News Story of the Day
Report into Cardinal O'Brien should be published
21 March 2015 by Elena Curti, The Tablet
Pope Francis must hope that his swift, decisive action against Cardinal Keith O'Brien will draw the line under a scandal that done great harm to the Church in Scotland and beyond.
The Pope's personal intervention lies behind the announcement last Friday that O'Brien is surrendering the duties and trappings of a cardinal and the repetition of his profound apologies for sexual misdemeanours.
Victims of Clerical Sex Abuse Join Forces in Latin America
By Marianela Jarroud, Saturday, March 21, 2015, IPS -- Inter Press Service
- Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Latin America are taking the first steps towards grouping together in order to bolster their search for justice – a struggle where they have found a new ally: filmmaking.
“Besides entertaining us, movies urge people not to forget, to memorise what is happening to us as a society,” Chilean filmmaker Matías Lira told IPS.
All eyes on Australia's beef with the bishop
There was a time when the Catholic Church knew exactly what to do when one of its clergy molested a child.
"A cleric or monk who sexually molests youths or boys is to be publicly whipped, his head shaved, spat upon, and kept in prison for six months in chains on a diet of bread and water," wrote Basil the Great, the Greek bishop of Caesarea in the 4th century.
Meth dealing transvestite priest who owned a sex shop asks for leniency
Times LIVE | 19 March, 2015 14:41,
A suspended Catholic priest who dealt methamphetamines, owned a sex shop, and occasionally engaged in sex acts with men while cross-dressed has asked a judge for leniency.
According to the UK's Metro, Monsignor Kevin Wallin of the St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut first made headlines in 2013 when he was charged with dealing in crystal meth.
Pope's zero tolerance for pedophiles faces test in Chile
By EVA VERGARA March 16, 2015 1:40 PM, AP, Yahoo News
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Juan Carlos Cruz recalls that he and another teen boy would lie down on the priest's bed, one resting his head at the man's shoulder, another sitting near his feet. The priest would kiss the boys and grope them, he said, all while the Rev. Juan Barros watched.
Australia archbishop charged with concealing sex abuse
BBC News Australia, 17 March 2015 Last updated at 09:19 ET
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, has been charged with concealing child sexual abuse by a priest in the 1970s.
He denies failing to report abuse carried out by Jim Fletcher, who died in prison in 2006 while serving time for raping an altar boy.
If found guilty the archbishop could serve up to two years in jail.
Fleeing the FLDS: Followers are abandoning the notorious sect in droves
by March 16, 2015 5:00AM ET, Al Jazeera America
Warren Jeff's polygamous sect crumbles in the face of a federal lawsuit and a mass exodus.
Hildale, Utah -- "I finally heard about this thing called Facebook, like, a year ago. I had no idea what it war," says22-year old Brigham Johnson, rubbing his neat beard nervously.
He' embarrassed it took him to long to . . .
6 Reasons Why Sexual Predators Target Churches
March 09, 2015, Tim Challies, Challies.com
It is terrible but true—sexual predators target churches. In the mind of a predator, a church offers a compelling target and, too often, an easy target. I recently worked my way through On Guard by Deepak Reju and learned that there are at least 6 reasons why sexual predators specifically target churches.
Lakewood rabbi ordered beatings and demanded cash for forced divorces, attacker testifies
By , March 11, 2015 at 7:17 PM, updated March 12, 2015 at 7:56 AM
TRENTON —A Lakewood rabbi accused of arranging forced divorces orchestrated the beating of a Brooklyn man and demanded $50,000 for his work, a convicted Jewish religious leader said on Wednesday.
