State and territory attorneys-general are pressuring the new Turnbull government to respond quickly to a recommendation that it set up a $4 billion redress scheme for up to 60,000 survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
The attorneys-general today wrote to federal Attorney-General George Brandis calling for the “earliest possible indication from the Commonwealth as to whether it intends to establish and fund a national redress scheme” for abuse victims.
In a report released last week, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that child sexual abuse survivors have access to a $4 billion redress scheme as early as 2017.
Churches, schools and other institutions in which abuse occurred would be responsible for paying for compensation to victims, with the federal, state and territory governments to fund any shortfall.
It estimated “last resort funding” would cost $613 million or about 15 per cent of the total cost of redress, and left it open to federal, state and territory governments to negotiate how much of this amount they would contribute.
The report made a total of 99 recommendations aimed at improving access to justice for survivors of institutional child abuse.
In their letter to Senator Brandis today, the state and territory attorneys-general called for the commonwealth to clarify its response to the report, arguing that its approach would “have significant ramifications for the states and territories”.
In the letter, the attorneys-general said the Royal Commission had “identified a clear role for the commonwealth”, including that it “announce its willingness to establish a national scheme by the end of 2015”.
They also pointed out that the Royal Commission had recommended commonwealth involvement in a “number of other areas”, including reforms to Medicare to enable better access to counselling for survivors of abuse.
It said these reforms were “critical to the success of the redress approach recommended by the Royal Commission”.
The letter was signed by all state and territory attorneys-general other than the Northern Territory, because of “the timing of the Northern Territory Government’s Cabinet processes”.
In a statement this afternoon, NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton said the Baird government welcomed the Royal Commission’s final report on redress and civil litigation.
However, she stopped short of throwing her support behind the national redress scheme — saying the NSW government would “closely consider all of the Commission’s findings and recommendations, in particular the recommendation of a national redress scheme”.
“The Commission has called for a decision on a national redress scheme to be made by the end of the year,” she said.
“We look forward to discussions with the Commonwealth and other States and Territories on this issue over the coming months.”
She said the NSW government had already offered unlimited counselling for survivors of abuse, provided extra resources to the Department of Family and Community Services to improve and fast track access to care records and released a discussion paper in January on options for legislative reform to limitations periods in civil claims for child sexual abuse. She said it would also “consider” the Commission’s recommendations in relation to civil litigation.
The report recommended that states and territories make changes to enable survivors of child sexual abuse to sue institutions, including churches, schools and disability and health services, from now on.
Full article: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/speedy-response-to-abuse-redress-scheme-demanded/story-fngburq5-1227543927990?sv=8c33ca221e957f4bca9a672ceb08a440
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-09-28 01:58:412015-09-28 01:58:41Speedy response to abuse redress scheme demanded, The Australian
Assemblywoman Margaret Markey is using Pope Francis’s visit to New York to highlight her bill to remove the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.
Markey sponsors legislation that would remove the existing statute of limitations for future child sexual abuse incidents.
It would also allow for a one-year window in which victims of sexual abuse could bring suits against individuals or private institutions involved in past crimes.
“I respectfully plead with Pope Francis to intervene with New York Bishops, to melt their hearts, to convince them to adopt his own message of healing and reconciliation toward survivors of child sexual abuse,” Markey said. “With New York as one of the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of child sex abuse, it is the Bishops of New York State who are the biggest roadblock to changing that.”
The New York State Catholic Conference has vehemently opposed this bill for years.
Earlier this year, a spokesman for the conference suggested the bill was being advanced in the Democratic Assembly to punish Catholics for their support of education tax credits that were opposed by teachers’ unions, yet supported by private schools. (Both measures failed to pass.)
The pope has received qualified praise from sexual abuse advocates for his efforts to address the issue, including appointing a commission to prevent future abuse, and a tribunal to judge bishops who are accused of shielding abusive priests. But the church has largely opposed efforts to lift the statute of limitations in several states.
In her statement, Markey said eliminating the statute of limitations in New York “will provide justice for victims and expose those pedophiles that have been hidden by institutions like his church.”
Full article: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/09/8577681/assemblywoman-calls-pope-francis-back-child-sexual-abuse-bill
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-09-28 01:53:562015-09-28 01:53:56Bill Mahoney, Assemblywoman calls on Pope Francis to back child sexual abuse bill, Politico NY
Barbara Dorris of SNAP and I will be holding a press conference tomorrow to comment on the Pope’s visit, his secret meeting with survivors of abuse, and the continuing need for action to protect children.
Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to “miracles of love,” closing out his joyful six-day trip with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America’s bishops.
The wide Benjamin Franklin Parkway overflowed with the jubilant, who stood in line for hours and endured airport-style security checks to see history’s first pope from the Americas celebrate an open-air Mass in the birthplace of the United States.
The Mass — the last major event on Francis’ itinerary before the 78-year-old pontiff took off on the flight home to Rome — was a brilliant tableau of gold, green, white and purple in the evening sunlight of a mild early-autumn day.
Riding through the streets in his open-sided popemobile, the pontiff waved to cheering, screaming, singing, flag-waving crowds and kissed babies as he made his way to the altar at the steps of the columned Philadelphia Museum of Art.
With a towering golden crucifix behind him, Francis told his listeners that their presence itself was “a kind of miracle in today’s world,” an affirmation of the family and the power of love.
“Would that all of us could be open to miracles of love for the sake of all the families of the world,” he said to the hushed crowd spread out along the tree-lined boulevard.
Crowds a mile away fell silent during the Communion part of the Mass. Some people knelt on the paving stones at City Hall, a few blocks from the altar.
June Bounds, 56, of Rochester, New York, watched with fellow parishioners on a large screen at City Hall, closing her eyes and blinking back tears.
“It’s very overwhelming,” she said. “You feel like you’re one body with everyone here, whether you’re here, whether you’re back home, whether you’re anywhere in the world.”
Of the pope, she said: “He’s brought so much joy and holy spirit into the United States. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Catholic; he’s just trying to unite everybody for a better world.”
Organizers had predicted 1 million people would attend the Mass. There was no immediate estimate of the crowd. But some people got tired of waiting in line and gave up, while others may have been scared away altogether by the heavy security and weeks of dire warnings from the city about the potential disruptions.
Train ridership was lower than expected, downtown hotel rooms went unfilled over the weekend, normally bustling city streets were deserted, some businesses closed early, and many Philadelphians complained that the precautions were oppressive.
Earlier in the day, Francis had a more solemn message for families scarred by the sins of the church itself.
The pope met with five victims of child sexual abuse and told them he was “deeply sorry” for the times they came forward to tell their stories and weren’t believed. He assured them that he believes them and that bishops who covered up for abusers will be made to answer for what they did.
“I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead,” Francis said in Spanish. “Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”
Minutes later, he went into a meeting of bishops from the U.S. and around the world who were in town for a Catholic festival on the family and told them the same thing.
“God weeps” over what was done to the youngsters, he lamented.
The pope has agreed to create a new Vatican tribunal to prosecute bishops who failed to protect their flock, and he has accepted the resignations of three U.S. bishops accused of mishandling abuse cases.
During his first meeting with victims, held at the Vatican in July 2014, Francis similarly vowed to hold bishops accountable, but Sunday marked the first time that he warned the bishops themselves, face-to-face, and in public.
Full article: http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/09/27/as-many-as-a-million-expected-for-popes-last-mass-in-us
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-09-28 01:36:142015-09-28 01:36:14Nicole Winfield, Rachell Zoll, Pope wraps up US visit with huge open-air Mass in Philadelphia, meets with sex-abuse victims, Associated Press
“God weeps” for the sexual abuse of children, Pope Francis said Sunday in Philadelphia, after meeting with victims of sexual abuse.
Francis met with five victims, including three women and two men, the Vatican said in a statement.
All were adults who suffered abuse as minors, either by clergy, family members or teachers.
The Pope listened to the victims’ testimony, talked with them both as a group and individually, and then prayed with them.
The site of the Pope’s meeting, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, is significant since the local archdiocese was the subject of two scathing grand jury reports, in 2005 and 2011, that uncovered years of inadequate action on the part of church leaders to stop priests from raping and molesting children. The priest in charge of personnel was convicted of child endangerment in 2012.
In remarks to bishops following the meeting, Francis vowed “careful oversight” to ensure that youth are protected and said that those responsible for abuse would be held accountable.
“The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain,” he said.
“Those who have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value, as they have had to suffer terrible abuse, sexual abuse of minors,” he said.
Pope Francis has met with sexual abuse victims before, including at the Vatican in 2014. During a homily given during a private Mass with six victims, Francis apologized and asked for forgiveness.
“I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves,” Francis said in the 2014 homily, according to a text of the statement provided by the Vatican.
