zondag, december 07, 2008

Members of the jury can I have your votes, please. Dank u Heer voor mijn dossier!

Phoeh, die schoot toch wel even knap hard aan.
Het zoveelste voorbeeld van de waanzin rond het residentieel misbruik.

Zelfs Homerus, generaal van het dode leger, schrijft er al over. Maar van wanneer zouden die internationale afspraken eigenlijk zijn, waarin dode militairen teruggeven werden: koning wij hebben Uw zege bevochten?
Op mijn netvlies staat een van die RIT medewerkers vluchtend in de armen van een collega: "even janken hoor", voor hij de moed weer kan vinden dóór te gaan, gebrand.

Directrice, die weigerde mee te werken, van een tehuis, van het bestaan waarvan geen papieren te vinden zijn, met kinderen, waar geen files van te vinden zijn, of ooit zouden hebben bestaan! (alsof dat kan) , moet worden vrijgesproken van de aanklacht door 2 van de vroegere bewoners van fysiek en seksueel misbruik bij gebrek aan bewijs.

Zoals de (haast inpandige) ex-priester van der Sande zijn ervaringen uitschreeuwde, vertelde ook Vincent Krah me 2 jaar geleden een paar van die demonstraties. De rillingen lopen me nog over de rug. (Dank je, Heer Krah, je gaf me meer sleutels dan je ooit zult snappen!)

Een van de kinderen had in zijn klas een woedeaanval gehad en moest met meerderen van het onderwijzend personeel in bedwang gehouden worden. ( wat kende ik de situaties, hallelujah voor de Zorg) tot het kind eindelijk afgevoerd kon worden naar de (leef)groep.
Na 3 dagen afwezigheid ("in bed gestopt" zoals hem werd verteld) keerde het weer terug in de klas.

Krah, die als één van de velen, zijn ervaring vertelde in een kennelijke poging mij duidelijk te maken "wat dat toch wel voor kinderen waren geweest", daarbij kennelijk vergetend dat ik dat wel wist, maar de vraag nu was wat voor volwassenen dat waren geweest, had, gezien zijn verbaasde reactie, zichzelf kennelijk mijn vraag nog nooit gesteld: ben je het kind op wezen zoeken toen het die 3 dagen, zoals hij ook wist te vertellen, had moeten "uitslapen".
Verbazing: nee, natuurlijk niet.
Waarom niet?
Wij kwamen nooit in het huis, daar hadden we niets te zoeken...
En ging door met omstandig uitleggen "watvoor kinderen" en vooral klagen over de zuster-schooldirectrice, die nooit enige informatie over een kind gaf. Een privacy-gevoeligheid die er toe leidde dat hij en zijn vrouw de informatie niet hadden doorgekregen dat het kind wat zij zo liefhebbend thuis hadden opgevangen een portemonee stal: de informatie had ontbroken dat het een kleptomane was, legde hij met kennelijk droge ogen uit.
Iedere hedendaagse onderwijzer in opleiding die het verhaal zou horen zou hem nauwelijks nog bergijpen, vrees ik.

Zal de afstand van zijn internaatsschooldeur, naar de groep van dat kind, veel meer dan 30 meter zijn geweest over die speelplaats heen waar hij dagelijks kwam?
3 dagen zijn leerling op een dergelijke wijze weg, hij vroeg niet wat alle leerlingen in de klas wél wisten, toen hij het vertelde was ik gelukkig met de beelden van hem in mijn kop, waardoor ik mij kon realiseren dat op dat moment het nieuwe paviljoen er al was geweest, waardoor het "vergeten " van een kind op een zolder minder aannemelijk werd; ik blij kon zijn met de broodnodige informatie over dat hij betaald werd volgens de salariëring van het ZMLOK...

Children's Home Matron Walks Free of Sex Abuse Charge Glasgow
Daily Record
December 6, 2008

A JUDGE yesterday told a jury who had found a children's home matron guilty of sex charges that they had to acquit her.
She was alleged to have physically and sexually assaulted schoolgirls at a Church of Scotland children's home.

Jurors at Paisley Sheriff Court had returned guilty verdicts on Janette Gault on three of the charges involving lewd and libidinous activity.
But when they found a similar charge against a second complainer not proven, sheriff Neil Douglas directed them to acquit the matron.
The not proven decision cancelled out the corroboration required for the guilty verdicts to stand.
There were gasps in the public gallery from relatives of the two sisters who gave evidence against Gault, 68, at the trial.
The court heard she was sexually perverted and had committed acts of brutality while in charge of Carnegie Park children's home in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, in the early 1970s.

Outside the court, a spokesman for the family said: "We are disgusted."The children's home closed in 1980.

Gault, who moved to Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, had denied sexual and physical assault and walked free.

"How do you feel today? asked Mr Clarke.
"We can't get on with our lives for what she's done to us," the witness said.

Gault, who now lives in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, is accused of assault and using lewd and libidinous practices towards her alleged victims while one was aged between nine and 15 years and the other was between the ages of 11 and 16.

Sexual Abuse Trial Jury Told Cops Couldn't Trace Records of Home Paisley
Daily Express
December 5, 2008

POLICE probing claims that two girls were physically and sexually abused while in care at a Church of Scotland home were unable to trace any records relating to the running of the establishment, ajury heard yesterday.

Detectives flew to Northern Ireland to interview Janette Gault – the person alleged to have carried out the attacks while matron of Carnegie Park Children's Home on the boundary of Johnstone and Elderslie during the early 1970s.

But Paisley Sheriff Court has heard that, when they contacted the Church of Scotland in an attempt to uncover records relating to the home, they were told that none existed.

When quizzed by police, Gault, now aged 68, admitted she had punished the two girls at the centre of the allegations but denied she had physically assaulted them or touched them in a sexual manner.

When she was asked what records had been compiled during her time there, she admitted there were no files kept on any of the children.

During the taped interview, recorded in June 2005, Gault claimed her accusers had made up false stories.

She told detectives their motivation must have been to "try to get money out of the Church of Scotland".

