepatitis C victims, haemophiliacs fatally poisoned by the State, elderly nursing home patients who had their pockets picked while the State turned a blind eye to massive tax evasion. Parents of autistic children, desperate to acquire appropriate education for them. Legions of carers, cheap labour, looking after sick and helpless relatives, people whose love and sense of duty is abused so the State can escape its responsibilities.
All vulnerable, all treated with contempt, and ruthlessly pursued should they dare seek legal redress. It's a kiss-up kick-down government, in a kiss-up kick-down world.
- Gene Kerrigan
zondag, juni 15, 2008
vrijdag, juni 13, 2008
Ferns priest accused of abusing children defrocked by Vatican
.. John Kinsella, formerly of The Ballagh, Co Wexford, becomes
the sixth priest in the Ferns diocese to be dismissed by papal decree.
News of the latest Irish priest to be laicised, following a recent canonical hearing in Rome, comes as the Dublin archdiocese braces itself for a damning report on clerical sex abuse in the country's largest diocese.
The report of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation, chaired by Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy, is set to dwarf the Ferns inquiry in the scale of abuse of children and the failure of senior Church officials to prevent it.
The Ferns investigation identified more than 100 allegations of sex abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against 21 priests.
The report will be published months after the former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, dropped his controversial High Court action claiming privilege over 5,586 documents submitted to the Dublin inquiry by his successor, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
The Ferns diocese has confirmed to the Irish Independent that six of its priests have now been defrocked, and insisted that all allegations of abuse are handled in line with papal directions received in 2001.
The defrocking of . Kinsella brings to an end a fraught history for the diocese, as he never faced criminal charges arising from allegations of abuse.
Six years ago, . Kinsella stepped down from ministry in The Ballagh, Co Wexford.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing by an inquiry set up by former Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey after the allegations emerged some years earlier.
When the claims resurfaced, caretaker Bishop Eamonn Walsh initiated another inquiry.
After a separate garda inquiry, a file went to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but there was no prosecution.
Last year, . Kinsella was at the centre of a civil case taken by three men who claimed they had been abused by him and that the Ferns diocese was liable. It was struck out mid-hearing at the High Court.
One of the men who took part in the civil action last night welcomed reports of . Kinsella's dismissal.
"The terms of the settlement of the litigation preclude me from discussing the case," said Anthony Doyle.
"But if that is the case [that he has been defrocked], then people can draw their own conclusions.
kennelijk niet alleen een kardinaal
Former priest slams diocese
Wednesday June 11 2008
A PRIEST defrocked by the Pope has accused the Diocese of Ferns of a serious
miscarriage of justice'.
Fr. John Kinsella, who served as a curate in Enniscorthy in the ealy 1970s and the Ballagh from 1991, says the first he knew of his defrocking was when he read about it in a newspaper.
Despite overhwhelming evidence against the accusers, the Diocesan Authority callously pursued the path of a kangaroo court to judge me in the harshest way possible,' he claims in a letter sent to this newspaper.
The priest, who was formerly accused of child sex abuse offences against boys from the Enniscorthy area, said allegations were invstigated by the Gardai in 1996, were subsequently investigated by the Garda authorities and dismissed by the DPP.
I devoted the best years of my life to ministry in the Diocese of Ferns. I looked to that institution for due process and the truth. Sadly I got neither,' he says in the letter.
A native of Monamolin, he was ordained in 1974 and remained a priest until earlier this month.
Diocesan spokesman Fr. John Carroll said it was not policy to comment on individual allegations of sex abuse involving priests. Six priests have been dismissed over the past few years.
the sixth priest in the Ferns diocese to be dismissed by papal decree.
News of the latest Irish priest to be laicised, following a recent canonical hearing in Rome, comes as the Dublin archdiocese braces itself for a damning report on clerical sex abuse in the country's largest diocese.
The report of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation, chaired by Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy, is set to dwarf the Ferns inquiry in the scale of abuse of children and the failure of senior Church officials to prevent it.
The Ferns investigation identified more than 100 allegations of sex abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against 21 priests.
The report will be published months after the former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, dropped his controversial High Court action claiming privilege over 5,586 documents submitted to the Dublin inquiry by his successor, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
The Ferns diocese has confirmed to the Irish Independent that six of its priests have now been defrocked, and insisted that all allegations of abuse are handled in line with papal directions received in 2001.
The defrocking of . Kinsella brings to an end a fraught history for the diocese, as he never faced criminal charges arising from allegations of abuse.
Six years ago, . Kinsella stepped down from ministry in The Ballagh, Co Wexford.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing by an inquiry set up by former Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey after the allegations emerged some years earlier.
When the claims resurfaced, caretaker Bishop Eamonn Walsh initiated another inquiry.
After a separate garda inquiry, a file went to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but there was no prosecution.
Last year, . Kinsella was at the centre of a civil case taken by three men who claimed they had been abused by him and that the Ferns diocese was liable. It was struck out mid-hearing at the High Court.
One of the men who took part in the civil action last night welcomed reports of . Kinsella's dismissal.
"The terms of the settlement of the litigation preclude me from discussing the case," said Anthony Doyle.
"But if that is the case [that he has been defrocked], then people can draw their own conclusions.
kennelijk niet alleen een kardinaal
Former priest slams diocese
Wednesday June 11 2008
A PRIEST defrocked by the Pope has accused the Diocese of Ferns of a serious
miscarriage of justice'.
Fr. John Kinsella, who served as a curate in Enniscorthy in the ealy 1970s and the Ballagh from 1991, says the first he knew of his defrocking was when he read about it in a newspaper.
Despite overhwhelming evidence against the accusers, the Diocesan Authority callously pursued the path of a kangaroo court to judge me in the harshest way possible,' he claims in a letter sent to this newspaper.
The priest, who was formerly accused of child sex abuse offences against boys from the Enniscorthy area, said allegations were invstigated by the Gardai in 1996, were subsequently investigated by the Garda authorities and dismissed by the DPP.
I devoted the best years of my life to ministry in the Diocese of Ferns. I looked to that institution for due process and the truth. Sadly I got neither,' he says in the letter.
A native of Monamolin, he was ordained in 1974 and remained a priest until earlier this month.
Diocesan spokesman Fr. John Carroll said it was not policy to comment on individual allegations of sex abuse involving priests. Six priests have been dismissed over the past few years.
donderdag, juni 12, 2008
Kilometerteller
Droom
bij het onwaken
bleek de droom een nachtmerrie
ik kijk en durf zien
uit: Kilometerteller
bij het onwaken
bleek de droom een nachtmerrie
ik kijk en durf zien
uit: Kilometerteller
We now recognise it was wrong and we apologise for failing to protect you
You were powerless to protect your own children
woensdag, juni 11, 2008
PM duwt zijn excuses door de strot
Sorry hoor, hoe krijgt ie het voor mekaar!
PM faces criticism on eve of native schools apology
Updated Tue. Jun. 10 2008 8:42 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
On the eve of his historic apology to survivors of residential school abuse, the prime minister is fending off criticism for failing to give aboriginal leaders the chance to respond on the House of Commons floor.
Manitoba Liberal MP Tina Keeper, a member of Norway House Cree Nation, led off question period on Tuesday by asking why aboriginal leaders have not been invited to address Parliament following Wednesday's apology.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded by accusing Keeper of detracting from the importance of the event with her comments.
PM faces criticism on eve of native schools apology
Updated Tue. Jun. 10 2008 8:42 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
On the eve of his historic apology to survivors of residential school abuse, the prime minister is fending off criticism for failing to give aboriginal leaders the chance to respond on the House of Commons floor.
Manitoba Liberal MP Tina Keeper, a member of Norway House Cree Nation, led off question period on Tuesday by asking why aboriginal leaders have not been invited to address Parliament following Wednesday's apology.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded by accusing Keeper of detracting from the importance of the event with her comments.
"I would urge all parties not to play politics with this (and) simply get behind a sincere apology," he said.
----------------------------
......Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to officially apologize next Wednesday for decades of trauma and cultural losses inflicted by institutions once geared to "kill the Indian in the child.''
But native and opposition critics say haphazard planning and sketchy procedural details expose a Conservative failure to treat a crucial moment in aboriginal relations with the respect required.
Even the time of Harper's statement -- 3 p.m. next Wednesday -- wasn't confirmed until Thursday.
A national spokesman for former students says his group and the Assembly of First Nations have been shut out of final planning as the draft text of the apology is kept under tight wraps.
"I tell you, we're getting a little nervous and concerned when everything is so secretive,'' Ted Quewezance, executive director of the National Residential School Survivors' Society, said Thursday.
"It's a long time coming and I think it's a responsibility of Canada to really understand how important this apology is to survivors across the country. Everybody's emotional about it, they're angry about it, they're frustrated about it. And we don't understand what's going to come out of it at this point in time.''
Quewezance says neither his group nor the assembly has been consulted on the final text of the apology as they'd expected to be.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl says the draft will not be shared before it's delivered..........
-----------------------------------
Residential school students worried about apology
Updated Sun. Jun. 8 2008 7:15 AM ET
Saira Peesker, CTV.ca News
Updated Sun. Jun. 8 2008 7:15 AM ET
Saira Peesker, CTV.ca News
Native groups are apprehensive this week, as they prepare for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's delivery of a long-awaited apology for abuse at residential schools. Some are wondering why the government hasn't discussed details about the apology -- and what may or may not accompany it.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl has promised Harper will deliver what "will be a very meaningful and respectful apology" in front of the House of Commons. But no drafts of the apology have been circulated.
According to the executive director of the National Residential School Survivors' Society, victims are looking for signs Harper plans to help improve their situation.
"When you're actually sorry, you have to do something about it," Ted Quewezance told CTV.ca in a telephone interview on Thursday. "Within seconds we'll know how sincere (his apology) is."
In an open letter to the prime minister last week, Quewezance said he hopes Harper knows his words "will have an intense impact on reconciliation."
"Most in the world would call what was done 'cultural genocide'," wrote the 55-year-old residential school survivor, who was taken from his grandparents at age five to live away from home for 11 years.
"Can you imagine someone coming into your yard and taking you away?" he told CTV.ca in an interview. "I was holding onto my grandfather's leg... If they didn't let us go they were told they would be put in jail."
The government will pay expenses for about 100 people who once attended the federally funded, church-run schools to attend the event in Ottawa on Wednesday, but it appears thousands would like be present for the historic moment.
The federal government started funding the schools -- which were an extension of religious missionary work -- in 1874. About 150,000 native children went through their programs, most of which were closed down by the 1970s.
The National Residential School Survivors' Society wants the government to:
Accept "total" responsibility for what was done to school abuse victims
Make a sincere public expression of sorrow
Confess publicly what was done to each survivor
Make restitution by rebuilding individuals, families and
communities
Ask forgiveness
"The impact on survivors and their families has... resulted in the destruction of our families and communities," wrote Quewezance.