In 2008, former Pope Benedict XVI met with sexual abuse victims in Washington.
Victim advocates often dismiss such meetings as public relations ploys, and many were particularly upset this week after Francis praised U.S. Catholics’ “courage” and “generous commitment to bring healing to victims.”
“Almost without exception, they have shown cowardice and callousness and continue to do so now,” Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests told CNN on Wednesday.
“They offer excuses, exploit legal technicalities and hide behind expensive lawyers and public relations professionals, hardly the marks of courage.”
In June, Francis created a church tribunal to judge bishops who fail to protect children from sexually abusive priests — a move long sought by abuse victims and their advocates.
The tribunal is not active yet, but two American bishops have resigned in recent months. The reasons for the resignations were not given, but Robert Finn of Kansas City was convicted in 2012 on charges of failing to report suspected child abuse, and Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minnesota resigned after prosecutors charged his archdiocese with six counts related to a sexually abusive ex-priest.
Full article here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/27/us/pope-francis-sex-abuse-victims/index.html
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-09-27 19:26:422015-09-27 19:26:42Daniel Burke and Kristi Ramsay, Pope Francis on sexual abuse: 'God weeps', CNN
The Diocese of Allentown is not liable for the sexual abuse of a South Korean exchange student in a private dormitory where she stayed while attending Pius X High School, according to a ruling by Northampton County Judge Michael Koury Jr.
While the attorney representing the diocese praised Koury’s decision, the lawyer representing the victim in the sex-abuse case voiced disappointment.
“I have a lot of respect for Judge Koury, but I think he got it wrong. It shouldn’t have gone on,” Howard Myerowitz said of the abuse endured by his client. “This was one of those strange cases where there was a disclosure [of the abuse], but it continued. And that’s what bothers me so much about it.”
The decision, handed down Thursday, exonerates the diocese, the now-closed Pius X in Bangor and a priest identified only as Father Tom Doe from liability. But the case against the owners of the dormitory and the abuser, Richard Kim, is still poised to move forward.
The victim was 14 when she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by 37-year-old Kim at the now-shuttered ACE Academy in Pen Argyl, where he was working as a tutor. At the time, the teenage girl was attending Pius X, which closed its doors this year due to lack of enrollment.
Kim’s parents, Min Taek Kim and Yong Ran Kim, were in charge of the dormitory and are named in the lawsuit. Kim admitted to assaulting the girl in 2012 and is serving a 31/2-to seven-year state prison sentence. His parents served probationary sentences after pleading guilty to failure to report sexual abuse.
The civil lawsuit alleged that the diocese was also culpable for what happened to the girl while she was staying at the dorm, especially after she divulged to a priest that she was being abused. Koury determined that there wasn’t enough evidence that the school had any contract or agreement with ACE Academy. And he said the information the priest received from the girl came during confession — a sacred exchange where clergy are absolved from exposing information.
Myerowitz noted that Pennsylvania law on the matter of priest-penitent communications provides wide protections for clergy. Though priests are required to report any abuse, the exception for priest-penitent communications creates a tricky gray area, Myerowitz said.
When the 14-year-old student told the priest about what was happening to her, Myerowitz said, she wasn’t doing so as a confession of her own deeds and therefore the information was not protected.
“She was a kid. She’s not qualified to know that what she’d say would not be told to anyone,” Myerowitz said. “She was the one being wronged. She was the one being abused. You as an adult have to protect her.”
Court records didn’t indicate whether the teen ever spoke to the priest outside of the confessional and Myerowitz said that’s what he intended to find out. The attorney said he was looking forward to the discovery phase of the case when he’d have an opportunity to interview the priest under oath and search for other evidence. But Koury’s ruling, made with prejudice, ensures Myerowitz won’t have such an opportunity.
“I do think there are other facts out there that would support this case,” Myerowitz said. “Part of the problem is the defendants have all the facts.”
Myerowitz said he’s considering whether he’ll appeal the case.
In the meantime, he said, he’s maintained close contact with the victim as she attends college in a different state and works to heal and grow.
“She’s moving on with her life the best she can,” Myerowitz said.
