Animal attacks and Satanic symbols - witchcraft and black magic, Cult of Trump - How President Uses Mind Control, Catholic priests sentenced for child abuse - complaints weren’t followed up

 

 

- Sheep stabbed to death and painted with Satanic symbols

"the New Forest is well known for witchcraft and black magic"

-  The Cult of Trump - A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control

"He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted."

- Catholic priests in Argentina sentenced to 45 years for child abuse

"We hope the prosecutors now will launch a criminal investigation of the archbishops and other church leaders who knew or should have known that the school was being run by a child molester.” “the pope too must accept responsibility for the unimaginable suffering of these children. He ignored repeated warnings that Corradi was in Argentina.” " 67 people said they were abused at the Verona institute by 24 priests"

 

Sheep stabbed to death and painted with Satanic symbols in New Forest
Occult markings also sprayed on church door in village of Bramshaw

Samuel Lovett 11/26/19

 

A spate of animal attacks and the appearance of occult symbols in the New Forest are being investigated by police, with local residents concerned a Satanic-style cult could be to blame.

 

One sheep was fatally stabbed and marked with pentagrams near the Hampshire village of Bramshaw, while one heifer and two calves were found with stab wounds in the Linwood area. The animals were later treated by vets.

 

Satanic symbols, which included an inverted cross and the number 666, have also been sprayed onto the door of St Peter’s Church in Bramshaw.

Police are currently investigating to establish whether the incidents, which have been taking place since Tuesday 12 November, are linked....

 

“There’s been witchcraft round here for hundreds of years – the New Forest is well known for witchcraft and black magic happening, and this has obviously gone up a level.”

....Author and occultist Gerald Gardner, who died in 1964, claimed a coven – a secret society of witches – met there at the start of the 20th century.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/animals-stabbed-death-satanic-symbols-new-forest-hampshire-a9217271.html

 

New book says there is a 'cult of Trump'

 Steven Hassan, a cult expert with firsthand experience escaping the Unification Church, says Trump's cultivation of his base is cult-like. Brian Stelter questions the claims in Hassan's new book, "The Cult of Trump," and Hassan stresses the importance of "contact outside the bubble."

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/11/24/new-book-says-there-is-a-cult-of-trump.cnn

 

The Cult of Trump
A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
Book by Steven Hassan · 2019

One of America’s leading experts in cults and mind-control provides an eye-opening analysis of Trump and the indoctrination tactics he uses to build a fanatical devotion in his supporters.

 

Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders—cult leaders.

 

In The Cult of Trump, mind-control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie” himself, and he draws on his forty years of personal and professional experience studying hypnosis and destructive cults, working as a deprogrammer, and a strategic communications interventionist. He emphasizes why it’s crucial that we recognize ways to identify and protect ourselves and our loved ones.

 

The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas.... https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cult_of_Trump/py-BDwAAQBAJ

 

The Cult of Trump - Book preview
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cult_of_Trump/py-BDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover 

 

 

 

Catholic priests in Argentina sentenced to 45 years for child abuse
Court convicts two priests and former gardener at school for deaf students on counts of sexual abuse and corruption of minors

 

Associated Press in Mendoza

Mon 25 Nov 2019 

 

A court in Argentina has convicted two Roman Catholic priests and the former gardener of a church-run school for deaf students on 28 counts of sexual abuse and corruption of minors, in a case that has shaken the church in Pope Francis’s homeland.

 

A three-judge panel in the city of Mendoza sentenced Nicola Corradi to 42 years and Horacio Corbacho to 45

years for abusing children at the Antonio Provolo Institute for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children in Lujan de Cuyo, a municipality in north-western Argentina.

 

....The judges found the men guilty of 20 counts of abuse, including rape, that occurred between 2005 and 2016 at the school, which has since shut down. The 10 victims were former students and all minors at the time of the abuse.

 

....The Vatican had known about Corradi since at least 2009, when the Italian Provolo students went public with tales of abuse and named names. The Vatican ordered an investigation and sanctioned four accused priests, but Corradi apparently never was sanctioned in Italy.

 

....“The horror of Provolo is twofold: the torture of the children and the church’s failure to prevent it. We hope the prosecutors now will launch a criminal investigation of the archbishops and other church leaders who knew or should have known that the school was being run by a child molester.”

Doyle also said that “the pope too must accept responsibility for the unimaginable suffering of these children. He ignored repeated warnings that Corradi was in Argentina.”

 

Pope Francis has not commented publicly on the case, though in 2017, the Vatican sent two Argentine priests to investigate what happened in Mendoza.

Former students, young men and women, testified that the priests touched and sometimes raped them in their dormitories and school bathrooms. They also said they were forced to look at pornographic images. They said they were warned to keep quiet.

 

Investigators found records of complaints made by parents that weren’t followed up, photographs of a naked girl on Corbacho’s computer and chains he allegedly used to subdue one girl.

Many in Argentina have asked why Francis did not remove Corradi as the authority at the Mendoza school once he learned of the allegations in Verona.

 

Corradi’s name appeared publicly in 2009, when 67 people said they were abused at the Verona institute by 24 priests, lay people and religious brothers, and specifically said that Corradi was in Argentina.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/25/roman-catholic-priests-argentina-sentenced-45-years-child-abuse-school-deaf

 

Pope defrocks two Chilean bishops over child abuse claims

Pope defrocks two Chilean bishops over child abuse claims
13 October 2018

Pope Francis has stripped two Chilean bishops of their duties as priests amid claims that they are linked to the sexual abuse of minors.

 

They are Francisco José Cox Huneeus, archbishop emeritus of La Serena, and Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, archbishop emeritus of Iquique.

 

The Vatican issued a statement on their defrocking after a meeting between the pontiff and the president of Chile.

The decision could not be appealed against, it said on Saturday.

 

It was announced as Pope Francis met Chile's President Sebastian Piñera in the Vatican, where the two spoke particularly about "the painful scourge of abuse of minors".

 

More than 100 Catholic clergy are being investigated in Chile over alleged sex crimes and attempts to cover them up.

All 34 of Chile's bishops offered their resignations to the Pope in May over the scandal. The pontiff accepted three resignations in June.

 

Police have raided offices and seized Church documents in the capital Santiago and the city of Rancagua as part of their investigation.

In September Pope Francis defrocked former priest Fernando Karadima, 88, for having sexually abused minors....

 

A leaked Church report in September revealed more than 3,600 children in Germany were assaulted by Catholic priests between 1946 and 2014.

 

Most of the victims were boys, and more than half were aged 13 or younger.

And in July, Australian Catholic archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention for concealing historic child sexual abuse - the most senior Catholic globally to be convicted of the crime....

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45850354

 

 

Child and Ritual Abuse Research https://ritualabuse.us

 

Child Abuse Wiki   http://childabusewiki.org

 

Articles by Neil Brick   http://neilbrick.com 

Minn Archdiocese Reaches $210 Mil Settlement, Vatican and clergy sexual abuse cases in Chile, Ritual Abuse Conference - Special Deals

Minnesota Archdiocese Reaches $210 Million Settlement With 450 Clergy Abuse Victims
June 1, 2018 Vanessa Romo

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has reached a $210 million settlement agreement with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of a bankruptcy reorganization, officials announced Thursday.

 

At $210,290,724, it is estimated to be the second-largest payout by the Catholic church in the U.S., according to the Associated Press. It comes after nearly four years of bankruptcy proceedings and negotiations.

 

"I recognize that the abuse stole so much from you. Your childhood, your safety, your ability to trust and in many cases your faith. Relationships with family and friend relationships in your parishes and communities were harmed. Lives were forever changed. The church let you down. I am very sorry," Archbishop Bernard Hebda said to survivors at a news conference Thursday....

 

Anderson, who wept as he praised victims for their willingness to step forward. "As a result of these survivor's courage, there have been 91 clerical offenders in the archdiocese now exposed and listed as credibly accused offenders that had never been listed and exposed before," Anderson said according to ABC News....

 

The largest clergy abuse related settlement to date was reached in 2007 by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which paid 508 victims $660 million....