"Children were beaten, humiliated, starved, introduced to contagious diseases like tuberculosis, sexually abused (and) some people died under questionable circumstances in an environment whose goal was to 'take the Indian out of the child.'"
The letter also demands that the government put an end to policies that "re-victimize" native peoples.
"It is Canada's responsibility to look after our people but it isn't happening," said Quewezance. "The conditions we are living in... nothing has changed. It's bad. The effect this legacy has had on our children -- you can see it. The suicides, the drugs, where did this come from?"
'A tremendous gesture'
But not all residential school victims are insisting that Harper introduce sweeping policy changes in Wednesday's speech.
As far as Manitoba's Minister of Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport is concerned, the PM's decision to make a formal apology is "a tremendous gesture."
Eric Robinson, a residential school victim and a member of the provincial NDP government, says Harper's willingness to start a dialogue speaks much louder than the previous Liberal government's muted handling of events.
"I have to commend the national government -- I never thought I would ever see the day," Robinson said in an interview last week. "I think (the apology) should have happened many years ago but it's a bold move all the same."
In 1998, then-Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the once-mandatory schools was rampant. At the time, many of the 90,000 survivors said they wanted a more formal admission of guilt for what is seen as the government's attempt to obliterate aboriginal cultures, religions and languages.
"That didn't really touch anybody," said Robinson. "It didn't have the wide-reaching effect the government at the time hoped it would. This time, it's coming from the head of our national government and I think that makes all the difference in the world."
At the end of 2006, 80,000 members of a residential schools class action lawsuit settled with the government for $5 billion.
The settlement included individual payments of more than $10,000 as well as a $125 million aboriginal healing fund, $60 million for a five-year Truth and Reconciliation Commission, $20 million for commemorative projects and a controversial $100 million for legal fees.
On June 2, the government formally launched the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel led by Justice Harry LaForme. ......
UN rights declaration not signed
Despite this week's coming apology, aboriginal groups say the government has yet to put its money where its mouth is on a key aboriginal issue -- the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The document emphasizes "the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions, and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations."
It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007 without signatures from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand -- all countries with sizable native populations.
According to Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs spokesperson Patricia Valladao, Canada did not sign onto the document due to issues with the wording.
"The declaration clearly did not balance rights of indigenous people with rights of other Canadians," she told CTV.ca on Thursday. "Canada will continue to take effective action at home and abroad to protect (native peoples). We did not agree with the way... the text was written."
Ever the politician, Robinson said he prefers to look forward instead of dwell on the past.
"I still hold out hope that Canada will embrace it at some point in the not too distant future," he said.
Harper's apology to victims of residential schools is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 3 p.m. ET in the House of Commons.
In advance of Wednesday's event, The Assembly of First Nations has announced that it is providing support this week for residential school survivors who may need to talk:
The 24 hour toll-free crisis line is available to provide immediate emotional assistance and can be reached 24-hours a day, seven days a week: 1-866-925-4419.
Other support services and information for survivors is available on the AFN website.
dinsdag, juni 10, 2008
Another lesson in apology politics
Are the Tories getting too good at grovelling?
Don Martin, National Post
Published: Monday, June 09, 2008
Tuesday's half-hour statement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a hushed House of Commons will be the greatest grovel in Canadian history, completing a ten-year process of parliamentary remorse for the residential schools tragedy and starting another five years of reconciliation.
On a Commons floor filled with dignitaries, native leaders and survivors of the notorious school system, a formal apology will drag on for thousands of words, every syllable agonized over to ensure it was sufficiently contrite and conveying suitable gravitas.
The government, Parliament, indeed every Canadian will be apologizing without exception for every student's experience, be it positive, negative or abusive.
But there are still high-level concerns it won't be enough and, while unlikely, could be rejected by native leaders as a political stunt that isn't sufficiently sincere. One senior government official involved in drafting the apology acknowledged in mid-gulp on an Ottawa beer patio: "Of course, we're still not sure they'll accept it."
Beverage splattered. Excuse me?
Native leaders have not been allowed to view an advance draft of the statement and Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine was not involved, as he requested, in authoring the apology.
Now, I'm not sure how involving the victims in writing their own apology adds to the sincerity of the script, but this remorse-filled statement will dramatically dwarf other acts of regret that have gone before.
Still, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl allows there is "nervousness" at the potential reaction. "There's a lot of anxiety because people are asking themselves the ‘what if?' questions. What if he backs off or doesn't say the right expressions?"
That seems unfathomable given the unprecedented attention it's been given. The Commons will shut down for the entire day to focus all political attention on speeches by all political parties before native leaders participate in ceremonies in nearby rooms.
Compared to the Chinese head tax or Japanese internment camp apologies, this will elevate grovelling to an art form by a Parliament that has already had plenty of experience pleading for forgiveness on this file.
It's been 10 years since Parliament first heard a government minister apologize for the residential schools debacle. "To those of you who suffered this tragedy at residential schools, we are deeply sorry," said Jane Stewart, Indian Affairs minister in 1998.
The RCMP apologized for its role in the federally funded program in May, 2004.
The United Church of Canada weighed in as well, describing the students as "victims of evil acts that cannot under any circumstances be justified or excused."
The federal government apologized in every manner possible to some B.C. First Nations in 2000.
Finally, last year the House of Commons voted unanimously to apologize for the federal role in establishing and funding the schools.
And yet, Wednesday's televised ceremonies will be doomed to disappoint in some quarters.
Ted Quewezance of the National Residential School Survivors Society, for example, insists the government describe the students as "kidnapped" and "imprisoned" while being "beaten, humiliated, starved, introduced to contagious diseases like tuberculosis and sexually abused." Sorry, that's not expected to happen.
There's also (always) the demand for more money. "The Settlement Agreement does not compensate the pain and suffering, but it is only a small token to acknowledge this travesty," Mr. Quewezance says.
At $2-billion-plus, that's some "token." And that doesn't include the $60-million to launch a five-year search for tragic recollections by the truth and reconciliation commission or the $400-million total for aboriginal healing approved in 1998 and 2005.
There are whispers the Harper Cabinet is sick of saying it's sorry for ancient events and feels if it starts saying it often enough, apologies will be debased to the point there's no compensation liability or political risk attached.
That might explain why the Conservatives unexpectedly supported an official apology for turning away 376 Sikh passengers aboard the steamer Komagata Maru in 1914, pushed through by Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla last month.
One fed-up Liberal MP is quietly musing about proposing a Day of Apology so MPs can rise in the House to seek forgiveness from the victim of their choice.
Polling suggests the public hasn't quite reached the point of being flippant or fed up with the government response to the residential schools tragedy.
But if money doesn't talk and tomorrow's glitzy apology doesn't work, the mood may sour. Sincerity can't be bought, but cynicism can.
National Post
dmartin@nationalpost.com
Rodney A. Clifton: For many aboriginal children, residential schools were a positive experience
Don Martin, National Post
Published: Monday, June 09, 2008
Tuesday's half-hour statement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a hushed House of Commons will be the greatest grovel in Canadian history, completing a ten-year process of parliamentary remorse for the residential schools tragedy and starting another five years of reconciliation.
On a Commons floor filled with dignitaries, native leaders and survivors of the notorious school system, a formal apology will drag on for thousands of words, every syllable agonized over to ensure it was sufficiently contrite and conveying suitable gravitas.
The government, Parliament, indeed every Canadian will be apologizing without exception for every student's experience, be it positive, negative or abusive.
But there are still high-level concerns it won't be enough and, while unlikely, could be rejected by native leaders as a political stunt that isn't sufficiently sincere. One senior government official involved in drafting the apology acknowledged in mid-gulp on an Ottawa beer patio: "Of course, we're still not sure they'll accept it."
Beverage splattered. Excuse me?
Native leaders have not been allowed to view an advance draft of the statement and Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine was not involved, as he requested, in authoring the apology.
Now, I'm not sure how involving the victims in writing their own apology adds to the sincerity of the script, but this remorse-filled statement will dramatically dwarf other acts of regret that have gone before.
Still, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl allows there is "nervousness" at the potential reaction. "There's a lot of anxiety because people are asking themselves the ‘what if?' questions. What if he backs off or doesn't say the right expressions?"
That seems unfathomable given the unprecedented attention it's been given. The Commons will shut down for the entire day to focus all political attention on speeches by all political parties before native leaders participate in ceremonies in nearby rooms.
Compared to the Chinese head tax or Japanese internment camp apologies, this will elevate grovelling to an art form by a Parliament that has already had plenty of experience pleading for forgiveness on this file.
It's been 10 years since Parliament first heard a government minister apologize for the residential schools debacle. "To those of you who suffered this tragedy at residential schools, we are deeply sorry," said Jane Stewart, Indian Affairs minister in 1998.
The RCMP apologized for its role in the federally funded program in May, 2004.
The United Church of Canada weighed in as well, describing the students as "victims of evil acts that cannot under any circumstances be justified or excused."
The federal government apologized in every manner possible to some B.C. First Nations in 2000.
Finally, last year the House of Commons voted unanimously to apologize for the federal role in establishing and funding the schools.
And yet, Wednesday's televised ceremonies will be doomed to disappoint in some quarters.
Ted Quewezance of the National Residential School Survivors Society, for example, insists the government describe the students as "kidnapped" and "imprisoned" while being "beaten, humiliated, starved, introduced to contagious diseases like tuberculosis and sexually abused." Sorry, that's not expected to happen.
There's also (always) the demand for more money. "The Settlement Agreement does not compensate the pain and suffering, but it is only a small token to acknowledge this travesty," Mr. Quewezance says.
At $2-billion-plus, that's some "token." And that doesn't include the $60-million to launch a five-year search for tragic recollections by the truth and reconciliation commission or the $400-million total for aboriginal healing approved in 1998 and 2005.
There are whispers the Harper Cabinet is sick of saying it's sorry for ancient events and feels if it starts saying it often enough, apologies will be debased to the point there's no compensation liability or political risk attached.
That might explain why the Conservatives unexpectedly supported an official apology for turning away 376 Sikh passengers aboard the steamer Komagata Maru in 1914, pushed through by Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla last month.
One fed-up Liberal MP is quietly musing about proposing a Day of Apology so MPs can rise in the House to seek forgiveness from the victim of their choice.
Polling suggests the public hasn't quite reached the point of being flippant or fed up with the government response to the residential schools tragedy.
But if money doesn't talk and tomorrow's glitzy apology doesn't work, the mood may sour. Sincerity can't be bought, but cynicism can.
National Post
dmartin@nationalpost.com
Rodney A. Clifton: For many aboriginal children, residential schools were a positive experience
........Finally, some aboriginal children had been physically and sexually
abused in their home communities, and residential schools actually saved some of
them from continued abuse.Even though this evidence has been available for some
time, it is obvious that Michael Ignatieff did not consider it before saying:
“Another illusion is that the intentions behind the [residential] schools were
good.”
