NRC
26 oktober 2010
Door onze redacteur Joep Dohmen
Rotterdam, 26 okt. Het voormalig hoofd van de Nederlandse Rooms-Katholieke Kerk, kardinaal Simonis, moet onder ede getuigen in een zaak rond kerkelijk seksueel misbruik. Dat heeft de rechtbank Middelburg bepaald op verzoek van de advocaat van een misbruikslachtoffer.
Ook andere hoge kerkelijke leider worden gehoord. Onder hen bisschop Hans van den Hende van Breda en een van zijn voorgangers, oud-bisschop Huub Ernst. De datum van het voorlopig getuigenverhoor wordt later vastgesteld. De Kerk heeft zich juridisch niet verzet tegen het verhoor.
Schadevergoeding
De advocaat van slachtoffer Dave ten Hoor uit Terneuzen eist een schadevergoeding van het bisdom Breda. Dat was de werkgever van een pater die in de jaren 70 en 80 minderjarige jongens, onder wie Ten Hoor, seksueel misbruikte.
Het gaat om pater Jan N., lid van de congregatie van salesianen van Don Bosco. Hij werd in 1979 door de politie opgepakt voor het misbruiken van jongens in Rijswijk. Dat ligt in het bisdom Rotterdam, waar Simonis toen bisschop was. De pater bekende, maar justitie seponeerde zijn zaak in 1980.
In 1984 ging de pater aan de slag als pastoor in Terneuzen, in het bisdom Breda. In 1990 werd hij voor ontucht met drie minderjarige jongens, onder wie Ten Hoor, veroordeeld.
Nalatigheid
Advocaat Martin de Witte, die Ten Hoor vertegenwoordigt, wil bewijzen dat het bisdom Breda nalatig is geweest. Volgens hem was binnen de Kerk het misbruik van de pater bekend. Desondanks werd de pater overgeplaatst naar Terneuzen. Uit het getuigenverhoor moet duidelijk worden wat het bisdom wist van het misbruik in Rijswijk. De advocaat wil ook de pater zelf horen.
woensdag, oktober 27, 2010
Charlie Maguire overleed
Victim of ‘Irish gulag’ who spent most of his life in State custody
Charlie ‘The Hare’ Maguire: CHARLIE “THE Hare” Maguire was one of the dwindling number of survivors from Ireland’s gulag of the 1940s – the industrial school system. A powerless man seemingly perceived as a rural outsider, he spent nearly two-thirds of his life in the custody of the State, and died after nearly half a century as a patient in St Davnet’s hospital in Monaghan.
Charlie Maguire was born in 1933 on a small farm at Knockroe, near the Co Cavan village of Swanlinbar. His father, Peter Maguire, was 72 when Charlie was born. It was Peter Maguire’s second marriage. At the time of Charlie’s birth, his half-brother Owen was 37, and had long left the area.
His mother Brigid Maguire (née Kelly) was a native of Killesher, Co Fermanagh. She was nearly 40 years younger than her husband. Her mother had come to the farm as a “serving woman”, and made a match for her daughter with Peter Maguire.
When Charlie was six, Peter Maguire died. The Knockroe farm was left to Owen, and Charlie and his mother moved to Peter’s other farm in the neighbouring townland of Gobnafarna.
In 1944, a local priest and the gardaí decided Charlie’s mother was unable to control him. The 11-year-old was sent to St Joseph’s Industrial School at Letterfrack, Co Galway. He never recovered psychologically from the physical abuse he suffered.
At 16 he was released and spent the next eight years working on a farm in Galway. Then he made his way back to Swanlinbar.
The family was traditional, even by 1950s standards. Their house was thatched and Bridget Maguire is remembered as still wearing a black shawl in the 1960s.
Charlie was blamed for petty crime in the area. In 1960 he was jailed for two years, with hard labour, after being found guilty of the larceny of five hens. He was found not guilty of stealing sheaves of oats to the value of £2 (approximately €90 in today’s money), and a turf spade.
In April 1962, soon after his release, he was charged with setting fire to a haypeck. The alleged offences were part of a dispute with a neighbour. Some older locals still claim the haypeck was rotten, and couldn’t burn.
The court found Charlie unfit to plead and ordered he be detained at the Central Mental Hospital. Medical staff there assessed him as schizophrenic, but not a threat. In 1963 he was transferred to St Davnet’s Hospital, Monaghan, where he would spend the rest of his life.
In 1971 the Forest and Wildlife Service bought his farm at Gubnafarna. He was paid £350 (approximately €7,500 in today’s terms) for the 15 acres. He was satisfied with the price. However, after the money was paid to him he had difficulties in ascertaining its whereabouts. Despite his limited education, he challenged several solicitors and banks till he tracked down the money.
One bank manager was so impressed by his persistence that he attended Charlie’s funeral. He regularly challenged the Health Board in writing with facts and figures querying deductions made from his benefit.
Incarceration made Charlie institutionalised. In 1983, a psychiatrist at St Davnet’s wrote: “If it were possible in some way to have the original charges processed so that he can remain on here as a voluntary patient, he would much appreciate it.”
Unfortunately this did not happen. The fact that there is no photograph to accompany this obituary of Charlie Maguire tells its own story.
Charlie “The Hare” Maguire: born January 14th, 1933; died October 10th, 2010
Charlie ‘The Hare’ Maguire: CHARLIE “THE Hare” Maguire was one of the dwindling number of survivors from Ireland’s gulag of the 1940s – the industrial school system. A powerless man seemingly perceived as a rural outsider, he spent nearly two-thirds of his life in the custody of the State, and died after nearly half a century as a patient in St Davnet’s hospital in Monaghan.
Charlie Maguire was born in 1933 on a small farm at Knockroe, near the Co Cavan village of Swanlinbar. His father, Peter Maguire, was 72 when Charlie was born. It was Peter Maguire’s second marriage. At the time of Charlie’s birth, his half-brother Owen was 37, and had long left the area.
His mother Brigid Maguire (née Kelly) was a native of Killesher, Co Fermanagh. She was nearly 40 years younger than her husband. Her mother had come to the farm as a “serving woman”, and made a match for her daughter with Peter Maguire.
When Charlie was six, Peter Maguire died. The Knockroe farm was left to Owen, and Charlie and his mother moved to Peter’s other farm in the neighbouring townland of Gobnafarna.
In 1944, a local priest and the gardaí decided Charlie’s mother was unable to control him. The 11-year-old was sent to St Joseph’s Industrial School at Letterfrack, Co Galway. He never recovered psychologically from the physical abuse he suffered.
At 16 he was released and spent the next eight years working on a farm in Galway. Then he made his way back to Swanlinbar.
The family was traditional, even by 1950s standards. Their house was thatched and Bridget Maguire is remembered as still wearing a black shawl in the 1960s.
Charlie was blamed for petty crime in the area. In 1960 he was jailed for two years, with hard labour, after being found guilty of the larceny of five hens. He was found not guilty of stealing sheaves of oats to the value of £2 (approximately €90 in today’s money), and a turf spade.
In April 1962, soon after his release, he was charged with setting fire to a haypeck. The alleged offences were part of a dispute with a neighbour. Some older locals still claim the haypeck was rotten, and couldn’t burn.
The court found Charlie unfit to plead and ordered he be detained at the Central Mental Hospital. Medical staff there assessed him as schizophrenic, but not a threat. In 1963 he was transferred to St Davnet’s Hospital, Monaghan, where he would spend the rest of his life.
In 1971 the Forest and Wildlife Service bought his farm at Gubnafarna. He was paid £350 (approximately €7,500 in today’s terms) for the 15 acres. He was satisfied with the price. However, after the money was paid to him he had difficulties in ascertaining its whereabouts. Despite his limited education, he challenged several solicitors and banks till he tracked down the money.
