The Redemption of Sinead O’Connor

The Redemption of Sinead O’Connor
By Michael Agresta Oct 3 2012

Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?

In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations….

Also inexplicably ignored were O’Connor’s own words, in an interview published in Time a month after her SNL appearance:

It’s not the man, obviously—it’s the office and the symbol of the organization that he represents… In Ireland we see our people are manifesting the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. This is a direct result of the fact that they’re not in contact with their history as Irish people and the fact that in the schools, the priests have been beating the shit out of the children for years and sexually abusing them. This is the example that’s been set for the people of Ireland. They have been controlled by the church, the very people who authorized what was done to them, who gave permission for what was done to them.

Her interviewer seemed confused by the connection O’Connor was making between the Catholic Church and child abuse, so O’Connor opened up about her own history of abuse:

Sexual and physical. Psychological. Spiritual. Emotional. Verbal. I went to school every day covered in bruises, boils, sties and face welts, you name it. Nobody ever said a bloody word or did a thing. Naturally I was very angered by the whole thing, and I had to find out why it happened… The thing that helped me most was the 12-step group, the Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families. My mother was a Valium addict. What happened to me is a direct result of what happened to my mother and what happened to her in her house and in school.

The interviewer remained skeptical of O’Connor’s characterization of Irish schools as playgrounds and training grounds for child abusers, and the interview moved on to different topics.

By now, the history of sexual and physical abuse in the Irish Catholic school system is familiar. As late as 2007, the Church controlled 93% of the schools in Ireland, giving most children no hope of escaping the often-sadistic system. As in America, serial child molesters like Brendan Smyth were shuttled from parish to parish and school to school to keep a step ahead of police and complaining parents. The culture of permissiveness towards abuse affected all communities, but probably the worst off were poor, orphaned, and troublemaking children sent to residential reformatory and industrial schools. To read the 2009 Ryan Report covering crimes carried out against children in these settings is to court a special sort of nausea—the kind that comes from bearing witness to an organized effort to deny the dignity of individual life and make the bodies of the powerless available to service the needs of the powerful. In this case, the powerless were disadvantaged minor teenagers and children.

Sexual abuse in several industrial schools was described as a “chronic problem.” Clergy whose behavior drew complaints from parents of day-school students were transferred to industrial schools where their abuses drew less attention. Some schools seem, on the evidence, to have been more labor camps than institutions of learning. At one notorious industrial school in Dublin, each child was required to string 60 rosaries each weekday and 90 on Saturdays. Students who did not reach their quotas were beaten….

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/the-redemption-of-sinead-oconnor/263020/

Jerry Sandusky, Msrg. William Lynn and the Horace Mann School, Jury affirms recovered memory, rejects FMS defense, Pinching, purification and finding The Bridge to Total Freedom: Induction at the Scientology HQ

“When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from victims of sexual abuse in 1994, there was one witness who testified in opposition: Pamela Freyd, Executive Director of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.  Mrs. Freyd expressed the concern that extending the statute of limitations “may create more tarnished reputations” (Testimony of Pamela Freyd, Senate Judiciary Committee, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; May 24, 1994, p. 5).”

Jerry Sandusky, Msrg. William Lynn and the Horace Mann School

July 7th, 2012

Child sexual abuse has recently been the focus of three high-profile stories. Most prominently, former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexually assaulting 10 different boys since 1998. Most dramatically, Msrg. William Lynn became the highest ranking official in the Catholic Church to be convicted of a crime connected to covering-up the sexual abuse of children by priests. Most controversially, the New York Times published a long story about sexual abuse by teachers, none of whom had been charged in court, at the Horace Mann School….

The New York legislature needs to do what the Pennsylvania legislature did years ago: extend the statute of limitations well into adulthood. Had that not occurred in Pennsylvania, the Sandusky case would not have gone forward. Neither would the case against Mrsg. Lynn. The state would have been as powerless to act as prosecutors in New York are now that a former Horace Mann teacher has admitted to sexually abusing students, adding weight to a story that some criticized for focusing only on teachers who are deceased.

We would all do well to remember who lobbied against extending the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania.

When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from victims of sexual abuse in 1994, there was one witness who testified in opposition: Pamela Freyd, Executive Director of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.

