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Call her Sheila. She doesn’t want her name used because of court testimony she has given as a state social worker which helped put men who abused their families in jail. She’s retired now, but still a rescuer by nature. On a recent afternoon she went back to Madonna Manor, the Catholic orphanage in a Spanish colonial revival building, now shuttered, several miles across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. “A reverent place,” she sighed, “but it’s also a crime scene.” She gazed at the wooden plank covering a window. Raccoons now nested in rooms that were once the dormitory...

A teenage girl was killed and nine others injured in a frenzied stabbing spree at a Polish orphanage this week, authorities said. The victims were attacked late Tuesday when a 19-year-old man entered the residence in Tomislawice, near Lodz, armed with a sharp object, authorities said. “We know that the most serious wounds were suffered by a 16-year-old girl, a ward of this orphanage, who died on the spot,” police spokesperson Aneta Sobieraj explained. Thirteen people, including one employee, were at the orphanage at the time of the attack. Four victims were treated at the scene, while five others were...

China's mass closure of Catholic orphanages, largely made up of children with mental and physical disabilities, betrays the hope of the controversial 2018 Vatican agreement that promised a “better day” for the Church, a priest has said. In a recent article published by Asia News, a Chinese priest who goes by P. Wendao urged the pope and the universal Church to stop the closure of Catholic orphanages after authorities with the Chinese Communist Party shuttered several homes, transferring children — many of them disabled — to other facilities. “It is clear that those government officials are not planning to serve...

It was a late summer afternoon, Sally Dale recalled, when the boy was thrown through the fourth-floor window. “He kind of hit, and— ” she placed both hands palm-down before her. Her right hand slapped down on the left, rebounded up a little, then landed again. For just a moment, the room was still. “Bounced?” one of the many lawyers present asked. “Well, I guess you’d call it — it was a bounce,” she replied. “And then he laid still.” Sally, who was speaking under oath, tried to explain it. She started again. “The first thing I saw was looking...

The bishops saw them not as people but living sins who must be severely punished and the State facilitated that torture Catherine Corless at the boarded up site at Tuam Mothers and Babies home where there is now verified evidence of remains of a significant number of babies and young children being buried. (Photo: Ray Ryan) The horrors of the Tuam cesspit cast a long shadow over any International Women's Day celebrations. And the Taoiseach added to the gloom by appearing to defend the nuns who may have dumped the bodies of up to 800 children in a disused sewer....

This from Associated Press: "A mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children has been discovered at a former Catholic orphanage in Ireland, government-appointed investigators announced Friday in a finding that offered the first conclusive proof following a historian's efforts to trace the fates of nearly 800 children who perished there." "A great many people are always asking what is the good of keeping these children alive? I quite agree that it would be a great deal kinder to strangle these children at birth than to put them out to nurse." -- Doctor Ella Webb, June 18, 1924,...

Sweden and Germany are funding two orphanages in Morocco in the hope of easing the problem of homeless Moroccan ‘street children’, many of whom have joined criminal gangs. “Now in its first stage, this is a pilot project which will provide a total of 200 beds. The idea is that in future, we will build more of these centres [in Morocco]”, Swedish Interior Minister Anders Ygeman told Dagens Nyheter. The first orphanages are expected to be ready in the Spring, and will provide access to medical and psychiatric care along with education and training for jobs. Staff, who will be...

On Friday, I published at Breitbart the horrifying reminiscences of a British woman who suffered repeated gang rapes, beatings and abuse from a Muslim rape gang, while police dismissed her complaints with total indifference. Now this courageous woman has revealed to me more details of what she and other girls have suffered at the hands of these rape gangs: After awhile, the worst thing was not what happened for me – as horrifying as it was, I got used to it. What was worst for me was seeing the other girls they did this to. I was used to it,...

<p>Associated Press has issued an apology for its errant reporting regarding claims of a mass grave for children of unwed mothers on the grounds of Tuam Home, an Irish home for unwed mothers.</p> <p>Since the disturbing story broke early this month regarding the Tuam Home for unwed mothers in Ireland, where 796 babies were purportedly “dumped into a septic tank”, the Patheos bloggers have been on the case.</p>

Abandoned on a door step in the dead of night, these are the desperate notes pinned to babies by poor and often unmarried mothers, pleading for someone to care for their child. The heartbreaking letters became part of records at the New York Foundling Asylum in the mid-19th century. In October 1869, a group of nuns renovated a brownstone at 17 East 12th Street in Manhattan into the Foundling Asylum

  Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team Story by 2nd Lt. Christine DariusFARAH, Afghanistan - Farah Provincial Gov. Rahool Amin and ISAF forces joined together to celebrate the opening of the refurbished Farah City Orphanage, April 11, in Farah, Afghanistan.During the celebration, Gov. Amin thanked Task Force South and Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah for helping him make the orphanage a better place for the children that live there. He went on to say that coalition forces have truly made a difference in Farah Province. Between August and September 2009, PRT Farah took numerous visits to the local orphanage in order to assess...