One bank manager was so impressed by his persistence that he attended Charlie’s funeral. He regularly challenged the Health Board in writing with facts and figures querying deductions made from his benefit.
Incarceration made Charlie institutionalised. In 1983, a psychiatrist at St Davnet’s wrote: “If it were possible in some way to have the original charges processed so that he can remain on here as a voluntary patient, he would much appreciate it.”
Unfortunately this did not happen. The fact that there is no photograph to accompany this obituary of Charlie Maguire tells its own story.
Charlie “The Hare” Maguire: born January 14th, 1933; died October 10th, 2010
dinsdag, oktober 26, 2010
Bevestiging
Met dank aan Observatrix
Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters
24-10-2010
Pressure is on to change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it's not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the church isn't Catholic enough.
Enraged by dissent that they believe has gone unchecked for decades, and unafraid to say so in the starkest language, these activists are naming names and unsettling the church.
- In the Archdiocese of Boston, parishioners are dissecting the work of a top adviser to the cardinal for any hint of Marxist influence.
- Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights.
- RealCatholicTV.com, working from studios in suburban Detroit, is hunting for "traitorous" nuns, priests or bishops throughout the American church.
"We're no more engaged in a witch hunt than a doctor excising a cancer is engaged in a witch hunt," said Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV.com and St. Michael's Media. "We're just shining a spotlight on people who are Catholics who do not live the faith."
John Allen, Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, has dubbed this trend "Taliban Catholicism." But he says it's not a strictly conservative phenomenon - liberals can fit the mindset, too, Allen says. Some left-leaning Catholics are outraged by any exercise of church authority.
Yet on the Internet and in the church, conservatives are having the bigger impact.
Among Voris' many media ventures is the CIA - the Catholic Investigative Agency - a program from RealCatholicTV to "bring to light the dark deeds of evil Catholics-in-name-only, who are hijacking the Church for their own ends, not the ends of Christ."
In an episode called "Catholic Tea Party," Voris said: "Catholics need to be aware .
and studied and knowledgeable enough about the faith to recognize a heretical nun or a traitorous priest or bishop when they see one - not so they can vote them out of office, but so they can pray for them, one, and alert as many other Catholics as possible to their treachery, two."
The blog "Bryan Hehir Exposed" is aimed at a top adviser to Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, who is the former head of national Catholic Charities and a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Among the bloggers' claims is that Hehir is a Marxist sympathizer who undermines Catholic teaching on abortion and marriage Hehir, who has advised church leaders for four decades, hasn't responded to any accusations and neither has O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar known for his humility.
However, O'Malley said in April on his own blog that Hehir "inspires us with his compassion, vision and fidelity to the work of the Church."
In August, O'Malley blocked access from archdiocesan headquarters to one of the critical blogs, the anonymously penned Boston Catholic Insider.
"The lack of civility is very disturbing," said Terrence C. Donilon, the archdiocesan spokesman.
The work of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is another frequent target.
Activists and bloggers, including Bellarmine Veritas Ministry of Texas, have been investigating the bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a national grantmaking program created in the 1970s to support community organizing and economic development.
The activists concluded that some of the grantees back same-sex marriage, artificial contraception or abortion rights.
As part of the push, activists accused the director of the bishops' national social justice office of serving on the board of a nonprofit while it advocated for gay marriage and abortion.
The claims against him were shown to be unfounded.
Still, the bloggers had an impact.
The bishop who oversees the anti-poverty grants said that a few, but not all, of the accused grantees had indeed taken positions contrary to church teaching and had been defunded.
Since the controversy erupted, 10 of the 195 U.S. dioceses have suspended or dropped annual parish collections for the program, and the bishops are reviewing their 
grant policies.
Thomas Peters, who runs the popular "AmericanPapist" blog, said fellow orthodox Catholics have embraced the Web because they feel they finally have a platform that can compete with well-established liberal Catholic publications, such as the National Catholic Reporter.
(Some conservative bloggers call the paper "the National Catholic Destroyer.")
marsen, de tabaksindustrie en miljoenenclaims? Sterft gij, oude vormen en gedachten!
Dankzij CDA VVD en Wilders roept een zichzelf respecterend slachtoffer 2010:
jongens, op naar de kerk en neem een handje centen mee
"Kabinet aan kerk en goed doel: Meld giften"
21-10-2010 Reformatorisch Dagblad
In het regeerakkoord van het nieuwe kabinet staat tussen diverse financiële maatregelen een opmerking die voor kerken en goede doelen van groot belang kan zijn. Volgens het akkoord zouden zij giften moeten gaan melden.
jongens, op naar de kerk en neem een handje centen mee
"Kabinet aan kerk en goed doel: Meld giften"
21-10-2010 Reformatorisch Dagblad
In het regeerakkoord van het nieuwe kabinet staat tussen diverse financiële maatregelen een opmerking die voor kerken en goede doelen van groot belang kan zijn. Volgens het akkoord zouden zij giften moeten gaan melden.
maandag, oktober 25, 2010
Tante zus en zo 'Heartbeat' host Jeanie Greene wins AFN's top honor
FAIRBANKS – “When I look out there, I see 5,000 stories," Jeanie Greene told the Alaska Federation of Natives crowd moments after winning one of the AFN's top honors.The federation named the "Heartbeat Alaska" host Citizen of the Year today for a career that’s spanned 20 years of filming life in rural Alaska.
“When I began it was really tough. There was no stories
about Natives except the drunks with black eyes in the paper,” she said backstage, holding a headress she was gifted along with the award.An Inupiat who grew up in Sitka, Greene said she was raised on stories of reindeer herding and ice-breaking. “I wanted to share the Alaska that I knew."
The award came during this morning’s opening session of the AFN convention. U.S. Rep. Don Young won the “Denali Award,” which is given to a non-Native for contributions to the Alaska Native community.
Greene said she got her start in 1990 as a reporter for KIMO Channel 13 in Anchorage, launching “Heartbeat Alaska” about two years later.
“Nothing in the world could mean more to me than this award, at this time in my life especially,” Greene said backstage. Her father, Eugene Blatchford, died on Sept. 28.
Greene said she got her start in 1990 as a reporter for KIMO Channel 13 in Anchorage, launching “Heartbeat Alaska” about two years later.
“Nothing in the world could mean more to me than this award, at this time in my life especially,” Greene said backstage. Her father, Eugene Blatchford, died on Sept. 28.
Greene’s has the biggest Facebook fanbase she’s ever seen said Nancy Barnes, president of the Eyak Corp. and an aide to AFN co-chairman Sen. Albert Kookesh. “We’re always telling her she should run for office.”
Midden in het tuintje van m'n ouwe malle oom staat een kauwgomballenboom een echte kauwgomballenboom. Met honderdduizend ballen voor een stuiver en een cent, die zie je zomaar zitten als je uitgeslapen bent. Ze vallen met z'n allen uit de takken van de boom, midden in het tuintje van m'n oom. En elke zondagmiddag is er feest in de straat, dan zingen alle kind'ren en niemand komt te laat want dan klimt m'n oom naar het topje van de boom.Dan schudt 'ie aan de takken en de ballen die dan plakken laat 'ie naar beneden zakken die mogen we dan pakken tot we smikkelen en smakken, midden in het tuintje van m'n oom. Weet je wat het beste is in jouw geval neem een kauwgombal een hele grote kauwgombal. Je hoeft 'em niet te kopen voor een stuiver of een cent, gewoon een stukje lopen als je uitgeslapen bent. Dan kom je zonder zoeken bij de kauwgomballenboom middenin het tuintje van mijn oom. Want elke zondagmiddag is het feest in de straat, dan zingen alle kind'ren en niemand komt te laat want dan schudt m'n oom alle ballen uit de boom. Waarom zit je nog te kniezen, pak je spullen en je biezen, laat je kaken niet bevriezen, wat heb je te verliezen dan je tanden en je kiezen, leve me ouwe malle oom!
