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Unsettling new Foxtel drama makes for tough watching as it unflinchingly faces child sex abuse within the Catholic church. You’ve read reports about how the Catholic church covered up evidence involving paedophile priests. You’ve followed the hearings of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, established by Julia Gillard in 2012 following the shocking allegations of a cover-up in NSW. But nothing can prepare you for watching the grooming and abuse of an innocent 12-year-old boy by a respected school chaplain as it plays out dramatically in front of you.

From the former North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill to Australia, 157 victims have accused 31 members of the Marianist order of sexual abuse, records show. Watchdog groups, victims and their attorneys say officials with the religious order failed to stop the abuse or to adequately supervise those accused. Experts say such abuse went on for decades in part because of a culture that granted members of religious groups more credibility than children. A spokeswoman for the St. Louis-based Marianist Province of the United States did not respond to questions about how many members have been accused of...

Dublin (AFP) - Cardinal Sean Brady, who was criticised over his handling of abuse scandals, stepped down as leader of the Irish Catholic Church on Monday with an emotional plea for forgiveness. "I too need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness and I do so again today," Brady told the faithful at a mass in Armagh in Northern Ireland. Brady, who played a key role in the peace process after being appointed in 1996, had tendered his resignation to the Vatican last month after turning 75, the normal retirement age for senior clergy

Five years ago, Pope Benedict arrived in London to erupting controversy. Around 10,000 people took to the capital's streets for a rally against the Holy Father's "intolerance," and as the Guardian reported, against "the child abuse scandal for which so many hold the pontiff personally responsible, for both accelerating it and then covering it up." The abuse in question centered for the most part on incidents that were 40 years old or more. Nevertheless, CBS reporter Mark Phillips described the trip as "A test of whether Pope Benedict can get his message across over the background noise of the Church's...

This contradiction was laid bare recently when the Holy See, acting in secret, threw the protective cloak of diplomatic immunity over Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski — the papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic and an alleged serial abuser of minors. In a show of toughness, church officials defrocked Wesolowski and promised to try him according to the laws of Vatican City. In effect, though, church officials once again shielded a predator priest from civil jurisdiction.

THE Catholic Church paid more than $40,000 in rent for a convicted paedophile priest who molested at least eight young boys and was set to stand trial on a string of new charges before he died earlier this year. Wilfred Baker’s crimes against children were so horrific he was placed on administrative leave in 1997 and never again worked as a priest, and was officially laicised in September 2012. But the Herald Sun can reveal the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne paid Baker’s rent for at least four years until his death in February, despite his sickening record of abuse on...

JOHANNESBURG - A German Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse of children in his native country and in South Africa has been extradited to Germany, police said Wednesday. Georg Kerkhoff, who is in his 50s, was put on a plane to Germany on Tuesday night, South African police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini told AFP. "We took him to the airport and handed him over to the German police. He will face trial in Germany," he said.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis says he won’t resign despite criticism over the archdiocese’s handling of sexual abuse claims involving priests. Archbishop John Nienstedt made his comments in in a column that will appear in Thursday’s archdiocese newspaper, The Catholic Spirit. He says he’s bound to stay in office as long as Pope Francis wants. …

A canon lawyer alleging a widespread cover-up of clergy sex misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has made her most detailed claims yet, accusing archbishops and their top staff of lying to the public and of ignoring the U.S. bishops' pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse.

AT long last there could be hope for those historically abused at a former Catholic boys home. The Government, under pressure itself, is setting up an inquiry into historic abuse. And the current Pope has also promised to listen and act on allegations of abuse by Catholic priests. St Francis Home, in Shefford, took boys from across the county and wider, where, instead of being cared for, they were systematically abused, both physically and sexually.

The conviction of Rolf Harris is a reminder that child abuse is an abuse of power. The crime persists because perpetrators are not challenged and dealt with speedily by the criminal justice system. Children are still abused in Ireland every day.

True reconciliation only begins with an apology. It takes more than saying one is sorry to heal the wounds that come from hurting others. That takes justice — a commitment to make things right, to change whatever actions have caused harm, and to hold those responsible for that harm accountable for their actions. Pope Francis on Monday met with a group of Roman Catholics who had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, and he offered a sweeping apology to them for the wrongs done against them when they were children.

SALT LAKE CITY — Since 2009, Utah has seen more than 20 cases of teachers and others in positions of authority accused of having some type of sexual contact with a minor. Below is a list of some of those who were prosecuted and the status of their cases...

An arraignment hearing has been set for a former BYU-UVU part-time faculty member charged with sexual abuse. Michio Zushi, 55, is set to appear on July 14 on charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child after the victim recently came forward to talk to investigators. According to 4th District Court records, Zushi inappropriately touched her beneath her clothing. The incidents occurred between August 2010 and August 2011, and police arrested Zushi in March. Zushi taught Japanese calligraphy at both BYU and UVU but is no longer employed by either university following his arrest. If he is convicted, the presumptive...

PROVO – A trial date has been set for a Provo High School teacher accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old student. Donald Bills, 54, has been charged with one count of forcible sodomy and three counts of object rape, all first-degree felonies; and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. During a court hearing Thursday afternoon, a five-day trial was scheduled for December. Bills was arrested and charged in January after he and the teen were interviewed. Provo police said in January that someone viewed a text between Bills and the student and reported it to school officials,...

A Provo, Utah jury found MacNeill guilty Thursday of assaulting his daughter Alexis Somers in 2007. Read more here: dailymail.co.uk

Lawsuit claims teen girl was repeatedly abused by Mormon missionary in 1985 in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert.PALM SPRINGS – A lawsuit filed Friday against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church bishop and a missionary, claims a woman was repeatedly sexually abused when she was a teenager in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert, and it was covered up. The lawsuit, which was filed in Riverside County Superior Court in Palm Springs, contends that from July to November 1985, Jacqueline Tyler, then 13, was repeatedly abused by a missionary and that after a church bishop learned of...

Priest Jeffrey Newell has been suspended by the Catholic Church for sexually abusing children in Tijuana. This is the second time Newell has been sanctioned for his actions.

FORT WAYNE – Two representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests on Thursday urged the bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese to account for the whereabouts of two priests removed from ministry after credible sexual abuse allegations. Judy Jones, SNAP’s Midwest region associate director, said the group wants Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades to post the information on the diocese’s website, as 30 other U.S. bishops have done. “If they are too dangerous to work in a parish somewhere,” she said, “they are too dangerous to be out amongst other places where they have access to...

MEXICO CITY — The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico confirmed on Friday that it has suspended seven priests, including one accused of abuse while serving in Los Angeles, from its diocese in the border city of Tijuana pending an investigation into alleged sexual harassment and abuse. The Archdiocese of Tijuana didn't reveal the names of the priests but it did confirm to The Associated Press that Rev. Jeffrey Newell was among them. Newell was first mentioned as being a part of the priests under investigation in a statement by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is the...