Mrs. Freyd expressed the concern that extending the statute of limitations “may create more tarnished reputations” (Testimony of Pamela Freyd, Senate Judiciary Committee, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; May 24, 1994, p. 5). She urged the committee to amend the bill to “encourage and emphasize alternative means of resolving these matters other than courts” (Id., p. 7)…. http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/2012/07/07/sandusky-horace-mann-and-msrg-william-lynn/

Jury affirms recovered memory, rejects FMS defense April 19th, 2012

A jury in Stockton, California unanimously found that Rev. Michael Kelly should be held liable for damages related to three counts of child molestation. The plaintiff, a former U.S. Air force major currently on medical leave from his job as a commercial pilot, testified that he was molested by Rev. Kelly in the 1980s and only recently recalled the abuse. The abuse was apparently corroborated by a second victim whose testimony was kept from the jury. The defense relied on Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin, an associate professor of psychology at Harvard, who argued, in a rather circular fashion, that the plaintiff’s recollections must be false because the recovered memory has not been broadly accepted in the field. The jury rejected this defense and the church, which defended Kelly, has since allowed that there were no grounds for appeal. The Church settled the case for $3.75 million. Kelly, as reported in the LA Times, fled the country, while the  investigation of other claims is still pending. http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/2012/04/19/jury-affirms-recovered-memory-rejects-fms-defense/

Pinching, purification and finding The Bridge to Total Freedom: Inside a very sinister induction at the Scientology HQ

Members are checked if they are ‘Clear’ – which costs £82,000 to achieve
Cameras and audio monitor Clearwater site to keep a check on followers
Newcomers must undergo ‘purification of toxins’ which involves sweating out in a sauna

By Kerry Hiatt 7 July 2012

I’d been pinched – hard – in some kind of strange lie-detector test and seen rooms where people went to be ‘purified’.  I’d spent an hour subjected to a gruelling and invasive ‘personality’ test and revealed my deepest inner thoughts as if hypnotised. I’d also been invited to cross the Bridge To Total Freedom – but, in a panic, instead I found myself running away from Scientology as fast as I could – after just a day as a guest of the controversial religion.

I look back on my visit last week to Scientology’s Florida headquarters  to celebrate July 4 as one of the most unsettling experiences of my life, and yet it all started so innocently…

The invitation from the Scientologists had suggested we celebrate Independence Day at ‘the Friendliest Place in the Whole World’. Why should I refuse? The event sounded fun. There would be a barbecue, pool games, live music, a petting zoo and fireworks – just like other celebrations across America.

However, there was a hint that this party would be different. The invitation also said: ‘Get briefed on Scientology’s exponential expansion across the globe, our penetrating 4th Dynamic Dissemination Campaigns and a full view to our future.’

It had been sent to a close relative of mine who had briefly worked for Scientology almost a decade ago, inviting him to the Florida town of Clearwater, Scientology’s spiritual headquarters – where Scientologists own more than 200 shops, restaurants, hotels, banks and small businesses….

Scientology symbols are everywhere in Clearwater; on plaques, in paving stones, and engraved into the architecture. Security cameras are on all Scientology properties and even hidden in the shrubbery. Every move and, no doubt conversation, can be monitored. It feels incredibly sinister.

The town is dominated by the Church’s £57 million Super Power Building which will, eventually, be a centre for learning. Construction paper covers doors and windows so I couldn’t see what was inside and no one could tell me when it would open….http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170232/Scientology-Pinching-purification-finding-The-Bridge-Total-Freedom-My-sinister-induction-Scientology-HQ–just-days-ago-July-4.html

What the Sandusky Verdict Means to Child Sexual Abuse Victims

What the Sandusky Verdict Means to Child Sexual Abuse Victims
By Mai Fernandez Thursday, June 28, 2012

While testifying about the abuse he had experienced, one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims was asked why he had never reported the crime. “Who would believe kids?” he asked. Sandusky is an “important guy.” So like his fellow witnesses—and so many other child sexual abuse victims—he didn’t tell a soul.

Sandusky’s 45-count conviction represents a watershed for all victims of child sexual abuse.

Sandusky’s victims—whose pained, halting, and strikingly similar testimony led to the conviction—described how pedophiles prey on children who trust and look up to them. The jury believed those victims, and they can now begin healing and rebuilding their lives.

