BREAK THE SILENCE
If you have been sexually abused, witnessed
or suspected someone has been sexually abused by clergy, please contact
law enforcement authorities. If you need support or help, contact
us at the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP]
THIS IS OUR PUBLIC AWARENESS PAGE (some good reading and listening)
In 2006 Bernard McGrath, a former Roman Catholic Brother, was
convicted on 21 charges of sex abuse while working as a teacher and
dormitory master at Marylands School during the 1970s. He was acquitted
of a further 32 charges. The abuse happened when he worked there in the
1970s. But the story doesn'tstop there.
New
Zealand, ABC News, "Ex-Catholic brother Bernard Kevin McGrath loses
extradition fight over 252 child sexual abuse charges", June 11, 2013.
The
video series Beyond the Darklands - Bernard McGrath was picked up and
aired on Swedish television. To view the three parts click on
these links:
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For nearly 40 years, Tom Neuberger has been a legal gadfly, challenging
the powers that be and fighting for the “little guy” in the court system
and the media. Although raised a devout Catholic and having received
nearly all of his schooling in that educational system, Tom has spent
the twilight of his career seeking justice on behalf of those who were
betrayed by the very institution which played such a key part in his
education and upbringing. Click on this link to read more about what he had to say about the Church sex abuse crisis.
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/oldspeak/when_priests_become_predators_profiles_of_childhood_sexual_abuse_survivors
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May
2, 2012. As the Victorian government prepares to begin its
enquiry into sex abuse into religious, and other, organisations, there
is renewed attention to how the church handles complaints, and
accusations, against clergy. Since 1996, the Catholic Church around
Australia has used a protocol known as Towards Healing, which has been
revised twice, in 2000 and 2010. At its core, Towards Healing
encourages victims of church sex abuse to go to the police. It also
contains provisions for removing church personnel from jobs that
involve contact with children and minors.
But there is a gap in
Towards Healing, in that one of the biggest dioceses in the Australian
church, the Archdiocese of Melbourne, is not part of the protocol. It
has its own system, known as the Melbourne Response. The archdiocese
opted out of the system in the mid 1990s, when the man in charge was
George Pell, now cardinal archbishop of Sydney. It should be noted that
when Cardinal Pell came to Sydney in 2001, he did not attempt to remove
the Sydney archdiocese from Towards Healing. Nonetheless, his
decision in Melbourne in the mid 1990s did upset the man responsible
for Towards Healing, the now retired Catholic bishop Geoffrey
Robinson. Click on this link to hear more about what he had to say about the Church sex abuse crisis. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/ex-abuse-crisis/3985672
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May
2, 2012. In the United States recently, in the dioceses of St
Louis and Kansas City in Missouri, church leaders have issued subpoenas
demanding access to the records of the organisation called SNAP,
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP is mainly a
counselling and support group and many victims have given details of
their cases, even if they do not want to prosecute perpetrators. Into
the bargain, one of the leading conservative Catholic voices, William
Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told The New York Times
recently that SNAP was 'a menace to the Catholic Church' and said the
church needed to 'toughen up and buy some good lawyers'. The national
director of SNAP, David Clohessy, explains the nature of the legal
challenge that his organisation faces. Click on this link to hear more about what he had to say about the lawsuit.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/3985970
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MURDER OF OUR SOUL
Extallation at Exchange Street, Temple Bar Dublin, February 2012
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October 11, 2011. Recently in the news, a group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,
has filed a case against Pope Benedict XVI. They are angry that the
Pope and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have
failed to do something about the priests who who are guilty of rape and
sexual abuse. Tonight, Bev Smith is joined by Vincent Warren, who is the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Click on this link to hear more about what he had to say about the lawsuit. http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2011/10/11/are-priest-more-likely-to-get-away-with-crime-than-regular-citizens/
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Three
part video investigation of the child abuse scandal within the
Catholic Church and the landmark legal case being brought against the
Holy See.
