More than half had priest accused of abuse, Belgian Catholic abuse legal row

Shanley recovered memory case
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/shanley-recovered-memory-case/

Study: More than half of parishes had priest accused of abuse
October 11, 2010 More than half of Chicago's Roman Catholic parishes have had a priest accused of sexually abusing a child working there at some point, according to a study released today that was quickly questioned by the Chicago Archdiocese.
In some cases, multiple priests accused of misconduct worked at the same church, according to the study, conducted by reform groups Voice of the Faithful, African American Advocates for Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "In almost 60 percent of the parishes, an accused predator worked there," said Barbara Blaine, president of SNAP. For example, from 1980 to 1990, 57.7% of Chicago parishes had an accused priest working there, said Bob Kopp, one of the study's researchers and vice president of Chicagoland Voice of the Faithful. Other decades examined in the study had similar percentages of affected parishes, he said. She is calling for victims to speak up. "Silence protects predators."...."From the description of what we have heard, it appears that the analysis and conclusions are questionable," said Colleen Dolan of the archdiocese in an e-mailed statement. "The priests referred to in the ... report have all been removed and are not in ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago."
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/roman-catholic-church-priest-sex-abuse-children-study.html


New twist in Belgian Catholic abuse legal row
AFP, Oct 12, 2010 BRUSSELS: Belgium's highest court ordered magistrates on Tuesday to re-examine evidence seized by police relating to decades of child abuse and alleged Roman Catholic Church cover-ups. The court overturned two previous decisions by lower courts that rendered inadmissible evidence taken from church headquarters, the home of a former archbishop and a church-backed commission investigating sex crimes perpetrated by priests. Responding to lawyers acting for alleged victims who lodged appeals, the judges said the lower courts were wrong not to hear civil parties and therefore magistrates should look again at the evidence in a new light. It means that truckloads of material gathered by police in spectacular raids in June that drew the ire of Pope Benedict XVI himself could potentially be used to relaunch state prosecutions for abuse.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/New-twist-in-Belgian-Catholic-abuse-legal-row/articleshow/6736989.cms