The conviction frees them from the troublesome media label “alleged victims,” which reflected the judge’s stated view that there were no victims until a conviction was achieved. As state and federal law confirm, there ARE victims prior to conviction in a particular case, and they have rights in the criminal justice system.

As victims exercised their rights in this case, their suffering was recognized and their accounts of Sandusky’s grievous crimes were validated….

The Sandusky case, as well as the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal, has suggested the true scope of child sexual abuse. Studies show that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are victims of sexual abuse, and an estimated 78,188 cases of reported child sexual abuse occurred in 2003.

Yet we know that the vast majority of these crimes are not reported; the numbers don’t begin to reflect the actual prevalence of child sexual abuse.

The Sandusky case also exposed the methods by which predators establish power over children’s lives. They systematically “groom” their victims, often showering them and their families with gifts and special favors, such as football tickets, access to star players, and camping trips. Sandusky preyed on children served by Second Mile, the charity he founded to help disadvantaged youth. Like so many predators, Sandusky built a reputation as a benefactor—rather than a destroyer—of youth. http://www.thecrimereport.org/viewpoints/2012-06-what-the-sandusky-verdict-means-to-child-sexual-abus

In the Wake of Jerry Sandusky To prevent child abuse, something has to change. So why won’t it?

In the Wake of Jerry Sandusky  To prevent child abuse, something has to change. So why won’t it?

BY Barry Nolan 6/25/2012
After the verdict came down in the Jerry Sandusky case, Linda Kelly, the Pennsylvania State Attorney General, stood before the assembled press and said something very important. She said: “One of the recurring themes of the witness’ testimony was … ‘Who would believe a kid?’”

Yes indeed, who would take the word of a mere child over that of a beloved coach like Jerry Sandusky about sexual abuse? Even though we know that such terrible crimes are far too common and the numbers are staggering, we can’t believe it. So, from 2005 to 2006 about 135,300 children were sexually abused.

Who would take the word of a child against a respected adult even though we know that in up to 93 percent of the time, the child knows his abuser and as many as 47 percent of the perpetrators are family members.

Who would take the word of a child even though in the vast majority of cases the only witness to child sex abuse  is the child?

The ugly truth about child sexual abuse is that we really don’t want to hear about it. And far too much of it happens after an initial complaint about a perpetrator has been made and it’s not investigated thoroughly.

Take the tragic sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and just imagine how things could have been different if there had been real listening and forceful action early on. There were 10,667 complaints of sexual abuse against 4,392 priests and deacons between 1950 and 2002 and yet no serious or thorough investigation took place. And so the abuse was allowed to continue. Until the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize winning series compelled self-examination and change….

The first child to make a complaint in the Sandusky case came forward 14 years ago. But who was going to believe a kid over Jerry Sandusky? So the complaint was not thoroughly investigated and, tragically, the abuse continued….

Back in 1993, most people simply didn’t want to believe the awful things a kid had to say about what Jackson did behind closed doors. After all, Michael Jackson was a lavishly talented and beloved public figure. But Dimond, and a few others, listened carefully and pursued leads and looked at the evidence. And the awful truth began to come out. The boy in that case would eventually accept a settlement from Jackson that was widely reported to be in the range of $20 million.

I asked her for her thoughts on the bigger picture, the Sandusky case, the scandal in the church, and the Jackson matter. Here is part of what she sent me in an e-mail:

“Pedophiles are really the very person you think they could never be. They are the most charming, personable, charitable, and kid-friendly people you would ever want to meet. They pay their taxes, they go to church, they cloak themselves in acts of charity and they say they just want to help you raise your child by being a positive influence in their lives … Too often detectives believe the perpetrator’s version of events and they are freed to violate again.”
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2012/06/25/jerry-sandusky-abuse/

Closing arguments made in Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case

Closing arguments made in Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case

May 31, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — As the official in charge of investigating clergy sex abuse for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Monsignor William J. Lynn bravely “put a spotlight” on the shame of the Catholic Church, one of his lawyers told jurors Thursday.

A prosecutor called Lynn’s actions something else: just shameful.

“He and everyone else who protected pedophile priests were murdering the souls of children,” Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said.