....In Stringer Hall, for example, I was responsible for 85 senior boys
between the ages of 12 and 21 for 22 hours a day, six days a week. The work was
difficult, even for a strong 21-year-old. Yet today, the reward for former
residential school employees is denigration in the national press by people such
as Mr. Ignatieff — and, more surprisingly, by the churches they served. I pray
that the Commission will hear a variety of perspectives. Unfortunately, I do not
think this will happen because of the hostile climate that now exists.
by Rodney A. CliftonFew former school employees — both non-aboriginal and aboriginal — will acknowledge that they worked in residential schools, and even fewer will appear before the Commission. They already know that the “truth” has been pre-determined, and that “reconciliation” means financial compensation, which is already being distributed in any event. Few people will praise the residential schools — their administrators, their teachers or their supervisors. Fewer still will dare publicly admit that their residential-school experiences were
positive.
Robinson tour stirs comment
Cath News Australia
Published: June 10, 2008
Retired Sydney Bishop Geoffrey Robinson is continuing his US tour despite accusations that his positions are "not in keeping with the Church" and that he is spreading "misinformation" about the Church's efforts to combat abuse.
The Los Angeles Times reports four of California's leading Catholic bishops, including Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, have taken the extraordinary step of urging the Australian bishop to cancel a month long tour of the United States to promote his controversial new book about clergy sexual abuse.
But Bishop Robinson, 70, said he has no intention of canceling any part of a trip that began May 16 in Philadelphia and brings him to California this week.
"I'm not looking for any confrontation," Robinson said in a telephone interview. "I'm saying, 'Let's start from abuse and follow that where it leads. If we find that obligatory celibacy has contributed to abuse, we must put that on the table.' "
Robinson's sponsors - led by the Catholic reform group Voice of the Faithful - say his tour will press ahead despite what they believe is a campaign to silence him.
"Is this the way American bishops respond to Pope Benedict's call to do everything possible to heal the Church?" asked Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, which pushes for doctrinal change in the Church.
"In light of the pope's comments, we believe that blocking an open and honest discussion about what caused the crisis is appalling."
Robinson said he came to the "unshakable conviction" that the Church needed to undergo "profound and enduring change," particularly as it related to issues of power and sex.
He openly questioned its monopoly on definitive truth. And he criticised Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, saying their unwillingness to reexamine obligatory celibacy for priests has undercut the Church's credibility.
Robinson said he ultimately concluded that he could not continue to serve as a bishop of a Church that left him with such "profound reservations." He resigned and began to write his book, which was published last year.
Spokesmen for the California dioceses said the Church cannot stop Robinson from speaking, particularly at secular sites. In California, he will give talks at two universities, a hotel and a community centre.
The dioceses said they are not trying to silence Robinson, who notified each of his plans, but to guard against what they believe is his misinformation.
"It's not circle the wagons," said Tod M. Tamberg, a spokesman for Cardinal Mahony.
"If Bishop Robinson knew what we were doing to protect kids in this archdiocese, he would probably say that's great. The controversy over his theological positions should not be allowed to obscure the lay oversight and openness that are cornerstones of our child-protection efforts."
But Robinson remains undaunted.
"I was invited to speak. I said I would," he replied. "I intend to keep to that. There are questions on people's minds that will not simply go away."
Meanwhile, the Seattle Times reports Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett was among several American bishops who sent a letter asking Robinson not to appear. A cardinal at the Vatican requested he cancel his trip.
In Seattle, Robinson's public appearance last week at Roosevelt High School was hosted by Call to Action Western Washington, an organisation of lay Catholics advocating reforms such as ordaining women and married people.
Robinson's book, "Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus," fit into many of the group's goals, said co-chair Betty Hill.
Call to Action had requested an ad in the Catholic Northwest Progress, the archdiocesan newspaper, to publicise Robinson's visit. That request was denied.
"I think it's a shame that [a bishop] of the Catholic Church cannot be welcomed into our diocese simply because the message he has to give is one that they don't want to hear," said retired King County Superior Court Judge Terrence Carroll.
Carroll served as chairman of a Seattle Archdiocese board that reviewed the cases of 13 priests accused of sexual abuse, and has subsequently been critical of the archdiocese for not releasing files related to abuse, among other things.
Carroll, who is not a member of Call to Action, hosted a lunch for Robinson.
"The clergy abuse issue brought front and centre for many Catholics the whole issue of the structure of the Church hierarchy and the various parts of the faith that need to be open for discussion beyond the handling of this specific issue," Carroll said. "All of these things need to be talked about. That's all [Robinson] is asking to do."
Seattle Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni said he was unaware of letters between Call to Action and Brunett about a meeting of the two bishops. He said the archdiocesan newspaper turned down the group's request for an ad because there was no official church agency that sponsored the event.
"I don't think anybody's opposed to open discussion," Magnoni said. But Robinson has "assumed positions that are problematic" because they are not in keeping with the Church.
SOURCE
Leading California Catholics urge Australian bishop to cancel tour promoting book on clergy sexual abuse (Los Angeles Times, 7/6/08)
Australian bishop calls on Catholic Church to take a serious look at sensitive issues (Seattle Times, 7/6/08)
toevoeging:
The ANGLICAN diocese of Adelaide paid out over £342,000 last year in sexual abuse claims, delegates to a special meeting of synod heard on May 31. However, it may be further liable for up to £1 million, and it is “uncertain whether any part of these paid claims or the future potential claims paid may be covered by insurance,” diocesan reports note.
The Lion Who Didn't Roar
Why hasn't Nelson Mandela spoken out against Robert Mugabe?
ZIMBABWE
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, June 9, 2008, at 12:27 PM ET
The scale of state-sponsored crime and terror in Zimbabwe has now escalated to the point where we are compelled to watch not just the systematic demolition of democracy and human rights in that country but something not very far removed from slow-motion mass murder a la Burma. The order from the Mugabe regime that closes down all international aid groups and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations is significant in two ways. It expresses the ambition for total control by the state, and it represents a direct threat—"vote for us or starve"—to the already desperate civilian population. The organization CARE, for example, which reaches half a million impoverished Zimbabweans, has been ordered to suspend operations. And here's a little paragraph, almost buried in a larger report of more comprehensive atrocities but somehow speaking volumes:
This, in turn, seems to me to implicate two of the supposed sources of moral authority on the planet: Nelson Mandela and the Vatican.
By his silence about what is happening in Zimbabwe, Mandela is making himself complicit in the pillage and murder of an entire nation, as well as the strangulation of an important African democracy. ........
As for the revolting spectacle of Mugabe flying in to a Food and Agricultural Organization conference in Rome last week, there were quibbling FAO officials who claimed that the ban on his travel to the European Union did not cover meeting places of U.N. organizations. This would not cover the luxury hotel on the Via Veneto where Mugabe and his wife stayed. And it seems he bears a charmed life in Rome. He was there only recently as a guest at the funeral of Pope John Paul II and was able to claim that he was on Vatican soil rather than Italian territory. Which in turn raises an interesting question: What is it going to take before the Roman Catholic Church has anything to say about the conduct of this member of its flock? Mugabe has been a devout Catholic ever since his days in a mission school in what was then colonial Rhodesia, and one is forced to wonder what he tells his priest when he is asked if he has anything he'd like to confess.
By way of contrast, look what happened to Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo. This Catholic churchman in Zimbabwe's second city was a pillar of opposition to the regime and a great defender of its numberless victims.
After a long campaign of defiance, and after surviving many threats to his life, the archbishop was caught on video last year having some fairly vigorous sex with a woman not his wife. Indeed, she was someone else's wife, which made it adultery as well as fornication. You might think the church would have been glad of a bit of heterosexual transgression for a change, but a dim view was taken of the whole thing, in spite of the fact that it bore all the marks of a setup and was immediately given wide publicity by the police agencies of the Mugabe state.
Ncube is no longer the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo.
Very well, I do understand that he broke his vows and that the rules are the rules. But he didn't starve or torture any children, he didn't send death squads to silence his critics, he didn't force millions of his fellow countrymen into penury and/or exile, and he didn't openly try to steal an election. Mugabe has done and is doing all these things, and I haven't heard a squeak from the papacy.
A man of his age is perhaps unlikely to be caught using a condom, but one still has to hope that Mugabe will be found red-handed in this way because it seems that nothing less is going to bring the condemnation of the church down upon his sinful head.
It is the silence of Mandela, much more than anything else, that bruises the soul.....
rest van artikel
ZIMBABWE
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, June 9, 2008, at 12:27 PM ET
The scale of state-sponsored crime and terror in Zimbabwe has now escalated to the point where we are compelled to watch not just the systematic demolition of democracy and human rights in that country but something not very far removed from slow-motion mass murder a la Burma. The order from the Mugabe regime that closes down all international aid groups and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations is significant in two ways. It expresses the ambition for total control by the state, and it represents a direct threat—"vote for us or starve"—to the already desperate civilian population. The organization CARE, for example, which reaches half a million impoverished Zimbabweans, has been ordered to suspend operations. And here's a little paragraph, almost buried in a larger report of more comprehensive atrocities but somehow speaking volumes:
While this politicization of the food situation in "his" country was being completed, President Robert Mugabe benefited from two things: the indulgence of the government of South Africa and the lenience of the authorities in Rome, who allowed him to attend a U.N. conference on the world food crisis—of all things—despite a five-year-old ban on his travel to any member of the European Union.The United Nations Children's Fund said Monday that 10,000 children had been
displaced by the violence, scores had been beaten and some schools had been
taken over by pro-government forces and turned into centers of torture.
This, in turn, seems to me to implicate two of the supposed sources of moral authority on the planet: Nelson Mandela and the Vatican.
By his silence about what is happening in Zimbabwe, Mandela is making himself complicit in the pillage and murder of an entire nation, as well as the strangulation of an important African democracy. ........
As for the revolting spectacle of Mugabe flying in to a Food and Agricultural Organization conference in Rome last week, there were quibbling FAO officials who claimed that the ban on his travel to the European Union did not cover meeting places of U.N. organizations. This would not cover the luxury hotel on the Via Veneto where Mugabe and his wife stayed. And it seems he bears a charmed life in Rome. He was there only recently as a guest at the funeral of Pope John Paul II and was able to claim that he was on Vatican soil rather than Italian territory. Which in turn raises an interesting question: What is it going to take before the Roman Catholic Church has anything to say about the conduct of this member of its flock? Mugabe has been a devout Catholic ever since his days in a mission school in what was then colonial Rhodesia, and one is forced to wonder what he tells his priest when he is asked if he has anything he'd like to confess.
By way of contrast, look what happened to Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo. This Catholic churchman in Zimbabwe's second city was a pillar of opposition to the regime and a great defender of its numberless victims.
After a long campaign of defiance, and after surviving many threats to his life, the archbishop was caught on video last year having some fairly vigorous sex with a woman not his wife. Indeed, she was someone else's wife, which made it adultery as well as fornication. You might think the church would have been glad of a bit of heterosexual transgression for a change, but a dim view was taken of the whole thing, in spite of the fact that it bore all the marks of a setup and was immediately given wide publicity by the police agencies of the Mugabe state.
