More Church Sex Crimes: Where and When will it Stop?
Sex-crimes of Priests molesting and raping boys anU.S. Leaders Of 'Lacerated' Catholic Church Meet Pope To Discuss Sex Abuse Crisis
Amy Held September 13, 20182:52 PM ET
Archbishop Jose Gomez (left) and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo arrive at the Perugino Gate to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday to discuss the sex abuse crisis within the church.
Gregorio Borgia/AP
As Pope Francis sat down at the Vatican Thursday with a delegation of U.S. bishops and cardinals to discuss how to gain ground in the sexual abuse crisis engulfing the Catholic Church, fresh scandals emerged on both sides of the Atlantic.
In Germany, a first-of-its kind study leaked to German news outlets found that over the past seven decades, at least 3,677 children have been sexually abused by clergy members there.
Researchers who spent four years studying records and conducting new interviews found that 1,670 priests and other religious leaders were suspected of engaging in abuse — 4.4 percent of the total number of clergy in the country.
And yet researchers repeatedly emphasized throughout the 350-page report that the actual numbers are likely "significantly higher," German newspaper Die Zeit reports.
Some two dozen dioceses participated in the study, commissioned by the Catholic Church bishops' conference in Germany.
But critics say because the church is both subject and sponsor of the report, the findings are inherently flawed.
"The report does not give the full picture, and is not fully independent," German criminologist Christian Pfeiffer told The New York Times.
Pfeiffer told the Times that researchers from three universities were unable to look directly at church files, instead relying on church workers to fill out questionnaires. And the report says that in several instances, church files documenting abuse have been altered or destroyed.
The official findings are not set for release until Sept. 25.
Last month, an explosive grand jury report covering a similar time period in Pennsylvania revealed that 300 "predator priests" had abused more than 1,000 victims with the help of a systematic cover-up by church leaders.
But the grand jury added a caveat: "We believe that the real number ... is in the thousands."
Seeking a way forward, American bishops and cardinals laid the crisis bare before the pope at the Vatican on Thursday.
"We shared with Pope Francis our situation in the United States — how the Body of Christ is lacerated by the evil of sexual abuse," the head of the delegation, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, said in a statement.
DiNardo, who had requested the meeting in response to the sexual abuse scandal around Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, said it "was a lengthy, fruitful, and good exchange" and that the pope "listened very deeply from the heart."
While DiNardo offered no specifics about how they plan to address the abuse, he said they prayed with the pope "for God's mercy and strength as we work to heal the wounds. We look forward to actively continuing our discernment together identifying the most effective next steps."...
But a man testifying four years ago in the Philadelphia trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the first senior U.S. Catholic Church official convicted of concealing sex abuse, accused Bransfield of misconduct.
The man said that another priest had raped him in Bransfield's home. He also testified that his abuser told him Bransfield was sexually abusing one or more boys.
Bransfield issued a statement at the time denying the allegations. And a West Virginia diocese issued a statement in his defense, saying Bransfield's alleged victim denied the abuse, the Associated Press reports.
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This Church sex-crime thing is getting out of hand. It's too much for the Roman Catholic Church to handle on its own. The Church is becoming a real sexual crime enterprise, better yet, Empire. The laws of every country around the world must unite to stop the soiling of our children and the destruction of families. This wholesale Holy Sin, hush money and violating the most vulnerable of society have to be addressed Now! This thing is beyond the Pope. They are raping the German Children like in America. This filthiness must cease, everywhere! I call on the Pope to declare a state of Emergency and shut the RCC down until every molesting Pedophile Priests are arrested and jailed. He must do it in the name of humanity. No one in their right mind, can or should continue to support the church's business as usual. The skies are crying by this evil that's tolerated by the RCC.
Lord, listen to your children praying". Drive out the molesters as you did the money changers from the temple. Amen!
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Pope Francis Defrocks Priest Fernando Karadima, A Notorious Abuser In Chile
September 28, 201810:46 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/28/652538572/pope-francis-defrocks-priest-fernando-karadima-a-notorious-abuser-in-chile
Pope Francis has removed Rev. Fernando Karadima from the priesthood, seven years after the Vatican found that Karadima had sexually abused minors in Chile.
Vladimir Rodas/AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis has defrocked notorious Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, making what the Vatican calls an "exceptional" decision based on his own conscience and concern for the good of the Catholic Church. Karadima has been the face of the church's sexual abuse scandal in Chile.The move is effective immediately. It was announced in a brief communique from the Vatican's press office, stating that Francis had signed the decree removing Karadima from the priesthood on Thursday, and that Karadima was informed of the pope's decision on Friday.
Karadima, 88, had already been forced to retire from ministerial duties, after a Vatican tribunal found him guilty in 2011 of sexually abusing dozens of minors, in a scandal that erupted in 2010.
In June, the pope accepted the resignation of three Chilean bishops over the church's handling of the sexual abuse cases — including Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, who was a protégé of Karadima.
Barros has been accused of covering up Karadima's abuse in cases that date back to the 1980s. Both of them have denied the allegations against them.
Francis has faced intense criticism over his handling of the abuse scandal in Chile, particularly after he appointed Barros as a bishop in 2015 — a move that enraged thousands of Catholics.
Abuse victims in Chile were also angered in January when the pope dismissed allegations against Barros as "calumny," saying he had never seen proof against the bishop. The outrage that followed seemed to persuade Francis to send a new investigative team to Chile — and soon afterward, he admitted he had made mistakes and had been given incomplete information.
Where is the end? CM