The conflicting portraits emerged during a day of closing arguments in the landmark prosecution of Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. The jury of six men and six women is scheduled to begin deliberations today.

The summations capped an 11-week trial in which more than 60 witnesses, including Lynn and almost two dozen alleged abuse victims, testified. Jurors also saw nearly 2,000 documents, most from secret church archives, that showed accused clerics being shuffled among parishes. Many were records Lynn drafted or reviewed during a 12-year tenure as the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua’s adviser on clergy sex abuse….

Lynn, 61, is accused of one count of conspiracy and two of endangering children for allegedly recommending that his codefendant, Brennan, 48, and another priest, Edward Avery, be allowed to live or work in parishes despite suspecting they would abuse children.

Now defrocked, Avery pleaded guilty before trial to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999, seven years after Lynn first fielded an abuse allegation about him.
http://articles.mcall.com/2012-05-31/news/mc-philly-priest-trial-closing-arguments-20120531_1_abusive-priests-abuse-case-altar-boy

Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for establishment of independent Fr Brendan Smyth inquiry

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for establishment of independent Fr Brendan Smyth inquiry

Sunday, 6 May 2012

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of Fr Brendan Smyth, the late paedophile priest.

Dr Martin said such an inquiry was owed to victims and that it would be in the public interest that the full story, and not bits and pieces, should come out….
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0506/archbishop-martin-calls-for-smyth-inquiry.html

Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair
By Claire O’Sullivan
Saturday, May 05, 2012

An American lawyer who was abused by Fr Brendan Smyth has said that the Vatican has “blood on its hands” for its failure to inform Irish Church authorities that it had censured Smyth for abuse in the United States years before the 1975 secret inquiry.

Helen McGonigle has learnt that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Religious issued a decree that Smyth wasn’t allowed to take Confession and was to be supervised following abuse complaints made in the late 60s.

Yet, in 1975 the Bishop of Kilmore and the Abbot of Killnacrott agreed a similar censure of Smyth — seemingly oblivious that a similar reprimand had already been handed down.

“Why didn’t the bishop or the abbot inform the Papal Nuncio of this second censure? Why weren’t they informed by the Vatican of the original censure? It is very clear that the 1968 censure was not enforced. What does all of this say about the organisation that is the Catholic Church,” Ms McGonigle asked.

Ms McGonigle has pleaded with police on both sides of the border to investigate Cardinal Brady for his possible role in perverting the course of justice and endangering children.

She pointed to current cases being taken against Catholic priests in the US for failing to report abuse allegations to the civil authorities.

“They are enablers, Cardinal Brady and all these priests. That is what they were asked to do and that’s what they have done,” she said.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vatican-has-blood-on-hands-over-smyth-affair-192867.html

Vatican likely to replace Irish Cardinal with deputy bishop, Dr. Phil – MPD show

articles:
- Vatican likely to replace Irish Cardinal Brady with new deputy bishop
Report says Cardinal Brady likely to be gone to retirement by end of year
-Advisers backed resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady to save Catholic Church’s image
- As Cardinal Sean Brady turns his back on calls to quit, pressure mounts on police to get involved
- Dr. Phil – “My Husband, My Kids and My Multiple Personalities”
Thursday – May 10, 2012

Vatican likely to replace Irish Cardinal Brady with new deputy bishop
Report says Cardinal Brady likely to be gone to retirement by end of year
By JOHN O’BRIEN, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

The Vatican is expected to replace Ireland’s leading church figure. Cardinal Sean Brady, and will appoint a coadjutor or deputy bishop by the end of this year who will eventually be his replacement.

The Irish Times has reported that the Vatican move will happen because of  massive public pressure on Brady over his actions concerning the notorious pedophile priest Fr. Brendan Smyth.

Brady is primate of all Ireland, essentially Ireland’s leading Catholic figure, based in Armagh.

The Vatican is expected to act after a BBC documentary alleged that Brady was far more involved in a cover up of Smyth than he admitted at the time in 1987. Brady, then a young priest, served on a panel investigating Smyth. No action was taken against Smyth and  he went on to abuse many more kids.

The Vatican at first defended Brady and said he had their full confidence. However, Irish leader Enda Kenny, Deputy leader Eamon Gilmore, and Northern Irish leader Martin McGuinness, have all called on Brady to resign….