The officer who conducted the interview said she had encountered problems in trying to trace the accused after the complaints had been made.

She had contacted the Church of Scotland with negative results."They had absolutely no records in connection with the running of the children's home," said the officer.
REST nato radar bánkút, bron
Matron of Kirk care home 'sexually abused sisters and shut girl in fridge'
Published Date: 03 December 2008
By Loudon Temple

...
"How do you feel today? asked Mr Clarke.
"We can't get on with our lives for what she's done to us," the witness said.

Gault, who now lives in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, is accused of assault and using lewd and libidinous practices towards her alleged victims while one was aged between nine and 15 years and the other was between the ages of 11 and 16.
...

Something inside so strong.
Ladies and gentle men, Members of the jury, can I have your votes please?
Door dwang gegijzeld, een leven lang goed gestemd: six points !

Dank je, Odetta!

zaterdag, december 06, 2008


1930-2 dec 2008

zondag, november 30, 2008



Pedofiele priester vraagt 2 keer vergiffenis? 't Is maar hoe je het bekijkt: de zak ontkent dat het verkrachting was: het was een liefdesrelatie, vond hij...

«Aujourd'hui, c'est le procès d'un père, non spirituel mais incestueux ».

zaterdag, november 29, 2008

Happy Thanks giving

The real beauty of this survivor “movement” is its organic quality. So many of us were going through life thinking it was just us, just me - like I was this over sexed five year old who caused the good priest to break his vows, or other ideas pedophile priest rape crime victims live with.

If it hadn’t been for the internet, the pedophile epidemic in the Catholic Church would probably have continued a few hundred years more.

Something to ponder when you think Thanksgiving thoughts this weekend.

It was the internet and other early 21st century communications that made it possible to find out there are thousands of us, and that the pattern was the same in city after city. We are sex crime victims not born floozies or what not -

Happy Thanksgiving from City of Angels Network

...

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned or
Jack.

Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black.
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins and set them all free;

...

W. Blake, songs of innocence

Church plans talks over likely abuse inquiry fallout


Saturday, November 29, 2008

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (pictured) is planning a series of meetings for priests in the Dublin diocese to discuss the likely fall-out from the commission of inquiry into abuse by Catholic priests who served there.

The commission, an independent state-appointed body which carried out its work in private, is expected to publish its report early in the new year and the diocese is expecting a renewed furore over its handling of the abuse scandal over many decades.. Thanks to Andrew
Plans for a series of preparatory meetings were revealed by The Irish Catholic newspaper, which quoted from a letter marked “private and confidential” which was sent by Archbishop Martin to the priests of the diocese.

Earlier this month, the diocese revealed it believed the number of people to have suffered at the hands of abusive priests to be 400, but warned that figure was likely to rise.

In the letter, Archbishop Martin describes that number as staggering and adds: “It is most certainly not final.”

He continues: “Suffering will be awakened in the hearts of many by the publication of the report” and says priests must be prepared to deal with the issue and the concerns of their parishioners when its findings emerge.

The leaking of the letter has angered diocesan authorities who are understood to have concerns that it creates the incorrect impression that the priests will get to see the commission’s findings before the victims.

A diocesan spokesperson would not discuss the issue yesterday except to say that the headline used in The Irish Catholic, “Abuse Report — Dublin priests to get early briefing” was misleading.

The commission of inquiry was set up by then justice minster Michael McDowell in March 2006. It has a brief to investigate complaints of child sex abuse made to the Catholic church and state authorities from 1975 to 2004 against Catholic clergy operating in the Dublin diocese.

It was due to have finalised its report by last September, but was granted an extension and is now due to complete its work by the end of January and have its report made public soon afterwards.

The Dublin diocese meanwhile carried out its own audit and the figure of 400 victims disclosed by the diocese earlier this month relates to the 68-year period since 1940 when records began
Archbishop describes scale of abuse by priests as "staggering"
Friday, 28 November 2008
Belfast Telegraph

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has described the scale of abuse by priests of the Dublin Diocese as "staggering".

In a letter to priests Dr Martin says at least 400 men and women have suffered trauma as a result of having been sexually abused by a priest working in the diocese of Dublin.

This letter - seen by the Irish Catholic newspaper - was sent by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to priests in the Dublin diocese.

In it Dr Martin says that the fact 400 people have been abused by Dublin priests is staggering and the figure is most certainly not final.

Dr Martin writes "we as priests are extremely upset and offended by what has happened through the actions of some".

The archbishop is to host a number of meetings early next month to prepare priests for the fallout from the report of the Dublin Inquiry into abuse in the diocese, which is due to finish its work at the end of January.

donderdag, november 27, 2008

12 jaar voor franse verkrachter; de incestueuze kerk

3 procesdagen en 12 jaar voor Olivier Guinant, frans priester uit Ligignac (Corrèze)
in 1997 al voor 3 jaar veroordeeld voor sexuele aanrakingen van een jongen, nu 12 jaar jaar voor verkrachting van 1 en seksuele aanrakingen van twee andere jongens een frans verkrachtende priester, uit Ligignac (Corrèze).

En alweer het internationaal befaamde machtsrecept: de tussen zijn 11 en 17e misbruikte en verkrachtte jongen behoort tot één van de meest kwetsbare jongens: onbekende vader, verlaten door zijn bio-moeder.

Pedofiele priester vraagt 2 keer vergiffenis?
't Is maar hoe je het bekijkt: de zak ontkent dat het verkrachting was: het was een liefdesrelatie, vond hij...

«Aujourd'hui, c'est le procès d'un père, non spirituel mais incestueux ».

Le corps tremblant, les yeux humides et la voix chevrotante, Alain (*) a marqué les esprits lors de son témoignage devant la cour d'assises de la Corrèze, hier soir. Courageusement néanmoins, il a réussi à poser des mots sur ces gestes (masturbation, fellation, sodomie) qu'il a subis de la part de celui qu'il considérait comme son « père de substitution » entre 11 et 17 ans. Autant de souffrances qui l'ont conduit à expliquer directement à l'accusé les motifs de la plainte qu'il a déposée le lendemain du décès de sa mère adoptive le 6 juin 2005 :

« Tu étais le père que je n'ai jamais eu, tu l'es encore. J'ai essayé de garder ça mais je n'ai pas pu. Une partie de moi est morte. Ce procès était devenu le but de ma vie. J'ai tout délaissé pour ça, j'essaie de reprendre une vie normale, si j'y arrive ».