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/06/01/616187545/minnesota-archdiocese-reaches-210-million-settlement-with-450-clergy-abuse-victi

 

Vatican at crossroads in handling clergy sexual abuse cases
By Tom Kington Jun 01, 2018

Pope Francis did an about-face last month and denounced the widespread cover-up of sexual abuse by priests in Chile, prompting all 34 of the country’s bishops to offer their resignations.

 

He has said he was not receiving “truthful and balanced” information from the bishops, and on Thursday he released a letter to all Chileans declaring the Roman Catholic Church would “never again” tolerate “the culture of abuse and the system of cover-up that allows it to perpetuate.”

 

The Vatican also announced the pope was sending a team of prelates to Chile to “advance the process of reparation and healing of abuse victims.”

But Francis has not revealed his plans for the church officials who ignored or actively covered up the abuse....

 

One senior Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Francis may start replacing bishops in the next few weeks.

 

The first to go, according to the official, are likely to be the four bishops who trained under Fernando Karadima, the Chilean priest at the center of the scandal, and have been accused of witnessing or covering up his abuse. Karadima abused scores of boys during the 1980s and 1990s, and in 2011 he was sentenced by the Vatican to a life of penance, banning him from public ministry to repent for his sins and pray for his victims....

 

He and other activists said those punishments must also extend to Errazuriz, who was the top bishop in Chile from 1998 to 2010 and ignored reports of abuse by Karadima until the victims went public. He has been accused of actively covering up for Karadima and working to discredit the priest’s accusers....

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-vatican-clergy-abuse-20180601-story.html

 

 

Ritual Abuse Conference - Special Deals - August 2018
Special deals on the conference until June 15, 2018. Please write this address smartnews@aol.com for more information or visit the conference website:
The 2018 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference, August 18 – 19, 2018, DoubleTree Hotel, Windsor Locks, CT
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

 

Special Price $175 until June 15, 2018
Conference Speakers
The Credibility of Ritual Abuse Allegations
Presenter: Randy Noblitt, PhD

 

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Presenter: Jillian Jackson
Radikal Healing
Presenter: Manjot Singh Khalsa

Be Here Now
Presenter: Manjot Singh Khalsa
Changes in Awareness of Severe Abuse and Child Abuse Crimes Over Twenty Five Years
Presenter: Neil Brick

Top adviser to Pope charged with sexual assault offenses, Church Of England 'Colluded And Concealed' Bishop's Sex Abuse, Leader Says

- Top adviser to Pope charged with sexual assault offenses
- Church Of England 'Colluded And Concealed' Bishop's Sex Abuse, Leader Says

Top adviser to Pope charged with sexual assault offenses
Laura Smith Spark-Profile-Image
By Joshua Berlinger and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN Thu June 29, 2017
Cardinal George Pell, a senior adviser to Pope Francis and the third-ranking official in the Holy See, is taking leave from the Vatican to fight historical sexual assault charges in his home country of Australia.
The case is the latest black mark against the Catholic Church, which has been reeling from sexual abuse scandals across several countries that date back decades. It could also have ramifications for Pope Francis, who counts Pell among his closest aides.

Australian police have not released a detailed list of charges against Pell and didn't disclose any information about alleged victims, saying only that there were multiple charges and "multiple complainants." ....
"I'm innocent of these charges, they are false," Pell said. "The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me."....
Pell has previously denied covering up abuse committed by priests when he served as the Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001. But he acknowledged his predecessor, Archbishop Frank Little, now deceased, had destroyed documents to protect priests.

A 2013 Australian government inquiry, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, found that 7% of priests in Australia were accused of abusing children, from 1950 until 2015. At least 1,880 alleged perpetrators were identified and 4,444 victims came forward.....

In the United States, analysis of information on 110,000 priests who served the Church between 1950 and 2002 found that 4% of them had been accused of abuse.....
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/asia/cardinal-pell-australia/index.html


Church Of England 'Colluded And Concealed' Bishop's Sex Abuse, Leader Says
June 22, 2017 Colin Dwyer
When faced with allegations of sex abuse against one of its bishops, the Church of England "colluded and concealed rather than seeking to help those who were brave enough to come forward," the church's leader acknowledged Thursday.

"For the survivors who were brave enough to share their story and bring Peter Ball to justice, I once again offer an unreserved apology," Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, said in a statement. "There are no excuses whatsoever for what took place and the systemic abuse of trust perpetrated by Peter Ball over decades."

Welby was responding to the findings of an independent investigation into how the church handled the allegations against Ball, a former bishop who pleaded guilty in 2015 to indecent assault against young men. That report, also released Thursday, found that Ball "abused many boys and men over a period of twenty years or more."

"That is shocking in itself but is compounded by the failure of the Church to respond appropriately to his misconduct, again over a period of many years," Moira Gibb, who led the investigation, said in the report. "Ball's priority was to protect and promote himself and he maligned the abused. The Church colluded with that rather than seeking to help those he had harmed, or assuring itself of the safety of others."....
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/22/533931155/church-of-england-colluded-and-concealed-bishops-sex-abuse-leader-says



Neil Brick will be speaking at S.M.A.R.T. Child and Ritual Abuse Conference - August 11 - 13, 2017
Neil Brick has developed Internet resources to publish scientific information about child and ritual abuse. He publishes a bimonthly newsletter and organizes informational conferences. The goal of these resources is to help stop child and ritual abuse through public education.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=210052

The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2017 Conference
Video Presentations from The Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control 2017 Conference https://survivorship.org/presentations-from-the-survivorship-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-2017-conference

How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference and Freedom from Mind Control – 2017 Presentation by Neil Brick
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/how-to-avoid-being-mind-controlled-at-a-conference-and-freedom-from-mind-control/

Strong accuracy and validity of ritual abuse research:
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse

Fran and Dan Keller legal case information
https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/frans-day-care/

Pope’s efforts to stop church child abuse appear to unravel, Vatican riven by internal battle over handling of child abuse claims

Pope’s efforts to stop church child abuse appear to unravel
Will Carless, GlobalPost  February 15, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A member of a commission set up by Pope Francis to advise him on child abuse says the group is a “token body” exercising in “smoke and mirrors” that won’t help children stay safe from abusive priests.

Peter Saunders, the commission member, is now on a leave of absence as he considers whether to continue with an effort he says he has lost faith in.

Meanwhile, new Catholic bishops are still being taught they’re not obliged to report cases of child abuse by priests to the police.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which Francis set up with much fanfare in 2014, was supposed to issue guidelines for the Vatican on how to deal with child abuse. But the body was never consulted about the training for new bishops on exactly that topic.

These are just some of the signs that Francis’ reform efforts, and his pledge to clean up the Catholic Church’s most damaging crisis, seem to be unraveling before they’ve even really gotten started.

The problems come as Pope Francis pays a visit to Latin America, a region where, as GlobalPost has reported, the church is accused of reassigning and protecting many alleged predator priests. Among the latest scandals in the region, Chileans are outraged that the pope appointed a bishop accused of shielding the country's most despised pedophile priest from investigation....
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/02/15/popes-efforts-stop-church-child-abuse-appear-unravel/80394122/ 

Vatican riven by internal battle over handling of child abuse claims
Rift comes amid signs that special commission created by Pope Francis to handle issue is being sidelined by senior church officials in Rome
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome Tuesday 16 February 2016

A battle is being waged within the Vatican over how senior clergy ought to handle accusations of sexual abuse amid signs that a special commission created by Pope Francis to handle the issue is being sidelined by senior church officials in Rome.

The rift was exposed after a report in the Guardian about a training course that was offered to new bishops last year in which a controversial French monsignor instructed them that it was “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of abuse to law enforcement authorities if local laws did not require it.

That stance was rejected this week by Pope Francis’s point man on abuse issues, Boston cardinal Seán O’Malley, who heads a special pontifical commission to protect minors.

“We, the president and the members of the commission, wish to affirm that our obligations under civil law must certainly be followed, but even beyond these civil requirements, we all have a moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the civil authorities who are charged with protecting our society,” he said in a statement on Monday.