Alaskan Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks. A Bishops Perspective
Survival theme affects us allBy Bishop Edward J. Burns A Bishop's Perspective
I just returned from the Alaskan Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks. I joined my brother bishops, Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz and Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler in being a part of the celebrations in this community event. It was a good experience.
When I arrived in Fairbanks, I learned a film crew was producing a PBS documentary on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic church workers that occurred in the Native villages of rural Alaska. It was their intention to focus on Kettler's address to the AFN participants.
We celebrated a Mass of Reconciliation at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Along with everyone attending this Mass, my brother bishops and I were each given a burlap patch with a brown ribbon attached to it. Created by parishioners and based on the sackcloth and ashes worn by the people of Ninevah as a sign to God of their sorrow for their sins (Jonah 3:1-10), we all wore them as a sign of public penance. They were a visible sign to victims of sorrow for their injuries and pain and our prayers for them and all who have been wounded by this scandal.
In his homily, Kettler said, "In this diocese, we as Church failed badly our young brothers and sisters. Some of our priests, ministers, staff and volunteers harmed children, sexually abused them. I must acknowledge and admit these grave, evil and sinful acts. I stand here before you and I know the other bishops and priests here in this sanctuary do as well, to acknowledge to you that we are contrite and full of sorrow. As bishop, I express profound sadness and repentance on my behalf and on behalf of this diocese and the Church for these terrible acts. I also want to apologize to anyone who has been emotionally, spiritually or physically harmed when your native culture was dismissed, ridiculed or suppressed by members of the Church. Many of our liturgies, including today's, are richer because of your cultural contributions to our Church celebrations and activities."
The theme of this year's AFN gathering was, "Village Survival." It seems to me that in order to survive any ordeal, we must come together as a community. I noticed that the coverage of the AFN convention in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner began with the many threats to the survival of Alaska Native people and their village communities: sexual abuse, domestic violence, prejudice and racial discrimination, subsistence laws, suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, school drop-out rates, high rural unemployment, poverty and family breakdown. These problems are huge areas of concern and the reason for the broken hearts and spirits of too many Alaska Native people.
From my perspective, village survival is not only the concern of Alaska Natives. When these tragedies affect any of our fellow Alaskans, they concern the wider community and its institutions - our local and state governments,
our churches and our schools. As 
we share our cultures, we should also stand in solidarity with those who suffer. One way of being in solidarity is to share our traditions based on mutual respect and treat the suffering with total compassion.Let me use this illustration in sharing our cultures. If I had a dollar and you had a dollar, we could agree to exchange dollars. In doing so, I would still have one dollar and you would still have one dollar. Our status wouldn't change - we would still each have one dollar. But, if you shared your culture with me and I shared my culture with you, we would still possess our own cultures, but we would now be enriched by knowing something of each other's way of life. In the exchange of cultures, I would be richer in understanding your culture, w
isdom and traditions. In addition to learning a new culture, I would still have my own. If we continue to exchange cultures with others, then the community would be richer for it.While many people do not desire to reveal their pain and suffering, it should not be ignored that when one hurts, it affects all of us. True compassion leads to sharing another's pain. To help our friends and neighbors to survive and to flourish is not only a theme in the Bible and the heart of this year's AFN convention; it is our obligation and our duty.
(Nog een RK bischops perspectief: vis op vrijdag! )
Smithsonian balloon song
zondag, oktober 24, 2010
Kindesmissbrauch ist in der Wissenschaft noch immer ein Randthema. Viele Richter, Staatsanwälte oder Mediziner meiden das Thema, Forscher ebenso
Forschen im "Dunkelfeld"
Viele der Männer, die nicht ausschließlich auf Kinder fixiert seien, hätten feste Beziehungen zu Frauen, sagt Beier. Aber Sex mit erwachsenen Frauen könne die pädophile Neigung eines Mannes nicht unterdrücken. Diese Präferenz sei "nicht hintergehbar" - ein Leben lang. Die Betroffenen dürften sich nichts vormachen - alles andere sei "Selbstbetrug".
Ein Prozent der männlichen Bevölkerung ist pädophil. Das "erste Problembewusstsein" stelle sich bei den meisten Anfang 20 ein, erzählt Beier. Die Männer, die bei ihm Rat suchen, sind im Schnitt aber bereits 40 Jahre alt. Das sei "viel zu spät", beklagt Beier. Er würde die Betroffenen gerne im jungen Erwachsenenalter erreichen, bevor sie sich für einen Job entscheiden. Viele suchten sich Aufgaben mit Kontakt zu Kindern - als Pädagogen, Erzieher oder auch ehrenamtlich in Sportvereinen oder der Gemeinde. Mehr Nähe zu Kindern bedeutet mehr Risiko.
In der Aufklärung gebe es noch viel zu tun, sagt Beier. In der Gesellschaft, aber auch in Berufen, die mit Missbrauch zu tun haben. Richter etwa müssten sich verpflichtend fortbilden und mit dem Thema beschäftigen. Es müssten bundesweit Anlaufstellen für Pädophile her, neue Medikamente und eine breitere Therapieforschung. Nötig seien "Chronikerprogramme", in denen Betroffene immer wieder die Möglichkeit hätten, sich in Behandlung zu begeben. Pädophilie sei schließlich nichts anderes als eine "chronische Erkrankung".
Gegen diese Einschätzung wehren sich Opfervertreter wie Norbert Denef vehement. Von einer Neigung oder einer Krankheit will der 61-Jährige nicht sprechen. Für ihn ist Pädophilie ein "Verbrechen, das man im Kopf plant". Dies werde "verharmlost" und "verniedlicht". Denef ist selbst Opfer. In seiner Jugend wurde er über mehrere Jahre von einem katholischen Priester missbraucht. Inzwischen hat er einen Netzwerk Betroffener gegründet - das Netzwerk B.
Täterforschung hält Denef für richtig. "Da kann man nicht genug machen", sagt er. Nur müsse die Wissenschaft mehr in die Tiefe gehen, nach Ursachen fragen. Das macht Beier seiner Ansicht nach zu wenig. "Und man darf die Opfer nicht vernachlässigen", mahnt er. Betroffene müssten oft monatelang auf eine Therapie warten, weil es schlicht an Behandlungsplätzen fehle.
Beier reagiert mit Verständnis auf die Kritik. Bei einem derart "emotional belasteten Thema" sei klar, dass es Vorbehalte gebe, sagt der Sexualmediziner, aber unter rationalen Gesichtspunkten wisse er "keinen besseren Weg", als pädophile Männer davon abzuhalten, überhaupt zum Täter zu werden.
Nibelungen-Kurier, 23. Oktober 2010
Berliner Wissenschaftler behandeln Pädophile / Viele andere meiden das "Schmuddelthema" Missbrauch
Klaus Beier arbeitet in der "Schmuddelecke". Kindesmissbrauch ist in der Wissenschaft noch immer ein Randthema. Für den Berliner Sexualwissenschaftler Beier nicht. Er behandelt Pädophile, hilft ihnen, ihre Neigung zu kontrollieren und bemüht sich um Aufklärung. Viele Richter, Staatsanwälte oder Mediziner meiden das Thema dagegen, Forscher ebenso. Zu groß ist die Abscheu, in die Welt von "abstoßenden" sexuellen Fantasien einzutauchen. Daran hat auch der jüngste Missbrauchs-Schock in Deutschland nichts geändert.