Full article: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/mc-allentown-diocese-korean-student-sexual-abused-pius-20150925-story.html
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-09-27 02:54:122015-09-27 02:54:12Sarah Wojick, udge says Diocese of Allentown not responsible for ACE Academy sexual abuse, Morning Call
Speedy response to abuse redress scheme demanded, The Australian
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformState and territory attorneys-general are pressuring the new Turnbull government to respond quickly to a recommendation that it set up a $4 billion redress scheme for up to 60,000 survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
The attorneys-general today wrote to federal Attorney-General George Brandis calling for the “earliest possible indication from the Commonwealth as to whether it intends to establish and fund a national redress scheme” for abuse victims.
In a report released last week, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that child sexual abuse survivors have access to a $4 billion redress scheme as early as 2017.
Churches, schools and other institutions in which abuse occurred would be responsible for paying for compensation to victims, with the federal, state and territory governments to fund any shortfall.
It estimated “last resort funding” would cost $613 million or about 15 per cent of the total cost of redress, and left it open to federal, state and territory governments to negotiate how much of this amount they would contribute.
The report made a total of 99 recommendations aimed at improving access to justice for survivors of institutional child abuse.
In their letter to Senator Brandis today, the state and territory attorneys-general called for the commonwealth to clarify its response to the report, arguing that its approach would “have significant ramifications for the states and territories”.
In the letter, the attorneys-general said the Royal Commission had “identified a clear role for the commonwealth”, including that it “announce its willingness to establish a national scheme by the end of 2015”.
They also pointed out that the Royal Commission had recommended commonwealth involvement in a “number of other areas”, including reforms to Medicare to enable better access to counselling for survivors of abuse.
It said these reforms were “critical to the success of the redress approach recommended by the Royal Commission”.
The letter was signed by all state and territory attorneys-general other than the Northern Territory, because of “the timing of the Northern Territory Government’s Cabinet processes”.
In a statement this afternoon, NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton said the Baird government welcomed the Royal Commission’s final report on redress and civil litigation.
However, she stopped short of throwing her support behind the national redress scheme — saying the NSW government would “closely consider all of the Commission’s findings and recommendations, in particular the recommendation of a national redress scheme”.
“The Commission has called for a decision on a national redress scheme to be made by the end of the year,” she said.
“We look forward to discussions with the Commonwealth and other States and Territories on this issue over the coming months.”
She said the NSW government had already offered unlimited counselling for survivors of abuse, provided extra resources to the Department of Family and Community Services to improve and fast track access to care records and released a discussion paper in January on options for legislative reform to limitations periods in civil claims for child sexual abuse. She said it would also “consider” the Commission’s recommendations in relation to civil litigation.
The report recommended that states and territories make changes to enable survivors of child sexual abuse to sue institutions, including churches, schools and disability and health services, from now on.
Full article: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/speedy-response-to-abuse-redress-scheme-demanded/story-fngburq5-1227543927990?sv=8c33ca221e957f4bca9a672ceb08a440
Bill Mahoney, Assemblywoman calls on Pope Francis to back child sexual abuse bill, Politico NY
/in New York /by SOL ReformAssemblywoman Margaret Markey is using Pope Francis’s visit to New York to highlight her bill to remove the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.
Markey sponsors legislation that would remove the existing statute of limitations for future child sexual abuse incidents.
It would also allow for a one-year window in which victims of sexual abuse could bring suits against individuals or private institutions involved in past crimes.
“I respectfully plead with Pope Francis to intervene with New York Bishops, to melt their hearts, to convince them to adopt his own message of healing and reconciliation toward survivors of child sexual abuse,” Markey said. “With New York as one of the very worst states in America for how it treats victims of child sex abuse, it is the Bishops of New York State who are the biggest roadblock to changing that.”
The New York State Catholic Conference has vehemently opposed this bill for years.
Earlier this year, a spokesman for the conference suggested the bill was being advanced in the Democratic Assembly to punish Catholics for their support of education tax credits that were opposed by teachers’ unions, yet supported by private schools. (Both measures failed to pass.)
The pope has received qualified praise from sexual abuse advocates for his efforts to address the issue, including appointing a commission to prevent future abuse, and a tribunal to judge bishops who are accused of shielding abusive priests. But the church has largely opposed efforts to lift the statute of limitations in several states.
In her statement, Markey said eliminating the statute of limitations in New York “will provide justice for victims and expose those pedophiles that have been hidden by institutions like his church.”
Full article: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/09/8577681/assemblywoman-calls-pope-francis-back-child-sexual-abuse-bill
Philly Action Alert: Monday, 9/28, 1:30pm
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformBarbara Dorris of SNAP and I will be holding a press conference tomorrow to comment on the Pope’s visit, his secret meeting with survivors of abuse, and the continuing need for action to protect children.