O’Malley also said that the special commission was committed to “extensive education efforts” within local churches since its founding two years ago, and that its members had reiterated their “willingness to provide this material at courses offered in Rome”, including at the training courses for new bishops and the offices of the Roman Curia, or bureaucracy.

But it is clear that these offers have not been accepted....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/vatican-riven-by-internal-battle-over-handling-of-child-abuse-claims

Catholic bishops not obliged to report clerical child abuse, Vatican says, Beyond clergy: Ex-Boy Scouts tap Minn. law to press sex abuse claims

Catholic bishops not obliged to report clerical child abuse, Vatican says
Vatican guide says ‘not necessarily’ bishop’s duty to report suspects to police despite Pope Francis’s vows to redress Catholic church’s legacy of child abuse

Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign over sexual abuse scandals in his Boston archdiocese, where 150 priests were accused of molesting children.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Wednesday 10 February 2016 

The Catholic church is telling newly appointed bishops that it is “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of clerical child abuse and that only victims or their families should make the decision to report abuse to police.

A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops’ only duty was to address such allegations internally.

According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds, the training document states.

The training guidelines were written by a controversial French monsignor and psychotherapist, Tony Anatrella, who serves as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Vatican released the guidelines – which are part of a broader training programme for newly named bishops at a press conference earlier this month and is now seeking feedback.

Details of the Catholic church’s policy were first reported in a column by a veteran Vatican journalist, John Allen, associate editor of the Catholic news site, Cruxnow.com.

Allen noted that a special commission created by Pope Francis, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, had appeared to play no role in the training programme, even though it is supposed to be developing “best practices” to prevent and deal with clerical abuse.

Indeed, a church official familiar with the commission on abuse said it was the committee’s position that reporting abuse to civil authorities was a “moral obligation, whether the civil law requires it or not”. The official said the committee would be involved in future training efforts....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/catholic-bishops-not-obliged-report-clerical-child-abuse-vatican-says


Beyond clergy: Ex-Boy Scouts tap Minn. law to press sex abuse claims
Todd Melby Feb 10, 2016
Jim McDonough is suing the Boy Scouts of America and its North Star Council claiming he was sexually abused by his scoutmaster....

Many stories like McDonough's have come to light in the nearly three years since the Legislature passed the Minnesota Child Victims Act. Most have been focused on the hundreds of claims made against priests accused of sexually abusing children.

But the law, which extends the statute of limitations for older abuse claims, wasn't written to respond exclusively to clergy abuse. And the Catholic Church hasn't been the only target of lawsuits aimed at shedding light on a hidden past. Boy Scout organizations are also grappling with accusations of child molestation.

McDonough decided to use the law to sue the Boy Scouts of America and one of its local affiliates, the Northern Star Council. At least 16 lawsuits are pending in Minnesota against the Boy Scouts, including McDonough's civil action. Most target the Northern Star Council. Three other lawsuits list another council as a defendant. At least 12 additional suits are expected to be filed before the law's May 25 deadline....

McDonough's suit seeks at least $50,000 from the Scouts. The Northern Star Council, which represent troops in 21 Minnesota counties and four counties in western Wisconsin, declined to talk about abuse suits filed by McDonough and others....

One of McDonough's lawyers, Peter Janci, won a $19.9 million verdict against the Boy Scouts in 2010 in Portland, Ore. Janci says that when it comes to sexual abuse against children, the Boy Scouts have some things in common with the Roman Catholic Church.

"They both involve organizations that really believe in their mission. At times, that has led to them to make decisions where they put reputation of the organization above safety and health of individuals," he said.

In the case of the Boy Scouts of America, that included the creation of what it called "ineligible volunteer" files, Janci said. When the Scouts learned that a volunteer had sexually molested or raped a child, it often created a file so it could bar that person from volunteering in another city or state.

Between 1955 and 1984, the Boy Scouts of America created 1,300 of these files. A judge ordered those files released, with some information redacted, after the Portland trial.

A small percentage of the "ineligible volunteer" files were atheists or homosexuals. The Scouts barred gay men and lesbians from the organization until just recently. But the vast majority of files focused on sexual molestation. They became known as the "Perversion Files."

The Boy Scouts has been keeping secret tabs on suspected abusers since the 1920s, but it didn't routinely report those people to police. The organization began requiring "mandatory reporting of suspected abuse" in 2011....
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/10/ex-boy-scouts-tap-minnesota-sex-abuse-law

Pope Francis says Chilean protests over alleged child abuse cover-up are ‘dumb’, 'Open Secret' Reveals Hollywood child abuse problem,Japan’s child abuse cases to record high

- Watch: Pope Francis says Chilean protests over alleged child abuse cover-up are ‘dumb’
- Calling Protesters in Chile ‘Dumb,’ Pope Francis Sets Off Uproar

- Controversial 'Open Secret' Reveals Hollywood Child Abuse Problem

- Poverty, isolation push Japan’s child abuse cases to record high

Watch: Pope Francis says Chilean protests over alleged child abuse cover-up are ‘dumb’
By Adam Taylor  October 8, 2015

Few global figures have enjoyed a more positive public image recently than Pope Francis, the remarkably popular leader of the Catholic Church. But a newly released video that appears to show the pope calling critics of the church's actions in Chile "dumb" has prompted fresh protests in the Latin American country – and could also harm the pontiff's reputation internationally.

The video, aired by a Chilean TV channel last week, was initially filmed at the Vatican in May. According to Catholic news Web site Crux, the video shows Jaime Coiro, a former spokesman for the Chilean Bishops Conference, greeting Francis in St Peter's Square.

In the video, Francis talks about criticism that the Catholic church in Chile was facing at the time. The appointment of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to the Osorno, Chile, diocese had drawn protests throughout the country due to accusations that Barros had helped cover up the sexual abuse of minors by his then-superior, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, and may have witnessed some of the abuse himself.

The Vatican found Karadima guilty of sexually abusing minors in 2011 and sentenced him to a "life of prayer and penitence." While Barros spent more than 30 years working with Karadima, he has denied any cover-up, and the Vatican released a short statement offering a defense of the bishop's appointment in March. The newly released video, however, shows Francis going much further – not only angrily defending Barros's appointment, but seemingly insulting the intelligence of protesters.

In the footage, the pope tells a group of tourists that Osorno’s church has “lost its freedom, allowing politicians to fill people’s heads, judging a bishop without any evidence, a man who’s been a bishop for 20 years." Francis goes on to say: "Think with your heads. Don’t let them lead you by the nose, all these fools who have stirred this thing up."

The pope adds that "the only accusation against this bishop was dismissed by the court," drawing out the syllables for emphasis. "Please, don’t lose your calm. Osorno is suffering, yes, but for being dumb," he says in the video....

Notably, while the pope appears to say that the investigation into an alleged cover-up of Karadima's abuses was closed, the New York Times notes that the investigation is, in fact, still ongoing. The pope's reference to politicians in the video appears to be a reference to Chilean members of parliament who had signed a petition opposing Barros's nomination.

The video of Francis's comments was published online Friday and has sparked outrage against the Chilean Catholic Church, with renewed protests in St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Osorno over the weekend calling on the Vatican to remove Barros from his post....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/08/watch-pope-francis-says-chilean-protests-over-alleged-child-abuse-cover-up-are-dumb/

Calling Protesters in Chile ‘Dumb,’ Pope Francis Sets Off Uproar
By PASCALE BONNEFOY OCT. 7, 2015

....In the video, Pope Francis asserted that the accusations against Bishop Barros were unfounded and that a Chilean court had dismissed such claims. However, a judicial investigation into the presumed negligence and cover-up of church officials regarding Father Karadima’s abuses is still in progress.

Three of Father Karadima’s victims filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church in 2012, demanding nearly $660,000 in compensation after a criminal investigation into abuses committed from 1980 to 1995 was dismissed in 2011 because the statute of limitations had expired.

One of the victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, contends that Bishop Barros was frequently present in Father Karadima’s bedroom when he and others were abused; threatened seminarians who dared denounce them; and destroyed letters reporting the abuses to the archbishop of Santiago at the time, Juan Francisco Fresno, when Bishop Barros was the archbishop’s personal secretary in the 1980s.

