Cardinal Brady apologises to abuse victim Brendan Boland, Brendan Boland welcomes Cardinal Seán Brady apology

If the right thing had been done by Father (now Cardinal) Brady, and Bishop McKiernan, the unspeakable abuse of the other children I had sought to save would not have happened.”

Cardinal Brady apologises to abuse victim Brendan Boland 7 May 2012

Cardinal Sean Brady has said he wants to personally apologise to a man who was abused as a 14-year-old boy by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Cardinal Brady has come under pressure after a BBC documentary.

It accused him of failing to act on abuse allegations when he was a priest.

He said he had no intention of stepping aside but hoped an assistant – with succession rights – would be quickly appointed to his archdiocese.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE on Monday, Cardinal Brady said he wanted to “apologise without hesitation” to Brendan Boland “and to any victim”.

“I offered that apology last Christmas, I offered to come and see him in person,” he said…..

Last week, a BBC documentary uncovered new revelations about an internal Church investigation into clerical child sex abuse in 1975.

It said a teenage boy who had been sexually abused by Fr Brendan Smyth gave the names and addresses of other children who were at risk from the paedophile priest to Cardinal Brady, who at that time was a 36-year-old priest.

He passed the allegations to his superiors but did not inform the police or the children’s parents.

Fr Smyth continued to sexually assault one of the boys for a year after that.

He also abused the boy’s sister for seven years, and four of his cousins, up until 1988. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17984642

Brendan Boland welcomes Cardinal Seán Brady apology

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Brendan Boland who, as a 14-year-old boy, was sworn to secrecy by Cardinal Seán Brady after testifying that he had been sexually abused by the paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth, has welcomed the Cardinal’s public apology to him….

Mr Boland added: “I note that Cardinal Brady has now acknowledged that the information I gave him regarding other children being abused or at risk of abuse, should have been passed on to their parents in 1975.

“When I confided in the Youth Club to Father McShane in 1975, he did the right and proper thing in immediately bringing me to my parents and telling them what had been happening to me. It was only after that, that he informed his Superiors.

“If the right thing had been done by Father (now Cardinal) Brady, and Bishop McKiernan, the unspeakable abuse of the other children I had sought to save would not have happened. Both Cardinal Brady and I will have to live with our guilt in that regard.” http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0508/brendan-boland-welcomes-cardinal-brady-apology.html

Brady under pressure as sex abuse victims talk of cover-up, The Parental Alienation Debate Belongs in the Courtroom, Not in DSM-5

articles
- Brady under pressure as sex abuse victims talk of cover-up
- Fresh claims put pressure on Cardinal Brady
- The Parental Alienation Debate Belongs in the Courtroom, Not in DSM-5

Brady under pressure as sex abuse victims talk of cover-up
By Greg Harkin
Tuesday May 01 2012

CHURCH leaders will come under renewed pressure when a BBC documentary is screened tonight outlining the widespread cover-up of clerical sex abuse here.

‘This World: The Shame of the Catholic Church’ is said to focus on Cardinal Sean Brady’s role in an ecclesiastical investigation that led to the silencing of two victims of Fr Brendan Smyth.

Victims of paedophile priests in Co Donegal will also tell how the church failed to deal with complaints which allowed one cleric to  continue to abuse more victims.

The broadcaster has refused to comment on the investigation by reporter Darragh Mac Intyre but BBC sources say the documentary has “powerful
testimony” from abuse victims. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/brady-under-pressure-as-sex-abuse-victims-talk-of-coverup-3096117.html

Fresh claims put pressure on Cardinal Brady
By Andy Martin BBC News
1 May 2012

Cardinal Brady became the Catholic Primate of all-Ireland in 1996, but the appointment that may define his career was made 21 years earlier.

As a Bishop’s secretary in 1975, he was tasked with investigating a complaint of sexual abuse made against a fellow priest, the man who would later be exposed as Ireland’s most prolific paedophile, Fr Brendan Smyth….

