US Supreme Court deals pedophilia blow for Vatican, human trafficking

also :
Pope causes outrage for condemning church abuse raids in Belgium
Church panel resigns to protest raid
The Catholic Church faces another scandal (Popes)

US Supreme Court deals pedophilia blow for Vatican (AFP) 6/28/10
WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by the Vatican in a landmark case that opens the way for priests in the United States to stand trial for pedophilia. Allowing a federal appeals court ruling to stand, the decision means Vatican officials including theoretically Pope Benedict XVI could face questioning under oath related to a litany of child sex abuse cases. The Supreme Court effectively confirmed the decision of an appellate court to lift the Vatican’s immunity in the case of an alleged pedophile priest in the northwestern state of Oregon. The Oregon case, which was filed in 2002, does not directly address questions raised in a separate lawsuit in Kentucky alleging that US bishops are employees of the Holy See.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j_isWYyYa91PA0oeM_aaVurBHDZQ

REDLIGHT, narrated by Lucy Liu, is a powerful and moving documentary about children emerging from lives in which they were trafficked into prostitution. http://www.lexisnexis.com/redlight/index.html

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery
27 – The number, in millions, of trafficked persons in the world.
32 – The estimated global annual profit, in billions US$, of human trafficking.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/redlight/human_trafficking.html

Pope causes outrage for condemning church abuse raids in Belgium – Victims groups say Vatican criticism of police shameful, as pontiff calls raid deplorable and demands church role in investigations 27 June 2010 Groups representing the victims of clerical abuse tonight expressed outrage after the pope criticised raids on the Catholic church by Belgian police. Last week, police raided the home of a retired bishop, opened the grave of at least one archbishop and detained Belgium’s nine current serving bishops as they met, seizing their mobile phones and only releasing them after nine hours. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/27/pope-causes-outrage-over-condemnation

Belgium church abuse probe body quits en masse 6/28/10 (AFP) – 13 hours ago
BRUSSELS — A Belgian Catholic Church-backed commission probing hundreds of reported cases of child abuse by priests announced its resignation en masse on Monday, after police raids that angered the pope….Thursday’s raids were prompted by new claims of child abuse by members of the Catholic Church in Belgium, one of the countries worst hit by recent revelations of paedophilia by priests in Europe and North America.
Police confiscated phones, computers and the archdiocese’s accounting system in a search for documents including any correspondence between alleged victims and the Catholic authorities….The Belgian Church was rocked in April when its longest-serving bishop, 73-year-old Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after admitting sexually abusing a boy for years.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j-z7W98WVMD9DcgBiGsXZjcY9nrQ

Church panel resigns to protest raid
By the CNN Wire Staff June 28, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/28/belgium.church.raids/

Made in his own image: The Catholic Church faces another scandal – Joseph Ratzinger is having a terrible year. But as the Catholic Church faces yet another scandal, blame is falling on its most popular figure of modern times, Pope John Paul II, writes Peter Popham  28 June 2010
….Maciel was the founder of a highly conservative order called the Legion of Christ, but it has gradually emerged over the years – particularly since his death in 2008 – that he was much else besides: a morphine addict for decades who sexually abused his own seminarians, fathered several children by two mistresses, and then went on to abuse and rape those children. Yet Maciel was greatly favoured by John Paul II, remaining persona grata at the Vatican until nearly the end of his life, and Sodano, like other senior members of the Curia (though not Ratzinger) received large cash gifts from him. Sodano repaid Maciel generously by killing a Vatican investigation into his misdeeds in 1998.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/faith/made-in-his-own-image-the-catholic-church-faces-another-scandal-2012093.html

Man Who Claims To Be Son Of Priest Sues Legionaries Of Christ

Man Who Claims To Be Son Of Priest Sues Legionaries Of Christ By DAVID OWENS June 22, 2010 The Legionaries of Christ and the estate of the priest who once led the Roman Catholic order, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, are being sued by a man who says he is one of several children whom Degollado fathered. The lawsuit, brought in state court by New Haven attorney Joel T. Faxon on behalf of Jose Raul Gonzalez Lara, 30, of Mexico, accuses Degollado of repeatedly sexually molesting Lara….The Vatican  last month ordered an overhaul of the Legionaries after an investigation into decades of sexual abuse complaints against Degollado and alleged efforts to cover up the crimes. Degollado engaged in “very serious and objectively immoral behavior,” the Vatican said, and led “a life devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment.” That conduct included fathering at least one child and sexually molesting boys and seminarians into the 1990s. Degollado died in 2008 at age 87.