Bishop Barros is one of two dozen witnesses who the plaintiffs have requested be interrogated as part of the lawsuit.

“The pope’s statements are not surprising, but it is sad,” Mr. Cruz said. “The vision of a pope closer to abuse victims has been unmasked.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/americas/calling-protesters-in-chile-dumb-pope-francis-sets-off-uproar.html



Controversial 'Open Secret' Reveals Hollywood Child Abuse Problem  By David A. Patten    Thursday, 08 Oct 2015

When actress Ashley Judd recently revealed that an unnamed studio executive tried to "groom" her for sex by using his powerful position, Gabe Hoffman, a film producer and hedge-fund executive, was hardly surprised.

"The casting couch is almost as old as time," he told Newsmax. But he adds, "I think the casting couch has just about run its course in our society. We don't tolerate that stuff anymore. We shouldn't.''

Hoffman is considered an authority on the subject because his documentary film "An Open Secret" reveals an even darker, unrelated predilection that he says plagues the entertainment industry: Sexual exploitation of child actors.

The film's director, Amy Berg, was nominated for an Oscar for "Deliver Us From Evil," her 2006 examination of sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church.

Berg deftly wields all the narrative tools of the storyteller's craft – rising action, suspense, plot twists, interludes, surprise endings – to create a documentary that holds together surprisingly well considering the abject subject matter. She offers a gut-wrenching, un-hyped account of the emotional carnage wreaked on children by industry predators.

The documentary introduces five erstwhile child actors identified only by their first names and last initials. Each story follows a predictable arc, how they were discovered, groomed, and ultimately used....

Many of the film's sordid tales involve Marc Collins-Rector, the co-founder of the now-defunct Digital Entertainment Network, an attempt at online video streaming....

According to the film, Collins-Rector would invite high-profile entertainment mavens to join in sybaritic parties at an Encino, California, mansion. There, aspiring child actors would cavort about the pool and powerful adults – who held the power to realize or destroy their dreams of stardom – enticed them into the hot tub. Some of the children had not yet even reached their teens.

In 2004, Collins-Rector pleaded guilty to multiple counts of child sexual abuse. Among other heinous acts, he admitted to luring five minors across state lines for sex. At sentencing, he was credited with the time he'd spent in a Spanish jail prior to his extradition. He later fled the country after a court awarded a $4.5 million judgment to his accusers....

Sexual abuse involving children is hardly new. In 2011, actor Corey Feldman, who starred in the 1980s films "The Goonies" and "Stand By Me," wrote a memoir, "Coreyography," in which he stated he and his late co-star Corey Haim were sexually abused as children....
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/hollywood-open-secret-documentary/2015/10/08/id/695357/


Poverty, isolation push Japan’s child abuse cases to record high
Kyodo     Oct 8, 2015

Child welfare authorities dealt with nearly 90,000 child abuse cases in the fiscal year ending March, a government survey showed Thursday, with experts blaming the record-high figure on increased poverty and the isolation of some families.

Logging the largest-ever increase of 20.5 percent from the previous year’s 73,000, the preliminary survey by the health ministry showed the number of cases handled by 207 child consultation centers across the country in fiscal 2014 reached 88,931, up for the 24th consecutive year since the survey started in 1990.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare attributed the rise to the widened scope of circumstances that can be reported as abuse following an August 2013 notice that instructed the centers to deal with siblings of abused children as they may also be suffering from psychological abuse.

The number of cases reported by police to the centers in which children witnessed abuse of a parent or other family member has also increased, it said....
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/08/national/social-issues/poverty-isolation-push-japans-child-abuse-cases-record-high/ 

Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Who Failed to Report Priest's Suspected Child Abuse, True Detective season two: the secret occult history of the United States transportation system

Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Who Failed to Report Priest's Suspected Child Abuse
By Taylor Wofford 4/21/15

Pope Francis on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, who in 2012 pleaded guilty in Clay County circuit court to a misdemeanor charge of failure to report suspected child abuse by one of the priests in his diocese. The announcement was given a single sentence in the Vatican Information Service's emailed morning news bulletin, listed under "Other Pontifical Acts."....

In December 2010, Finn failed to contact police when a computer technician informed him that he had discovered hundreds of lewd photographs of young girls on the laptop of Shawn Ratigan, a priest in Finn's diocese, some of which were believed to have been taken by Ratigan. According to The New York Times,

Bishop Finn sent Father Ratigan to live in a convent and told him to avoid contact with minors. But until [the following] May the priest attended children’s parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted an Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop’s permission, at a girl’s First Communion, according to interviews with parishioners and a civil lawsuit filed by a victim’s family.

Ratigan was arrested after the second-ranking officer in the diocese, Monsignor Robert Murphy, contacted the police about the material on Ratigan’s laptop in mid-May 2011.

Ratigan later pleaded guilty to five child pornography charges in 2012 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Two weeks after Ratigan's arrest, Finn removed another priest, Michael Tierney, from his parish after finding "recent reports of Father Tierney’s sexual abuse of minors in the early 1970s were credible," according to a law firm asked by Finn to conduct an independent investigation into the diocese's handling of the incident....

While Finn has resigned from his post in the diocese, he will remain a Catholic bishop with all attendant rights, including being allowed to practice Mass. "He's still a bishop in good standing," Smith said.... http://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-accepts-resignation-kansas-city-bishop-who-failed-report-sexual-323941
 
True Detective season two: first trailer
Watch Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch in the new True Detective trailer
09 Apr 2015   The first teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated second season of HBO's True Detective has been released.

Starring Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Taylor Kitsch and McAdams, the new season is set in Seventies California, and will tell the story of a mob boss (Vaughn) who joins with law enforcement officials to investigate a strange murder case....

The first season of the show, which was set in the Nineties, starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as partners investigating a Louisiana murder case: it's storyline dealt with the disturbing topic of satanic child abuse.

Writer Nic Pizzolatto has said the new season will continue these dark themes, exploring "the secret occult history of the United States transportation system".

Season two of True Detective premieres on June 21.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11526242/True-Detective-Season-Two-first-trailer.html 

Members of press issue mea culpas on botched Bill Cosby coverage, Spain arrests Granada priests over child sex abuse

Members of press issue mea culpas on botched Bill Cosby coverage  November 25, 2014

Some members of the press who covered Bill Cosby over the past 40 years are now issuing mea culpas, saying they failed to follow up on the many accusations leveled at the comedy legend over the years.

Bill Cosby’s official biographer Mark Whitaker says he was wrong in not addressing the numerous allegations of sexual assault leveled against the comedian. Whitaker’s admission comes on the heels of New York Times columnist David Carr taking to task a number of writers – himself included - for turning a blind eye to the claims....

Cosby, 77, has been publicly accused by at least 18 women of sexually assaulting them or attempting to sexually assault them over the past four decades. His lawyers have denied the claims and called many of the women liars and opportunists. Cosby refused to address the stories in recorded interviews with the Associated Press and National Public Radio. He told the publication Florida Today: "I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos."

But despite the denials, venues on Cosby’s tour are dropping like flies....
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/11/25/members-press-issue-mea-culpas-on-botched-bill-cosby-coverage/

Spain arrests Granada priests over child sex abuse 
24 November 2014
Police in Spain have arrested three priests and one layman on suspicion of child sex abuse, according to the country's interior minister....

The Archdiocese of Granada suspended several priests last week after a man wrote to Pope Francis saying he was abused when he was an altar boy....

However, Spanish newspaper El Pais said all were believed to be members of the ultraconservative group known as Los Romanones....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30178934 

Pope sacks Paraguay bishop accused of protecting abuser priest

Pope sacks Paraguay bishop accused of protecting abuser priest 

Pope Francis's latest crackdown on clerical sex abuse comes days after Vatican ordered Polish archbishop to be put on trial for allegedly abusing young boys
Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, has been removed by Pope Francis from a Paraguayan diocese

By Nick Squires, Rome  25 Sep 2014

Pope Francis has sacked a bishop in South America who for years protected a priest accused of sexual misconduct.