Ncube is no longer the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo.
Very well, I do understand that he broke his vows and that the rules are the rules. But he didn't starve or torture any children, he didn't send death squads to silence his critics, he didn't force millions of his fellow countrymen into penury and/or exile, and he didn't openly try to steal an election. Mugabe has done and is doing all these things, and I haven't heard a squeak from the papacy.
A man of his age is perhaps unlikely to be caught using a condom, but one still has to hope that Mugabe will be found red-handed in this way because it seems that nothing less is going to bring the condemnation of the church down upon his sinful head.
It is the silence of Mandela, much more than anything else, that bruises the soul.....
rest van artikel
maandag, juni 09, 2008
Avé, Avé Avé Maria theologien: Strontgooiers en Heilige Honden
niet elke duif met een pondje veren kan vliegen!A. J. Winehouse: nou nou wat ontzettend grappig maar niet heus.
L.Wibberley: Kwek, Kwek, Kwek, sissy
de Mokum tv ridder van het "vrije" woord : Help, een muis die niet alleen brult.
En A. J Winehouse? Druk bezig met haar volgende excuus als commerciele "soul"sistah, met stinkende liedjes, over mannen, vrouwen, joden, homo's en negers. En chinezen.
"Amy Winehouse heeft zich maandag verontschuldigd voor het racistische
filmpje dat zondag opdook. Dat meldt de Britse krant The Daily Mail. Fotografen
waren naar haar huis gekomen, waar ze in de deurpost verscheen en haar spijt
betuigde.
In het internetfilmpje liet de souldiva zich van haar slechtste kant zien door samen met een vriendin een racistisch liedje te zingen. In hun variant op het kinderliedje 'Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen' halen de dames onder meer negers, homo's en Chinezen door de mangel. "
Tja, niet elke vrouw is een Maria.
En commerciele heilige honden zijn gek op zelfhaat van het produkt vrouw én
dát vrije woord natuurlijk.
zaterdag, mei 31, 2008
De ontkennende Kerk: Conference examines how clergy abuse is handled by dioceses worldwide
Wat een gebrek aan geloof, zo'n zooitje in een ontkennende kerk
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS)
-- Father Joe Mathias sat and listened, scribbling notes at times, paying careful attention to Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection.
Kettelkamp was talking about the latest efforts by dioceses across the country to protect children from abuse. For the Jesuit priest from India, it was an education.
As the Indian Catholic Church's lone representative at Anglophone Conference 2008 May 27-30, Father Mathias took in all he could during the gathering of 40 church representatives from English-speaking countries who handle allegations of child sexual abuse and oversee child protection programs in their home dioceses.
Afterward, Father Mathias, secretary of the Commission for Clergy and Religious for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, didn't hesitate when asked where the Indian church stood in responding to abuse. "Stage zero," he told CNS.
Father Mathias knows that when he returns to New Delhi he will be the go-to man as the Indian bishops put together their own system to report abuse and to protect children."
One thing that has impressed me is the commitment and seriousness of the participants," Father Mathias said. "They have done their homework well."
He said what he learned at the conference will help as the bishops also prepare a plan to educate the broader community about child sexual abuse. A recent survey of 12,000 children between 5 and 12 years old by the Indian Ministry of Child and Women Welfare found that nearly half had reported being abused, he said.
Those who joined the Anglophone Conference at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' headquarters came from countries with vast experience in dealing with abuse issues -- the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia -- and developing countries where the topic of sexual abuse is taboo, such as India, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Papua New Guinea.
In his report to the conference, Jesuit Father Michael Lewis, coordinator of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, said cultural traditions that prevent people from discussing sexual abuse lead to the underreporting of abuse cases, even when clergy is involved.
Later he told CNS that sexual abuse by clergy is rare in Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa, the countries that make up the Southern African conference, saying there were about 60 reported cases during the last 14 years. In most cases, he said, abuse has occurred between adults with very few cases involving children.
Even when abuse comes to light, incidents are more likely to be handled by a tribal chief or local community leaders rather than by the courts, he explained. In such cases, it's the accused and his family who must deal with shame and the loss of respect within the community.
"This has never been challenged in a South African court of law and it is very unlikely to be challenged," he said.
Overall, the conference gave all the participants a chance to compare notes, to see what has worked and what has not, and to learn about new ways to protect children, not just from sexual abuse, but also from the violence of pornography, exploitation, physical abuse and human trafficking.
Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, said the annual gathering helps even those countries where sophisticated abuse programs are in place.
"We are able to share best practices, able to communicate with one another the unanswered questions," Bishop Aymond told CNS."
This conference is very important because for those of us who are moving forward and sometimes on the cutting edge of asking these questions and because we have been very wounded by the questions, we can be of support to one another.
We can begin to look speculatively at the questions that really have no answers yet," he explained.Archbishop Philip E. Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, called the gathering a time of renewal.
"Dealing with the realities of these sorts of things are really quite deadening and worrying," he said in an interview.
The six-member delegation from Scotland, which sent along a 70-page report detailing its activities during the last year, left knowing the church is moving forward in minimizing abuse incidents."
We feel comfortable and confident about what we're doing," said Jack McCaig, national coordinator for the protection of children and vulnerable adults for the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland. "We certainly feel we have a tremendous amount to contribute, and we're not really finished. We've got a lot more work to go."
The conference included presentations by:
-- Conventual Franciscan Father Paul Lininger, executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, on how the organization developed an accreditation program related to standards to prevent sexual abuse.
-- Michelle Collins, executive director of Exploited Children Services at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., who explained how investigators track down abusers who peddle Internet violence against children.
-- Monica Applewhite, a Texas-based researcher who assists organizations in developing best-practice standards, examined ways of monitoring accused clergy.
-- Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, president and CEO of St. Luke Institute, an assessment and treatment program in Silver Spring, Md.
-- Margaret Leland Smith, quantitative criminologist and senior researcher at the Institute for Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who was the data analyst for a study commissioned by the U.S. bishops on the causes and context of clergy sex abuse in this country.
The study is set for completion in 2009.
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS)
-- Father Joe Mathias sat and listened, scribbling notes at times, paying careful attention to Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection.
Kettelkamp was talking about the latest efforts by dioceses across the country to protect children from abuse. For the Jesuit priest from India, it was an education.
As the Indian Catholic Church's lone representative at Anglophone Conference 2008 May 27-30, Father Mathias took in all he could during the gathering of 40 church representatives from English-speaking countries who handle allegations of child sexual abuse and oversee child protection programs in their home dioceses.
Afterward, Father Mathias, secretary of the Commission for Clergy and Religious for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, didn't hesitate when asked where the Indian church stood in responding to abuse. "Stage zero," he told CNS.
Father Mathias knows that when he returns to New Delhi he will be the go-to man as the Indian bishops put together their own system to report abuse and to protect children."
One thing that has impressed me is the commitment and seriousness of the participants," Father Mathias said. "They have done their homework well."
He said what he learned at the conference will help as the bishops also prepare a plan to educate the broader community about child sexual abuse. A recent survey of 12,000 children between 5 and 12 years old by the Indian Ministry of Child and Women Welfare found that nearly half had reported being abused, he said.
Those who joined the Anglophone Conference at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' headquarters came from countries with vast experience in dealing with abuse issues -- the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia -- and developing countries where the topic of sexual abuse is taboo, such as India, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Papua New Guinea.
In his report to the conference, Jesuit Father Michael Lewis, coordinator of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, said cultural traditions that prevent people from discussing sexual abuse lead to the underreporting of abuse cases, even when clergy is involved.
Later he told CNS that sexual abuse by clergy is rare in Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa, the countries that make up the Southern African conference, saying there were about 60 reported cases during the last 14 years. In most cases, he said, abuse has occurred between adults with very few cases involving children.
Even when abuse comes to light, incidents are more likely to be handled by a tribal chief or local community leaders rather than by the courts, he explained. In such cases, it's the accused and his family who must deal with shame and the loss of respect within the community.
"This has never been challenged in a South African court of law and it is very unlikely to be challenged," he said.
Overall, the conference gave all the participants a chance to compare notes, to see what has worked and what has not, and to learn about new ways to protect children, not just from sexual abuse, but also from the violence of pornography, exploitation, physical abuse and human trafficking.
Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, said the annual gathering helps even those countries where sophisticated abuse programs are in place.
"We are able to share best practices, able to communicate with one another the unanswered questions," Bishop Aymond told CNS."
This conference is very important because for those of us who are moving forward and sometimes on the cutting edge of asking these questions and because we have been very wounded by the questions, we can be of support to one another.
We can begin to look speculatively at the questions that really have no answers yet," he explained.Archbishop Philip E. Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, called the gathering a time of renewal.
"Dealing with the realities of these sorts of things are really quite deadening and worrying," he said in an interview.
The six-member delegation from Scotland, which sent along a 70-page report detailing its activities during the last year, left knowing the church is moving forward in minimizing abuse incidents."
We feel comfortable and confident about what we're doing," said Jack McCaig, national coordinator for the protection of children and vulnerable adults for the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland. "We certainly feel we have a tremendous amount to contribute, and we're not really finished. We've got a lot more work to go."
The conference included presentations by:
-- Conventual Franciscan Father Paul Lininger, executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, on how the organization developed an accreditation program related to standards to prevent sexual abuse.
-- Michelle Collins, executive director of Exploited Children Services at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., who explained how investigators track down abusers who peddle Internet violence against children.
-- Monica Applewhite, a Texas-based researcher who assists organizations in developing best-practice standards, examined ways of monitoring accused clergy.
-- Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, president and CEO of St. Luke Institute, an assessment and treatment program in Silver Spring, Md.
-- Margaret Leland Smith, quantitative criminologist and senior researcher at the Institute for Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who was the data analyst for a study commissioned by the U.S. bishops on the causes and context of clergy sex abuse in this country.
The study is set for completion in 2009.
Childhood sexual abuse survivors need more time to begin recovery
Maggie Watson, guest essayist
May 22, 2008
New Yorkers have an opportunity to make our state safer for children.
S.4614 is a bill currently before the state Senate that if passed would extend the statute of limitations for the prosecution of sexual offenses against a child until that victim reaches age 28.
Currently the statute of limitations runs out at age 23. However, because victims are often traumatized by someone known to them, an estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of abused children are unwilling or unable to disclose their victimization until well after they reach adulthood.
Since childhood sexual abuse survivors are more likely to do poorly in school, more likely to suffer from mental and physical illness and more likely to experience financial failure and physical injury, they need more time to begin to recover and to distance themselves from the offender.
As the law stands, we unrealistically expect survivors of sexual abuse to face their abusers in grueling court proceedings before they turn 23. In addition, children stay silent because predators use any number of trauma-inducing tactics to keep them that way. And the current law tells abusers that their methods need only be effective until their victim's 23rd birthday. Hence, not extending the law to (at least) age 28 leaves most child predators free from punishment and free to reoffend.