Brady, 73, managed to keep his position after an earlier controversy about Smith and how he handled the case. This latest crisis, however, is seen as far more serious.

If Brady is forced to step down, it will be the 2nd major figure that Fr. Brendan Smyth has been instrumental in forcing out of office.

Former Irish leader Albert Reynolds also resigned after becoming involved in the Smyth controversy….

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Vatican-likely-to-replace-Irish-Cardinal-Brady-with-new-deputy-bishop-150279125.html

Advisers backed resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady to save Catholic Church’s image
By Greg Harkin  Saturday, 5 May 2012
Cardinal Sean Brady was backed by his senior advisers when he offered to resign more than two years ago.

The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland informed the Vatican of his “willingness to stand aside” as one of a range of possible options when his role in the Brendan Smyth controversy became public in 2010.

And his senior advisers backed the move — expressing concern that the Smyth controversy would damage the church.

The cardinal is now planning an alternative exit strategy.

Cardinal Brady had asked the Pope for ‘Episcopal help’ or an auxiliary bishop two years ago when the controversy first erupted, but the bishop was not appointed.

However, the church confirmed yesterday that the request has been “reactivated”.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/advisers-backed-resignation-of-cardinal-sean-brady-to-save-catholic-churchs-image-16154588.html

As Cardinal Sean Brady turns his back on calls to quit, pressure mounts on police to get involved

By Liam Clarke
Saturday, 5 May 2012

Pressure is growing on the PSNI to interview Cardinal Sean Brady over the most recent claims in the child sex abuse scandal.

The police didn’t act two years ago when the revelations that Dr Brady was present at the interview of two victims of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth first emerged.

One of the young victims, Brendan Boland, gave the names and addresses of several other children he knew were being abused by Smyth.

Despite this evidence nothing was done to warn the children’s parents or inform the police, and Smyth went on to abuse dozens more children over subsequent decades until he was finally brought to justice in the 1990s, dying in prison in 1997.

He had been abusing children since the 1940s.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/as-cardinal-sean-brady-turns-his-back-on-calls-to-quit-pressure-mounts-on-police-to-get-involved-16154168.html

Dr. Phil – “My Husband, My Kids and My Multiple Personalities”
Thursday – May 10, 2012

Tracy is a married mother of four who says her life was forever changed the day she was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. She says she has five personalities, or “alters:” Emily, a frightened 5-year-old child; Becky, who cuts, bruises, chokes and has threatened to kill Tracy; Susie, an innocent 10-year-old child; Samantha, “the CEO;” and Miss Anne, “the caretaker.” Tracy says that she’ll often times black out when an alter takes over and that the transition back to being Tracy can make her physically ill. Joined by her husband, Tyler, the couple says Tracy’s alter egos and unpredictable moods are causing strain on their marriage, and they’re struggling to explain her erratic behavior to their children. Is Tracy’s diagnosis real? Then, in a Dr. Phil first, Tracy transitions between her alters onstage. Speaking as Becky and Emily, can Dr. Phil gather insight into Tracy’s disorder? Tracy’s therapist, Dr. Peggy Avent, joins the show and explains her diagnosis. Could a secret from Tracy’s childhood hold the key to understanding her illness? Tracy’s mom, Sandy, weighs in and shares why she blames herself.

http://www.drphil.com/shows/

The Shame of the Catholic Church – Ireland, Cops: Father tries to sacrifice son

Part One – This World     The Shame of the Catholic Church
Decades of clerical abuse and cover up have left the Catholic church in Ireland at breaking point. Now Darragh MacIntyre reveals new evidence of a scandal that goes to the very top of the Irish church.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ma9ALRpEVw

The Shame of the Catholic Church
Decades of clerical abuse and cover up have left the Catholic church in Ireland at breaking point. Now Darragh MacIntyre reveals new evidence of a scandal that goes to the very top of the Irish church.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h7m8r
available only in the UK

This World: The Shame of the Catholic Church, BBC Two, review
Damian Thompson reviews the BBC This World documentary, The Shame of the Catholic Church, which investigated child abuse claims.
By Damian Thompson  02 May 2012