The Pope, who has vowed to adopt a much tougher stance than his predecessors on priests accused of sexual abuse, forcibly removed Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as bishop of a diocese in Paraguay.

The bishop is accused of protecting an Argentine priest whose former superiors in the United States had described as a "serious threat to young people."

The bishop's removal was the result of an investigation instigated by the Vatican earlier this year.

He had refused to resign, leaving the Pope no option but to remove him in what the Vatican described in a statement as a "hard decision"....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/11121607/Pope-sacks-Paraguay-bishop-accused-of-protecting-abuser-priest.html

Did Pope Francis really say 2% of Catholic clergy are pedophiles?, Rome- Pope estimates # of predator priests, A woman is raped every 90 minutes in Zimbabwe, Butler-Sloss steps down from child abuse inquiry

Did Pope Francis really say 2% of Catholic clergy are pedophiles?
By Lauren Raab July 13, 2014

An interview that credits Pope Francis as saying about 2% of Roman Catholic clerics are pedophiles stirred controversy Sunday, as the Vatican sought to raise questions about the article's accuracy and others called on the pope to take more action on the issue.

The interview by Eugenio Scalfari, published Sunday, quotes the pope as calling the rash of sex abuse scandals “a leprosy in our home” and saying the pedophiles include “priests and even bishops and cardinals,” according to a CBS News translation....

Meanwhile, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said the “real percentage of predator priests” is much higher than 2% and called on the pope to defrock clerics who participate in cover-ups....

At a United Nations hearing this year, the Vatican said it had defrocked 848 priests over the last decade and ordered 2,572 to “live a life of prayer and penance” because of abuse allegations. There are about 414,000 Roman Catholic priests worldwide, according to the BBC; if 2% are pedophiles, that would be more than 8,000....
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-wn-pope-francis-pedophile-priests-20140713-story.html

Rome- Pope estimates # of predator priests
For immediate release: Sunday, July 13, 2014
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

....Finally, “U.S. bishops have reported receiving allegations of abuse by 6,427 priests in 1950-2013, or 5.9% of the 109,694 U.S. priests active 1950-2002, according to the John Jay report. Including the 5,356 priests ordained since 2002 brings the total to 115,050, of whom 5.6% have been accused of abuse,” according to BishopAccountability.org.

Here are more specific numbers, from BishopAccountability.org:

--After the March 2009 release of audit documents by the NH AG, the names of 74 accused Manchester priests are known, or over 8.9% of the 831 diocesan priests, which extrapolates to 9,768 nationally

--Covington diocese states that 9.6% of its priests have been accused, which extrapolates to 10,531 nationally

--Over 10% of Providence RI priests have been accused, which extrapolates to over 10,969 nationally

--Richard Sipe estimates that 9% of U.S. priests have offended, which extrapolates to 9,872 priests nationally....
http://www.snapnetwork.org/rome_pope_estimates_of_predator_priests

A woman is raped every 90 minutes in Zimbabwe - ZimStat
by Staff Reporter 13 July 2014 

AT least one woman is raped every 90 minutes in the country, preliminary statistics of the first quarter of 2014 leaked from the Zimbabwe National Statistics (ZimStat) office have revealed.The data shows that about 500 women were sexually abused monthly in the first three months of the year, translating to about 16 women being raped daily.

A total of 1 524 cases were reported in the first three months of this year, up from 1 285 recorded in the same period last year.

Of the total cases recorded in the first quarter of this year, 780 are children between the ages of 11 and 16 years while 276 were children aged between five and 10 years....

National Aids Council (NAC) Gender and Workplace co-ordinator, Ms Vimbai Mdege, expressed sadness at the indication that the majority of sexual abuse victims were children under the age of 16....

"....If you look at the figures you will see that the majority of the victims of rape are children under the age of 16. Most of the rape cases are for ritual purposes...."
http://www.bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-50485.html


Butler-Sloss steps down from child abuse inquiry  14 July 2014
Retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss has stepped down as head of a probe into child sex abuse saying she was "not the right person" for the job.

Lady Butler-Sloss has been under pressure to quit from MPs and victims concerned about her family links.

Her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s....
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28295282 

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

May 3, 2014 VATICAN CITY (AP) - Members of Pope Francis' sexual abuse advisory board said Saturday they will develop "clear and effective" protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.Victims groups have long blasted the Vatican for refusing to sanction any bishop or superior who covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They have listed accountability as one of the key issues facing Francis and a key test for his new advisory board....

Victims groups have long cited the case of O'Malley's predecessor in Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop after the sex abuse scandal exploded publicly there in 2002. But Pope John Paul II then appointed Law to the plum assignment as archpriest of one of the Vatican's four major basilicas in Rome. Even today, another U.S. bishop remains in office despite having been convicted of misdemeanor failure to report suspected child abuse....

The commission met on the eve of a U.N. committee meeting in Geneva in which the Vatican is expected to come under a second round of criticism for its handling of abuse. A U.N. committee monitoring implementation of a key treaty on children's rights blasted the Holy See earlier this year, accusing it of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence.

It recommended the Vatican immediately remove any priest suspected or known to have abused children, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the cases over to law enforcement.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/03/vatican-sexual-abuse/2128958/ 

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for priests who sexually abused children, Pa. bill expands list of those required to report child abuse

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for priests who sexually abused children
By Daniel Burke and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
Fri April 11, 2014

(CNN) -- Pope Francis made his strongest condemnation yet of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Friday, asking for forgiveness and pledging to impose penalties on "men of the church" who harm children.

"I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests -- quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests -- to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," the Pope said in remarks quoted by Vatican Radio....

The U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said it may be the first time a pope has spoken of sanctioning "complicit bishops."

"But that is all it is: talk," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director.

"We beg the world's Catholics: Be impressed by deeds, not words. Until the Pope takes decisive action that protects kids, be skeptical and vigilant."

The Pope's new comments, made Friday to members of a Catholic nongovernmental organization, the International Catholic Child Bureau, represent a shift from his previous statements on sexual abuse....
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/11/world/europe/vatican-pope-sex-abuse/ 

Pa. bill expands list of those required to report child abuse  By Oscar Gamble 04/11/14

NORRISTOWN — A bill sponsored by Rep. Todd Stephens to expand the list of professionals required to report suspected child abuse and increase penalties for those who shirk the obligation has unanimously passed the Pennsylvania Legislature and is headed to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

House Bill 436, the Child Protection Act, is a companion to Senate Bill 21, sponsored by Sen. Kim Ward, R-39th Dist., which includes Stephens’ language expanding and clarifying the list of professionals required to report abuse....

The bill requires child care providers and school personnel at every educational level, religious leaders, doctors and health care professionals, social and emergency service workers, librarians, law enforcement and the lawyers and independent contractors representing all of these entities to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. It also imposes stiffer penalties for noncompliance.“I think the penalties will get people’s attention,” said Stephens. “In some cases, not reporting (child abuse) will be a felony ... In every case, it’s in the best interest of organizations that care for children to report instances of child abuse”....
http://www.pottsmerc.com/government-and-politics/20140411/pa-bill-expands-list-of-those-required-to-report-child-abuse 

Mexican Catholic order Legion of Christ apologises to victims, Pope Francis must finally root out child abuse

Mexican Catholic order Legion of Christ apologises to victims 
6 February 2014

Pope John Paul II (right) gives his blessing to Father Maciel (left) in 2004, two years before the Mexican priest was ordered to retire

The Legion of Christ Catholic order has for the first time apologised to the victims of sexual abuse carried out by its founder, Father Marcial Maciel.

In a statement, the order condemned the "reprehensible and objectively immoral behaviour" of the Mexico-born priest.

Father Maciel led the order from its foundation in 1941 until 2006, when Pope Benedict ordered him to retire.

He abused seminarians as young as 12, and died in 2008 aged 87 without ever being convicted of his crimes.

A Vatican investigation also found out that he had fathered several children by at least two women, and used drugs.

