25.09.2018 - Bill Cosby Sentenced to Three to Ten Years in Prison for Sexual Assault
Bill Cosby Sentenced to Three to Ten Years in Prison for Sexual Assault
Legendary US comedian Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for sexual assault when his two-day sentencing hearing wrapped up Tuesday afternoon.
Though Cosby's lawyers requested bail after the sentencing, Judge Steven O'Neill decided to revoke his bail and ordered him into custody, stressing that "
this was a serious crime he was convicted for." Journalists inside the Pennsylvania courtroom reported O'Neill indicated that "
sex offender treatment in prison will be appropriate for Cosby."
"This was a serious crime," O'Neill told Cosby in court. "Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come, the time has come."
25.09.2018 - New Report shows Sexual Abuse in Catholic Church remains Unsolved - Cardinal
New Report Shows Sexual Abuse in Catholic Church Remains Unsolved - Cardinal
A new report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church showed that the issue has not been resolved yet, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, said Tuesday in a published statement.
"The study on 'Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male members of orders in the domain of the German Bishops’ Conference' makes it clear to us that the Catholic Church has by no means overcome the issue of dealing with the sexual abuse of minors. The study takes a deep look into the past," the cardinal said.
The study by universities of Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Giessen (MHG) was officially presented earlier on Tuesday at a press conference at the fall full assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference. It looked at personal files and references from 27 dioceses in the period between 1946 and 2014. A total of 3,677 "children and juveniles" were found to have been abused by 1,670 clerics.
13.09.2018 - Reports of German Clergy's Child Sex Abuse Prompt Public Uproar
Reports of German Clergy's Child Sex Abuse Prompt Public Uproar
Earlier, Pope Francis extended his apologies following a grand jury report that more than
1,000 children had been sexually abused by "predator priests" in Pennsylvania over the course of decades.
At least 3,677 cases of child sexual abuse were perpetrated by clergy across Germany between 1946 and 2014, according to a study commissioned by the German Bishops Conference.
The victims were predominantly male and more than half of them were younger than 14, the study revealed, adding that every sixth child abuse case involved actual rape. In three-quarters of the cases, the victim and perpetrator knew each other through the church.
The study suggested that the alleged sexual abuse of minors by the German Catholic Church clergy, which first came to light in 2010, may continue nowadays.
The authors of the survey also stressed the importance of "coordinated action" and a "long-term list of measures" which they said could add to resolving the problem of sexual abuse by priests in Germany. At the same time, the authors kept mum on the causes of the problem, but singled out the priests' celibacy vow as a potential risk factor.
Bishop Stephan Ackermann said on behalf of the German Bishops Conference that "they know the extent of the sexual abuse that has been demonstrated by the study" and that they are "dismayed and ashamed by it."
The goal of study was to shed more light on "this dark side of our Church, for the sake of those affected, but also for us ourselves to see the errors and to do everything to prevent them from being repeated," Ackerman underlined.
Most Twitter users have, meanwhile, expressed indignation about the study's revelations, demanding that all those accused should be brought to court.
Sept. 25, 2018 - German Catholic Church apologizes for 'pain' of abuse victims
German Catholic Church apologizes for 'pain' of abuse victims | Reuters
The head of the Catholic Church in Germany apologized on Tuesday “for all the failure and pain”, after a report found thousands of children had been sexually abused by its clergy, and said the “guilty must be punished”.
Researchers from three German universities examined 38,156 personnel files spanning a 70-year period ending in 2014, and found indications of sexual abuse by 1,670 clerics, with more than 3,700 possible victims.
German magazine Der Spiegel reported the findings earlier this month after the report was leaked. The scandal comes as the church is grappling with new abuse cases in countries including Chile, the United States and Argentina.
28.08.2018 - Vatican sees Child Sex Abuse as Sin, They Don't see it as Crime - Professor
Vatican Sees Child Sex Abuse as Sin, They Don't See It as Crime – Professor
According to a letter by a former Vatican ambassador to the US archbishop, Pope Francis has been aware of cases of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church ever since he was elected but did not take any measures. Reacting to accusations, the pope told journalists that people should read the letter carefully and judge it for themselves.
Sputnik discussed the effects the letter could have on the papacy with Des Cahill, professor of intercultural studies at RMIT University.
Sputnik: What effect could the letter have on the papacy?