Zu Jahresbeginn kamen bundesweit nahezu täglich neue Fälle von Kindesmissbrauch in Schulen, Internaten und katholischen Einrichtungen ans Licht. Eilig wurde ein Runder Tisch ins Leben gerufen und eine Hotline für Opfer eingerichtet. Das Thema dominierte wochenlang die Nachrichten. Doch inzwischen ist es wieder ruhiger geworden. Der Runde Tisch arbeitet zwar noch, Anfang Dezember ist das nächste Treffen angesetzt. Beier sitzt selbst in dem Gremium. Im Alltag muss er aber immer noch gegen viele Vorurteile und viel Unwissen ankämpfen. Auch andere Fachleute beklagen, dass das Thema eine Randexistenz fristet.
2005 startete Beier an der Berliner Charité das Projekt "Dunkelfeld". Es bietet kostenlose Beratung und Therapie für Pädophile an. 55 Prozent der Männer, die zu Beier kommen, haben bereits Übergriffe an Kindern begangen. Der Rest spürt den Sog zu Jungen und Mädchen und hat Angst, dem nachzugeben. Was alle gemeinsam haben, ist der Wunsch, ihren sexuellen Hang unter Kontrolle zu bekommen. "Niemand sollte für seine Neigung verurteilt werden", sagt Beier, "sehr wohl aber für sein Verhalten." Entscheidend sei, dass jemand "sein Schicksal akzeptiert und verantwortungsvoll damit umgeht, damit aus Fantasien keine Taten werden".
Derzeit sind etwa drei Dutzend Männer bei dem Projekt in Behandlung. Wöchentlich sprechen sie in Einzelsitzungen oder in Zehner-Gruppen mit Therapeuten über Risikosituationen im Alltag - Momente, in denen sie mit Kindern allein sind - und wie sie dabei sicher ihr Verhalten kontrollieren. Ein Fünftel der Männer bekommt zusätzlich Medikamente, um den sexuellen Antrieb zu dämpfen. Partner und Verwandte bindet das Team von Beier ein und klärt auch sie über Gefahrensituationen auf.Viele der Männer, die nicht ausschließlich auf Kinder fixiert seien, hätten feste Beziehungen zu Frauen, sagt Beier. Aber Sex mit erwachsenen Frauen könne die pädophile Neigung eines Mannes nicht unterdrücken. Diese Präferenz sei "nicht hintergehbar" - ein Leben lang. Die Betroffenen dürften sich nichts vormachen - alles andere sei "Selbstbetrug".
Ein Prozent der männlichen Bevölkerung ist pädophil. Das "erste Problembewusstsein" stelle sich bei den meisten Anfang 20 ein, erzählt Beier. Die Männer, die bei ihm Rat suchen, sind im Schnitt aber bereits 40 Jahre alt. Das sei "viel zu spät", beklagt Beier. Er würde die Betroffenen gerne im jungen Erwachsenenalter erreichen, bevor sie sich für einen Job entscheiden. Viele suchten sich Aufgaben mit Kontakt zu Kindern - als Pädagogen, Erzieher oder auch ehrenamtlich in Sportvereinen oder der Gemeinde. Mehr Nähe zu Kindern bedeutet mehr Risiko.
In der Aufklärung gebe es noch viel zu tun, sagt Beier. In der Gesellschaft, aber auch in Berufen, die mit Missbrauch zu tun haben. Richter etwa müssten sich verpflichtend fortbilden und mit dem Thema beschäftigen. Es müssten bundesweit Anlaufstellen für Pädophile her, neue Medikamente und eine breitere Therapieforschung. Nötig seien "Chronikerprogramme", in denen Betroffene immer wieder die Möglichkeit hätten, sich in Behandlung zu begeben. Pädophilie sei schließlich nichts anderes als eine "chronische Erkrankung".
Gegen diese Einschätzung wehren sich Opfervertreter wie Norbert Denef vehement. Von einer Neigung oder einer Krankheit will der 61-Jährige nicht sprechen. Für ihn ist Pädophilie ein "Verbrechen, das man im Kopf plant". Dies werde "verharmlost" und "verniedlicht". Denef ist selbst Opfer. In seiner Jugend wurde er über mehrere Jahre von einem katholischen Priester missbraucht. Inzwischen hat er einen Netzwerk Betroffener gegründet - das Netzwerk B.
Täterforschung hält Denef für richtig. "Da kann man nicht genug machen", sagt er. Nur müsse die Wissenschaft mehr in die Tiefe gehen, nach Ursachen fragen. Das macht Beier seiner Ansicht nach zu wenig. "Und man darf die Opfer nicht vernachlässigen", mahnt er. Betroffene müssten oft monatelang auf eine Therapie warten, weil es schlicht an Behandlungsplätzen fehle.
Beier reagiert mit Verständnis auf die Kritik. Bei einem derart "emotional belasteten Thema" sei klar, dass es Vorbehalte gebe, sagt der Sexualmediziner, aber unter rationalen Gesichtspunkten wisse er "keinen besseren Weg", als pädophile Männer davon abzuhalten, überhaupt zum Täter zu werden.
zaterdag, oktober 23, 2010
Genoeg! Richard Sipe: The time for apologies is over !
Increasingly over recent times a number of commentators on Catholica and elsewhere have been suggesting clericalism is at the heart of the institution's present problems. Some have argued our collective understanding of the role of priesthood is changing or evolving. Richard Sipe, one of the most informed, vocal and respected international commentators on the clerical abuse scandal, today argues that there are welcome developments opening up in the thinking at the highest levels of the Church. He argues the time for apologies is over and we now need sieze the opportunity for constructive talk and a bit of love. "Love," he says, "involves an uncompromising duty to seek the truth".
The Dialogue needed about clerical culture and seminaries...
Dialogue about important questions is all I have ever advocated — I have worked hard and fought in every way I have known for discussion about every aspect of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. One goal is to have that dialogue start in Catholic seminaries. Although I think that a married priesthood and the ordination of women is within the evolutionary future of the Church I have never been an activist in these movements. Even in being an expert witness and consultant in sexual abuse cases against church entities I have always looked for ways to review and bring significant issues into open discourse. My service focuses on the protection of children from the assault of disordered and perverted power. I am not alone.
Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the Vatican prosecutor in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, raised a credible candid voice in September 2010 when he admitted to the press that sex abuse by Catholic clergy was an age-old problem that needs to be rooted out. He stated,
Last month a new clerical hero burst onto center stage in the midst of our Catholic sexual crisis. Robert Zollitsch, archbishop of Freiburg and Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference went beyond simple apologies for clergy sexual malfeasance and advocated for
"taking the initiative toward dialogue…that includes ways to talk about awkward subjects in the area of sexuality, the vow of celibacy or the receiving of the sacrament by divorcees." [20 sep2010]
He is on target, neither defensive nor apologetic when he focused on the need to review the "personal, spiritual and sacramental life of our clergy [that] has long been pressing." He also admitted, "We know that we failed," adding that the widespread problem of molestation by pedophile priests had been "recognized too late."
Why is priestly ministry limited to men? Why can't women be lawfully ordained? Does the all-male-power-structure generate and perpetuate misogyny and homosexuality? Is mandatory celibacy necessary, or even desirable for diocesan clergy? Should clerical celibacy be perpetual? Is blind obedience to the pope moral? Is the idea of infallibility wrong—destructive and not in keeping with Christian life and mission?
