Priest Abuse Archives - Page 3 of 10 - Halifax Sexual Abuse Claims Blog

May 16th, 2011

Vatican’s Abuse Guidelines: Action or Window Dressing?

The Vatican’s Guidelines to Bishops for dealing with claims of priest sexual abuse has now been released.

Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also released a brief letter accompanying the Guidelines.

Levada says that the Guidelines were drafted to “…facilitate the correct application” of the Pope’s previous instructions.

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May 13th, 2011

Amnesty International Names Vatican for Failing to Protect Children

by John McKiggan

Today Amnesty International published it’s annual report Amnesty International Report 2011: The State of the World’s Human Rights, which examines human rights offences in various countries throughout the world.

The report concludes:

“…the Holy See did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children”.

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May 11th, 2011

Vatican to Issue New Abuse Guidelines

by John McKiggan

The Associated Press reports that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith plans to release new guidelines advising Bishops on how to deal with cases of sexual abuse of children by priests.

The guidelines have been in the works for at least six months. In November last year, Cardinal William Levada indicated the Vatican would recommend establishing prevention programs, better screening of priests and advise Bishops to obey civil reporting requirements.

Need a Recommendation to Obey the Law?

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May 5th, 2011

Catholics Must Discuss Sexual Abuse Openly and Honestly: Kenny

by John McKiggan

Last weekend Summerside Prince Edward Island hosted the annual convention of the Catholic Women’s League.

The keynote speaker was Sister Nuala Kenny, a Professor Eeritus at Dalhousie University and a policy advisor to the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada. Sister Kenny has dedicated much of her life to addressing the tragedy of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

In her address to the CWL, Sister Kenny urged all Catholics to work together with their Bishops and Clergy to renew and revitalize the church. However, to do so, she said that the church has to talk openly about how the sexual abuse of children has been allowed to happen and find a way to ensure that it never happens again.

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April 20th, 2011

Church Covered Up Abuse: No Punishment Necessary

by John McKiggan

Justice David Little issued a damning decision today castigating former Bishop John Sherlock and the Roman Catholic Church for years of covering up sexual abuse by Canada’s most notorious pedophile Father Charles Sylvestre.

Cover Up

In a strongly worded judgement Justice Little stated:

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April 14th, 2011

Accused Abuser Doesn’t Have to Produce Psychological Records

by John McKiggan

Reasons for judgement were recently released in the case of B.M.B v. Fallona et al. .

The plaintiff B.M.B. filed a claim accusing the defendant Fallona, a Roman Catholic priest, of sexually assaulting her.

B.M.B. applied to court for an order requiring Fallona to produce a copy of various physicians’ records who provided mental health services to the priest.

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April 5th, 2011

No More Jail Time for Convicted Abuser

by John McKiggan

Father Donald Grecco has been waiting to be sentenced after being convicted of sexual assault charges last year.

He was released pending sentencing on conditions that he reside in Picton while waiting for his hearing.

However he ignored the court order and moved out without notifying the court of his change of address. Police arrested him in October.

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March 24th, 2011

The Catholic Church Still Doesn’t Get It

by John McKiggan

This is the title of a blog post by blogger Adrian Liston. It was referred to me by a reader, Veronica.

I want to thank Veronica for bringing the article to my attention. I thought the post was worth passing on to a wider audience.

The Catholic Church still doesn’t get it…

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March 16th, 2011

More Criminal Charges Against Former Yarmouth Priest Albert LeBlanc

by John McKiggan

RCMP have laid 10 more charges of criminal sexual abuse against former Roman Catholic priest Albert LeBlanc.

LeBlanc is now facing charges in more than 50 sexual related offences, 18 counts of indecent assault and 32 counts of gross indecency.

RCMP stated that the charges relate to alleged offences commited from 1967 to 1985 when LeBlanc was living in Yarmouth county.

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January 28th, 2011

Mounting evidence of Catholic conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse by priests?

by John McKiggan

Did Vatican Letters Order Cover Up?

There is mounting evidence that the Vatican has been instructing Catholic Bishops throughout the world to cover up allegations of sexual abuse against priests.

Vatican Opposed Mandatory Reporting of Sexual Abuse

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Category: Priest Abuse