News Story of the Day

The Penn State Scandal: Contrasting the School’s Approach With the Catholic Church’s Approach to Its Own Child Sex Abuse Scandal

How does one explain the stark difference between how Penn State has handled its child sex abuse cover-up scandal, and how the Catholic bishops handled theirs?  I am going to take a page out of the book of the Framers of our Constitution, and suggest that the difference is all about organizational structure.


Jury awards sex assault victim $100 million in priest abuse case

A runaway teen in search of guidance, Andres Susaña spent his days hanging around Little Haiti's Keystone Trailer Park, growing to trust the Catholic priest who cruised the area offering advice and free meals.


The scandal of Spanish babies stolen by the Catholic Church

Doctors, nuns and priests were complicit in the baby selling scandal that has rocked Spain. A deliberate campaign to remove infants from families that Franco disapproved of, and place them with more suitable families, developed into babies for sale.


Politi: Joe Paterno, Penn State officials should have done more to help victims

Maybe your first reaction when you heard the vile news out of Penn State was outrage. Maybe you wanted school officials, including longtime head coach Joe Paterno, to pay with their jobs for what happened.


Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure

(Reuters) - Catholic Ireland's stunning decision to close its embassy to the Vatican is a huge blow to the Holy See's prestige and may be followed by other countries which feel the missions are too expensive, diplomatic sources said on Friday.


SNAP protests priest’s placement

JOLIET — A group representing people sexually abused by priests staged a small protest Wednesday outside the Catholic Diocese of Joliet offices.

Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and SNAP member Barbara Meyer held up childhood photos of abuse victims as they criticized the recent appointment of the Rev. Jeffery Salwach to the LaVerna Friary in St. Louis.


Poll: Irish Catholics have unfavorable view of church

DUBLIN, IRELAND -- In yet another sign that the beleaguered Catholic Church in Ireland has a long and arduous road to a brighter future, almost half of Irish people polled say they now have an unfavorable view of the church.


SNAP Program helps survivors of abuse cope

Sexual abuse of a child by clergymen is a horrific crime, a crime that takes place all over the world, including here in Fargo. And it can take survivors years to come forward, but one national group is doing everything they can to change that.


The Full Story on Bishop Finn

"Let's step outside and settle this thing like men," she said, and she was a lady. "You're spewing anti-Catholic rhetoric!" he insisted. "How can you criticize a bishop when you're an actor and everyone knows actors are perverts and nitwits," she screamed. (That last gal had a point).

These are all reactions to my post last week about Rod Dreher's article on Bishop Finn's Indictment.


CBC piece on Boy Scout Abuse

Tim Kosnoff was intereviewed extensively for this newspiece by the CBC regarding sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts. Below is a link to the CBC page where you can view the entire video yourself (the "geo-fence" around the site has been taken down temporarily to allow American viewers access.)


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