Des Cahill: The issue of clerical sex abuse of children by priests … has been brewing for about 20-30 years and this is the latest chapter in this long saga. It is highly unlikely that the pope will resign and the reason for that is that this letter could be part of Vatican infighting and trying to embarrass the pope who is seen as too liberal and progressive by some of the more conservative elements within the Vatican.
At the same time, there is some frustration with Pope Francis because he did issue a letter to the Global Catholic Church on the issue in response to the report from the state of Pennsylvania. Plus his visit to Ireland because Ireland has been devastated by a very high [number of] incidences of clerical sex abuse of children. I think that the pope is preparing the ground to make some significant changes within the church, but what those changes are remains to be seen.
Sputnik: You mentioned that this letter could actually be the result of some kind of infighting within the Vatican itself; what leads you have those suspicions?
Des Cahill: Because Archbishop Vigano was demoted at one stage and he was unhappy with that demotion almost 10 years ago. And it may be his way of getting back at Vatican officials and the Vatican itself.
But he also is being very honest in saying that the pope and other Vatican officials did not address the issue of the crimes committed by American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and that something should have been done much earlier to demote Cardinal McCarrick and take away his title as cardinal or prince of the Church.
Sputnik: The pope said that the accusations in that 11-page letter spoke for themselves; what do you make of his response to that letter? Do you think there was actually something in there that indicated that this could have been some kind of revenge or something else?
Des Cahill: It’s fairly clear to me that the pope was informed about the offenses that Cardinal McCarrick [committed]. But I think it was early in his papacy, and I think that he didn’t feel that he was sufficiently strong and experienced enough to deal with a very senior cardinal.
And since then there have been other cases as well where very senior church officials have resigned or been demoted because of various failures, particularly the failure to report priests who have offended against children to criminal justice officials like the police.
The Vatican itself is not at all sure about what it should do for these cases because it has the view that child sex abuse is a sin, but it doesn’t really see child sex abuse as a crime as well as being sinful.
This is part of the Vatican’s problem because it has its own canon law and it can punish priests and cardinals – but, unfortunately, right throughout this saga, over the last 30-40 years, the church canon law hasn’t been used properly to take action against these priests and the bishops who have covered up for them.
This is part of the scandal and part of the catastrophe. The reasoning behind that is because like all religious leaders whether they are Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, they want to protect the image of their religious organization as pristine and all-holy.
And, of course, the public revelation of such crimes, obviously, has a negative effect upon the church in particular countries as we have seen in Ireland. One of the reasons why Pope Francis went to Ireland was to repair the damage that has been done to the Irish Catholic Church by priests and bishops who covered up [abuse] that goes back to at least 1950s.
Sept. 25, 2018 - Pope says Church 'spared no effort' to fight abuse recently
Pope says Church 'spared no effort' to fight abuse recently | Reuters
Pope Francis, facing clergy sex abuse scandals in several countries, said on Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church has “spared no effort” to tackle the problem in recent years.
But, speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane while returning from a four-day trip to the Baltics, the pope again appeared to indirectly acknowledge that the Church had hidden sexual abuse “in the past century,” saying that such cover-ups had been common in families as well.
Francis referred to a damning report last August by a U.S. grand jury on sexual abuse of children by priests in Pennsylvania over a 70-year period. He noted that the incidents of abuse diminished toward the end of the years covered in the report.
“In more recent times the number went down because the Church realized that it had to fight in a different way,” he said.
“In olden times, these things were covered up, they were even covered up in homes, when an uncle raped a niece, when a father raped his children. It was covered up because it was an enormous shame. That was the mentality in the last century,” he said.
“Look at the proportions (in the Pennsylvania report) and you will see that when the Church started becoming aware of this, it spared no effort,” he said.
Francis appeared to be referring to new rules put into place for preventing and reporting sexual abuse in the United States following the first big media expose of abuse in Boston in 2002.
Francis initially declined to take a question from a German reporter about the release of a research report hours earlier in her country that found that thousands of children had been sexually abused by clergy over a 70-year-period ending in 2014.
He later began speaking about sexual abuse without being prompted.
We all know the statistics (of the prevalence of sexual abuse within families), ... but as long as there is just one priest who abuses a boy or a girl this is monstrous because that man was chosen by God to lead children to heaven,” Francis said.
The Church is grappling with a wave of new cases in countries including Chile, Germany and the United States.
Francis has come under fire from victims groups and other members of the Church who say he has not done enough to make bishops accountable for mishandling or covering up abuse cases.