Monday, Sept. 28
1:30pm
Archdiocese Chancery
222 S. 17th St
Philadelphia
Nicole Winfield, Rachell Zoll, Pope wraps up US visit with huge open-air Mass in Philadelphia, meets with sex-abuse victims, Associated Press
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformPope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to “miracles of love,” closing out his joyful six-day trip with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America’s bishops.
The wide Benjamin Franklin Parkway overflowed with the jubilant, who stood in line for hours and endured airport-style security checks to see history’s first pope from the Americas celebrate an open-air Mass in the birthplace of the United States.
The Mass — the last major event on Francis’ itinerary before the 78-year-old pontiff took off on the flight home to Rome — was a brilliant tableau of gold, green, white and purple in the evening sunlight of a mild early-autumn day.
Riding through the streets in his open-sided popemobile, the pontiff waved to cheering, screaming, singing, flag-waving crowds and kissed babies as he made his way to the altar at the steps of the columned Philadelphia Museum of Art.
With a towering golden crucifix behind him, Francis told his listeners that their presence itself was “a kind of miracle in today’s world,” an affirmation of the family and the power of love.
“Would that all of us could be open to miracles of love for the sake of all the families of the world,” he said to the hushed crowd spread out along the tree-lined boulevard.
Crowds a mile away fell silent during the Communion part of the Mass. Some people knelt on the paving stones at City Hall, a few blocks from the altar.
June Bounds, 56, of Rochester, New York, watched with fellow parishioners on a large screen at City Hall, closing her eyes and blinking back tears.
“It’s very overwhelming,” she said. “You feel like you’re one body with everyone here, whether you’re here, whether you’re back home, whether you’re anywhere in the world.”
Of the pope, she said: “He’s brought so much joy and holy spirit into the United States. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Catholic; he’s just trying to unite everybody for a better world.”
Organizers had predicted 1 million people would attend the Mass. There was no immediate estimate of the crowd. But some people got tired of waiting in line and gave up, while others may have been scared away altogether by the heavy security and weeks of dire warnings from the city about the potential disruptions.
Train ridership was lower than expected, downtown hotel rooms went unfilled over the weekend, normally bustling city streets were deserted, some businesses closed early, and many Philadelphians complained that the precautions were oppressive.
Earlier in the day, Francis had a more solemn message for families scarred by the sins of the church itself.
The pope met with five victims of child sexual abuse and told them he was “deeply sorry” for the times they came forward to tell their stories and weren’t believed. He assured them that he believes them and that bishops who covered up for abusers will be made to answer for what they did.
“I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead,” Francis said in Spanish. “Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”
Minutes later, he went into a meeting of bishops from the U.S. and around the world who were in town for a Catholic festival on the family and told them the same thing.
“God weeps” over what was done to the youngsters, he lamented.
The pope has agreed to create a new Vatican tribunal to prosecute bishops who failed to protect their flock, and he has accepted the resignations of three U.S. bishops accused of mishandling abuse cases.
During his first meeting with victims, held at the Vatican in July 2014, Francis similarly vowed to hold bishops accountable, but Sunday marked the first time that he warned the bishops themselves, face-to-face, and in public.
Full article: http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/09/27/as-many-as-a-million-expected-for-popes-last-mass-in-us
Daniel Burke and Kristi Ramsay, Pope Francis on sexual abuse: ‘God weeps’, CNN
/in Uncategorized /by SOL Reform“God weeps” for the sexual abuse of children, Pope Francis said Sunday in Philadelphia, after meeting with victims of sexual abuse.
Francis met with five victims, including three women and two men, the Vatican said in a statement.
All were adults who suffered abuse as minors, either by clergy, family members or teachers.
The Pope listened to the victims’ testimony, talked with them both as a group and individually, and then prayed with them.
The site of the Pope’s meeting, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, is significant since the local archdiocese was the subject of two scathing grand jury reports, in 2005 and 2011, that uncovered years of inadequate action on the part of church leaders to stop priests from raping and molesting children. The priest in charge of personnel was convicted of child endangerment in 2012.
In remarks to bishops following the meeting, Francis vowed “careful oversight” to ensure that youth are protected and said that those responsible for abuse would be held accountable.
“The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain,” he said.
“Those who have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value, as they have had to suffer terrible abuse, sexual abuse of minors,” he said.