Lara’s mother, Blanca Gutierrez Lara, gave birth to two children with Degollado, who used the alias Raul Rivas, according to the lawsuit. The biological sons — and another boy whom Degollado did not father — claim that Degollado sexually abused them, according to a report in the National Catholic Reporter. Only Lara is bringing a suit, however….Although seminarians and others urged Pope John Paul II to investigate Degollado and the Legionaries of Christ for abuse, the pope instead praised Degollado in 1994 as “an efficacious guide to youth.”

Pope Benedict XVI appointed a special envoy and commission to oversee “purification” of the order and to deal “sincerely with all those who, within and outside the Legion, were victims of sexual abuse and of the power system devised by the founder.” Critics have described the order as secretive, controlling and cult-like, with seminarians largely cut off from contact with their families and the outside world….Jim Fair, a spokesman for the Legionaries of Christ, said the order would have no comment on the lawsuit. He did say that Lara’s claim that he is Degollado’s son seems credible.
http:/www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-legionaries-of-christ-sued-0622-20100621,0,5181731.story

Church to overhaul Legionaries order, Conn. lawmakers pull statute-of-limitations bill

also Rescuing girls from sex slavery

Catholic Church to overhaul disgraced Legionaries order 05/02/2010 VATICAN CITY—The Roman Catholic Church will overhaul the ultra-conservative Legion of Christ whose late founder Marcial Maciel was disgraced after abuse scandals, the Vatican said Saturday. Maciel’s “conduct… had consequences in the life and the structure of the Legion that are so serious as to require a journey of profound restructuring,” a statement said. Pope Benedict XVI will name an interim leader within weeks, said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, in a major shakeup at a time when the Church faces intense pressure to crack down on abusers and their protectors in the hierarchy….

The Mexican-born Maciel, who died in the United States in January 2008 aged 87, was accused of molesting eight seminarians and secretly fathering children. The Vatican said that many members of the order had been unaware of Maciel’s misconduct as he “created around him a defence mechanism that shielded him for a long time”….

Maciel founded the Legion of Christ in 1941 and ran it with an iron fist, requiring a vow of secrecy and barring any criticism of the order’s superiors including himself. Before Maciel’s fall from grace, he and his order enjoyed the adulation of Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II. Just weeks before the Polish pope died in 2005 he hailed Maciel’s and the Legionaries’ work throughout the world as the Church battled tough competition from evangelical groups, notably in its Latin American stronghold….

Maciel’s “very serious and objectively immoral actions confirmed by incontestable testimonies … show a life without scruples nor authentic religious sentiments,” the Vatican said. Last month in Mexico the order asked for forgiveness from two brothers claiming to be Maciel’s sons who said he had abused them. Last year the order confirmed a report in The New York Times that Maciel had also secretly fathered a daughter. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20100502-267620/Catholic-Church-to-overhaul-disgraced-Legionaries-order

Conn. lawmakers pull statute-of-limitations bill HARTFORD By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press 4/30/10
Lawmakers on Friday pulled a bill that would have extended the statute of limitations for lawsuits involving sexual abuse, saying they didn’t believe they had enough votes to pass the measure this legislative session.

Disappointed proponents said they would revive the issue next year. They also suggested that some kind of resolution could likely be reached in the coming months regarding victims of the late Dr. George Reardon, a former St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center physician who is believed to have victimized hundreds of children beginning in the 1950s. Some of his victims have been limited in pursuing lawsuits against the Hartford Archdiocese, the hospital or others because of the state’s statute of limitations, which gives childhood sex abuse victims until age 48 to file lawsuits….