Furthermore, the option to file civil action, generally pursued after the lengthy criminal matters, will be denied because time has run out.
The last few years have seen laws increasing the punishments for those convicted of sexually abusing a child. But how much good can these laws do when only 10 percent to 20 percent of child victims are able to stand up under the devastating lifelong consequences of their suffering long enough to speak out?
Why hasn't this common-sense bill been passed?
Sadly, because it awaits more support.
Consider calling or writing a letter to your state senator.
For more information, call (800) 244-5373 or go to www.preventchildabuseny.org.
Watson, of Rochester, is a volunteer with Prevent Child Abuse New York.
May 22, 2008
New Yorkers have an opportunity to make our state safer for children.
S.4614 is a bill currently before the state Senate that if passed would extend the statute of limitations for the prosecution of sexual offenses against a child until that victim reaches age 28.
Currently the statute of limitations runs out at age 23. However, because victims are often traumatized by someone known to them, an estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of abused children are unwilling or unable to disclose their victimization until well after they reach adulthood.
Since childhood sexual abuse survivors are more likely to do poorly in school, more likely to suffer from mental and physical illness and more likely to experience financial failure and physical injury, they need more time to begin to recover and to distance themselves from the offender.
As the law stands, we unrealistically expect survivors of sexual abuse to face their abusers in grueling court proceedings before they turn 23. In addition, children stay silent because predators use any number of trauma-inducing tactics to keep them that way. And the current law tells abusers that their methods need only be effective until their victim's 23rd birthday. Hence, not extending the law to (at least) age 28 leaves most child predators free from punishment and free to reoffend.
Furthermore, the option to file civil action, generally pursued after the lengthy criminal matters, will be denied because time has run out.
The last few years have seen laws increasing the punishments for those convicted of sexually abusing a child. But how much good can these laws do when only 10 percent to 20 percent of child victims are able to stand up under the devastating lifelong consequences of their suffering long enough to speak out?
Why hasn't this common-sense bill been passed?
Sadly, because it awaits more support.
Consider calling or writing a letter to your state senator.
For more information, call (800) 244-5373 or go to www.preventchildabuseny.org.
Watson, of Rochester, is a volunteer with Prevent Child Abuse New York.
zondag, mei 25, 2008
Yukon leaders miffed by Fontaine's residential school comment
Friday, May 23, 2008 10:13 AM ET
Comments81
CBC News
Some Yukon First Nations leaders are upset after Phil Fontaine dismissed their concerns about a rise in the number of deaths of residential school survivors after receiving compensation from Ottawa.
As many as two dozen funerals for former students have taken place across the territory in recent months after the survivors collected thousands of dollars from the federal government.
Some leaders are linking the two, saying compensation compounded with recollection of their painful experiences in residential schools has caused some survivors to turn to drugs and alcohol.
But the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, who helped pen the settlement agreement that resulted in more than $27 million in compensation cheques to survivors in the Yukon since September, disagreed.
"It would be, in my view, wrong to suggest that the residential school settlement agreement [is] somehow directly responsible for the number of deaths in the Yukon," he said in an earlier interview with the CBC.
Fontaine commented that he didn't believe the deaths were directly linked to compensation payouts, but rather part of a larger tragedy of addiction and suicides among aboriginal Canadians.
Those comments have since come under fire from Yukon aboriginal leaders who accuse the assembly's national chief of not being in touch with the community.
"Maybe the national chief should put his finger a little closer to the pulse of the people that he represents," said Darius Elias, a Liberal MLA for the most remote and northern community of Vuntut Gwitchin.
"When self-governing First Nations chiefs in the Yukon say that there's a link and a problem there's a problem and we should get together and do something about it."
Elias added that he's not seeking to lay blame, but to start a discussion about the problems in hopes of solving the issue.
Fontaine's message has since shifted, with the promise to visit the Yukon and listen to the concerns of the First Nations communities.
He added, however, that the "legal and a moral obligation" to provide support for survivors lies with Health Canada.
uit de reacties:
Disappointed wrote:
Posted 2008/05/23
at 2:50 PM ET
It is sad that we are in the 21st century and the ignorance around Aboriginal issues still exists. am an Aboriginal woman who has a job, pays taxes, lives on a reserve, owns a house – that we paid for – we do understand what a mortgage is. I was raised by my grandparents, one who spent 12 years in a residential school. I became angered when reading the comments, more than the article. We are not crying for compensation for the compensation, we are calling out the continuous ignorance and disregard for the effects of the Residential school. and our entire history I guess those that make their racist comments could heal years of abuse with a cash settlement….too bad us “whining Indians” are deeper than that. You want to know what happened and why people are hurt and why the Aboriginal community is sick with addiction and poverty. Our land was taken, our children were taken, our resources were taken, and we were placed on reserves where we were only permitted to leave if an Indian agent gave us a day past. It was law to take the children and if parents resisted they were taken to jail. Children were kept from age 6 – 18 some for 12 months of the year. They were mentally, physically and sexually abused, used as slave labour, not permitted to talk their language, not permitted to talk to the opposite sex or older or younger siblings. Some had 12 years in the system and could only read at a grade three level. You want to know why the Aboriginals are in the state they are today? Look at the history of this land and its original people and educate us “whining Indians” how our societies can instantly recover from the devastation our people faced throughout history. Tell us how the effects of sexual, mental and physical abuse can be ignored and healed instantly. Tell us how we are to care for our children when no one cared for us in residential schools. You highly educated people that had such brilliant things to say in your comments…share your wisdom with us.
Comments81
CBC News
Some Yukon First Nations leaders are upset after Phil Fontaine dismissed their concerns about a rise in the number of deaths of residential school survivors after receiving compensation from Ottawa.
As many as two dozen funerals for former students have taken place across the territory in recent months after the survivors collected thousands of dollars from the federal government.
Some leaders are linking the two, saying compensation compounded with recollection of their painful experiences in residential schools has caused some survivors to turn to drugs and alcohol.
But the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, who helped pen the settlement agreement that resulted in more than $27 million in compensation cheques to survivors in the Yukon since September, disagreed.
"It would be, in my view, wrong to suggest that the residential school settlement agreement [is] somehow directly responsible for the number of deaths in the Yukon," he said in an earlier interview with the CBC.
Fontaine commented that he didn't believe the deaths were directly linked to compensation payouts, but rather part of a larger tragedy of addiction and suicides among aboriginal Canadians.
Those comments have since come under fire from Yukon aboriginal leaders who accuse the assembly's national chief of not being in touch with the community.
"Maybe the national chief should put his finger a little closer to the pulse of the people that he represents," said Darius Elias, a Liberal MLA for the most remote and northern community of Vuntut Gwitchin.
"When self-governing First Nations chiefs in the Yukon say that there's a link and a problem there's a problem and we should get together and do something about it."
Elias added that he's not seeking to lay blame, but to start a discussion about the problems in hopes of solving the issue.
Fontaine's message has since shifted, with the promise to visit the Yukon and listen to the concerns of the First Nations communities.
He added, however, that the "legal and a moral obligation" to provide support for survivors lies with Health Canada.
uit de reacties:
Disappointed wrote:
Posted 2008/05/23
at 2:50 PM ET
It is sad that we are in the 21st century and the ignorance around Aboriginal issues still exists. am an Aboriginal woman who has a job, pays taxes, lives on a reserve, owns a house – that we paid for – we do understand what a mortgage is. I was raised by my grandparents, one who spent 12 years in a residential school. I became angered when reading the comments, more than the article. We are not crying for compensation for the compensation, we are calling out the continuous ignorance and disregard for the effects of the Residential school. and our entire history I guess those that make their racist comments could heal years of abuse with a cash settlement….too bad us “whining Indians” are deeper than that. You want to know what happened and why people are hurt and why the Aboriginal community is sick with addiction and poverty. Our land was taken, our children were taken, our resources were taken, and we were placed on reserves where we were only permitted to leave if an Indian agent gave us a day past. It was law to take the children and if parents resisted they were taken to jail. Children were kept from age 6 – 18 some for 12 months of the year. They were mentally, physically and sexually abused, used as slave labour, not permitted to talk their language, not permitted to talk to the opposite sex or older or younger siblings. Some had 12 years in the system and could only read at a grade three level. You want to know why the Aboriginals are in the state they are today? Look at the history of this land and its original people and educate us “whining Indians” how our societies can instantly recover from the devastation our people faced throughout history. Tell us how the effects of sexual, mental and physical abuse can be ignored and healed instantly. Tell us how we are to care for our children when no one cared for us in residential schools. You highly educated people that had such brilliant things to say in your comments…share your wisdom with us.
LA: deal gesloten met die geen deal wilden sluiten, alweer die Salesianen
Na een spijkerharde knokwedstrijd met slachtoffers, maar ook met LA Mahony, hebben ze dan toch een schikking getroffen, die Salesianen.
Maandenlange voorbereiding, bakzeil moeten halen in de voorbereiding, de jury-procedures al achter de rug, eindelijk alles klaar voor de openheid van de rechtszaak en dan alsnog: de schikking. De grenzenloosheid van de Salesianen
On eve of trial, 17 clergy sex abuse victims settle with Salesians for $19.4 million
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP,
the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)
We are grateful for the courage and persistence of these caring victims. We appreciate their bravery in exposing their predators and their wisdom in taking legal action. All victims and Catholics should be especially grateful that these victims were strong enough to take on the most intransigent, callous and reckless Catholic institution – the Salesians.
This settlement changes nothing, however, about the Salesians’ horrific and continuing pattern of protecting and shuffling predator priests. A lengthy investigation by the Dallas Morning News found that more than 200 Salesian clerics who’ve been credibly accused of child sex crimes yet have been transferred from country to country.
In 2004, 30 of these predators faced criminal action (either convictions or pending charges) in one nation but had fled to another nation and were living freely.
And even now, a Salesian parish in San Francisco (Sts. Peter & Paul) holds the disturbing distinction of housing the highest umber of predators of any Catholic parish in the US.
This is a recalcitrant, almost spiteful Catholic institution with a shameful record of shunning victims, playing legal hardball
Every time an institution resolves a sex abuse case, it helps protect kids and heal victims. Every settlement also puts more pressure on others who oversee kids to do a better job of preventing abuse and responding to allegations of abuse.
When church officials are forced to set aside their spurious legal theories, scorched earth tactics and delaying maneuvers, and finally settle cases, deeply wounded victims finally get some long-overdue justice and healing.
(Note: The announcement was made in LA County Superior Court this morning. LA attorney Ray Boucher represents the victims.)
Contact: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Joelle Casteix (949-322-97434), Barbara Dorris (314 862 7688)
More info on these cases
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/05_06/2008_05_09_Winton_SalesianOrder.htm
Who are the Salesians?