Ce à quoi l'ecclésiastique a répondu : « Merci, je t'aime, tu sais ».

En dan nóg een de zoveelste: een 96 (!) jarige goed katholiek die het mee mogelijk maakte: "ik wist niet wat ik doen moest.(!!) Ik had het aan mijn biechtgeheim." Mijnheers biechtvader.



Tijdens proces
Pedofiele priester vraagt twee keer vergiffenis
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op woensdag 19 november 2008 om 00:05u

PARIJS (RKnieuws.net) - Dinsdag is voor het Hof van Assisen in het Franse Tulle het proces van start gegaan tegen een Franse pedofiele priester. Het proces loopt tot vrijdag.
De geestelijke wordt beschuldigd van verkrachting van een minderjarige jongen. Twee andere jongens zouden het slachtoffer zijn geworden van seksuele aanrakingen door de priester.
De eerste procesdag was gewijd aan de persoonlijkheid van de priester.

Een psychiater van het gerecht kwam uitvoerig aan het woord. De 56-jarige priester vroeg twee keer vergiffenis aan zijn belangrijkste slachtoffer dat hij recht in de ogen keek. Het slachtoffer was bij het begin van de feiten amper 11 jaar.

De opening van het proces werd vertraagd door een incident tussen de advocaat van de verdediging en de advocaat van twee van de drie burgerlijke partijen. (tb)


Beroep op biechtgeheim
Biechtvader getuigt op proces pedofiele priester
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op vrijdag 21 november 2008 om 00:05u
PARIJS (RKnieuws.net) - Een 96-jarige priester - bij wie de pedofiele priester te biechten ging die zich deze week voor het Hof van Assisen in het Franse Tulle moet verantwoorden voor verkrachting van een jongen en voor het seksueel aanraken van twee andere jongens - heeft zich donderdag beroepen op het biechtgeheim.
De bejaarde priester stelde dat de beklaagde bij hem zeer onregelmatig te biechten kwam en dat hij daarvoor gewoonlijk elders ging. ’Ik kan niets zeggen. Ik ben gebonden door het biechtgeheim’, aldus de bejaarde priester.
De geestelijke zei wel dat de beklaagde geen geheim maakte van de de drie jaar celstraf die hij in 1997 opliep voor seksuele aanrakingen van een andere jongen van zijn parochie.’Ik heb hem gezegd dat hij zijn ziel aan het verliezen was’, getuigde de bejaarde priester, die eraan toevoegde dat de beklaagde dat wegwuifde. "Hij had geen enkele realiteitszin. Ik vind dit een oneer voor de Kerk. Men vergrijpt zich niet aan een kind. Dat is een zware zonde". (tb)


TULLE
jeudi 20 novembre 2008

Prêtre pédophile: témoignage d'un curé qui avait recueilli ses confessions Un ancien prêtre d'Ussel, âgé de 96 ans, qui avait recueilli les confessions d'Olivier Guinant, poursuivi devant la cour d'assises de Corrèze notamment pour le viol d'un mineur, a aujourd'hui jeudi aux jurés qu'il n'avait pas pu le dénoncer car il était «lié par le sacrement».
«Il s'est confessé à moi très irrégulièrement, car il se confessait ailleurs», a indiqué à la cour Jean-Claude Chantelauze qui était à Liginiac le voisin de l'accusé et le remplaçait dans la paroisse pendant ses absences.

Olivier Guinant, 56 ans, comparaît depuis lundi et jusqu'à demain devant la cour d'assises, accusé d'avoir violé à plusieurs reprises de 1988 à 1994 l'un de ses jeunes paroissiens âgé de 11 ans au début des faits.

Le prêtre comparaît également pour avoir commis des agressions sexuelles sur un mineur de 2001 à 2002 et un autre jeune garçon de 2004 à 2005. (...)
«Je suis lié par le sacrement, je ne pouvais rien dire. C'est très personnel Madame», a expliqué le prêtre retraité à la présidente de la Cour, Eliane Renon.

«Il ne faisait pas mystère des affaires judiciaires qu'il avait eues», a-t-il poursuivi, en référence à une condamnation en 1997 à trois ans de prison pour des attouchements sexuels, commis courant 1995 et 1996, sur un autre jeune paroissien de Liginiac, où il a été en poste pendant huit ans.
«Je lui ai dit " vous êtes en train de perdre votre âme" », a-t-il raconté ajoutant que Guinant «banalisait tout cela. Il n'avait aucun sens des réalités». «Je trouve que c'est un déshonneur pour l'Eglise», a-t-il conclu soulignant qu'on «ne pose pas ses mains sur un enfant, c'est un très grave péché».
«Je ne le savais pas, que pouvais-je faire?», s'est interrogé le nonagénaire en réponse à l'avocat de l'accusé, Me Olivier Morice qui lui indiquait que le droit canon encourageait le confesseur à «dire au confessé qu'il doit se dénoncer».
Franck Meynial

dinsdag, november 25, 2008

U.S. Court Allows Abuse Case vs. Vatican

Nog maar in 1985, bij het -toen nog waarschuwende - Doyle-Mouton rapport voor de Amerikaanse bisschoppen liet een van die bischoppen (Was het niet Bernard Law, kardinaal himself?) lachend weten hoe ondenkbaar een rechtszaak aangespannen tegen de RK Kerk zou zijn.

Inmiddels zijn we 23 jaar, ongelooflijk veel slachtofferontwikkelingen, kennis, onderzoek, rechtspraak kerkhierarchische excuses en minstens 1, 5 billioen dollars alleen al in de VS, plus alle internationale ontwikkelingen die daarvan mede het gevolg zijn, verder.

En stukken die boven water kwamen.