Paedophiles are cunning. It’s one of those things we’re always told but doesn’t sink in – until we’re confronted by the sort of detail revealed in last night’s BBC Two documentary This World: The Shame of the Catholic Church. Father Eugene Greene of Donegal liked to fiddle with altar boys, and he knew how to go about it. He’d invite one of them to drive his car. That’s pretty exciting when you’re 12 years old – and an honour, too, given that it’s Father’s car. “Both hands on the wheel!” said the priest. And then he’d reach over. I don’t think I need say any more.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9241955/This-World-The-Shame-of-the-Catholic-Church-BBC-Two-review.html

 

Cops: Father tries to sacrifice son in cemetery
By R. Stickney, NBCSanDiego.com  4/30/12
A father is in custody, accused of attempting to sacrifice his own son in a San Diego area cemetery.

Joseph Ramirez, 30, took his family to Mount Hope Cemetery Saturday afternoon and told them his dead grandmother told him to sacrifice the 8-year-old boy, according to San Diego police.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/30/11474419-cops-father-tries-to-sacrifice-son-in-cemetery

Dad Attempts Son’s Sacrifice at Cemetery: Cops 
Joseph Ramirez, 30, took his family to Mount Hope Cemetery Saturday around 4:30 p.m. and told them his dead grandmother told him to sacrifice the 8-year-old boy, according to San Diego police.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Dad-Attempts-Sons-Sacrifice-at-Cemetery-Cops-149495845.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

Accuser unleashes fury at Catholic Church, priest admitted to sleepover

Pa. accuser unleashes fury at Catholic Church
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press – 4/30/12

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 47-year-old man unleashed his fury Monday at the Roman Catholic Church, staring down a church official in a Philadelphia courtroom as he described being forced as a child to engage in sex acts with a priest.

The man glared Monday at Monsignor William Lynn at the defense table and complained that only one church representative, a priest friend, had ever apologized.

“It always felt wrong. A man should not touch a child,” said the man, the ninth of 10 children in his Levittown family.

Testifying in the sixth week of a clergy abuse trial focusing on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the man broke down when he recalled telling his mother in 1998 about being abused by defrocked priest David Sicoli in the late 1970s….

The 61-year-old Lynn is charged with endangering children by keeping accused priests in ministry after reviewing abuse complaints kept in secret archives when he served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. His lawyers argue that he took orders from the cardinal.

Lynn is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old in 1996, when Brennan was on voluntary leave and the boy slept over at his West Chester apartment.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iXSVeSETzVINRai6wU34yvHjy9Ww?docId=97b8c0852a9944e3a5c89dba3a673266

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Pa-accuser-unleashes-fury-at-Catholic-Church-3521684.php

Testimony: In 2008, priest admitted to sleepover, letting teen look at porn
By Sarah Hoye, CNN  Mon April 30, 2012

Philadelphia (CNN) — One of the two Philadelphia priests on trial in a landmark child sexual abuse and conspiracy case admitted in 2008 that he allowed a 14-year-old to view pornography and sleep in the same bed with him during an overnight visit in 1996, according to testimony given to church investigators.

Monsignor Kevin Quirk, the presiding priest over the 2008 canonical trial of Rev. James Brennan, read Brennan’s testimony into the court record on Monday. Brennan is accused of attempted rape in the 1996 incident and is currently standing trial in criminal court.

“Did I allow it happen? Yes. I take full responsibility for it,” Brennan testified in 2008, adding that the behavior was “borderline” inappropriate. Brennan denied touching the 14-year-old or exposing himself, according to the 2008 testimony that Quirk recounted for the court on Monday….

Also on trial is Monsignor William Lynn, the first high-ranking church figure charged with child endangerment. He’s accused of knowingly transferring priests from parish to parish despite allegations of sexual abuse of minors, including Brennan.

Both have pleaded not guilty….

Two grand jury reports accused the archdiocese of failing to investigate claims of sexual abuse of children by priests.

The 2011 report led to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office criminally charging four Philadelphia priests and a parochial school teacher with raping and assaulting boys in their care, while Lynn was accused of allowing the abusive priests to have access to children.

Days before the trial began March 26, defrocked priest Edward Avery of the Philadelphia Archdiocese pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of child after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-1999 school year.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/30/justice/pennsylvania-church-abuse-trial/index.html