Following two major and damning reports into the handling of clerical abuse in Ireland, it emerged that Ireland’s most senior Catholic Priest had himself been involved in a process in which sex abuse was kept from the civil authorities….

However, McIntyre’s BBC investigation reveals that the teenage victim, Brendan Boland, had also told the then Father Brady and his colleagues, about other children who were being abused by Smyth.

He even furnished the investigating priest and his colleagues with their names and addresses.

Father Brady interviewed one of those boys, who corroborated each of Brendan Boland’s claims before being sworn to secrecy.

Father Brady however, failed to inform any parent of the children in the group that they had been abused. Nor were the police told of Smyth’s crimes against them. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17853126

The Parental Alienation Debate Belongs in the Courtroom, Not in DSM-5
Timothy M. Houchin, MD, John Ranseen, PhD, Phillip A. K. Hash, DO, PhD and Daniel J. Bartnicki, JD
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 40:1:127-131 (January 2012) – the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

The DSM-5 Task Force is presently considering whether to adopt parental alienation disorder (PAD) as a mental illness. Although controversy has surrounded PAD since its inception in 1985, pro-PAD groups and individuals have breathed new life into the push to establish it as a mental health diagnosis. In this analysis, we argue that it would be a serious mistake to adopt parental alienation disorder as a formal mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)….

The Origin of PAS

Richard Gardner, formerly a psychoanalyst and child psychiatrist on the clinical faculty at Columbia University, introduced the term parental alienation syndrome in his 1985 debut article on the subject….he openly supported abolishing child abuse reporting laws and controversially declared that sexual abuse cases are “turn-ons” for those involved in the court process, including lawyers and judges. Despite these unusual claims, Gardner was highly sought as an expert witness, testifying in over 400 child custody cases before the end of his career….

Controversial since its inception, PAS has compelled many scholars to write articles critical of Gardner’s theory. Kelly and Johnston have been noteworthy critics of PAS, writing in their 2001 article, “The Alienated Child, A Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome, ” that “PAS terminology has led to widespread confusion and misunderstanding in judicial, legal, and psychological circles” (Ref. 9, p 250). They also highlighted the lack of empirical support for PAS as a psychiatric diagnosis and the barring of PAS testimony in many courtrooms….

Criticisms of PAS have not been limited to mental health professionals, as legal scholars have also been loath to accept the premise that parental alienation should be formally classified as a mental illness. For example, in her 2002 article, “Parental Alienation Syndrome and Alienation: Getting it Wrong in Child Custody Cases,”12 Carol S. Bruch, JD, voiced concern with Gardner’s tendency to cite his own, non-peer-reviewed books and publications on PAS. She noted that in one typical article, Gardner cited 10 sources: 9 writings of his own and 1 by Sigmund Freud. She further refuted Gardner’s suggestion that PAS was a generally accepted psychiatric phenomenon by pointing out that, when the validity of PAS was challenged in court, his testimony was often excluded.

In our opinion, Gardner’s approach of self-publishing books and then citing himself as an authoritative reference in the scholarly literature went beyond simple self-aggrandizement; it was frankly misleading. We agree with Ms. Bruch that the inaccurate portrayal of PAS as an accepted and credible diagnosis gets it wrong on many levels. http://www.jaapl.org/content/40/1/127.full

March child abuse, clergy abuse and ritual abuse newsletter

fwd with permission

The newest child abuse, clergy abuse and ritual abuse newsletter is
online at:  http://ritualabuse.us/2012/02/issue-103-march-2012/

This issue contains information on Jerry Sandusky – Penn State Abuse Scandal, Syracuse sex abuse scandal, Bobby Dodd Scandal: AAU CEO, President,  Bill Conlin sportswriter allegations, Cardinal Brady – Brendan Smyth, Orthodox sex abuse scandal, Casey Anthony, Afghanistan rape victim, Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Child Abuse 2012 Conference, West Memphis Three, Ritual abuse and race – UK, Sybil in Her Own Words by Patrick Suraci, Sybil Exposed, Sexual Abuse of Children in Hollywood, TAALK-A-THON to End Child Sexual Abuse,  Definition of Rape