The Roman Catholic Church is in a crisis mode because these unsolved issues are vibrant and prominent in the minds of many thoughtful Catholics and crucial to the continued membership of some.
Pope John Paul II called clergy abuse an "American problem". He and Benedict XVI both warned that "secular" values and culture influenced errant priests. Nonetheless irrefutable evidence indicates otherwise. Facts are mounting. The pattern, practice, and record of abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and the church response now shouts for itself. Although the fight to expose the phenomenon has gone on for 25 years, 2010 appears to be the tipping point in the worldwide awareness of Catholic clergy abuse.------------------------------
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, Austria's top churchman has spoken out forcefully about "the wall of silence" that has to be broken. He told reporters, "This is not allowed to happen and cannot be allowed to repeat itself."
Prevention will not occur without discussion of the realities of sexuality, celibacy, and the development of explicit and honest norms for sexual responsibility and accountability for human behavior on every level of the church. The darkness of secrecy breeds betrayal, abuse and violent assault. Revelations over the last decade have proved that.
The international importance of Archbishop Zollitsch's public stance is impossible to overestimate. It, along with Cardinal Christopher Schönborn's recommendation that the Vatican conduct an "unflinching study" of the causes of clergy sexual abuse including "mandatory celibacy, personality development and seminary education" indicates the inexorable direction of clerical reform.
A. W. Richard Sipe is currently devoted full time to research into the sexual and celibate practices of Roman Catholic bishops and priests. That path now leads him to the study of the sexual teaching of the church and its effects on behavior—especially sexual abuse of minors by clergy—and the tangle of sexual problems that some people claim are blocking every religious agenda and destroying beyond repair the credibility of the Catholic Church in sexual matters. He has spent his life searching for the origins, meanings, and dynamics of religious celibacy. His six books including his now classic A Secret World and Celibacy in Crisis explore various aspects of the questions about the pattern and practice of religious celibacy. He spent 18 years serving the Church as a Benedictine monk and Catholic priest. In those capacities he was trained to deal with the mental health problems of priests. He has been married for 35 years and has one son. Both as a priest and married man he has practiced psychotherapy, taught on the faculties of Major Catholic Seminaries and colleges, lectured in medical schools, and served as a consultant and expert witness in both civil and criminal cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. Sipe lives with his wife in La Jolla, CA.
©2010 A.W. Richard Sipe
The Dialogue needed about clerical culture and seminaries...
Dialogue about important questions is all I have ever advocated — I have worked hard and fought in every way I have known for discussion about every aspect of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. One goal is to have that dialogue start in Catholic seminaries. Although I think that a married priesthood and the ordination of women is within the evolutionary future of the Church I have never been an activist in these movements. Even in being an expert witness and consultant in sexual abuse cases against church entities I have always looked for ways to review and bring significant issues into open discourse. My service focuses on the protection of children from the assault of disordered and perverted power. I am not alone.
Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the Vatican prosecutor in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, raised a credible candid voice in September 2010 when he admitted to the press that sex abuse by Catholic clergy was an age-old problem that needs to be rooted out. He stated,
"I don't think it's a question of happening. It has always happened. It's important that people talk about it, because otherwise we cannot bring the healing which the church can offer to people who need it — both the victims and perpetrators."
Last month a new clerical hero burst onto center stage in the midst of our Catholic sexual crisis. Robert Zollitsch, archbishop of Freiburg and Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference went beyond simple apologies for clergy sexual malfeasance and advocated for"taking the initiative toward dialogue…that includes ways to talk about awkward subjects in the area of sexuality, the vow of celibacy or the receiving of the sacrament by divorcees." [20 sep2010]
He is on target, neither defensive nor apologetic when he focused on the need to review the "personal, spiritual and sacramental life of our clergy [that] has long been pressing." He also admitted, "We know that we failed," adding that the widespread problem of molestation by pedophile priests had been "recognized too late."
The larger challenges of the current crisis in the Roman Catholic Church are not limited to behaviors, but impinge on the structure of ministry — dangerous questions about power.
Why is priestly ministry limited to men? Why can't women be lawfully ordained? Does the all-male-power-structure generate and perpetuate misogyny and homosexuality? Is mandatory celibacy necessary, or even desirable for diocesan clergy? Should clerical celibacy be perpetual? Is blind obedience to the pope moral? Is the idea of infallibility wrong—destructive and not in keeping with Christian life and mission?
The Roman Catholic Church is in a crisis mode because these unsolved issues are vibrant and prominent in the minds of many thoughtful Catholics and crucial to the continued membership of some.
Sexual abuse of minors by bishops and priests is the symptom behavior that brings the whole of the sexual/celibate agenda into unavoidable attention.
Pope John Paul II called clergy abuse an "American problem". He and Benedict XVI both warned that "secular" values and culture influenced errant priests. Nonetheless irrefutable evidence indicates otherwise. Facts are mounting. The pattern, practice, and record of abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and the church response now shouts for itself. Although the fight to expose the phenomenon has gone on for 25 years, 2010 appears to be the tipping point in the worldwide awareness of Catholic clergy abuse.
United States: Reports and complaints of sexual abuse by over 15,000 victims involving 6,000 priests are now on record.
On April 18, 2008 Pope Benedict XVI met with five Boston victims of clergy sex abuse while on his U.S. visit. He apologized to them.
------------------------------On April 18, 2008 Pope Benedict XVI met with five Boston victims of clergy sex abuse while on his U.S. visit. He apologized to them.
Australia: During a visit in July 2008 Pope Benedict XVI stated. "I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured… These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. Those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice."
-----------------------------
Austria: Between January and April 2010 an Austrian abuse phone tracker registered 566 separate claims of abuse. The exact number of victims of Catholic priests in that group was not determined. But the country has been remarkable for the forced resignation in 1995 of Cardinal Hans Herman Groer, a former Benedictine abbot, for allegations of sexual abuse of at least five young seminarians. Another Benedictine abbot, Bruno Becker of Salzburg, resigned in March after he admitted abusing a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s. Some early reports stated that Benedictine monks at the Ettal Monastery boarding school abused several hundred students for decades. One admitted perpetrator at Ettal who abused students is still active another is deceased. The Vatican confirmed it would send an inspector to look into accusations of sexual abuse made by 20 alumni of the school. The head of the Vienna archdiocese's church tax office estimated that up to 80,000 of Austria's roughly 5.5 million Catholics could leave the church this year setting a new record for defections.
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, Austria's top churchman has spoken out forcefully about "the wall of silence" that has to be broken. He told reporters, "This is not allowed to happen and cannot be allowed to repeat itself."
-----------------------------
Ireland: The Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin was set up in 2006 to determine how Church and State authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests over a period from 1975 to 2004. It concluded that four Dublin archbishops ignored and covered up cases of abuse during that time. That report concluded in November 2009 that the archdiocese operated in a "culture of concealment, placing the integrity of its institutions above the welfare of the children in its care." Two major reports (Murphy and Ryan) into allegations of pedophilia among Irish clergy revealed the shocking extent of abuse, cover-ups and hierarchical failings involving thousands of victims, and stretching back decades.
On March 20, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI apologized to Irish victims of child sex abuse by Catholic priests a few days after this admission with the words, "I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel."
----------------------------The Netherlands: In March 2010 Dutch bishops ordered an independent inquiry into more than 200 allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.
The Dutch Catholic Church offered its apologies to the victims.
The Dutch Catholic Church offered its apologies to the victims.
----------------------------
Germany: On March 12, 2010 Germany's Jesuit provincial acknowledged that 200 students had been abused at one prodigious school.
