Catholic Church sexual abuse victims in Baltimore speak out in favor of AG report release

Source: https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2022-11-18/catholic-church-sexual-abuse-victims-in-baltimore-speak-out-in-favor-of-ag-report-release

WYPR – 88.1 FM Baltimore | By Scott Maucione

Published November 18, 2022 at 2:34 PM EST

Individuals abused by Catholic priests in Maryland gathered in front of the Baltimore Archdiocese office on Friday to speak out in favor of public release of the grand jury investigation into religious leaders accused of abuse. After four years of investigation, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office has gathered a 456-page report that identifies 158 priests who are accused of abusing more than 600 children over an 80 year period. Attorney General Brian Frosh is seeking a court order, as required by state law, to release the grand jury documents to the public.

David Lorenz, Maryland director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, highlighted part of the report that accuses the Archdiocese of Baltimore of knowingly hiding the abuse.

“Time and again, the Archdiocese chose the abuser over the abused, the powerful over the weak, the adult over the child,” Lorenz said. “Hundreds of Marylanders have suffered mentally and physically for decades because of the Archdiocese in decisions.”

In the court motion seeking to disclose that investigation the Attorney General described the Archdiocese’s actions as “immeasurable.”

“There are almost certainly more as the Department of Justice’s Annual Crime Victimization Report has demonstrated most incidents of sexual assault go unreported,” according to the motion. “Many survivors of clergy abuse reported battling depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety as adults.”

Substance abuse and difficulty maintaining intimate relationships are other symptoms of abuse, according to the Attorney General. Two victims reported suicidal ideations or attempts, and two other victims took their own lives.

The Maryland Attorney General documented examples of abuse cover ups reaching back to the 1980s.

The state is seeking the Baltimore Circuit Court to allow release of the report. A judge could order sections to be redacted. It’s also unknown when the matter will be decided.

Catholic Church scandal

Source: https://www.heralddemocrat.com/2022/11/22/catholic-church-scandal/

On his plane back to Rome from a Middle East trip recently, Pope Francis acknowledged that the Vatican faces pushback in its efforts to overhaul the Catholic Church’s habits of denial, secrecy and coverup surrounding clerical sexual abuse. “There are people within the church who still do not see clearly,” he said, adding that “not everyone has courage.”

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Iran: End the Brutal Crackdown!

It’s shocking — Iranian courts sentenced five people to death over the mass protests that have swept through the country.

Many more people are in immediate danger. Journalists, human rights defenders, university students, moms, and schoolchildren have been murdered — and many of those arrested face torture, enforced disappearance, and unfair trials.

The regime is not backing down, and is now even resorting to public executions to crush the revolution. We must stand with the people in Iran!

Thousands of Iranians continue to protest, and we can help them keep the world’s attention on their struggle for freedom and justice. Sign our urgent petition now for world governments to help stop these brutal killings — and we will bring our voices straight into a crucial UN session.

Source: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/iran_executions_loc/?bPbJtab&v=143922&cl=19974194803&_checksum=3d029009003ead9cf9bcec3d95ada6349bbfb5f446dcba7d6c818c4a206298c5

Italy’s Catholic Church at crossroads over sexual abuse investigation

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italys-catholic-church-crossroads-over-sexual-abuse-investigation-2022-05-19/

May 19, 202211:36 AM GMT+2

By Angelo Amante and Philip Pullella

SAVONA, Italy, May 19 (Reuters) – Francesco Zanardi has spent the past 12 years documenting sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in Italy, filling a vacuum he says is caused by the refusal of the country’s Church thus far to launch a major investigation.

When Italian bishops meet next week to elect a new president, Zanardi is hoping to see the start of a long overdue reckoning for the Church, whose leaders will discuss whether to commission an independent investigation of abuse similar to those carried out in France and Germany.

Is net finally closing on US priest who allegedly abused ‘countless’ children?

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/24/lawrence-hecker-catholic-priest-abuse-allegations-new-orleans

FBI agents have questioned Lawrence Hecker, 91, who worked as a Catholic priest in New Orleans until 2002 despite the archdiocese being aware of molestation accusation since 1988

Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans

Sat 24 Sep 2022 12.00 BST

In arguably the clearest sign yet that he is under active criminal investigation, a retired Catholic priest from New Orleans who has been publicly accused of molesting “countless” children but never charged has acknowledged that the FBI recently questioned him.

A pope complicit in covering up sex crimes can bid moral authority goodbye

Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/25/catholic-church-pope-complicit-sex-crime-coverup/

By David Von Drehle
Columnist
January 25, 2022 at 4:50 p.m. EST

Everyone with open eyes can now see that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church never underestimated the problem of priests as sexual predators. They weren’t taken by surprise. Church leaders have known for decades exactly how vast the issue was, how all-consuming, from the humble parish all the way to the top in Rome.

To stop Russian manipulation, Francis must make Vatican’s stand on Ukraine clear

Source: https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/stop-russian-manipulation-francis-must-make-vaticans-stand-ukraine-clear

May 9, 2022

by Thomas Bremer, Regina Elsner, Massimo Faggioli, Kristina Stoeckl

Two months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has not missed a single occasion to claim that the Vatican stands by its side in the situation in Ukraine. While Vatican diplomacy and Pope Francis try to choose their words and symbolism to navigate a war that they seem to interpret as outcome of a geopolitical conflict of interests between Russia and the United States, the Moscow Patriarchate has been unwavering in its resolve to present the Vatican as an ally and ignore evidence to the contrary.

Why have you turned a deaf ear to the Lawsuit and kept your mouths shut although the three most recent Popes admitted to almost all the crimes committed by the Roman Catholic Church?!

An open letter with a question to international and domestic institutions whose fight and care for human rights are the grounds for their existence and work: 

“Since when are morals, ethics and justice, on which the fight for inalienable human rights, especially childrenˈs, is based, not important to you?”

Why have you turned a deaf ear to the Lawsuit and kept your mouths shut although the three most recent Popes admitted to almost all the crimes committed by the Roman Catholic Church?!

New Zealand’s Catholic church admits 14% of clergy have been accused of abuse since 1950

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/01/new-zealands-catholic-church-admits-14-of-clergy-have-been-accused-of-abuse-since-1950

New Zealand’s Catholic church has admitted that 14% of its diocesan clergy have been accused of abusing children and adults since 1950.

The church released the figures at the request of the royal commission on abuse in care, set up in 2018 by prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who said the country needed to confront “a dark chapter” in its history, and later expanded it to include churches and other faith-based institutions.

15 Of The Most Absurd And Unforgivable Things The Catholic Church Has Ever Done

Source https://www.ranker.com/list/most-unforgivable-things-the-catholic-church-has-done/lea-rose-emery

Lea Rose Emery

Updated September 29, 2021759.6k views15 items

It’s hard out here for a pope. See, when it comes to religious history, the list of Catholic Church transgressions makes for pretty uncomfortable reading. Despite exalting virtue and kindness in its teaching, church leadership has spearheaded a long history of outright unforgivable Catholic actions.

You might remember some of these improprieties from school – the Inquisition, Joan of Arc, and the trial of Galileo should all ring a bell. But not everything here is medieval. Though Vatican violence goes way back, a number of disturbing episodes are from recent history. Some of this repugnant behavior comes from popes, some was church-endorsed, and some, most unsettlingly, was just straight-up regular church practice.