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2004_06_20_DMN_WhoAre.htm
Maandenlange voorbereiding, bakzeil moeten halen in de voorbereiding, de jury-procedures al achter de rug, eindelijk alles klaar voor de openheid van de rechtszaak en dan alsnog: de schikking. De grenzenloosheid van de Salesianen
On eve of trial, 17 clergy sex abuse victims settle with Salesians for $19.4 million
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP,
the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)
We are grateful for the courage and persistence of these caring victims. We appreciate their bravery in exposing their predators and their wisdom in taking legal action. All victims and Catholics should be especially grateful that these victims were strong enough to take on the most intransigent, callous and reckless Catholic institution – the Salesians.
This settlement changes nothing, however, about the Salesians’ horrific and continuing pattern of protecting and shuffling predator priests. A lengthy investigation by the Dallas Morning News found that more than 200 Salesian clerics who’ve been credibly accused of child sex crimes yet have been transferred from country to country.
In 2004, 30 of these predators faced criminal action (either convictions or pending charges) in one nation but had fled to another nation and were living freely.
And even now, a Salesian parish in San Francisco (Sts. Peter & Paul) holds the disturbing distinction of housing the highest umber of predators of any Catholic parish in the US.
This is a recalcitrant, almost spiteful Catholic institution with a shameful record of shunning victims, playing legal hardball
Every time an institution resolves a sex abuse case, it helps protect kids and heal victims. Every settlement also puts more pressure on others who oversee kids to do a better job of preventing abuse and responding to allegations of abuse.
When church officials are forced to set aside their spurious legal theories, scorched earth tactics and delaying maneuvers, and finally settle cases, deeply wounded victims finally get some long-overdue justice and healing.
(Note: The announcement was made in LA County Superior Court this morning. LA attorney Ray Boucher represents the victims.)
Contact: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Joelle Casteix (949-322-97434), Barbara Dorris (314 862 7688)
More info on these cases
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/05_06/2008_05_09_Winton_SalesianOrder.htm
Who are the Salesians?
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2004_06_20_DMN_WhoAre.htm
dinsdag, mei 20, 2008
Memory on Trial. Janus, Janus, pak me nog een keer. Where discoveries begin.
The U.S. legal system has long assumed that all testimony is not equally credible, that some witnesses are more reliable than others. In tough cases with child witnesses, it assumes adult witnesses to be more reliable. But what if the legal system had it wrong?
Researchers Valerie Reyna, human development professor, and Chuck Brainerd, human development and law school professor -- both from Cornell University -- argue that like the two-headed Roman god Janus, memory is of two minds -- that is, memories are captured and recorded separately and differently in two distinct parts of the mind.
They say children depend more heavily on a part of the mind that records, "what actually happened," while adults depend more on another part of the mind that records, "the meaning of what happened." As a result, they say, adults are more susceptible to false memories, which can be extremely problematic in court cases.
Reyna's and Brainerd's research, funded by the National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va., sparked more than 30 follow-up memory studies, many of them also funded by NSF. The researchers review the follow-on studies in an upcoming issue of Psychological Bulletin.
Tis research shows that meaning-based memories are largely responsible for false memories, especially in adult witnesses. Because the ability to extract meaning from experience develops slowly, children are less likely to produce these false memories than adults, and are more likely to give accurate testimony when properly questioned.
The finding is counterintuitive; it doesn't square with current legal tenets, and may have important implications for legal proceedings.
"Because children have fewer meaning-based experience records, they are less likely to form false memories," says Reyna. "But the law assumes children are more susceptible to false memories than adults."
The court's reliance on adult testimony has a long history. Before the early 1970s, children younger than eight years old rarely testified, because they failed the court's competency requirements.
Then in the 1970s, when statistics showed an increase in the number of child abuse cases, courts were forced to allow the testimony of young victims, only to reemphasize adult testimony in the 1990s, when some children's testimony was proven to be unreliable.
"Courts give witness instructions to tell the truth and nothing but the truth," says Brainerd. "This assumes witnesses will either be truthful or lie, but there is a third possibility now being recognized -- false memories."
According to Brainerd, "Things are about to change radically."
Fuzzy Trace Theory
Traditional theories of memory assume a person's memories are based on event reconstruction, especially after delays of a few days, weeks, or months. However, Reyna and Brainerd's Fuzzy Trace Theory hypothesizes that people store two types of experience records or memories: verbatim traces and gist traces.
Verbatim traces are memories of what actually happened. Gist traces are based on a person's understanding of what happened, or what the event meant to him or her. Gist traces stimulate false memories because they store impressions of what an event meant, which can be inconsistent with what actually happened.
False memories can be identified when witnesses accurately describe what they remember but those memories are proven false based on other unimpeachable facts.
"When gist traces are especially strong, they can produce phantom recollections -- that is, illusory, vivid recollections of things that did not happen, such as remembering a robber brandished a weapon and made threatening statements," says Reyna.
Brainerd argues that because witness testimony is the primary evidence in criminal prosecutions, false memories are a dominant reason for convictions of innocent people.
Recently, in Cook County, Ill., more than 200 murder confessions were identified as being based on adult's false memory reports because they conflicted with unimpeachable facts.For example, a person may have falsely remembered being in one location, but a sales receipt showed that he was in another location at the same time a crime was committed.
In child abuse cases where the law gives the benefit of the doubt to adult testimony, the results can be even more disconcerting. "Failure to recognize differences in how adults and children produce memory unfairly tilts the U.S. legal system against child witnesses," says Reyna.
"Children do not have the same fullness of emotional and intellectual experience as do adults when it comes to deriving meaning from situations," says Reyna. "So, meaning-based memory is less likely to influence a child's testimony."
The researchers say their transformative "two-mind" memory approach can reduce the number of false memories in court cases and give more validity to children's testimony.
Memory Science
Reyna and Brainerd developed several mathematical models associated with Fuzzy Trace Theory that can be used to predict memory outcomes in both adults and children.
The models, which test memory, have been used to determine ways in which attorneys, investigators, law enforcement officials and others can ask questions to help people access verbatim memories while suppressing false memories. The researchers say using neutral prompts to cue witnesses can help them remember what actually happened.
Reyna and Brainerd also say returning a witness to the scene of an event in a highly neutral way can cue verbatim memories and help the legal process.
The models provide the most accurate information to date on the causes of false memories. Using them, researchers can determine with surprising accuracy when a person accesses both verbatim and gist memory.
Reyna and Brainerd's findings are summarized in a new book, The Science of False Memory, published by Oxford University Press.
maandag, mei 19, 2008
Sexueel misbruik in het weeshuis ontkend
Orphanage sex claims denied
MILES KEMP
May 19, 2008
Adelaide Australie
TWO veteran campaigners against abuse at the Goodwood
Orphanage have accused alleged rape victims from the institution of giving fake testimony to the Mullighan Inquiry to get compensation.
Both women told The Advertiser that after reading the Mullighan Inquiry report tabled in State Parliament last month, they felt compelled to defend the "cruel" nuns – who beat and mentally tortured them – against false claims of sex abuse.
Pat Carlson and Barbara Read have led the charge against the Catholic Church's management of the former orphanage, but now accuse up to 13 of their fellow-witnesses at the inquiry of faking claims of sex abuse by nuns and church workers.
The two women are principals in a class action against the church and maintain the nuns physically, mentally and spiritually abused the children.
"No, no, I won't have it – this (sex abuse) did not happen," an emotional Mrs Read told The Advertiser today.
"I am disgusted, it makes what we have been trying to do (the campaign against the church) all these years wrong."
The women's claims have cast a shadow over the report by retired judge Ted Mullighan, QC, which is to form the basis of the Government's compensation and response to children abused in state care.
Inquiry witnesses, whose names have been kept secret by the inquiry, cited five instances of sex abuse or rape outside the orphanage grounds, and on the grounds four instances by nuns, three by priests and six by girls or church workers.
Mrs Read has told the office of Minister for Families Jay Weatherill that she wants the inquiry, set up in 2004 to investigate allegations of sex abuse and deaths in all state care, to be re-opened to question the allegations.
The lawyer for 33 victims of the Goodwood Orphanage – including Mrs Read and Mrs Carlson – who sued the Catholic Church, Peter Humphries, said none of his clients alleges sex abuse by nuns at the institution.
Mr Humphries, of Duncan Basheer Hannon, said he had never heard such allegations since joining the campaign for compensation in 2003.
Justice Mullighan, who is retired, was unavailable for comment today.
Mr Weatherill is on leave and a spokeswoman for acting Minister for Families Paul Caica said he had confidence in the "inquiry process".
Mrs Carlson, who is co-ordinator of the Former British Child Migrants group, has been a respected advocate for child migrants for two decades, her life since being brought to Adelaide in 1949 at the age of 15 has been the subject of novels, non-fiction books and television shows.
Mrs Carlson said since the campaign against Goodwood Orphanage abuse began in the late 1980s there had been no evidence of rape or sexual abuse by nuns.
Nor have allegations been raised despite the orphanage's being examined by a House of Commons inquiry in the United Kingdom, a Senate inquiry in Australia in 2001, numerous oral histories held in the State Library of South Australia, and a best-selling book's being written about it.
Mrs Carlson was at the orphanage from 1949 until 1951 and Mrs Read from 1953 until 1958, during which time many of the alleged rapes happened. "The basis of this is that we have all told the truth (to the inquiry) and these women are not – during the time we were there for about 10 years none of us saw or heard about any sexual abuse by nuns," she said.
Mrs Read is also now defending her former abusers, saying while they beat "without mercy" and emotionally abused the children in their care, allegations of sex abuse are "lies" made up to get compensation from the church.
"I have been so angry all my life with the nuns for what they did to us, for the brutality, psychological abuse and spiritual abuse, now I find I am defending them," she said. "I know one of the women and everything that has come out of her mouth is a lie." Mrs Read, who began her campaign 11 years ago, said most unbelievable were allegations that girls were assaulted in the dormitory by nuns in front of other girls.
"There were 48 girls on that dormitory, how did 47 others not see it," she said.
"The Church has brought up the dollar signs and suddenly there was all this sex abuse at the orphanage."
She said the only long-term workers at the orphanage at the time some of women alleged they were assaulted by workers were a handyman, gardener and a priest who were very sympathetic to the plight of the girls.
Mrs Read also said evidence given to the inquiry that men were allowed to wander through the orphanage seeking sex was false and this would never have been allowed by the strict nuns. Mrs Carlson has given evidence over 18 years to three inquiries that she was stripped naked by nuns and belted in front of other girls.
Mrs Read has given evidence at two inquiries over eight years of incessant beatings inflicted by two nuns, a food shortage and freezing conditions.
Nederland RKK
Artikel 2
Seksueel misbruik
2.1 Seksueel misbruik is iedere gedraging waarbij een ander onder dwang of in een afhankelijkheidssituatie seksuele handelingen moet uitvoeren of ondergaan, dan wel seksueel getinte toenaderingen of uitlatingen in welke vorm dan ook moet dulden, waardoor de geestelijke en/of lichamelijke integriteit wordt geschonden. Onder dwang kan onder meer begrepen worden: fysiek geweld of de dreiging daarmee, psychische druk, intimidatie en/of chantage.