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The Ghazni hospital and orphanage project launched, March 9, in Ghazni City, Afghanistan, and construction began, March 11, with the support of the Central Asia Development Group, an implementing partner of the United States Agency for International Development, and Food Insecurity Response for Urban Populations program, a USAID program. The Ghazni City Orphanage will help Afghan children in Ghazni province who have lost their parents from war operations or from a lack of access to proper medical treatment. There are currently 45 children, originally from Ghazni, Wardak and Paktika provinces, between 7 and 15 years old,...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The Haitian judge deciding whether 10 U.S. missionaries should face trial for trying to take a busload of children out of the country said Thursday he has recommended that all be released provisionally. Judge Bernard Saint-Vil sent the recommendation to the prosecutor-general, who may agree or object. But the judge has final word on whether they go free while an investigation continues. Saint-Vil questioned on Thursday the last of a group of parents who said they willingly gave their children to the Baptist missionaries, believing the Americans would educate and care for them

Our orphanage (a large one) in Haiti is in dire conditions right now -- children are out of water, looters are striking. These children cannot go to drop points for food and water. Many of these children were on schedule to be adopted by American families. The orphanage is Maison des Enfants de Dieu, Delmas 31, #32; coordinates 72 deg 33’29.5”N 72 deg 18’08.76” W, near the mayor's office. If you have any contacts that can help us, please, PLEASE make their need and location known to the military for protection and provision. The situation of these little ones, especially...

As of Wednesday morning, Compassion International reports that they have not yet made contact with their Haiti office, which is near the epicenter of Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake. The quake has produced many aftershocks, including two of significant intensity - over 5.0 in magnitude. Communication to Haiti is virtually impossible with widespread damage to cell towers and communication lines. Compassion shared on Twitter that their reach in Haiti involves 230 churches helping 65,000+ children/families, 2,200 Child Survival Program moms and babies and almost 100 leadership students. “Based on the epicenter, media reports and our center locations, we expect centers have been...

Bobby and Sherry Burnette, the founders and directors of Love A Child Orphanage, are reporting widespread destruction in Haiti in the aftermath of Tuesday’s massive earthquake.

An Iraqi Soldier distributes the contents of a food bag to residents of the "1st of June" area of Abu Ghraib, during a joint Coalition/Iraqi foot patrol, June 25. Photo by Sgt. Philip Schratwieser, 1st Infantry Division. BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers conducted a combined patrol through Abu Ghraib to deliver supplies, disrupt insurgents and foster relationships, June 25. The area they patrolled is called the "1st of June," as Iraqis often name areas after significant dates in their history.Leading the patrol was a platoon from the 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. As a result of the agreement...

NOTE: Photos included. PHOTO CAPTION: "Investigation: Faisal Mostafa, pictured in 2002, is facing allegations that his orphanage was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp" SNIPPET: "A British charity worker twice cleared of terror charges in this country is being hunted in Bangladesh after explosives were seized at an orphanage he founded. Security forces there claimed last night that the orphanage set up by Dr Faisal Mostafa, from Stockport, was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp. Mostafa ran Green Crescent, a charity that provided humanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Local security forces...

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2009 – U.S. soldiers are making a difference in the lives of Iraqis, as evidenced recently by the opening of a senior center and orphanage, a new school and school renovations, and a refurbished joint security station. Iraqi students and teachers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 12-classroom secondary school for girls in Diwaniyah province, Iraq, Feb. 26, 2009. The school can accommodate 360 students. U.S. Army photo by Alicia Embrey  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We are making a difference -- you can see it in the smiles of the local residents...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On August 4, 2008, Spc. Jonathan "Jon" Menke made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Most will remember Jon by his infectious laughter, zest for life and sense of compassion for all. The loss was not only felt by his fellow Soldiers, family and friends, but the entire Madison County, Indiana, community where he grew up. When Jon would call home to talk to his father, Daniel Menke, he would tell him stories about the Iraqi children and request toys and shoes for them. He explained to his father that the 38th Military Police Company's mission was...