Gaat het verdwijnen van Bush cs, daarmee de eerdere interventie van Buitenlandse Zaken tégen het gebruik van de Foreign Souvereign Immunities Act nog een fascinerend gevolg hebben?

Australie Catholica schreef van de week, in de stukken over het bijeen te roepen Amerikaans Katholiek Concilie 2011 over die onstuitbare kracht van leken in de RKK

En op welke termijn dat historisch onwaarschijnlijke proces dan ook zal gebeuren:
wat een eind aan zo'n 1000 jaar investituurstrijd: de veiligheid van kinderen!

Wall Street Journal By Suzanne Sataline
25 november 2008

A federal appeals court has permitted a lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse to proceed against the Vatican, creating potential liability for the seat of the Roman Catholic faith for the activities of Catholic clergy in the U.S.

Monday's ruling, issued by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, marks the first time a court at so high a level has recognized that the Vatican could be liable for the negligence in sexual-abuse cases brought in the U.S.

The ruling is seen as a breakthrough by those allegedly abused by priests. Investigators and grand juries have found several instances where the church failed to report alleged abusers and covered up alleged misdeeds to protect them.

Jeffrey S. Lena, the attorney for the Holy See, said he was not "presently inclined" to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.

It remains to be seen whether the Vatican, which is a sovereign state recognized by the U.S. government, will make further arguments that it is immune from U.S. civil proceeding.

Catholic dioceses in the U.S. have paid out at least $1.5 billion to alleged abuse victims, most of this since the scandal broke open nationwide in 2002.

The appeals court found that the church government may be held liable for actions taken in the U.S. based on the Vatican's policies or directives.

"What the court has allowed us to do is proceed against the Vatican for the conduct of the U.S. bishops because of the bishops' failure to ... report child abuse," said William F. McMurry, the attorney for three men who claim they were abused as children by priests in the Louisville, Ky., archdiocese. He is seeking class-action status in the district-court case.

The ruling marks the first time that a federal appeals court recognized that the Vatican could be liable under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a 1976 law that governs when a foreign nation or its agents can be sued, said Marci Hamilton, a constitutional-law scholar who is part of the legal team in the Louisville case.

"If someone can crack that barrier of immunity, it opens the door to other claims against the Catholic church," says Jonathan Levy, a Washington, D.C., attorney who represents concentration-camp survivors in a suit against numerous parties including the Vatican bank. The Vatican, in that case, prevailed in its claim of sovereign immunity.

Mr. Lena, the lawyer for the Holy See in the Louisville case, said Monday's ruling is a small step and one that is far from establishing whether Vatican policy contributed to thousands of incidents of abuse that have been alleged over several decades. "We're miles away from liability," he said. The ruling is "very incremental."

One of the central pieces of evidence in the case is a 1962 memo, issued by the Vatican and disclosed by reporters in 2003, which directs Catholic bishops to keep silent about claims of sex abuse. The document was approved by Pope John the 23rd.

Monday's ruling will allow the plaintiffs' case to proceed in U.S. District Court in Louisville. Among the legal questions yet to be decided in the case is whether U.S. bishops are employees of the Vatican, and whether they acted on the Holy See's orders.

—Nathan Koppel contributed to this article.
Write to Suzanne Sataline at suzanne.sataline@wsj.com

SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release:
Monday, November 24, 2008

Sex abuse case vs. Vatican can proceed, judge rules; victims respond

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're thrilled by this ruling. We're one step closer toward protecting more kids, exposing more predators, and detering future recklessness, and holding top Catholic officials accountable for the rape of hundreds of thousands of kids. Employers everywhere - religious and secular - must learn that endangering children and enabling predators is wrong and will be punished.

The legal process drags on slowly and church bureaucrats fight justice vigorously, so we caution victims and Catholics against prematurely getting their hopes up. But this is a very encouraging sign and very long overdue step in the long march toward justice, prevention and healing.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Peter Isely (414-429-7259) Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688), Mary Grant (626-419-2930), Mark Serrano (703-727-4940)

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20081124/UPDATES01/81124023

Appeals court lets Vatican sex abuse case proceed
November 24, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that part a class-action sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican can proceed.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said on Monday that three men may pursue their claim that top church officials should have warned the public or local authorities of known or suspected sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville.

The ruling upholds a similar decision by U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II of Louisville in May 2007.

The ruling also upholds Heyburn's decision to dismiss claims that the Holy See was negligent in failing to provide safe care to the children entrusted to the clergy.

Ruling limited to actions on U.S. soil

Three Kentucky natives can pursue a lawsuit against the Vatican alleging it covered up sexual abuse by priests -- but only if those decisions were carried out on U.S. soil.
OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1');

That was the ruling of a federal appeals court yesterday that upheld a similar ruling by U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II of Louisville in May 2007.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with Heyburn that the Vatican -- as a sovereign state recognized by the U.S. government -- is largely protected from lawsuits.

But the court ruled that the Vatican could be sued over claims that bishops and others covered up sexual abuse as part of their role as Roman Catholic Church employees, as long as that cover-up occurred in the United States.

Attorney Jeffrey Lena, representing the Vatican, said he's "gratified by the court's work and that it has in our view significantly narrowed the prospects of the plaintiffs' claims."
He declined to say whether he'd appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The three men are represented by Louisville attorney William McMurry, who sued the Vatican in 2004, a year after he negotiated a then-near-record $25.7 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville.
McMurry has said the Vatican itself, and not just local dioceses, needs to account for sexual abuse by clergy.
The three plaintiffs -- Michael Turner, James O'Bryan and Donald Poppe -- have alleged they were abused as boys by priests in the Louisville archdiocese between the 1920s and 1970s.
They are seeking class-action status on behalf of all U.S. abuse victims, contending that the Vatican for generations has orchestrated a policy of covering up sexual abuse by its priests, ordering bishops not to report abusers to police or warn parishioners.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs could not challenge actions abroad taking place in Rome or elsewhere -- including the creation of a 1962 Vatican document calling for strict secrecy in handling priests accused of sexual offenses.
"The actual promulgation of the 1962 policy … occurred abroad," said the appellate court decision.
But the Vatican can be sued over church officials who carried out the policy in the United States, the court said.