"We want to express our deep sorrow for the abuse of minor seminarians, the immoral acts with men and women who were adults, the arbitrary use of his authority and of material goods," said the Legion of Christ in a statement....

Father Maciel was disciplined by the Vatican in 2006. Pope Benedict ordered him to stop exercising his ministry in public and to retire to a life of prayer and penitence.

Father Maciel, who was close to the late Pope John Paul II, always denied all the allegations....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26076214


Pope Francis must finally root out child abuse
By Mary Dispenza  Thu February 6, 2014

Editor's note: Mary Dispenza, a former nun, was a plaintiff in a successful class action suit against the Los Angeles Archdiocese over child molestation claims. She is the area representative for SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, in Bellevue, Washington. She is also the author of "Split: A Child, a Priest and the Catholic Church."

(CNN) -- Finally. Finally. Finally, a strong important voice in the world, the United Nations, speaks out on behalf of the rights of children and condemns the Vatican and the bishops for crimes of violence, rape and sexual abuse against children by transferring pedophile priests from parish to parish, withholding documents for prosecution and perpetuating an institutional culture of secrecy and shame....

As a survivor of rape and violence at the hands of a priest when I was a young girl, I understand that secrecy....

It has taken me more than half a lifetime to piece myself back together. I was 52 years old and still captivated by the Catholic Church when I let the buried "secret" memories emerge. His name was Father Rucker -- George Neville Rucker. I must have trusted him when he asked me to crawl up on his lap as he sat watching a movie in an auditorium so long ago. He raped me while my mother was in the lunchroom nearby....

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles released 12,000 pages of files on scores of priests accused of sexually abusing children in 2013. I found out that the pastor of our parish back in 1947 suspected Father Rucker of "touching" little girls. It was the bishop who would not listen and passed Father Rucker on and on until 2002, when he was defrocked. He had become a real liability to Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the archdiocese.

About 33 women accused him of abusing them when they were young. That's five decades of abuse.

In 2002, he was charged with 29 counts of molesting girls. He was taken off a cruise ship on its way to Russia to face the charges; authorities thought he was trying to flee. But his case was dismissed in 2003 after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the charges were too old....
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/opinion/dispenza-priest-abuse/

Vatican refuses to give UN panel full details of clerical sex abuse cases, Pope Setting Up Commission on the Sexual Abuse of Children by Priests

Vatican refuses to give UN panel full details of clerical sex abuse cases
Holy See angers campaigners by not disclosing information requested by UN committee on the rights of the child

    Lizzy Davies in Rome
    theguardian.com, Wednesday 4 December 2013

The Vatican has refused to give a United Nations panel information it requested on clerical sex abuse, in a move that it said was part of its confidentiality policy but which was criticised as "a slap in the face" for victims.

In a series of questions asked in the runup to a public hearing scheduled for January, the UN committee on the rights of the child had requested the Holy See provide details of abuse cases and specific information concerning their subsequent investigation and handling.

But, in its response, the Holy See said that although it had answered the questions in a general way, it was not its practice to disclose information on specific cases unless requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings.

In the 24-page document, the Holy See said it had been "deeply saddened by the scourge of sexual abuse" and regretted the involvement of some members of the Catholic clergy.

It added that it had "amended norms" regarding the suitability of candidates for the priesthood, and had taken other steps including the revision of some canon law rules "to ensure that clerics and religious are properly disciplined".

But it did not give all the details requested by the committee in a lengthy, multi-part question on the "sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world"....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/vatican-refuses-un-panel-details-clerical-sex-abuse-cases

Pope Setting Up Commission on the Sexual Abuse of Children by Priests

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO, ALAN COWELL and RICK GLADSTONE
Published: December 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY — In his first concrete step to address the clerical sexual-abuse problem in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis will establish a commission to advise him on protecting children from pedophile priests and on how to counsel victims, the Vatican said Thursday....

Whether the new commission portends a significant change in how the Vatican deals with abusive priests and their protectors remains to be seen, experts on the church said. Yet the timing of the announcement, two days after a United Nations panel criticized the Vatican over its handling of abuse cases, suggested that the pope and his closest advisers wanted to at least be seen as tackling the issue with greater firmness.

Soon after he became pope, Francis directed the Vatican last April to act decisively on abuse cases and punish pedophile priests, in a meeting with subordinates at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the church’s enforcement arm. But he had said little about the sexual abuse problem since....
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/world/europe/pope-setting-up-commission-on-clerical-child-abuse.html

Child Abuse and Ritual Abuse Newsletter May 2013

Child Abuse and Ritual Abuse Newsletter May 2013

forwarded with permission

http://ritualabuse.us/2013/04/issue-110-may-2013/

This issue contains information on the Super Bowl, Clergy Abuse, Los Angeles Archdiocese, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, Jimmy Savile and Satanic rituals, Operation Yewtree, Cyril Smith, BBC, Kincora boys home, Magdalene Laundry system,  Jerry Sandusky, Canadian police and aboriginal women, Legion of Christ, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Frances Andrade, Joshu Sasaki, Michael Salter, India, Dutch clergy abuse, West of Memphis, West Memphis Three, ritual killings, Colin Batley, ritual Satanic killing,  satanic ritual, ritual abuse crime statutes, satanic cult, ritual sacrifice, Judy Byington, Twenty-Two Faces, sex-slave cult,  Defensores de Cristo, Defenders of Christ, Konstantin Rudnev Russian cult leader, Satanic ritual abuse, Laurie Matthew, Haut de la Garenne children's home island of Jersey, Dissociative Identity Disorder, DID, The Holocaust, Nazi Ghettos and Camps, Dissociative Disorders, Scout abuse, Rape, Steubenville Rape Trial, Children's Memory,  Bullying, Sybil in her own words, Shirley Mason, multiple personalities, Mass Shootings, Federal Child Porn_graphy Offenses, Gang rape, Statute of Limitations, False allegations of rape and domestic violence, Sexual Assault, Facebook http://ritualabuse.us/2013/04/issue-110-may-2013/

Ritual Abuse Conference August 2013

Ritual Abuse And Extreme Abuse Clinician’s Conference August 2013

Pope Francis was often quiet on Argentine sex abuse cases as archbishop, - Nightline: When To Believe A Child's Word, Missing dogs, ritualistic killing confound Idaho officials

Pope Francis was often quiet on Argentine sex abuse cases as archbishop
By Nick Miroff, March 18, 2013

HURLINGHAM, Argentina — Father Julio Cesar Grassi was a celebrity in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. The young, dynamic, ­media-savvy priest networked with wealthy Argentines to fund an array of schools, orphanages and job training programs for poor and abandoned youths, winning praise from Argentine politicians and his superior, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Grassi called his foundation Felices los Niños, “Happy Children.”

Today, Grassi is a convicted sex offender who remains free on a conditional release after being sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2009 for molesting a prepubescent boy in his care.

Yet in the years after Grassi’s conviction, Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — has declined to meet with the victim of the priest’s crimes or the victims of other predations by clergy under his leadership. He did not offer personal apologies or financial restitution, even in cases in which the crimes were denounced by other members of the church and the offending priests were sent to jail....

There is no evidence that Bergoglio played a role in covering up abuse cases. Several prominent rights groups in Argentina say the archbishop went out of his way in recent years to stand with secular organizations against crimes such as sex trafficking and child prostitution. They say that Bergoglio’s resolve strengthened as new cases of molestation emerged in the archdiocese and that he eventually instructed bishops to immediately report all abuse allegations to police.

In September, after an Argentine priest from a rural area was convicted of abusing dozens of boys between 1984 and 1992, the archbishop’s office released a statement saying the case had “reaffirmed our profound shame and the immense pain that result from the grave mistakes committed by someone who should be setting the moral example.”