U.S. Illegal Experiments Went Beyond Guatemala, Ireland clergy abuse cover up

also:
CIA-Sponsored Child Abduction & Prostitution – The Franklin Scandal

New investigation into abuse cover-up  16 December 2010
Hundreds of children could have been saved from paedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth had the sex abuse scandal been dealt with properly by the Catholic Church, a new UTV Insight Special programme reveals. The Resurrection of Brendan Smyth – to be aired on Thursday – follows the trail of broken lives left behind by the sex predator who raped and assaulted children in Ireland, Britain and America as the Catholic Church covered up his crimes. Journalist Chris Moore….documentary in 1994 revealed Smyth’s history of serial child sex abuse and how the church admitted it had known about it and had moved him around, where he was able to continue to abuse other children. In a new investigation, he hears from some of the victims Fr Smyth abused in America….Father Smyth was later jailed and died, aged 70, in August 1997, a month into his 12-year prison sentence. Earlier this year, the head of the Catholic church in Ireland confirmed he was present at a 1975 meeting where two teenagers abused by Father Smyth were asked to take a vow of silence. Cardinal Sean Brady apologised for failing to alert the authorities about the serial abuser.
http://www.u.tv/News/New-investigation-into-abuse-cover-up/b3920548-dce7-44b8-8a03-2b2644859fca
Insight Special 16 December 2010 The story of the priest who was convicted of multiple cases of child abuse, examining the lives he affected and the impact his crimes had on the Catholic church. http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/video/134183

 

U.S. Illegal Experiments Went Far Beyond Guatemala 14 December 2010
GUATEMALA – The illegal experiments conducted on human beings by a U.S. medical team in the 1940s went far beyond Guatemala, according to local news reports. The team headed by Dr. John Cutler did the same thing in the United States, India, and African nations, said Leon Arango, member of the commission in charge of investigating the experiments on Guatemalans, quoted in the Diario de Centro America newspaper on Monday. Cutler headed a team that from 1946 to 1948 intentionally infected 610 Guatemalans with venereal diseases, including prostitutes, prisoners, soldiers, and mentally disabled people, according to a report published by a U.S. investigator….
Arango said he had information that showed the experiments were also conducted on U.S. prison inmates and citizens from a community in Alabama, as well in African countries and in India.
http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/december/14/centralamerica10121402.htm

A Carefully Crafted Hoax – CIA-Sponsored Child Abduction & Prostitution – The Franklin Scandal – A Carefully Crafted Hoax? is a feature investigative documentary that examines child prostitution and sexual exploitation in America by focusing on the well-documented story of Johnny Gosch, a paperboy adbucted in Des Moines, Iowa, and its connection to a notorious pedophile network based in Nebraska. http://rumur.com/hoax

Pope slams cardinal who exposed abuse cover-up, controversial priest promoted

also:
Cavan religious order to be sued by American victims of paedophile priest (paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth)

Pope slams cardinal who exposed abuse cover-up Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
June 29, 2010 Vatican City – The Vatican on Monday issued an unprecedented rebuke of a top cardinal who had accused the retired Vatican No. 2 of blocking clerical sex abuse investigations, publicly dressing down a man who had been praised for his criticism of church abuse cover-ups. The silencing of Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna and long considered a papal contender, drew heated criticism from clerical abuse victims. They said the Vatican should be honoring Schoenborn, not publicly humiliating him, for his calls for greater transparency and demands for a crackdown on priests who rape and sodomize children. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/06/29/MNRF1E68UI.DTL