The appeals court denied McMurry's bid to sue the Vatican -- the world's tiniest nation -- in its capacity as a private international religious organization, rather than as a sovereign state.

The United States itself filed a supporting brief, arguing that U.S. recognition of the Vatican as a sovereign state needed to be respected and that, if the lawsuit was to proceed at all, it should only do so under one of the exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
McMurry was also denied in his efforts to sue under some of those exceptions -- such as an exception covering foreign governments involved in commercial activities.

The appeals-court ruling is "careful and seems relatively comprehensive going through all the machinations" of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who regularly tracks Sixth Circuit cases. "It doesn't really tell you what might happen ultimately on the merits, but it leaves the case alive to proceed."

McMurry did not return phone messages as of early yesterday evening.
Unless either side appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the case now returns to the U.S. District Court for Western Kentucky for evidence gathering and other pretrial activities.

A nationwide survey by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 10,667 people alleged abuse by 4,392 priests between 1950 and 2002.

More than 300 people sued the Archdiocese of Louisville and two local religious orders, alleging abuse by priests and other church workers.

In a related matter, Judge Heyburn last month denied McMurry's motion to take the deposition of Pope Benedict XVI, saying McMurry had not made a strong enough case that such a step was needed.

McMurry contended that the testimony was urgent because the aging pope is the only living witness to the establishment of the 1962 policy.

Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.

donderdag, november 20, 2008

Australie: The financial cost of child abuse

18 November 2008

Child abuse and neglect costs Australians ten times more than obesity, a landmark report has found. The report has also found that the number of cases of abuse in our community may be five times higher than the official figures.

The Cost of Child Abuse in Australia, a joint research report by Access Economics, Australian Childhood Foundation and Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia at Monash University, is the first comprehensive report of its kind in Australia. It found that the real cost of child abuse to the Australian community in 2007 was $10.7 billion, and could be as high as $30.1 billion, including the monetary value of the pain and suffering that they experience.

Professor Chris Goddard, Director of Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia at Monash University said this is the first comprehensive, national study of the costs of child abuse and neglect in Australia.

"It clearly demonstrates the importance of accountability and transparency. To spend so much and know so little defies belief. There also needs to be greater investment in research and evaluation," Professor Goddard said.

"Official estimates from Government child protection authorities are unreliable because there is no uniform national data collection system," Professor Goddard said.

The figures account for the costs associated with protecting and caring for child victims of abuse, including the wages for professional workers such as doctors, nurses, police, social workers, judges, probation officers, teachers and foster carers. It also includes responding to crime associated with child abuse and neglect, additional government expenditure on educational assistance for victims, poorer long-term labour market outcomes and an estimate of the total cost of the pain and suffering experienced by child victims of abuse.

While there were 36,000 substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect in Australia in 2007, the report estimates that there approximately 177,000 children abused or neglected and this figure could be even higher. The report also calculated that the cost to the community of the consequences of abuse over the lifetime of children who were abused for the first time in 2007 is approximately $13.7 billion and could be as high as $38.7 billion, including the monetary value of the pain and suffering that they experience.

"The results of this report highlight the urgent need for a national uniform approach to one of Australia's most serious -- and financially crippling -- problems," Professor Goddard said.

The report coincides with a new national campaign, Stop Child Abuse Now, launched by the Australian Childhood Foundation. The campaign directs people to the Australian Childhood Foundation website where they can learn more about how they can prevent child abuse and better protect children.

woensdag, november 19, 2008

825 miljoen voor slachtoffers misbruik Ierland

Elke maand worden 220 dossiers afgehandeld
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op donderdag 13 november 2008

DUBLIN (RKnieuws.net) - Ieren die als kind zijn misbruikt in instellingen als weeshuizen en scholen, hebben bijna 825 miljoen euro aan schadevergoeding ontvangen. Dat heeft de raad die voor de toekenning van de vergoedingen verantwoordelijk is, dinsdag laten weten.
Van de 14.541 mensen die een aanvraag voor een uitkering wegens fysiek, seksueel en emotioneel misbruik hebben ingediend, hebben er 10.796 inmiddels een positieve reactie op hun verzoek ontvangen. De staat financierde de meeste instellingen waar het misbruik sinds de jaren dertig van de vorige eeuw plaatshad, maar de leiding was meestal in handen van rooms-katholieke ordes en congregaties. Het betreft scholen, weeshuizen, ziekenhuizen en kindertehuizen.

De raad, die in december 2002 werd opgericht, hoopt zijn werkzaamheden eind volgend jaar te hebben afgerond. Elke maand worden ongeveer 220 dossiers afgehandeld. 25 personen hebben de maximale schadevergoeding, een bedrag tussen 200 duizend en 300 duizend euro, ontvangen. De gemiddelde uitkering is ruim 65 duizend euro.

Zes jaar geleden zegden achttien religieuze ordes en congregaties de staat 128 miljoen euro toe als onderdeel van een overeenkomst waarbij hun werd beloofd dat zij niet voor het misbruik zouden worden vervolgd.

Priests abused up to 400 children in Dublin diocese

By John Cooney
Saturday November 08 2008

Shocking new figures show that 400 children have been identified as possible victims of sex abuse by priests in the Dublin Archdiocese -- proportionately even higher then the catalogue of horrors found by a Government investigation into the Diocese of Ferns.

And settlement claims paid to victims suspected of being abused by 152 priests over the last 68 years has soared to more than €12m.

"It is most likely that this is not a final figure," Archbishop Diarmuid Martin conceded yesterday, when he disclosed the revised figures showing the horrendous scale of clerical paedophilia in the archdiocese since 1940.
The Ferns probe identified more then 100 allegations of child sex abuse between 1962 and 2002 against 21 priests.

Archbishop Martin, who earlier this year openly clashed with his predecessor, Cardinal Desmond Connell, over making full public disclosure of abuse cases, said he was issuing the updated figures as part of his policy of getting to the root of the full extent of clerical child abuse.