click on this link: http://nationalsurvivoradvocatescoalition.wordpress.com/video/
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Through
the eyes of three families, the documentary "All God's Children" tells
the personal story of the first boarding school for children of
missionaries to be investigated for abuse at the hands of the parents'
missionary colleagues. The survivors and parents share their journey of
seeking justice, redemption and healing. click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/GHWP?email=profile_comment_received#p/c/CE59BA75C48960B1/0/V3KMa8sVGqY
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The final Beast File for season two looks at the Catholic Church’s response
to child sex abuse and the 2000-year paper trail of Church documents showing
this first became an issue in the years following Jesus’ death. Over the years, Vatican officials have blamed child
sex abuse by priests on everything from homosexuality to the media. Recently, in
a letter of apology to Irish Catholics, Pope Benedict XIV,
appeared to blame the abuse on the secularisation and fast-paced change
associated with modern society. But as this Beast File shows, modern society has little to do with it and
documents linking priests to child abuse go back almost 2000 years. Most of the
information for this story was garnered from the following four books, which are
great sources for anyone looking for more information. click on this link: http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/beast-file-catholic-church-sex-scandal
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What
does it mean? What happens next? When will this end? What can we
do? NCRonline.org examines these questions and more from many
readers trying to make sense of the exploding sex abuse scandal, now
involving the Vatican. To help readers examine these questions more
deeply, NCR has openied "Examining the Crisis," a new
blog on NCRonline.org. They are offering these
pieces as a way to begin to move beyond the current phase of reporting of the
crisis. click on this link: http://ncronline.org/blogs/examining-the-crisis
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ABC's
Four Corners explores the kids society didn't want, orphaned or
wrenched from broken families, then shunted off to "homes". Over
decades, tens of thousands of Australian children were sent to state
and charitable institutions to be raised by complete strangers. Some
kids were identified by numbers, not by their names. Chores were
numbingly routine. Discipline was harsh at best. Many endured extreme
cruelty - emotional, physical and sexual. click on this link: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/20030818_homies/default.htm
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NPR's Michele Norris interviews Dr. Leslie Lothstein | April 15, 2010.
For years, the Catholic Church has quietly sent priests accused of
sexual transgressions to psychiatric centers for treatment, many of
them affiliated with the church. Dr. Leslie Lothstein has treated
more than 300 Catholic priests at one of those centers, the Institute
of Living in Hartford, Conn. (The institute no longer has an official
relationship with the church.) Lothstein, who is not Catholic
himself, says many of his patients have sexual problems. And he says
the church does not always follow psychologists' directives about
patients who are treated.
click on this link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126024849
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The Oprah Winfrey Show | February 08, 2010. She calls it the most honest conversation she's ever had with sex offenders.
Oprah sits down with four admitted child molesters for a frank, graphic
discussion of their crimes. Watch the two-hour conversation in its entirety—an
Oprah.com exclusive.
click on this link: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Oprahs-Conversation-with-Child-Molesters
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This
story authored by former Miss America Marilyn van Derbur discusses her childhood abuse
by her father.
To watch an interview with Ms. Van Derbur
regarding her story, her child
protection advocacy, and her recently
released book about her life, click on this link: http://missamericabyday.com/
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A
report by members of the US Federal Bureau of Prisons
comparing abusers of laws against posession and distribution
of child sexual images verses hands-on child sex abusers. The
goal was to determine whether the former group of offenders were
“merely” collectors of child pornography at little risk for engaging
in hands-on sexual offenses, or if they were contact sex
offenders whose criminal sexual behavior involving children, with the
exception of Internet crimes, went undetected. click on this link: http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/ButnerStudy_SexOffenders.pdf
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Click here for film trailer and information: http://www.allgodschildrenthefilm.com/
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These are audio and video reports prepared by news organizations for public awareness
First court case ever against the Vatican to be upheld by a US Court of Appeals:
John V. Doe vs. Holy See, United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Click on the links below to watch Video of the press conference,
March 4, 2009
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP3dgvlbW5s
Part A
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-IZkdB1SY8
Part B
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkfjr257REQ
Part C
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"THEY WILL STOP AT NOTHING: CHILD PREDATORS"
[CLICK on report for Special KMOX Radio Investigation]
Report #1 Report #2 Web Suppliment#1 Report #3 Report #4 Report #5 Report #6 Report #7
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Canadian Broadcast Company Report and Interview on
Father Charles Sylvestre, Abuser of Over 50 Girls
CLICK on this link to listen: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/goodfather/index.html
"Survival of the Spirit"
This is a Special Message to Survivors and Supporters from Fr Tom Doyle
To see message click here: http://www.richardsipe.com/Dialogue/Dialogue-17-2008-08-11.html
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