Updates on Silentlambs (page 3)

sf

Well, what happened to the embeddment?

It was there yesterday? hmmmmm

Oh well, good thing Elsewhere and Valis got it to copy. Yet why did'nt it copy for us?

sKally

blondie

I see the embedment, sf.

Next time, I'll just do it with it's own topic.

Blondie

avengers

Eventually, Norris plans to get testimony from Barbara Anderson of Tullahoma, Tenn. Now disfellowshipped, Anderson says that, while working as a Witnesses headquarters researcher, she compiled an inch-thick dossier about believers' child abuse and other psychological maladies that went to the Governing Body in 1992.
Says Anderson: "Yes, they knew (about abuse), and didn't do a thing about it."

blondie

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/5389684.stm

Sometimes I read comments on JWD that the Catholic Church has at least "apologized" for its coverups re child sexual abuse. Words only words...few victims have received monetary compensation and are still viewed as outcasts among their own religious community.

This article is very enlightening:

BBC NEWS Sex crimes and the Vatican

A secret document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church is examined by Panorama.

Crimen Sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope.

It instructs bishops on how to deal with allegations of child abuse against priests and has been seen by few outsiders.

Critics say the document has been used to evade prosecution for sex crimes.

Read the confidential document Read an interpretation of the document Read a transcript of the film Get free help Send your messages about this film and read those sent by other visitors to the site

Crimen Sollicitationis was written in 1962 in Latin and given to Catholic bishops worldwide who are ordered to keep it locked away in the church safe.

It instructs them how to deal with priests who solicit sex from the confessional. It also deals with "any obscene external act ... with youths of either sex."

It imposes an oath of secrecy on the child victim, the priest dealing with the allegation and any witnesses.

Breaking that oath means excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Reporting for Panorama, Colm O'Gorman finds seven priests with child abuse allegations made against them living in and around the Vatican City.

One of the priests, Father Joseph Henn, has been indicted on 13 molestation charges brought by a grand jury in the United States.

During filming for Sex Crimes and the Vatican, Colm finds Father Henn is fighting extradition orders from inside the headquarters of this religious order in the Vatican.

The Vatican has not compelled him to return to America to face the charges against him.

After filming, Father Henn lost his fight against extradition but fled the headquarters and is believed to be hiding in Italy while there is an international warrant for his arrest.

Colm O'Gorman was raped by a Catholic priest in the diocese of Ferns in County Wexford in Ireland when he was 14 years old.

Father Fortune was charged with 66 counts of sexual, indecent assault and another serious sexual offence relating to eight boys but he committed suicide on the eve of his trial.

Colm started an investigation with the BBC in March 2002 which led to the resignation of Dr Brendan Comiskey, the bishop leading the Ferns Diocese.

Colm then pushed for a government inquiry which led to the Ferns Report.

It was published in October 2005 and found: "A culture of secrecy and fear of scandal that led bishops to place the interests of the Catholic Church ahead of the safety of children."

The Catholic Church has 50 million children in its worldwide congregation and no universal child protection policy although in the UK there is the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children & Vulnerable Adults.

In some countries this means that the Crimen Sollicitationis is the only policy followed.

The Vatican has refused repeated requests from Panorama to respond to any of the cases shown in the film.

Updates on Silentlambs

sf

blondie

avengers

blondie

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