Last February Cardinal Connell withdrew his High Court action to prevent Archbishop Martin from handing over allegedly privileged documents to the Government Commission of Inquiry into the archdiocese of Dublin headed by Circuit Court judge, Yvonne Murphy.
Cardinal Connell later withdrew his legal move after a huge public outcry supported Archbishop Martin.

Complaints

Archbishop Martin's ongoing discovery of new complaints -- which are now far higher than first found by Cardinal Connell before his retirement -- clearly indicate the huge volume of files being investigated by the Commission which recently received Oireachtas approval to extend its work until next year. Fifteen more priests and members of Religious Orders against whom allegations were made, or suspicions raised, of child sex abuse since 1940 have been found by the archbishop since his previous count in May 2007, bringing the total up from 147 to 152.

Dr Martin also revealed that settlement claims paid to abuse victims have soared to €12.4m, a jump of €4.6m in the past 18 months.

Archbishop Martin explained that the figures constitute a record of allegations made and suspicions raised since 1940 irrespective of the eventual outcome.

"They include allegations which have been substantiated, and those which have not, and allegations which are demonstrably false or mistaken," he said. To date, eight priests have been convicted in the criminal courts, and three others who have been the subject of allegations of child sexual abuse are currently before the courts.

A total of 120 civil actions have been brought against 35 Dublin priests or priests who held appointments in the diocese; 94 have been concluded and 26 are continuing.

The difficulties in tracing offenders is underlined by how Archbishop Martin has obtained information regarding allegations of sexual abuse against a particular priest who, despite close liaison with the gardai and the health authorities, has not yet been identified.
- John Cooney

vrijdag, november 07, 2008

Belgie: Na kinderporno nu verdacht van 3 oude aanrandingen

Verdacht van aanranding minderjarigen
Priester uit Kalmthout blijft in de cel
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op vrijdag 7 november 2008 om 00:05u
ANTWERPEN (RKnieuws.net) - Een 47-jarige priester uit Nieuwmoer (Kalmthout) blijft in de cel. Dat heeft de kamer van inbeschuldigingstelling in Antwerpen donderdag beslist. De geestelijke zou tien jaar geleden een drietal minderjarigen hebben aangerand.

In april jongstleden startte een gerechtelijk onderzoek naar de priester, nadat er op de pc in de pastorie kinderpornografische beelden werden aangetroffen. Hij werd in verdenking gesteld voor bezit van kinderporno, maar niet aangehouden. De priester zette zichzelf op non-actief toen het nieuws uitkwam.

In september belandde de parochiepriester echter wel achter de tralies. Uit verderonderzoek zou immers blijken dat hij tien jaar geleden een drietal minderjarigen heeft aangerand. De priester ontkent dat. De raadkamer had twee weken geleden al beslist dat de priester in de cel moest blijven, maar hij had daartegen beroep aangetekend zodat hij nu voor de kamer van inbeschuldigingstelling moest verschijnen. (tb)

maandag, november 03, 2008

Matt 16:17-19 E Depois do Adeus




“En Ik zeg u, dat gij Petrus zijt, en op deze petra zal Ik mijn gemeente bouwen en de poorten van het dodenrijk zullen haar niet overweldigen”

Ánimas del Purgatorio
son las que están a tu puerta;
si nos dais una limosna
tendréis la gloria muy cierta.

¡Ay, ay, ay! que aquí me abraso,
¡ay, ay, ay! que aquí me quemo;
ten piedad de nuestras almas,
que están pasando tormentos.

Kierkegaard uithangbordenfabriek in Kredietcrisis

Santo Subito!

Forum: Actuele zaken. Geplaatst op 18/10 '08 11:39u. Onderwerp: Rellen rond abortusboot in Valencia
----------------------------------------------
Hoe was het ook weer?
Als iemand verkeerd doet maak hem daar op attent.
Luistert hij niet haal er dan anderen bij en probeer hem te overreden.
Luistert hij nog niet! haal er dan overste bij.
Luistert hij dan nog niet zend hem dan weg.
Dus Ja wij mogen die boot laten zinken.
Om erger te voorkomen.

Forum: Actuele zaken. Geplaatst op 3/11 '08 14:26u. Onderwerp: Obamanation!
- Een onmens -

Gelijk heb je X.Ik heb de indruk dat sommige mensen deze doorslaggevende argumenten gewoon niet willen lezen en er nog minder rekening mee houden.Stemmen we dan op een moordenaar in spe?

Forum: Kennismaking, geloofsgetuigenissen. Geplaatst op 3/11 '08 16:10u. Onderwerp: De verkeerde vraag.
+Pax
Dus, is God werkelijk goed?En is Hij werkelijk almachtig?


JA en de enige verdediging, die ik aan kan voeren, voor mijn ja is mijn geloof.Vraag mij dus niet om mijn JA te rationaliseren, want dan vraag je of ik mijn geloof wil rationaliseren [icoontje: blij]



Church-run homes investigated for abuse
ECUMENICAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL
Nov 1, 2008

Trier, Germany Protestant leaders in Germany say they will investigate and expose past cases of mistreatment in church-run children’s homes after an investigation found that children had been physically and sexually abused in such institutions.“We have established to our horror that even in church-run homes children were brought up with violence,”

Bishop Margot Kässmann of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover said Sept. 22. -The bishop’s comments follow the preliminary findings of an investigation she commissioned into claims of violence and abuse at children’s homes run by the social welfare agency of the Hanover church in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Our investigations that have been undertaken by our social welfare agency have shown that there were infringements of human rights, and sexual assault by individuals in our institutions,” said Bishop Kässmann. “We need to listen to the victims, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”

Hans Bauer, the researcher employed to investigate the claims, found cases of physical and even sexual abuse, the German Protestant news agency EPD reported.

“Children in homes had to scrub tiles with toothbrushes or were locked into windowless cells for days on end,” Mr. Bauer was quoted as saying by the news agency on Sept. 15.

“The violation of the most vulnerable was the order of the day,” said Bishop Kässmann.