But during most of the 14 years that Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rights advocates say, he did not take decisive action to protect children or act swiftly when molestation charges surfaced; nor did he extend apologies to the victims of abusive priests after their misconduct came to light....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/pope-francis-was-often-quiet-on-argentine-sex-abuse-cases-as-archbishop/2013/03/18/26e7eca4-8ff6-11e2-9cfd-36d6c9b5d7ad_story.html

Nightline: When To Believe A Child's Word
Nightline - November 14, 1996

TURNING POINT:  When Children Accuse - Who To Believe
Byline: Ted Koppel and Erin Haynes

ABC-Nightline - November 14, 1996


WHEN CHILDREN ACCUSE: WHO TO BELIEVE Child sex abuse is a very serious problem.

In 1994 alone 140,000 new cases were investigated and found to be real. But are innocent people being sentenced for crimes they never committed because of the testimony of the young?

Doubt over the testimony of children in sexual abuse cases has made it harder to try accused child molesters, sometimes with deadly consequences, but authorities say children do tell the truth in most cases.

TED KOPPEL: [voice-over] This week, another tragedy.

1st RESPONDENT: I don't understand this. They- they knew. Why did they let him come into this neighborhood? Or in any other neighborhood?

TED KOPPEL: [voice-over] A convicted child molester avoids prison because there is doubt over the testimony of a child.....

STEPHEN CECI, Psychologist, Cornell University: Not only do I believe children can be reliable in sexual abuse cases, I believe the vast majority of them are reliable in those cases.

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] But Ceci says what is missing from many accounts of his work is that it is fairly difficult to convince children to make up even the most harmless stories.

STEPHEN CECI: Because in our studies we work at it very hard....

ERIN HAYES: In fact, in his studies, most of the children ultimately do not give in to interviewers' suggestions, and while many of the interviews are about more serious subjects, medical exams, for example, they are not about sex abuse, and many in the child protection field are troubled that Ceci's research is being applied to sex abuse cases....

STEPHEN CECI: Maybe 1 percent, 5 percent, 10 percent. I suspect it's nowhere near the majority. My hunch is the majority of interviews done with kids by front-line workers, child protective service, law enforcement, therapists, pediatricians, are well-done....

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] But his critics point out Underwager uses his own standards for determining what is repeated and leading. For instance, he has said that interviewers' questions like this one, "Okay ... I don't want you to say anything you can't remember for sure," could be considered leading. And most of the tapes he reviews come to him from defense attorneys, for whom he consults. When he testifies for them, he says, he is paid $2,500 a day. Underwager admits he has no way to known if the children's accounts of abuse in the cases he reviews are actually false. [interviewing] How do you know, in each of these cases, that the abuse did not happen?

RALPH UNDERWAGER: I don't. That's not my function. That's the function of the justice system.

ROB PARRISH: If that's the case, then there's no reason for him to be expressing an opinion in the justice system, any more than any of the rest of us. I mean, you could call anybody in that circumstance to say, "I've viewed the tape and I think it's a bad interview, so therefore I think this child's probably not telling the truth."

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] At least 10 courts have disallowed Underwager's testimony. One ruled he "...did not have bone fide qualifications..." as a researcher. Another said his work "...was not scientifically reliable..." Underwager does continue to testify, which concerns many of his critics, who say is expertise is colored by what they see as a sympathetic view toward pedophiles. In a Dutch publication [Paidika] three years ago, Underwager said, "Paedophiles need to become more positive and make the claim that paedophilia is an acceptable expression of God's will for love and will among human beings." Underwager says he has always believed sex between adults and children is harmful, but says to help treat pedophiles, they must first be encouraged to openly proclaim their sexuality....

MARK ELLIS, National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse: His methods and theories are not accepted by others in his field, and have been subject to a great deal of criticism by others in his field.

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] Prosecutors are also critical of Dr. Gardner, who not only testifies, but publishes and markets his own books on child sex abuse, books often quoted in court cases.

ATTORNEY: [law firm videotape] Now, I want to talk to you about the most common cause of false accusations.

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] In this videotape produced by a law firm, an attorney cites from Dr. Gardner's research Gardner's conclusion that false allegations of child sex abuse are commonplace in custody disputes.

ATTORNEY: [law firm videotape] This phenomena [sic] has been examined in research and it's now been given the name "parental alienation syndrome."

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] That disorder, however, cannot be found in the standard manual of psychiatric diagnoses. It is a term Dr. Gardner coined himself, based mainly on his own experience as a psychiatrist. But the largest study done on the subject to date found that false allegations of child sexual abuse rarely surface in custody disputes ["...less than 2% of cases involved an allegation of sexual abuse." Dr. Gardner declined a videotaped interview for this report, but he sells tapes of his own, as well, in which he describes his criteria to help determine whether a child's allegation of sexual abuse is true or false. Among his criteria?

Dr. RICHARD GARDNER: [videotape] If it sounds incredible, it's probably not true. In extreme cases, children who are sexually abused become like little street-smart sluts. I believe that children who are false accusers are going to have a higher incidence of reading mystery stories.

ERIN HAYES: [voice-over] Dr. Gardner concedes no one has scientifically tested his criteria, not even he.

ROB PARRISH: Those tests are not based on scientific reality. They're not verified, they're not validated in any way.
http://theawarenesscenter.blogspot.com/2011/02/turning-point-when-children-accuse-who.html

Missing dogs, ritualistic killing confound Idaho officials
Reuters March 21, 2013 By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho, March 21 (Reuters) - The mysterious disappearance of about 30 dogs in southern Idaho has baffled animal control officials and raised concerns among dog lovers after a German shepherd was found with its head crushed in a suspected ritual killing.

The missing canines range widely in size, breed and age. "The dogs seem to vanish into thin air," said Debbie Blackwood, director of the animal shelter in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Officials say some 30 dogs have gone missing in recent months in Twin Falls and nearby communities in an agricultural region in south-central Idaho known as the Magic Valley....

The dog, found in an area known as the Devil's Corral in neighboring Jerome County, appeared to have suffered a "ritualistic execution".... http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-usa-dogsidahol1n0cd0be-20130320,0,3597508.story

Clergy abuse victims call on Pope Francis to open files on Argentina’s pedophile priests, Indian legislators pass strict anti-rape law, Abuse inquiry to proceed under changed law

Clergy abuse victims call on Pope Francis to open files on Argentina’s pedophile priests

By Associated Press, Tuesday, March 19, 2013

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Activists against abuse by Roman Catholic clergy urged Pope Francis on Tuesday to apologize for what they called the Argentine church’s protection of two priests who were eventually convicted of sexually assaulting children.

The U.S.-based Bishop Accountability group cited the case of Father Julio Cesar Grassi, who ran the “Happy Children” foundation and was convicted of pedophilia in 2008, and Father Napoleon Sasso, convicted in 2007 of abusing girls at a soup kitchen in suburban Buenos Aires.

The Buenos Aires archbishop’s office didn’t immediately respond Tuesday.

The pope’s authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, told The Associated Press before Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope last week that he had drawn an increasingly tough line on clergy abuse. Bergoglio insisted that accused priests face trial, and imposed a thorough screening process in an attempt to weed out future problems, Rubin said.....

Grassi was well known in Buenos Aires for persuading celebrities to donate to his “Happy Children” foundation, which ran orphanages and social outreach programs. Before he was convicted, Grassi praised Bergoglio for “never abandoning him.” Now he’s free on appeal, thanks in part to a church filing on his behalf.

Sasso, meanwhile, enjoys prison furloughs after serving half of a 17-year sentence for abusing five girls.

Sasso was assigned to the soup kitchen, at a chapel where his bedroom shared the only bathroom, after living in a home for wayward priests where he had been sent after accusations of pedophilia were raised against him in remote San Juan province.

“The bathroom had two doors. The girls would come in through the outside door, and the priest would bring them into his bedroom through the other, sexually abusing the girls,” Moreau said. “These were really poor people, who were there for free meals while their parents worked. They found an enormous amount of child pornography in his computer, semen, condoms.” It was a medical priest and a nun who discovered that Sasso abused 25 girls aged 3 to 16, but when they informed church officials, they were told to “remain patient,” and nothing was done, Moreau said.