Bisschop Gozewijn
1983 Begrafenis Mgr Zwartkruis, kerkhof Bosbeek, Heemstede.
foto Oscar van Alphen
MILES KEMP
May 19, 2008
Adelaide Australie
TWO veteran campaigners against abuse at the Goodwood
Orphanage have accused alleged rape victims from the institution of giving fake testimony to the Mullighan Inquiry to get compensation.Both women told The Advertiser that after reading the Mullighan Inquiry report tabled in State Parliament last month, they felt compelled to defend the "cruel" nuns – who beat and mentally tortured them – against false claims of sex abuse.
Pat Carlson and Barbara Read have led the charge against the Catholic Church's management of the former orphanage, but now accuse up to 13 of their fellow-witnesses at the inquiry of faking claims of sex abuse by nuns and church workers.
The two women are principals in a class action against the church and maintain the nuns physically, mentally and spiritually abused the children.
"No, no, I won't have it – this (sex abuse) did not happen," an emotional Mrs Read told The Advertiser today.
"I am disgusted, it makes what we have been trying to do (the campaign against the church) all these years wrong."
The women's claims have cast a shadow over the report by retired judge Ted Mullighan, QC, which is to form the basis of the Government's compensation and response to children abused in state care.
Inquiry witnesses, whose names have been kept secret by the inquiry, cited five instances of sex abuse or rape outside the orphanage grounds, and on the grounds four instances by nuns, three by priests and six by girls or church workers.
Mrs Read has told the office of Minister for Families Jay Weatherill that she wants the inquiry, set up in 2004 to investigate allegations of sex abuse and deaths in all state care, to be re-opened to question the allegations.
The lawyer for 33 victims of the Goodwood Orphanage – including Mrs Read and Mrs Carlson – who sued the Catholic Church, Peter Humphries, said none of his clients alleges sex abuse by nuns at the institution.
Mr Humphries, of Duncan Basheer Hannon, said he had never heard such allegations since joining the campaign for compensation in 2003.
Justice Mullighan, who is retired, was unavailable for comment today.
Mr Weatherill is on leave and a spokeswoman for acting Minister for Families Paul Caica said he had confidence in the "inquiry process".
Mrs Carlson, who is co-ordinator of the Former British Child Migrants group, has been a respected advocate for child migrants for two decades, her life since being brought to Adelaide in 1949 at the age of 15 has been the subject of novels, non-fiction books and television shows.
Mrs Carlson said since the campaign against Goodwood Orphanage abuse began in the late 1980s there had been no evidence of rape or sexual abuse by nuns.
Nor have allegations been raised despite the orphanage's being examined by a House of Commons inquiry in the United Kingdom, a Senate inquiry in Australia in 2001, numerous oral histories held in the State Library of South Australia, and a best-selling book's being written about it.
Mrs Carlson was at the orphanage from 1949 until 1951 and Mrs Read from 1953 until 1958, during which time many of the alleged rapes happened. "The basis of this is that we have all told the truth (to the inquiry) and these women are not – during the time we were there for about 10 years none of us saw or heard about any sexual abuse by nuns," she said.
Mrs Read is also now defending her former abusers, saying while they beat "without mercy" and emotionally abused the children in their care, allegations of sex abuse are "lies" made up to get compensation from the church.
"I have been so angry all my life with the nuns for what they did to us, for the brutality, psychological abuse and spiritual abuse, now I find I am defending them," she said. "I know one of the women and everything that has come out of her mouth is a lie." Mrs Read, who began her campaign 11 years ago, said most unbelievable were allegations that girls were assaulted in the dormitory by nuns in front of other girls.
"There were 48 girls on that dormitory, how did 47 others not see it," she said.
"The Church has brought up the dollar signs and suddenly there was all this sex abuse at the orphanage."
She said the only long-term workers at the orphanage at the time some of women alleged they were assaulted by workers were a handyman, gardener and a priest who were very sympathetic to the plight of the girls.
Mrs Read also said evidence given to the inquiry that men were allowed to wander through the orphanage seeking sex was false and this would never have been allowed by the strict nuns. Mrs Carlson has given evidence over 18 years to three inquiries that she was stripped naked by nuns and belted in front of other girls.
Mrs Read has given evidence at two inquiries over eight years of incessant beatings inflicted by two nuns, a food shortage and freezing conditions.
Nederland RKK
Artikel 2
Seksueel misbruik
2.1 Seksueel misbruik is iedere gedraging waarbij een ander onder dwang of in een afhankelijkheidssituatie seksuele handelingen moet uitvoeren of ondergaan, dan wel seksueel getinte toenaderingen of uitlatingen in welke vorm dan ook moet dulden, waardoor de geestelijke en/of lichamelijke integriteit wordt geschonden. Onder dwang kan onder meer begrepen worden: fysiek geweld of de dreiging daarmee, psychische druk, intimidatie en/of chantage.
Bisschop Gozewijn
2.2 In afwijking van het Algemeen Reglement voor het bestuur van een parochie van de Rooms Katholieke Kerk in Nederland is in alle gevallen van vermeend seksueel misbruik de bisschop bevoegd handelend op te treden.
1983 Begrafenis Mgr Zwartkruis, kerkhof Bosbeek, Heemstede.
foto Oscar van Alphen
vrijdag, mei 16, 2008
India: nonnenmoord. Abhaya killers identified?
Posted on May 16th, 2008 by Joe
Here comes an important development in Sr. Abhaya murder case after 12 years. CBI has submitted a report on the case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam.
The CBI inquiry team led by SP R M Krishna subjected Fr Thomas M Kottoor and Fr Jose Puthrukayil for the narcoanalysis in September, 2007. Both the priests had associated closely with the St Pius X Convent where the body of Sister Abhaya was found on March 27, 1992. The test result was submitted before the CJM Court on January 21 this year following directive of the High Court on January 11. [Abhaya killers identified? - The Indian Express]
The local news papers report that the Narco Analysis Test results hints at Fr. Thomas Kottoor as the culprit. News has it that the CBI will submit the final report at the Court on June 4th so we will know the culprits soon.
One of the main speculations about the reason behind 21-yrs old Sr. Abhaya’s murder is that she came to know that some of her colleague nuns had sexual relationships with two Catholic priests - Fr Jose Putrukayal and Fr Thomas Kattoor. Now consider this point too - that Sr. Abhaya came from a poor family. I have heard stories (from reliable sources) of how poor nuns are being treated in the convents by their superiors. The nuns from wealthy and known families have special consideration inside the convent and the poor ones are treated badly.
On the other hand, some priests have indulged in sodomy and sexual abuse and affairs. There was a lady staying near my house and a young assistant Vicar used to frequent her house at late evenings. A couple of altar boys (an association of boys who help the priests with services in the church) had found out that the priest was having an affair with this woman. When the matter became public, the woman herself claimed that the priest is their distant relative (nobody has seen this distant relative in the place before he came to serve in our parish, but now we see him regularly even after he left our parish).
There were reports of sexual abuse of minor girls too. This has been happening in many parishes but in many cases the victims do not go public to avoid media attention and such pervert priests escape. In some cases, the local parish community has man-handled such priests. But such reaction from the community happens mostly in the village areas and urban areas tend to ignore such parish/religion related issues (as they are busy with their life).
The Church administration should not hold any sympathy for these pervert priests and should terminate their priesthood when they are found guilty. But the Church is not being ready to do so and these perverts keep on doing it again and again. This is also affecting the reputation and good work of other good priests and results in a bad reputation of the Catholic church.
I hope, at least this time, justice will be done to Sr. Abhaya’s family and the guilty will be prosecuted as per law.
PS: For Hindutva brigade’s attention - I know that priesthood in any religion has always been corrupted and it happens in all religions. I haven’t forgotten the pedophile Babas, sexually-abusing Swamis and murderous Mutt-heads.
Here comes an important development in Sr. Abhaya murder case after 12 years. CBI has submitted a report on the case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam.
The CBI inquiry team led by SP R M Krishna subjected Fr Thomas M Kottoor and Fr Jose Puthrukayil for the narcoanalysis in September, 2007. Both the priests had associated closely with the St Pius X Convent where the body of Sister Abhaya was found on March 27, 1992. The test result was submitted before the CJM Court on January 21 this year following directive of the High Court on January 11. [Abhaya killers identified? - The Indian Express]
The local news papers report that the Narco Analysis Test results hints at Fr. Thomas Kottoor as the culprit. News has it that the CBI will submit the final report at the Court on June 4th so we will know the culprits soon.
One of the main speculations about the reason behind 21-yrs old Sr. Abhaya’s murder is that she came to know that some of her colleague nuns had sexual relationships with two Catholic priests - Fr Jose Putrukayal and Fr Thomas Kattoor. Now consider this point too - that Sr. Abhaya came from a poor family. I have heard stories (from reliable sources) of how poor nuns are being treated in the convents by their superiors. The nuns from wealthy and known families have special consideration inside the convent and the poor ones are treated badly.
On the other hand, some priests have indulged in sodomy and sexual abuse and affairs. There was a lady staying near my house and a young assistant Vicar used to frequent her house at late evenings. A couple of altar boys (an association of boys who help the priests with services in the church) had found out that the priest was having an affair with this woman. When the matter became public, the woman herself claimed that the priest is their distant relative (nobody has seen this distant relative in the place before he came to serve in our parish, but now we see him regularly even after he left our parish).
There were reports of sexual abuse of minor girls too. This has been happening in many parishes but in many cases the victims do not go public to avoid media attention and such pervert priests escape. In some cases, the local parish community has man-handled such priests. But such reaction from the community happens mostly in the village areas and urban areas tend to ignore such parish/religion related issues (as they are busy with their life).
The Church administration should not hold any sympathy for these pervert priests and should terminate their priesthood when they are found guilty. But the Church is not being ready to do so and these perverts keep on doing it again and again. This is also affecting the reputation and good work of other good priests and results in a bad reputation of the Catholic church.
I hope, at least this time, justice will be done to Sr. Abhaya’s family and the guilty will be prosecuted as per law.
PS: For Hindutva brigade’s attention - I know that priesthood in any religion has always been corrupted and it happens in all religions. I haven’t forgotten the pedophile Babas, sexually-abusing Swamis and murderous Mutt-heads.
Zie de reacties over "priesters"
Abhaya killers identified?
The Indian Express
Express News Service
T'PURAM: THE CBI has identified the killer of Sister Abhaya, reported television news channels. The reports aired by news channels on Thursday were based on the narcoanalysis test report submitted by the CBI before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam.
The CBI inquiry team led by SP R M Krishna subjected Fr Thomas M Kottoor and Fr Jose Puthrukayil for the narcoanalysis in September, 2007.
Both the priests had associated closely with the St Pius X Convent where the body of Sister Abhaya was found on March 27, 1992. The test result was submitted before the CJM Court on January 21 this year following directive of the High Court on January 11.