Vaticaan voert prikklok weer in
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op maandag 3 november 2008 om 15:55u (Bron: RKT)

VATICAANSTAD (RKnieuws.net) - Alle werknemers van het Vaticaan, kardinalen incluis, moeten binnenkort weer de prikklok gebruiken. In 1960 schafte paus Johannes XXIII de prikklok af.
Het terug invoeren van de prikklok heeft te maken met de plannen van het Vaticaan om een meer prestatiegerichte beloning in te voeren die onder andere rekening houdt met stiptheid en professionaliteit.De personeelsleden hebben naar verluidt niets tegenh een meer prestatiegerichte beloning maar de prikklok terug invoeren hoeft voor hen niet.

donderdag, oktober 30, 2008

Proposal floated to restart truth commission By The Canadian PressThu. Oct 30 - 4:47 AM
TORONTO — Lawyers participating in the commission into Indian residential school abuse have tabled a proposal aimed at moving the stalled process forward.
The $60-million, five-year Truth and Reconciliation Commission was derailed only months after it began when its head, Justice Harry LaForme, suddenly resigned last week.

Lawyers for the federal government and representatives from the Catholic, Anglican, United and Presbyterian churches gathered in a closed-door meeting in Toronto on Wednesday to discuss the proposal with members of the Assembly of First Nations and Inuit officials.

"Productive discussions followed amongst counsel, all of whom are now seeking instructions from their respective clients," said John Phillips, lawyer for the AFN and National Chief Phil Fontaine, following the more than four-hour meeting.

The proposal’s contents are not being disclosed while the groups have it under review.
"The parties remain committed to ensuring that the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is fulfilled in the interest of the survivors and class members," Phillips said.

Another meeting, where it’s expected decisions may begin to be made, is planned for next week.
The surprise resignation of LaForme, Canada’s first aboriginal appellate court judge, waylaid an already stalled investigative forum into decades of widespread sexual and physical abuse in the now-defunct schools.

LaForme has said disagreements arose over whether his role as chairman gave him authority to overrule the two other commissioners on the panel. He also specified a preference for reconciliation over extensive gathering of testimony from former students, which caused additional tension.

Naamdag Moeder Theresia

Een gletscher is een bevroren rivier.





UBUNTU!

polanski



Former Catholic Priest Found Guilty of Sexually Abusing MinorsMedia NewswireOctober 27, 2008

- CHICAGO - A defrocked Catholic priest was found guilty by a federal jury here Friday on two counts of sexually molesting a minor boy who lived periodically with him in Evanston, Ill., and accompanied him on interstate and international religious retreats. This guilty verdict resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Donald J. McGuire, 78, from Chicago, was convicted of one count of traveling to Switzerland and Austria in December 2000 to engage in sexual activity with a minor, and one count of traveling to Buffalo, Minn., in August 2001 for the same purpose with the same victim.

McGuire, former spiritual advisor to Mother Teresa, was ordained in 1961 and was affiliated with the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus ( the Jesuits ) until he was defrocked last February.

During the three-week trial, five men testified that the former Jesuit priest had exploited and molested them when they were teenagers as they traveled with him on religious retreats.

According to court documents, between the mid-1990s and 2003, McGuire's primary residence was at Canisius House, a Jesuit priest community in Evanston. Since at least 1991, McGuire has had a number of restrictions placed on him concerning interaction with minors. According to multiple witnesses, however, McGuire continued to travel alone with boys in their teens and early 20s throughout the 1990s and through 2003, and sexually molested males during this time, including the victim (Dominick) who was 14 years old at the time he accompanied McGuire on a retreat to Switzerland and Austria in December 2000.



Dominick testified in court that McGuire sexually molested him between 1999 and the fall of 2003, and that he was 13 years old when the sexual abuse began. He also testified that he accompanied McGuire on numerous interstate and overseas trips, and that McGuire sexually abused him on nearly all the trips. According to Dominick, the sexual abuse ended when the Jesuits ordered McGuire to move from Canisius House to another residence in Chicago.

"Sexually exploiting children is despicable," said Gary Hartwig, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Chicago. "ICE will go the extra mile to catch those individuals who prey on these innocent victims. Identifying and investigating those who victimize children - especially those who hold positions of public trust as in the case of Mr. McGuire - is one of the most important responsibilities ICE has.



"Under current federal law, the statute of limitations for sexual abuse of a minor extends during the life of the victim.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie B. Ruder and April M. Perry, Northern District of Illinois, successfully prosecuted this case.



McGuire faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer scheduled sentencing for Dec. 18.

McGuire's investigation and arrest are part of Operation Predator, a national ICE initiative that protects children by investigating and presenting for prosecution pedophiles, Internet predators, human traffickers, international sex tourists, and other predatory criminals.

Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,500 child predators and sex offenders nationwide, including more than 600 in Illinois.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http:/www.cybertipline.com.


dinsdag, oktober 28, 2008

Schools commission to examine 'disappearances of children'


Snow falls on gravesites in the Wabasca Cemetery.
(Ken Armstrong for The Globe and Mail)

BILL CURRY AND JOE FRIESEN
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
October 27, 2008

OTTAWA and TORONTO — The commission examining Indian residential schools is launching a massive new research project to find out who is buried on school grounds and what happened to the young aboriginal boys and girls who left for boarding schools and never returned home.

Kimberly Phillips, a spokesperson for Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said the expanded research has been approved by Claudette Dumont-Smith, one of the commissioners.
The “Missing Children Research Project,” as it has been named, will include “an examination of the number and cause of deaths, illnesses and disappearances of children at the residential schools as well as the location of burial sites,” Ms. Phillips said.

Ms. Phillips said researchers will go through all relevant church and federal government records to find information that will help families looking for lost children. They will also prepare a questionnaire, and encourage former students and people who worked at the schools to come forward with their stories.

The commission's plans also suggest possible options for honouring the spirit of those who died.

According to a commission document obtained by The Globe and Mail, one option involves “visiting residential school sites where graves of Missing Children are located or the cemeteries near the schools where Missing Children have been buried.”