Vatican promotes controversial Quebec priest Wed Jun 30, By The Canadian Press
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has promoted Canada’s highest-ranking Catholic priest despite recent controversy over his response to the church sex-abuse scandal. Marc Cardinal Ouellet has been named chief of the Vatican’s powerful Congregations for Bishops, which vets bishop appointments around the world. Sixty-six year old Ouellet is the Archbishop of Quebec and the Roman Catholic Primate of Canada, the church’s top official in the country. Earlier this month, a victims’ group said Ouellet had refused to apologize for crimes committed within the church. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100630/national/crime_priest_ouellet

Cavan religious order to be sued by American victims of paedophile priest Ali Bracken, Crime Correspondent 6/27/10 THE NORBertine order in Co Cavan that deceased paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth was attached to is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit in the US as two of his victims are suing over the sexual abuse he inflicted….Jeff Thomas was just seven years old in 1968 when Smyth began to abuse him in Rhode Island. Helen McGonigle was six years old when she was first assaulted by the priest in 1967. The abuse continued for three years. McGonigle’s family, of Irish descent, were members of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic church in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and it was here that they came into contact with Smyth.

A master manipulator, he infiltrated her family’s daily life. He also sexually abused her older sister Kathleen under the pretence of preparing her for the sacrament of penance. Kathleen and her brother Gerard both died from drug overdoses as a result of the abuse Smyth perpetrated against them. Her mother also spent time in a mental institution. In 1994, Smyth was convicted of 17 counts of sexual abuse in a Belfast court. Three years later in Dublin, he pleaded guilty to another 74 counts of abuse. In 1997, Smyth died in prison.
http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/jun/27/cavan-religious-order-to-be-sued-by-american-victi/

Roman Polanski, Top Scientologist, Book focuses on abuse by priest

The files that damn Roman Polanski: Court account of what director REALLY did to a girl, 13 By Glenys Roberts 20th May 2010….
This extraordinary attempt to influence the authorities follows a high-profile campaign by the 76-year-old director’s many showbusiness friends.
Polanski’s 44-year-old wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, has marshalled all her associates to his defence, while more than 100 stars have signed a petition for his release, including directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen (who, coincidentally, has granted a part in his new film to President Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni).

….This week, the campaign was rather dented by accusations from actress Charlotte Lewis, who claimed Polanski had ‘sexually abused’ her in 1983 when she was only 16 after plying her with Moet & Chandon champagne.
Lewis, who is now helping Los Angeles prosecutors, alleges he told her: ‘I must sleep with every actress that I work with.’….

No doubt Polanski’s supporters will dismiss Lewis’s story as irrelevant, but together with the case of Samantha Geimer, many will feel these latest accusations suggest a disturbing pattern of behaviour involving drink, teenage girls and sex.
Would Polanski’s cheerleaders be quite so vocal in his defence if they knew exactly what happened that afternoon in 1977 with 13-year-old Samantha?
The Mail has obtained Polanski’s probation officer’s report  -  an extraordinarily revealing document which records in grim and forensic detail how the then 43-year-old went about seducing a girl 30 years his junior with the aid of a good deal of alcohol and a drug that would have rendered her almost incapable of resisting….

The 28-page probation report was prepared for this sentencing  -  court case A334139, ‘The people of the state of California vs Roman Raymond Polanski’  -  and was put together during the six weeks that the director was in Chino jail for psychiatric assessment.
It reveals that far from the crime being an impromptu lapse, as his supporters argue, Polanski carried out not just one, but a succession of sexual assaults against Samantha  -  and that he knew exactly what he was doing throughout….
That night, Samantha poured out her story to her 17-year-old boyfriend who had come over to see her.
Her mother overheard their conversation and called the police. Polanski had no defence. The girl was taken to a local hospital, where a medical examination established without doubt that sex had taken place.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1279787/The-files-damn-Roman-Polanski-Court-account-director-really-did-girl-13.html

Top Scientologist ‘covered up sex abuse’ By Steve Cannane May 20, 2010 A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney. In an exclusive interview for ABC1′s Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather….