Michael Culhane, executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, called the bill “horrendous” and said he was pleased it was withdrawn. Earlier this month, Roman Catholic bishops warned of potentially disastrous financial fallout….Scores of people claim Reardon molested them in his office at the hospital and took inappropriate photographs as part of a bogus “growth study.” Reardon resigned from the hospital in 1993 amid the molestation accusations but never faced criminal charges. He died in 1998. The owner of his former home in West Hartford discovered more than 50,000 photo slides and more than 100 movie reels of child pornography in a hidden storage space while renovating the house in May 2007. Authorities said evidence links the images to Reardon. http://www.thehour.com/story/485788

Rescuing girls from sex slavery By Ebonne Ruffins, CNN April 30, 2010 Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) ….By raiding brothels, patrolling the India-Nepal border and providing safe shelter and support services, Koirala and Maiti Nepal have helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 Nepali women and girls since 1993. According to the U.S. State Department, some 10,000 to 15,000 women and girls from Nepal are trafficked to India and then sexually exploited each year. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/29/cnnheroes.koirala.nepal/

Secretive Catholic Order Founded by Accused Pedophile, Dutch Catholic Church

Secretive Catholic Order Founded by Accused Pedophile Under Fire  3/14/10 – As sex abuse scandals rock the Vatican, the results of an investigation into a rich, ultra-conservative and secretive Roman Catholic order founded by a priest accused of pedophilia and incest are due to be filed in Rome tomorrow.

The sordid story of the Legion of Christ, whose late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, was a close ally of Pope John Paul II before being forcibly retired by the Vatican in 2006, is a microcosm of the crisis currently enveloping the church….
The controversy over the Legion, which is now barred or severely restricted from operating in six U.S. dioceses, is especially awkward for Benedict because he wants to have John Paul, a staunch defender of the order, canonized.

“Maciel was a sexual criminal of epic proportions who gained the trust of John Paul II and created a movement that is as close to a cult as anything we’ve seen in the church,” said author Jason Berry, one of two reporters who broke the Maciel story in 1997 and who directed a 2008 documentary about the priest called “Vows of Silence.”….

In 1997, nine former high-ranking seminarians accused Maciel, who died in 2008, of sexually abusing them when they were boys training for the priesthood. Last year, it was discovered Maciel had an illegitimate daughter born in 1986 in Spain. Two Mexican men who say they are Maciel’s sons claim  he also sexually abused them as children.
“But he got away with it for years and still in a sense he’s getting away with it.”
Though the Vatican knew of improprieties involving Maciel as far back as 1956, he was praised and protected by John Paul II, who became pope in 1978 and once called Maciel “an efficacious guide to youth.”

Even when the former seminarians went public in 1997 about Maciel’s sexual abuse and filed a formal complaint with the Vatican, the church at first did nothing while the Legion and other high-profile conservative Catholics called them liars.
A book, Vows of Silence, written by Hartford Courant reporter Gerald Renner and writer Jason Berry, was published in 2004 with what one reviewer called “horror stories… of brainwashing, manipulation, pederast seduction rituals, character assassination, bribes, drug abuse, gulag-type threats — you name it.”
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/secretive-catholic-order-founded-by-accused-pedophile-under-fire/19398262

Catholic child abuse – nuns also accused 9 March 2010 By Britta Wielaard Following recent reports about sexual abuse of children by Dutch priests, it now appears that some nuns also took advantage of their charges. Tuesday’s edition of newspaper De Telegraaf contains the story of Herman Harends, who says he was abused by nuns at a Roman Catholic boarding school he attended in the 1950s.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide and newspaper NRC Handelsblad published their report on sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic church two weeks ago. Since then, more and people have come forward, saying they, too, were childhood victims.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/catholic-child-abuse-nuns-also-accused

Dutch Catholic Church faces child sex abuse scandal 26 February 2010 By Robert Chesal
Large-scale abuse – At the boarding school in ‘s-Heerenberg, 80 to 100 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 slept in four large dormitories. “Sometimes you knew for sure: there’s something going on between that boy and that priest. And that other priest has a number of boys up in his room. It happened on a large scale. Several of the priests were involved.”….

Since it was set up in 1995, the hotline has received almost 300 reports of sexual abuse. “It has taken too long for the Church to apologise and take action. (.) The Dutch bishops adopted the same `wait and see’ approach. I didn’t get the impression that dealing with sexual abuse was a priority for them.”

Committee resigns – Two years ago, dissatisfied with the attitude taken by the Dutch bishops, Yvo van Kuijck, now vice-president of the District Court in Arnhem, resigned along with the entire Assessment and Advisory Committee. Priests guilty of abuse in one parish were simply transferred to another parish where they were free to find new victims. “Not only is that unprofessional, it’s inconceivable.”
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-catholic-church-faces-child-sex-abuse-scandal