Germany's Jesuit provincial superior Stefan Kiechle said Jesuits must acknowledge the victims and indicated that the Jesuit Order would offer compensation of around $7,000 to victims of sexual abuse by their priests. German Archbishop Zollitsch publicly decried clerical abuse as "outrageous" and asked victims for forgiveness.
Germany's Jesuit provincial superior Stefan Kiechle said Jesuits must acknowledge the victims and indicated that the Jesuit Order would offer compensation of around $7,000 to victims of sexual abuse by their priests. German Archbishop Zollitsch publicly decried clerical abuse as "outrageous" and asked victims for forgiveness.
---------------------------
Switzerland: In March 2010 the Swiss Catholic Church admitted it was "investigating around 10 allegations" of child sex abuse by clergy Diocese of Chur. Benedictine Martin Werlen, the abbot of Einsiedeln said at least three of the 77 monks in his abbey had committed acts of abuse since he took up office in December 2001. In all, 60 allegations of abuse have been registered in the country.
Christoph Casetti, the Swiss bishop's representative, without any specific apology told national Swiss television that their primary goal is "to help the victims."
----------------------------Christoph Casetti, the Swiss bishop's representative, without any specific apology told national Swiss television that their primary goal is "to help the victims."
France: On April 1, 2010 two more cases of sexual abuse of minors by French Catholic priests came to national attention. There are 6 priests serving time in prison for sexual abuse of minors.
French Catholic bishops apologized with Gallic reservation. While expressing "shame and regret" over child sex abuse by priests they rationalized that accusations of abuse were part of a campaign to attack and slander the pope.
-----------------------------French Catholic bishops apologized with Gallic reservation. While expressing "shame and regret" over child sex abuse by priests they rationalized that accusations of abuse were part of a campaign to attack and slander the pope.
Malta: Eighty-four (84) allegations of child abuse have been made to the church in Malta between 1999 and 2010. Ten Maltese men filed suit against (a) priest(s) for abuse when they were children.
On April 19, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI met with 8 of the victims and proclaimed "that the church is doing all in its power to bring the guilty to justice and protect the young."
On April 19, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI met with 8 of the victims and proclaimed "that the church is doing all in its power to bring the guilty to justice and protect the young."
-----------------------------
Italy & Rome: In February 2010, the Vatican opened an investigation into allegations by 67 former pupils at a school for the deaf in Verona that 24 priests, brothers and lay religious men abused pupils from the 1950s to the 1980s. Three of the accusers repeated their claims on Italian prime-time television. In a signed statement last year, the 67 former pupils at a school for the deaf in Verona described sexual abuse, pedophilia and corporal punishment from the 1950s to the 1980s. They named 24 priests, brothers and lay religious men.
On June 11 Pope Benedict XVI tendered a public apology for the sex abuse scandal in St. Peter's Square. This was after numerous attempts to minimize and discredit reports of abuse as "petty gossip" and attempts to slander the Pope. The statement was heartfelt, but devoid of any sense of real action: "We...insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again."
----------------------------
Belgium: A September 10, 2010 announcement revealed that the bishops established a church commission to investigate 475 complaints of childhood sexual abuse by Belgium priests. It included a statement that "sexual abuse had been rife in Catholic institutions in the 1960s and 1970s, and led 13 victims to commit suicide." The situation is complicated because there is evidence that a bishop was involved in abuse of his nephew and a cardinal urged a cover up.
No apology was tendered because, as the Belgian bishops' spokesman on abuse issues explained, he was afraid and had to be careful: "If we say 'mea culpa', then we are morally responsible, legally responsible, and then people come wanting money."
----------------------------
Britain: September 18, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI said in London that clergy abuse had brought "shame and humiliation" on him and the entire Roman Catholic Church. Report of the number of victims or abusers in the U.K. or Ireland is not yet available.
The pope apologized with these words, "I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes."
----------------------------No protestations of sorrow or apologies or amends for the harm inflicted by abusive priests and the neglect of bishops to protect the vulnerable will solve the basic problems exposed by the scandal of abuse.
The clerical system selects, educates, sustains and covers up the crimes of a certain number of clergy who are bound to sexually violate children and others. Msgr. Scicluna's statement "that abuse is happening" and "has always happened" and "that it is important (crucial) for people to discuss it" is significant and historic if the Vatican means it and follows through.
The clerical system selects, educates, sustains and covers up the crimes of a certain number of clergy who are bound to sexually violate children and others. Msgr. Scicluna's statement "that abuse is happening" and "has always happened" and "that it is important (crucial) for people to discuss it" is significant and historic if the Vatican means it and follows through.
Discussion is the key to change...
The system — clerical culture — is the arena where decisive battles will be won or lost. The battle lines are drawn as they have been in every reformation era of the church. Crisis questions exposed by the sex abuse scandal are grounded in a clerical culture that is again inadequate and corrupt.
The system — clerical culture — is the arena where decisive battles will be won or lost. The battle lines are drawn as they have been in every reformation era of the church. Crisis questions exposed by the sex abuse scandal are grounded in a clerical culture that is again inadequate and corrupt.
Prevention will not occur without discussion of the realities of sexuality, celibacy, and the development of explicit and honest norms for sexual responsibility and accountability for human behavior on every level of the church. The darkness of secrecy breeds betrayal, abuse and violent assault. Revelations over the last decade have proved that.
A Mother Church, who sustains, nourishes and, protects her children demands light, accountability, openness and truth.
The international importance of Archbishop Zollitsch's public stance is impossible to overestimate. It, along with Cardinal Christopher Schönborn's recommendation that the Vatican conduct an "unflinching study" of the causes of clergy sexual abuse including "mandatory celibacy, personality development and seminary education" indicates the inexorable direction of clerical reform.
The difference between Zollitsch and Schönborn and even the three Belgium bishops who have said, "married men ought not to be excluded from priesthood" is that he places the responsibility on his own diocese and those of his brother German bishops to dialogue. He is not appealing to Rome for some change.
The time for apologies is over. Now is the time to talk. Love involves an uncompromising duty to seek the truth. This is the way any real reformation develops — through open discussion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IMAGE CREDIT:The image of Archbishop Robert Zoltich has been sourced from http://www.badische-zeitung.de/freiburg/weniger-einnahmen-fuer-erzbistum-freiburg--24070221.html which carries a number of interesting interviews in German with the Archbishop, HERE and HERE which can be accessed with a web translator.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. W. Richard Sipe is currently devoted full time to research into the sexual and celibate practices of Roman Catholic bishops and priests. That path now leads him to the study of the sexual teaching of the church and its effects on behavior—especially sexual abuse of minors by clergy—and the tangle of sexual problems that some people claim are blocking every religious agenda and destroying beyond repair the credibility of the Catholic Church in sexual matters. He has spent his life searching for the origins, meanings, and dynamics of religious celibacy. His six books including his now classic A Secret World and Celibacy in Crisis explore various aspects of the questions about the pattern and practice of religious celibacy. He spent 18 years serving the Church as a Benedictine monk and Catholic priest. In those capacities he was trained to deal with the mental health problems of priests. He has been married for 35 years and has one son. Both as a priest and married man he has practiced psychotherapy, taught on the faculties of Major Catholic Seminaries and colleges, lectured in medical schools, and served as a consultant and expert witness in both civil and criminal cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. Sipe lives with his wife in La Jolla, CA.©2010 A.W. Richard Sipe
vrijdag, oktober 22, 2010
operatie Brugse kelk; vreemde berichten
Niet elke belgenmop is grappigHalve garen die een steen met de naam van Vangheluwe willen verwijderen blijken niet zomaar halve garen, maar de andere kant van dezelfde medaille te zijn als
waarom bij ons de meiden in dat pest gehucht niet veilig waren, Kennelijk dezelfde behoefte tot geschiedvervalsing
Er zouden zich in één maand 103 slachtoffers bij Justitie hebben gemeld - aantal waar je helemaal kotsmisselijk van wordt- en volgens mededeling van zijn advocaat is Danneels een doofpotcrimineel.