Ms Rainer says it was indoctrination that led her to agree to protect the Church of Scientology instead of her daughter – an act that has lead to a strained relationship.
“It would be hard for an outsider to understand why it would be done, but you are so totally brainwashed by their beliefs and then you get told that if you go this particular way you will lose everything, you will lose your future,” she said.

Carmen Rainer has now made a statement to police outlining the allegations against Ms Eastgate and police are investigating the matter. The Church of Scientology said in a statement the allegations were untrue and defamatory.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/20/2904503.htm

Book focuses on abuse by priest by ERICA BAJER, QMI AGENCY
A new book about a clergy sexual abuse scandal that rocked southwestern Ontario carries a message of hope, the author said Tuesday. “The message is the important thing,” Jim Gilbert said during the launch of Breach of Faith, Breach of Trust: The Story of Lou Ann Soontiens, Father Charles Sylvestre and Sexual Abuse within the Catholic Church….

The pedophile priest was convicted in 2006 of molesting 47 girls over four decades in churches in Chatham, Pain Court, London, Sarnia and Windsor. Sylvestre served in Port Dover from 1965 to 1968. None of the incidents are connected to his time at St. Cecilia’s church.
The 84-year-old was sentenced to three years behind bars. He died less than six months later.
http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2585245

RTE News: Prime Time 5/18/10 Helen McGonigle, Attorney & Victim of Brendan Smyth

RTE News: Prime Time 5/18/10 Helen McGonigle, Attorney & Victim of Brendan Smyth, Fr Brendan Purcell, Lecturer in Philosophy, UCD, and Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, Irish Times, discuss Seán Brady’s position http://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0518/primetime_av.html?2755841,null,230

Brendan Smyth victim recovered memory clergy abuse case

Brendan Smyth victim battles with US church  Crime Correspondent Ali Bracken 1/31/10

Helen McGonigle (48) was just six years old when she was first assaulted by the late Irish priest. She was living in East Greenwich in Rhode Island with her family when he entered her life. The sexual abuse perpetrated against her continued for the next four years. McGonigle’s family of Irish descent were members of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church and it was here that they came into contact with the convicted sexual abuser. A master manipulator, he infiltrated her family’s daily life. He also sexually abused her elder sister Kathleen under the pretence of preparing her for the sacrament of penance. Kathleen and Helen’s brother Gerard both died from fatal drug overdoses as a result of the abuse Smyth perpetrated against her family. Her mother also spent time in a mental institution before her death because of the actions of the paedophile priest.

Helen repressed the memory of the horrors Smyth inflicted upon her as a child. It only came to the surface five years ago when she began to look deeper into what caused her sister’s fatal overdose from antidepressants in 2005. As she delved into their early life in Rhode Island, she soon learned her elder sister, and many other children, were also victims of Smyth….The McGonigle family moved from Rhode Island in 1973 but the damage wreaked by Smyth never left them. In 1994, the priest was convicted of 17 counts of sexual abuse in a Belfast court. Three years later in Dublin, he pleaded guilty to another 74 counts of child sexual abuse….His rampant abuse of children was known to his superiors in the Catholic church and helped bring down the Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition in 1994.

In 2006, McGonigle notified the diocese of Providence of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Smyth in Rhode Island. She was informed that she was the sixth person to come forward but there was “no pastoral reason” for making this information public. “I have since located two other victims of Smyth from our parish. I know of a third, a neighbour and my sister’s friend, and if I count my sister, that makes at least nine children. Smyth was caught molesting children at our parish in early 1968, sent to a mental hospital and allowed to return to reoffend. To my knowledge there are two major groupings of us. Those aged six and seven who were one-on-one with Smyth in preparation for taking the sacrament of penance, and those five years older preparing for confirmation.”

Last week, the Boston archdiocese finally confirmed that Smyth at one time worked in Boston….”He destroyed my entire family. He was moved around four states in the US, from parish to parish within those states. http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/jan/31/brendan-smyth-victim-battles-with-uschurch/