Pope Francis has met with sexual abuse victims before, including at the Vatican in 2014. During a homily given during a private Mass with six victims, Francis apologized and asked for forgiveness.
“I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves,” Francis said in the 2014 homily, according to a text of the statement provided by the Vatican.
In 2008, former Pope Benedict XVI met with sexual abuse victims in Washington.
Victim advocates often dismiss such meetings as public relations ploys, and many were particularly upset this week after Francis praised U.S. Catholics’ “courage” and “generous commitment to bring healing to victims.”
“Almost without exception, they have shown cowardice and callousness and continue to do so now,” Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests told CNN on Wednesday.
“They offer excuses, exploit legal technicalities and hide behind expensive lawyers and public relations professionals, hardly the marks of courage.”
In June, Francis created a church tribunal to judge bishops who fail to protect children from sexually abusive priests — a move long sought by abuse victims and their advocates.
The tribunal is not active yet, but two American bishops have resigned in recent months. The reasons for the resignations were not given, but Robert Finn of Kansas City was convicted in 2012 on charges of failing to report suspected child abuse, and Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minnesota resigned after prosecutors charged his archdiocese with six counts related to a sexually abusive ex-priest.
Full article here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/27/us/pope-francis-sex-abuse-victims/index.html
Sarah Wojick, udge says Diocese of Allentown not responsible for ACE Academy sexual abuse, Morning Call
/in Oregon /by SOL ReformThe Diocese of Allentown is not liable for the sexual abuse of a South Korean exchange student in a private dormitory where she stayed while attending Pius X High School, according to a ruling by Northampton County Judge Michael Koury Jr.
While the attorney representing the diocese praised Koury’s decision, the lawyer representing the victim in the sex-abuse case voiced disappointment.
“I have a lot of respect for Judge Koury, but I think he got it wrong. It shouldn’t have gone on,” Howard Myerowitz said of the abuse endured by his client. “This was one of those strange cases where there was a disclosure [of the abuse], but it continued. And that’s what bothers me so much about it.”
The decision, handed down Thursday, exonerates the diocese, the now-closed Pius X in Bangor and a priest identified only as Father Tom Doe from liability. But the case against the owners of the dormitory and the abuser, Richard Kim, is still poised to move forward.
The victim was 14 when she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by 37-year-old Kim at the now-shuttered ACE Academy in Pen Argyl, where he was working as a tutor. At the time, the teenage girl was attending Pius X, which closed its doors this year due to lack of enrollment.
Kim’s parents, Min Taek Kim and Yong Ran Kim, were in charge of the dormitory and are named in the lawsuit. Kim admitted to assaulting the girl in 2012 and is serving a 31/2-to seven-year state prison sentence. His parents served probationary sentences after pleading guilty to failure to report sexual abuse.
The civil lawsuit alleged that the diocese was also culpable for what happened to the girl while she was staying at the dorm, especially after she divulged to a priest that she was being abused. Koury determined that there wasn’t enough evidence that the school had any contract or agreement with ACE Academy. And he said the information the priest received from the girl came during confession — a sacred exchange where clergy are absolved from exposing information.
Myerowitz noted that Pennsylvania law on the matter of priest-penitent communications provides wide protections for clergy. Though priests are required to report any abuse, the exception for priest-penitent communications creates a tricky gray area, Myerowitz said.
When the 14-year-old student told the priest about what was happening to her, Myerowitz said, she wasn’t doing so as a confession of her own deeds and therefore the information was not protected.
“She was a kid. She’s not qualified to know that what she’d say would not be told to anyone,” Myerowitz said. “She was the one being wronged. She was the one being abused. You as an adult have to protect her.”
Court records didn’t indicate whether the teen ever spoke to the priest outside of the confessional and Myerowitz said that’s what he intended to find out. The attorney said he was looking forward to the discovery phase of the case when he’d have an opportunity to interview the priest under oath and search for other evidence. But Koury’s ruling, made with prejudice, ensures Myerowitz won’t have such an opportunity.
“I do think there are other facts out there that would support this case,” Myerowitz said. “Part of the problem is the defendants have all the facts.”
Myerowitz said he’s considering whether he’ll appeal the case.
In the meantime, he said, he’s maintained close contact with the victim as she attends college in a different state and works to heal and grow.
“She’s moving on with her life the best she can,” Myerowitz said.
Full article: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/mc-allentown-diocese-korean-student-sexual-abused-pius-20150925-story.html