OK
Een rechter wordt vrijgesproken, maar een ander gaat daar weer over in cassatie.
OK
Maar waarom was er in die zaal met die rechter die het in een zaak over een GSMetje vertikte een figuur die zich partij wilde stellen “namens de kindjes die slachtoffer zijn van seksueel misbruik”. Betrokkene werd op bevel van het Hof tijdelijk verwijderd." ?
donderdag, oktober 21, 2010
Opnieuw 103 klachten van misbruik in Kerk
Geplaatst door onze redactie op donderdag 21 oktober 2010 om 09:30u (Bron: Concentra)
BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) - De voorbije maand liepen 103 nieuwe klachten over seksueel misbruik in de Kerk binnen bij het federaal parket. Dat zegt Lieve Pellens van het parket in een hoorzitting in de Kamercommissie voor Justitie.
Het federaal parket moet de afhandeling van klachten over seksueel misbruik in de Kerk coördineren. Het kreeg na één maand werking 103 nieuwe klachten binnen van de slachtoffers zelf. Het stuurde hiervan al 53 dossiers naar plaatselijke parketten, waarvan 48 in Vlaanderen: 11 in Leuven, 7 in Brussel, 5 in Gent en Hasselt, 4 in Dendermonde, 3 in Antwerpen en Kortrijk.
Lieve Pellens, die dit soort klachten op het federaal parket behandelt, zegt dat de meeste slachtoffers niet op wraak uit zijn, maar op erkenning. De meeste feiten zijn verjaard, zo stelt ze.
Het oudste slachtoffer was 82 jaar, het jongste 23 jaar. 76 procent van de slachtoffers zijn mannen, die gemiddeld 49 jaar oud zijn. De feiten spelen zich af in een pastorale context (47%) of met priesters op een school (26%). In de helft van de gevallen is de dader gekend en van de gekende daders is 28 procent nog in leven
BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) - De voorbije maand liepen 103 nieuwe klachten over seksueel misbruik in de Kerk binnen bij het federaal parket. Dat zegt Lieve Pellens van het parket in een hoorzitting in de Kamercommissie voor Justitie.
Het federaal parket moet de afhandeling van klachten over seksueel misbruik in de Kerk coördineren. Het kreeg na één maand werking 103 nieuwe klachten binnen van de slachtoffers zelf. Het stuurde hiervan al 53 dossiers naar plaatselijke parketten, waarvan 48 in Vlaanderen: 11 in Leuven, 7 in Brussel, 5 in Gent en Hasselt, 4 in Dendermonde, 3 in Antwerpen en Kortrijk.
Lieve Pellens, die dit soort klachten op het federaal parket behandelt, zegt dat de meeste slachtoffers niet op wraak uit zijn, maar op erkenning. De meeste feiten zijn verjaard, zo stelt ze.
Het oudste slachtoffer was 82 jaar, het jongste 23 jaar. 76 procent van de slachtoffers zijn mannen, die gemiddeld 49 jaar oud zijn. De feiten spelen zich af in een pastorale context (47%) of met priesters op een school (26%). In de helft van de gevallen is de dader gekend en van de gekende daders is 28 procent nog in leven
Amnesty International Annual Lecture
Thousands of people in Northern Ireland have experienced clerical and institutional child abuse. Can they now secure justice? Can the rest of us come to terms with what was done while society turned a blind eye?Colm O’Gorman brings 12 years experience of successful campaigning on this
issue in Ireland. In 1998 he launched a legal case against the Roman Catholic Church as a result of his experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of one of its priests when he was a teenager. His battles with the Roman Catholic church led to the resignation of the Bishop of Ferns Dr Brendan Comiskey and the establishment of the Ferns Inquiry, the first state investigation into clerical sexual abuse in Ireland.Colm O’Gorman is author of the best-selling book Beyond Belief, founder of the One in Four organisation, and Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
“One of the most inspiring and dignified voices heard in Ireland in recent times” – Mary Robinson.
In association with the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s.
Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence
The following post first appeared as an article in the Amnesty International UK Magazine. It sets out the themes I will explore when I give the annual Amnesty International Lecture as part of the Belfast Festival 2010 on October 21st. More on the lecture here.Ireland has struggled in recent years to come to terms with the horrific legacy of child abuse in institutional care. The harm done to many thousands of Irish children by those charged with their care has rocked our society to its core. The State abdicated responsibility for the welfare of its most marginalised children to almost entirely unaccountable agencies. Those children were abused and degraded on an unthinkable scale. It is made all the worse because those agencies were churches, institutions charged with providing moral guidance.
In the southern Irish context the Roman Catholic Church operated most institutions, but a number were also run by Church of Ireland agencies. After decades of silence and denial by all of us, once named, the simple stark horror of what happened in those institutions could no longer be ignored.
International law is clear about the obligations on any State to address such past human rights violations.
States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right of victims of human rights violations to an effective remedy. In addressing past violations, states must ensure that the truth is told, that justice is done and that reparation is provided to all the victims. States obligations are the same even if non-state agencies such as churches are responsible for the abuse.
Addressing past violations has enormous value for wider society, by exposing the failures in law, social policy and attitudes, which allowed child abuse to occur on such a scale.
In this context responding to the past is not simply about addressing a historic hurt. It is also about acknowledging a source of ongoing trauma for victims of abuse by ending their enforced silence and the widespread, political and social denial of their hurt.
So this is not simply a matter of making real a past denied; it reveals the impact of that past today, on the lives of those who were abused and their families. In dealing with the past, as difficult and frightening as it is, we will find a way to name it, respond to it and learn from it.
Too often, we run from things we have done that we feel mark us as bad. I know that feeling; for so many years I ran from my own feelings of shame related to my own experiences of childhood abuse.
I believed that what I saw then as shameful, awful experiences named the truth of who I was. But they don’t.
The truth of who I am is to be found in the way I responded to the events that I have experienced. How I chose to deal with them, once I was free to do so.
In Ireland we have been forced to face up to the fact that thousands of Irish children were raped and abused by some of the most powerful members of our society, and that many of us turned a blind eye to the abuse, or refused to believe it was even possible. We can never again say, “I didn’t know”.
So what of that future? Can we move on with confidence, certain that we have faced what we needed to face and consign all of this to history?
I don’t think so.
As long as history has something to teach us about what it means to be human we must be open to hearing it again and again. We must learn that the terrible things we humans do to each other are only possible because we choose to tolerate them. We must learn that doing nothing in the face of great wrong is not passive neutrality. It is an act of violence – a violent refusal to act to prevent harm when we have both the capacity to understand the harm caused and the power to prevent it.
We have created the world we live in and we have the power to change it when change is needed. It may not always be easy to do so, but it is possible, even inevitable, if enough of us decide to demand change.
Be it ending the cover up of clerical sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church, or closing Guantánamo Bay and ending the use of torture, or outlawing the use of the death penalty, we can each be a powerful force for good, if we choose to be.
Too often, we are so frightened of acknowledging the awful things done to others by people close to us, and even by ourselves that we end up allowing such things to happen through our denial. In our silence we collude, in our denial we facilitate and in our softly spoken words of gossip we fail to take responsibility for what we know.
We are so frightened of seeing the darkness in our collective humanity that we fail to embrace the light that exists in at least equal measure there; the profound beauty in our own humanity that can respond with truth and courage to the things we see and do that are simply wrong.