Eventually, they sought higher authorities and the case was taken up by the criminal courts, but the mid-level officials who covered it up still have their positions, while the priest and nun were forced to work elsewhere, the lawyer said....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/clergy-abuse-victims-call-on-pope-francis-to-open-files-on-argentinas-pedophile-priests/2013/03/19/ed810cb2-90c6-11e2-9173-7f87cda73b49_story.html  


Indian legislators pass strict anti-rape law
By Rama Lakshmi Tuesday, March 19, 2013

NEW DELHI — The Indian Parliament’s lower house passed a landmark law Tuesday that sets tougher penalties for rapists and for police officers who refuse to file a woman’s complaint of rape, as well as criminalizing offenses such as stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.

The amendments to existing law incorporate some of the sweeping changes that were demanded after the fatal gang rape of a young paramedical student in New Delhi in December, an incident that sparked a nationwide outcry against the lack of safety for women.

Despite the unprecedented protests that galvanized tens of thousands of Indians, the number of incidents of sexual assault has not diminished.

As lawmakers discussed the new law in Parliament on Tuesday, a British tourist fractured her leg when she jumped from the balcony of her hotel room in Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, to escape being molested by the hotel owner, police said....

A provision requiring government approval for the trial of police officers, officials, politicians and judges on rape charges also has been lifted.

For the first time, the law criminalizes stalking and voyeurism, acts of sexual harassment that have long been grouped under the benign euphemism “love-teasing.” Hereafter, rapes that occur during religious and caste riots also will be treated as cases of aggravated sexual assault.

The law does not, however, address contentious issues such as marital rape or the legal impunity afforded to Indian military officers. Nor does it include a provision to prohibit politicians charged with rape from running for office....

Some activists working to end the trafficking of minors said the law is a watered-down version of what was initially proposed.

“Under the new law, trafficking of a minor is a crime only if rape or sexual exploitation occurs,” said Bhuwan Ribhu, a children’s rights activist....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/british-tourist-jumps-from-indian-hotel-balcony-to-escape-sexual-assault-police-say/2013/03/19/1c25919c-9094-11e2-9173-7f87cda73b49_story.html

Abuse inquiry to proceed under changed law
March 19, 2013 - AAP

The Senate has agreed to change the century-old Royal Commissions Act to facilitate the inquiry into institutional child abuse.

To allow the commission to hear all the anticipated evidence, victims will be able to tell their stories in private and hearings can be held before just one of the six commissioners.

The Royal Commissions Amendment Bill 2013 has already passed the House of Representatives, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus saying it was important for the commission to have the flexibility to make the best use of its resources.

It allows those who want to give evidence in a less formal setting to go before a private hearing, not swear an oath or affirmation but receive the same protections as those giving evidence at formal hearings.
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/abuse-inquiry-to-proceed-under-changed-law-20130319-2gcma.html

Jimmy Savile sex crime police ‘to arrest more celebrities’ in Operation Yewtree probe, Ex-Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis arrested over fresh sex abuse allegations, Church Sex-Abuse Victim 'Surprised' by Pope

- Jimmy Savile sex crime police ‘to arrest more celebrities’ in Operation Yewtree probe
- Ex-Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis arrested over fresh sex abuse allegations
- Church Sex-Abuse Victim 'Surprised' by Pope


Jimmy Savile sex crime police ‘to arrest more celebrities’ in Operation Yewtree probe   Thursday 14 Mar 2013

Police investigating the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal are preparing to arrest more celebrities within weeks, it has been revealed.

Some ‘very high-profile figures’ are said to be among the new names reported to Operation Yewtree detectives by alleged victims.

The police promise comes as former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis was arrested for the second time over alleged sexual offences – though he again proclaimed his innocence.

Operation Yewtree was set up last year amid revelations of how the late TV presenter and DJ Savile had escaped prosecution despite decades of allegations against him.

Among those already arrested since the probe was launched are Travis, comedian Jim Davidson, PR consultant Max Clifford and disgraced pop star Gary Glitter.

All have declared their innocence.

Nazir Afzal, from the Crown Prosecution Service, has now told a child abuse seminar in London that more arrests are imminent....
http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/14/jimmy-savile-sex-crime-police-will-arrest-more-celebs-in-operation-yewtree-probe-3541806/ 


Ex-Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis arrested over fresh sex abuse allegations    
Wednesday 13 Mar 2013
Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been re-arrested on a string of new sex allegations, Scotland Yard has confirmed.

The 67-year-old was questioned when he answered bail on Monday about 11 new ‘incidents’ that have come to light.

According to sources, the claims date back to the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Travis was originally arrested in November of last year. At the time, he strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Speaking outside his home in Bedfordshire today, the former Top of the Pops host told reporters:  ‘I have been into a police station and I have had a chat with them and that is it.

‘They have told me they will make a decision in April.

‘I have not been charged with anything and that is it at the moment. I have to wait until they make up their minds.’....
http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/13/ex-radio-1-dj-dave-lee-travis-arrested-over-fresh-sex-abuse-allegations-3540394/


Church Sex-Abuse Victim 'Surprised' by Pope
Udo Strutynski says Pope Francis' message to the church is "no more business as usual."  03/14/2013
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/church-sex-abuse-victim-surprised-by-pope-18727643

Pope ‘must hand over sex abuse files' , LA archdiocese to pay out $10 mln to settle abuse cases, False allegations of rape and domestic violence are few and far between

- False allegations of rape and domestic violence are few and far between
- Pope ‘must hand over sex abuse files'
- LA archdiocese to pay out $10 mln to settle abuse cases

False allegations of rape and domestic violence are few and far between
Our new report shows that while false allegations must be taken seriously they are relatively rare and are often complex cases  
Keir Starmer guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 March 2013

The Crown Prosecution Service has come a long way in dealing with cases involving violence against women and girls. In the last year (2011-12) we have seen the conviction rate rise to 73%, delivering the lowest attrition rates ever recorded. The CPS has now published a trailblazing report on so-called "false allegations" of rape or domestic violence....

This report outlines the key findings from the review of those cases and the steps that we plan to take. Importantly, what it shows is that charges brought for perverting the course of justice or wasting police time for such "false" allegations need to be considered in the context of the total number of prosecutions brought for those offences. In the period of the review, there were 5,651 prosecutions for rape and 111,891 for domestic violence. During the same period there were 35 prosecutions for making false allegations of rape, six for making false allegation of domestic violence and three for making false allegations of both rape and domestic violence.

Furthermore, the report shows that a significant number of these cases involved young, often vulnerable people. About half of the cases involved people aged 21 years old and under, and some involved people with mental health difficulties. In some cases, the person alleged to have made the false report had undoubtedly been the victim of some kind of offence, even if not the one that he or she had reported.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/13/false-allegations-rape-domestic-violence-rare


Pope ‘must hand over sex abuse files'
From: AAP     March 14, 2013
POPE Francis must commit to handing over secret Vatican files about child sex abuse in Australia, an advocacy group for people abused by priests says.
Nicky Davis, of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called on the new Pope on Thursday to show that the church is serious about tackling child sexual abuse.
She said the Catholic Church had never voluntarily handed over incriminating documents or cooperated with law enforcement or official inquiries into the issue.
"One of the first actions of the new Pope should be to open all the secret Vatican files relating to child sexual abuse in Australia and hand them to Australia's royal commission." http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-must-hand-over-sex-abuse-files/story-e6frf7kf-1226596925070


LA archdiocese to pay out $10 mln to settle abuse cases
13/03/13  With all eyes on the Vatican's new beginning – the past continues to dominate for the US archdiocese of Los Angeles and its former leader Cardinal Roger Mahony.
LA has agreed to pay out 10 million dollars (7.7 million euros) to settle four cases of sexual abuse by Father Michael Baker. Recently-released church files show Cardinal Roger Mahony knew that Baker, and others, had abused minors – but he allowed them to stay in the ministry. A Lawyer for the archdiocese, Michael Hennigan, denied a church cover-up, although he said Mahony admitted he made "serious mistakes" with Baker. Baker was convicted in 2007 and sent to prison on 12 criminal counts of felony oral copulation with a minor.... http://www.euronews.com/2013/03/13/la-archdiocese-to-pay-out-10-mln-to-settle-abuse-cases/