Tuberculosis was the most common reason cited for deaths at schools across the country, however, survivors have said that rumours have circulated over the years that some of the forgotten children died of neglect, abuse or even murder.

The project is viewed internally as highly daunting, given the sheer volume of material available and number of former students willing to talk. It will build on preliminary research that The Globe reported on Monday.

That research confirmed that several residential schools had graveyards on site, that children at some schools were tasked with digging graves, and that some of those cemeteries were unmarked or had only anonymous white crosses.

AFN national chief Phil Fontaine said through his lawyer yesterday that the documents featured in The Globe underscore the need for a commission to continue gathering the complete history of residential schools.

“This is the very kind of issue that needs to be raised,” John Phillips said. “It's the reason the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created.”

That view was echoed by Mike Cachagee, who says he buried the first of four classmates when he was eight years old at Saint John's Indian Residential School in Chapleau, Ont., and then at Moose Factory Indian Residential School in Moose Factory, Ont.

He said he was told the children died of tuberculosis.

Mr. Cachagee, who chairs the National Residential School Survivors' Society, said former students want these graves identified so they can better understand their family histories.

“We can't just have our people planted in the ground and forgotten about,” he said. “That's basically what they did.”

The missing children project has been given the green light as a key meeting is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto to sort out the controversy over the surprise resignation of commission chairman Mr. Justice Harry LaForme and to map a way forward.

Mr. Phillips will represent the AFN, and lawyers for the federal government, churches and former students will also attend.

There are many differences of opinion heading into the meeting. The federal government wants a legal clarification of the role and powers of the three commissioners. In his resignation letter, Judge LaForme had said there was disagreement over whether the chairman can overrule the two commissioners or whether the three individuals must operate on consensus or majority rule.

Judge LaForme has also claimed that the two other commissioners disagreed with his view that reconciliation should take precedence over digging up truth from the past.

A source close to the process said one of the principal questions to be addressed is whether commissioners Jane Brewin Morley and Ms. Dumont-Smith should be replaced, in light of Justice LaForme's acrimonious departure.

“You'd have to be crazy to step into the remnants of such a dysfunctional situation,” the source said.


Comments

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Hunt begins for long-missing students
Judicial independence key to LaForme's resignation
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zaterdag, oktober 25, 2008

Theocratie

SGP schaft begrip theocratie af
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op zaterdag 25 oktober 2008 om 20:25u (Bron: Reformatorisch Dagblad)

DE MEERN (RKnieuws.net) - SGP-prominenten zullen niet langer zeggen dat ze een theocratie voorstaan, maar dat ze Bijbels genormeerde politiek nastreven of woorden van dergelijke strekking.
Het SGP-kader heeft besloten om het begrip theocratie te vermijden omdat het gauw misverstanden oproept. Te gemakkelijk worden associaties gelegd tussen de SGP en moslimfundamentalisten die streven naar een islamitische dictatoriale theocratie. (tb)


Novum
zaterdag, 25 oktober 2008
Dalai Lama geeft strijd met China op

(Novum/AP) - De Dalai Lama heeft zijn pogingen opgegeven om China ervan te overtuigen dat het Tibet meer autonomie moet geven. Dat heeft de geestelijk leider van de Tibetaanse boeddhisten zaterdag gezegd. Hij zei dat hij het Tibetaanse volk zal vragen te beslissen hoe de daloog nu verder moet worden gevoerd.
China heeft de Dalai Lama er bij herhaling van beschuldigd Tibet van China te willen afsplitsen. De Dalai Lama ontkent dat. Hij wil alleen meer autonomie om de unieke boeddhistische cultuur van Tibet te beschermeen, zegt hij. Hij noemt dat de 'middenweg'.
" Ik heb oprecht de middenweg bepleit in mijn langdurige contacten met China, maar er is geen enkele positieve respons op gekomen van Chinese kant" zei hij in zijn Indiase ballingsoord Dharmsala. "Wat mijzelf betreft heb ik het opgeven." Maar de kwestie Tibet gaat ook zes miljoen Tibetanen aan, zei hij. "Ik heb de Tibetaanse regering in ballingschap, als een ware democratie in ballingschap, gevraagd samen met het Tibetaanse volk de toekomstige koers te bepalen."

MozesMina Ship of fools


Zegt Mina tegen Elias: kijk, Norbert, zo sjokt de beschaving voort.



’Vrouwen mogen straks officieel lector zijn’
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans op zaterdag 25 oktober 2008 om 15:55u

VATICAANSTAD (RKnieuws.net) - De synode heeft in de conclusies van haar zaterdag gepubliceerde werkzaamheden voorgesteld dat de vrouwen een belangrijkere plaats moeten krijgen in de lezing van de Bijbel tijdens de ceremonies. De bisschoppen vinden met name dat het lectoraat opengesteld moet worden voor vrouwen.
Het is één van de 55 voorstellen van de synode. Het voorstel wil de rol van de leken in de verspreiding van het geloof aanmoedigen.De voorstellen die in hun voorlopige versie in het Italiaans gepubliceerd zijn moeten in het Latijn aan de paus voorgelegd worden en als basis dienen voor de redactie van de apostolische post-synodale exhortatie.Het kerkelijk recht voorziet dat het lectoraat kan toevertrouwd worden aan mannelijke leken die de leeftijd en de vereiste kwaliteiten hebben, vastgelegd door de bisschoppenconferentie.In de praktijk lezen de vrouwen tijdens ceremonies de bijbel al op vraag, maar niet in het kader van een officiële taak. (tb)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY


One of the most remakable things about all this is
that two "parents", male and female, are needed to
start one new life. This has much to do with the great
variety of living creatures. You see, if each boy was
descended only from his father he would probably
posses only the same qualities as the father;
but because he has a mother, too, some of the
likeness may be in him, so that he may "take after" each
parent in some ways and be a completely different and
orginal combination of qualities.
That is one of the most fascinating result of the method God
uses to hand life on from one generation to another.

vrijdag, oktober 24, 2008