The High Court order was in response to a petition filed by human rights activist Jomon Puthenpurackal seeking the submission of narcoanalysis report. Sources said the report clearly indicated about the murder and the method. There were enough hints about the killers too.
But, top sources in the CBI dismissed the news as rumours.
On June 4, the CBI has to file an interim report about the progress of inquiry before the CJM Court, Ernakulam. The CBI is planning to wind up the case by filing a final report before that date.
maandag, mei 12, 2008
Nuntius: Pope feels the 'pain' caused by abusive priests in Ireland
Blijkbaar na Ferns de eerste uitspraak van het Vaticaan nav het Ferns onderzoek en de dramatische werkelijkheid die daar in een paar dagen eindelijk geopenbaard werd.
Da's dan niet slecht voor dat land, waar nog maar 3 maanden geleden 1/4 van de priesters vond dat kardinaal O'Conell best alle juridische trucjes mocht
By John Cooney
Monday May 12 2008
Pope Benedict XVI realises that Irish society has been "deeply pained" by the sexual abuse of children by paedophile priests, the new Papal Nuncio revealed yesterday.
In his first public statement since arriving in Ireland last month Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza (65) said he regretted "the injury inflicted on innocent people and their families, by churchmen whose conduct has been in stark contrast to their priestly calling and religious obligations".
Blessings
Recalling a private audience with the Pope on April 11, the Sicilian-born archbishop said that the Pontiff asked him to convey his apostolic blessing as well his concern that Ireland should remain ever faithful to the Catholic faith.
Archbishop Leanza was delivering an homily at a liturgical reception in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on Saturday, during which he quoted the instructions given by Pope Benedict to the Irish bishops two years ago.
At that time, Pope Benedict had said: "It is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected and, above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes."
Da's niet slecht dus voor een land waar nog geen 3 maanden geleden 1/4 van de priesters meende achter kardinaal Desmond Connell te moeten staan in diens pogen de burgerlijke overheid en de rechtspraak te kunnen gebruiken om nóg steeds te kunnen blijven zwijgen.
Nadat eerst slachtoffers de Ierse revolutie al mogelijk maakten, het Vaticaan Diarmuid Martin moest inzetten, ziet een schop onder een kardinaal zitvlak er kennelijk zo uit.Het kon, ná de uitspraken van de B XVI in de VS natuurlijk nauwelijks anders.
Naar de rest van het artikel.
Maar, hernieuwd, geen woord over het residentieel misbruik, dat kan de kassa kennelijk niet aan.
Dus draaien door die schok van het ongeloof, en de uitermate domme deals die daardoor de Ierse overheid met de Congregaties sloot, de slachtoffers en de belastingbetaler op.
Een hele hoop klinklare munt voor de Kerk om daarover nog steeds liever te willen zwijgen.Op de uitspraken daarover wordt dus nog even gewacht op Australie met de wereld-jongeren dagen, het recente Sorry, en het komende pauselijk bezoek aan Ierland.
Er zijn tenslotte nog wat vragen en parlementaire onderzoeken over dat verleden, die inmiddels steeds meer gesteld worden.
Ook over kinderen die verdwenen uit Ierland en Engeland, en verscheept werden naar Australie, en de betrokkenheid van de RKK hierbij.
Niet alleen priesters blijken grenzenloos.
Die Kerk had haar wereldwijde net al.
Slachtoffers inmiddels ook. Iedere week meer.
Het grootste probleem van die Kerk uit haar verleden dat is, stapje voor stapje, boven water aan het komen.
Maar, zo is inmiddels wereldwijd gebleken, dat is niet afhankelijk van de (h)erkenning van de Kerk of wie dan ook in die kerkelijke hierarchie.
Zelfs niet (meer) van de bereidheid kerkelijke archieven te openen!
Dat was en is -naast tijd - en wetgeving in parlementaire democratien slechts afhankelijk van slachtoffers en hun moed hun mond open te doen.
Over (vroegere) kinderen.
Daar staat die Ierse revolutie voor.
Dankzij dat wereldwijde netwerk - niet meer alleen van die Kerk - is het zelfs niet meer afhankelijk van nationale parlementaire democratien.
En dat is, zélfs al stelt die RKK hier in Nederland nog maar erg weinig voor, heel goed nieuws voor Nederlanders.
Dáár staat de Ierse revolutie óók voor. Net als sex in an other climat.
Da's dan niet slecht voor dat land, waar nog maar 3 maanden geleden 1/4 van de priesters vond dat kardinaal O'Conell best alle juridische trucjes mocht
By John Cooney
Monday May 12 2008
Pope Benedict XVI realises that Irish society has been "deeply pained" by the sexual abuse of children by paedophile priests, the new Papal Nuncio revealed yesterday.
In his first public statement since arriving in Ireland last month Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza (65) said he regretted "the injury inflicted on innocent people and their families, by churchmen whose conduct has been in stark contrast to their priestly calling and religious obligations".
Blessings
Recalling a private audience with the Pope on April 11, the Sicilian-born archbishop said that the Pontiff asked him to convey his apostolic blessing as well his concern that Ireland should remain ever faithful to the Catholic faith.
Archbishop Leanza was delivering an homily at a liturgical reception in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on Saturday, during which he quoted the instructions given by Pope Benedict to the Irish bishops two years ago.
At that time, Pope Benedict had said: "It is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected and, above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes."
Da's niet slecht dus voor een land waar nog geen 3 maanden geleden 1/4 van de priesters meende achter kardinaal Desmond Connell te moeten staan in diens pogen de burgerlijke overheid en de rechtspraak te kunnen gebruiken om nóg steeds te kunnen blijven zwijgen.
Nadat eerst slachtoffers de Ierse revolutie al mogelijk maakten, het Vaticaan Diarmuid Martin moest inzetten, ziet een schop onder een kardinaal zitvlak er kennelijk zo uit.Het kon, ná de uitspraken van de B XVI in de VS natuurlijk nauwelijks anders.
Naar de rest van het artikel.
Maar, hernieuwd, geen woord over het residentieel misbruik, dat kan de kassa kennelijk niet aan.
Dus draaien door die schok van het ongeloof, en de uitermate domme deals die daardoor de Ierse overheid met de Congregaties sloot, de slachtoffers en de belastingbetaler op.
Een hele hoop klinklare munt voor de Kerk om daarover nog steeds liever te willen zwijgen.Op de uitspraken daarover wordt dus nog even gewacht op Australie met de wereld-jongeren dagen, het recente Sorry, en het komende pauselijk bezoek aan Ierland.
Er zijn tenslotte nog wat vragen en parlementaire onderzoeken over dat verleden, die inmiddels steeds meer gesteld worden.
Ook over kinderen die verdwenen uit Ierland en Engeland, en verscheept werden naar Australie, en de betrokkenheid van de RKK hierbij.
Niet alleen priesters blijken grenzenloos.
Die Kerk had haar wereldwijde net al.
Slachtoffers inmiddels ook. Iedere week meer.
Het grootste probleem van die Kerk uit haar verleden dat is, stapje voor stapje, boven water aan het komen.
Maar, zo is inmiddels wereldwijd gebleken, dat is niet afhankelijk van de (h)erkenning van de Kerk of wie dan ook in die kerkelijke hierarchie.
Zelfs niet (meer) van de bereidheid kerkelijke archieven te openen!
Dat was en is -naast tijd - en wetgeving in parlementaire democratien slechts afhankelijk van slachtoffers en hun moed hun mond open te doen.
Over (vroegere) kinderen.
Daar staat die Ierse revolutie voor.
Dankzij dat wereldwijde netwerk - niet meer alleen van die Kerk - is het zelfs niet meer afhankelijk van nationale parlementaire democratien.
En dat is, zélfs al stelt die RKK hier in Nederland nog maar erg weinig voor, heel goed nieuws voor Nederlanders.
Dáár staat de Ierse revolutie óók voor. Net als sex in an other climat.
Top archbishop suggests ways to deal with abusive priests
By Jeff Diamant Religion News Service
Published: May 9, 2008
NEWARK, N.J. -- A top U.S. archbishop, recently named to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said the panel of cardinals and bishops could help resolve a key issue in the clergy sex abuse scandal: how to remove priests from ministry who abused children decades ago.
Under the church's Code of Canon Law, the statute of limitation for clergy sex abuse of minors expires 10 years after the victim's 18th birthday.
In older cases, a bishop can ask the Vatican to bypass that rule, but Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., said he wants to explore ways for bishops to act in such matters without asking Rome.
One possibility for these older cases, Myers said, would be a canon law change that treats molestation and sexual abuse of minors more as an illness than as a violation requiring a penalty. That would allow a bishop to more easily deem these priests unfit for ministry, he said.
"We used to think of alcoholism as a moral failure, and now it's pretty much considered an illness," said Myers, 66. "I'm not saying that's what will happen [with clergy sex abuse of minors], but it wouldn't be impossible for us to move in that direction.
"If we can find a way to work it so we don't have to apply [for removal] in each instance, but we can make the judgment locally, that would be better," he said of bishops acting without making requests to the Vatican.
Last month, during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, The New York Times reported that Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Vatican's powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that church authorities are considering changing canon law on the statute of limitations regarding clergy sex abuse of minors.
David Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said he favored "anything that speeds up removing a predator from ministry," but he cautioned that such a reliance on church procedures puts undeserved faith in bishops' discretion.
What are needed, he said, are stronger civil and criminal statutes of limitation, which now vary from state to state.
Published: May 9, 2008
NEWARK, N.J. -- A top U.S. archbishop, recently named to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said the panel of cardinals and bishops could help resolve a key issue in the clergy sex abuse scandal: how to remove priests from ministry who abused children decades ago.
Under the church's Code of Canon Law, the statute of limitation for clergy sex abuse of minors expires 10 years after the victim's 18th birthday.
In older cases, a bishop can ask the Vatican to bypass that rule, but Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., said he wants to explore ways for bishops to act in such matters without asking Rome.
One possibility for these older cases, Myers said, would be a canon law change that treats molestation and sexual abuse of minors more as an illness than as a violation requiring a penalty. That would allow a bishop to more easily deem these priests unfit for ministry, he said.
"We used to think of alcoholism as a moral failure, and now it's pretty much considered an illness," said Myers, 66. "I'm not saying that's what will happen [with clergy sex abuse of minors], but it wouldn't be impossible for us to move in that direction.
"If we can find a way to work it so we don't have to apply [for removal] in each instance, but we can make the judgment locally, that would be better," he said of bishops acting without making requests to the Vatican.
Last month, during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, The New York Times reported that Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Vatican's powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that church authorities are considering changing canon law on the statute of limitations regarding clergy sex abuse of minors.
David Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said he favored "anything that speeds up removing a predator from ministry," but he cautioned that such a reliance on church procedures puts undeserved faith in bishops' discretion.
What are needed, he said, are stronger civil and criminal statutes of limitation, which now vary from state to state.
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