What we have yet to understand is that we can only be enriched if we have the courage, compassion and integrity to name and confront injustice wherever we see it, especially when we are party to causing injustice ourselves.
Posted by Colm on Sunday, September 19, 2010
woensdag, oktober 20, 2010
StemPiet
De loslopende koeien in Oudenburg hebben de spelletjesmiddag voor de asielzoekers niet gehinderd.
Oproep slachtoffers Erik Dejaeger; Lieve Halsberghe werkt nu voor het internationale 'Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests' (SNAP).
Lieve Halsberghe roept slachtoffers ‘eskimopater’ Erik Dejaeger op zich te melden
20-10-2010
20-10-2010
Kortrijk - De in Kortrijk opgegroeide Lieve Halsberghe werkt nu voor het internationale 'Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests' (SNAP). Een van de dossiers waar Lieve zich in vastbeet, is dat van de Roeselaarse pater oblaat Erik Dejaeger. Hij misbruikte Inuit-kinderen in Canada. „Hij is een massakinderverkrachter die nu nog vrij rondloopt. Ik vermoed dat hij – voor hij naar Canada vertrok – ook in zijn geboortestad Roeselare slachtoffers heeft gemaakt. Ik roep die mensen op om hun verhaal te doen.”
Het is een constante bij Lieve: de slachtoffers staan centraal. Hun vragen, hun genezing gaan voor. Naar die slachtoffers wil ze een oproep doen.
Lieve Halsberghe : „In West-Vlaanderen, een provincie waar de katholieke Kerk nog sterk staat – en ministers vele potjes gedekt houden – zijn er nog vele slachtoffers die nooit de erkenning en de gerechtigheid kregen waar ze nood aan hebben om te kunnen genezen.”
„Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat vele slachtoffers hun verhaal deden bij Vangheluwe of Danneels en die zaken gewoon in de doofpot eindigden. De Kerk heeft ons vele jaren voorgelogen, ik wil dat de waarheid eindelijk naar boven komt. Ik hoop dat slachtoffers of familieleden van slachtoffers bij mij hun verhaal doen. Ook diegenen die tevergeefs aanklopten bij de Kerk. Enkel zo kunnen we een volledig dossier opstellen en een beeld krijgen van de systematiek waarbij criminele feiten verborgen werden.”
Massaverkrachter
Een van de dossiers waar Lieve zich sinds mei in heeft vastgebeten, is dat van pater oblaat Erik Dejaeger, die lange tijd in Canada bij de Inuits verbleef. De bundel heeft intussen de allures van een telefoonboek. „In de Canadese dorpen waar hij verbleef, heeft hij hele gemeenschappen verwoest.“
„Op de plaatsen waar Erik Dejaeger verbleef zijn de zelfmoordcijfers, de gevallen van seksuele agressie en alcoholverslaving extreem hoog.”
„Nog erger bijna is dat hij zo duidelijk de handen boven het hoofd werd gehouden. Pas toen er druk van de media kwam, heeft hij zich 'vrijwillig' aangeboden bij het gerecht. Hier in België, ja, omdat hij heel goed wist dat ze hem niets zouden maken. Hij zou beter het vliegtuig naar Canada nemen. Hij heeft niet langer de Belgische nationaliteit. Hij heeft een strafblad. Hij wordt gezocht door Interpol. Ieder ander was allang uitgewezen.”
Vriend van Roger Vangheluwe?
Lieve zit duidelijk met het dossier Dejaeger in haar maag. „Ik vraag me serieus af wat er gebeurd is voor 1973, voor hij naar Canada trok. Hij was toen 26. Een pedofiel begint niet op zijn 26ste. Ik heb sterke aanwijzingen dat hij een persoonlijke vriend van Roger Vangheluwe was. Ik vermoed dat Dejaeger voor zijn vertrek ook in de regio van Roeselare slachtoffers maakte. Ik roep die mensen op om contact met me op te nemen. Dat mag evengoed anoniem. Ook mensen die hem gekend hebben en informatie kunnen bieden, mogen me contacteren.”
(MVM)
Lieve Halsberghe contacteren, kan op 0475 91 09 18 of
lievehalsberghe@hotmail.com of snapbelgium@gmail.com.
dinsdag, oktober 19, 2010
aapies kijk dag; operatie injectie
bron
pitoresk Leuven
Het allerslechtste scoorde de K.U.Leuven in deze editie van de ISB op het gebied van internettoegang.
ecotoerisme
Sinte Caecilia vloog naar Amerika
daar zong een negerband hallelu hallelu
Zij keerde hemelwaarts en leerde daar zeer aards
engelen zingen van old black you
maandag, oktober 18, 2010
Koningshoeven geheime kamerheren en kriebelende knight merries
LETTER TO SEMINARIANS OF BENEDICT XVI
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Given below are ample extracts from the English-language version of a Letter to Seminarians, written by the Pope to mark the end of the Year for Priests and dated 18 October.
"When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company commander asked each of us what we planned to do in the future. I answered that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The lieutenant replied: 'Then you ought to look for something else. In the new Germany priests are no longer needed'. I knew that this 'new Germany' was already coming to an end, and that, after the enormous devastation which that madness had brought upon the country, priests would be needed more than ever. Today the situation is completely changed. In different ways, though, many people nowadays also think that the Catholic priesthood is not a 'job' for the future, but one that belongs more to the past. You, dear friends, have decided to enter the seminary and to prepare for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church in spite of such opinions and objections. You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalisation: they will always need the God Who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, the God Who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with Him and through Him life's true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity. Where people no longer perceive God, life grows empty; nothing is ever enough".
"In this letter I would like to point out - thinking back to my own time in the seminary - several elements which I consider important for these years of your journeying.
...
"(6) Your years in the seminary should also be a time of growth towards human maturity. It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to be humanly integrated. ... This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality. Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is also a task which relates to a person's growth towards human maturity. When it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and destructive. Today we can see many examples of this in our society.
Recently we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children and young people. Instead of guiding people to greater human maturity and setting them an example, their abusive behaviour caused great damage for which we feel profound shame and regret. As a result of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life. Yet even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission, which remains great and pure. Thank God, all of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state and specifically in the life of celibacy. Admittedly, what has happened should make us all the more watchful and attentive, precisely in order to examine ourselves earnestly, before God, as we make our way towards priesthood, so as to understand whether this is his will for me. It is the responsibility of your confessor and your superiors to accompany you and help you along this path of discernment".
"(7) The origins of a priestly vocation are nowadays more varied and disparate than in the past. Today the decision to become a priest often takes shape after one has already entered upon a secular profession. Often it grows within the communities, particularly within the movements, which favour a communal encounter with Christ and His Church, spiritual experiences and joy in the service of the faith. It also matures in very personal encounters with the nobility and the wretchedness of human existence. ... The movements are a magnificent thing. You know how much I esteem them and love them as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Yet they must be evaluated by their openness to what is truly Catholic, to the life of the whole Church of Christ, which for all her variety still remains one. The seminary is a time when you learn with one another and from one another. In community life, which can at times be difficult, you should learn generosity and tolerance, not only bearing with, but also enriching one another. .. This school of tolerance, indeed, of mutual acceptance and mutual understanding in the unity of Christ's Body, is an important part of your years in the seminary.
"Dear seminarians, with these few lines I have wanted to let you know how often I think of you, especially in these difficult times, and how close I am to you in prayer. Please pray for me, that I may exercise my ministry well, as long as the Lord may wish".
MESS/ VIS 20101018 (1680)
(gewijzigd 19-10, 14.00)
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