While many of Pope Francis’ statements are still open for interpretation and follow-up, I am beginning to think that the best part of his papacy will be the fact that, eventually, his views on homosexuality and the theology of women will make Bill Donohue’s head explode.
Your question of the day: You see a child being sexually abused and beaten on a street corner. Whom do you call? Answer: The local university, your bishop, your commander or the leader of the closest nonprofit. Ridiculous? Of course it is. Utterly absurd? Yes. Child endangerment? You bet. So let’s try again with the correct…Continue reading Institutions need to get out of the sex abuse investigation business
Yes, it’s personal. While UConn grabs headlines, will a Michigan college finally remove the admitted child molester on its own music faculty? The Associated Press reports today that UConn music professor Robert Miller has been put on administrative leave for the alleged sexual abuse of five boys from 1989 to 1992. What’s worse? School employees…Continue reading Two colleges. Two sets of allegations. Two results.
A United Nations’ committee has asked the Vatican to turn over documents pertaining to child sex abuse and cover up. According to The Tablet: The UN’s Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of the Child on Tuesday issued a list of demands for detailed information from the Holy See regarding all cases of child sexual abuse committed…Continue reading What will Francis do?
Tell your friends! Events like this don’t come along often. If you join us: twenty years from now, you’ll look back on meeting a group of people who set out to change the world for the better … and DID! TODAY SAN DIEGO, CA Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 7 pm Alliant University, Green Hall, Co-sponsored by…Continue reading MORTAL SINS West Coast book tour kicks off tonight in San Diego
I have not seen the series premiere yet, but Showtime is streaming the whole first episode of their new series RAY DONOVAN on YouTube. According to the Facebook page: “Set in the sprawling mecca of the rich and famous, RAY DONOVAN does the dirty work for LA’s top power players. The one-hour drama series stars Liev…Continue reading New Showtime series addresses Catholic Clergy Abuse Crisis
From today’s Honolulu Star Advertiser: Victims of church sexual abuse need criminal lawyers, not therapy By Marilyn Wong The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hawaii, via a newspaper ad that ran Monday, is offering therapy treatment and reconciliation for the victims of sex abuse. Directing victims to go to the diocese for help is like sending…Continue reading Honolulu Star Advertiser: Victims of church sexual abuse need criminal lawyers, not therapy
From today’s Orange County Register SCOTT M. REID / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER A little-known group calling itself the California Council of Non-Profit Organizations has been working behind the scenes in recent months to defeat a state Senate bill which would extend the time limits in which victims of sexual abuse can file civil lawsuits. The CCONO spent…Continue reading Little-known group aims lobbying effort at sex-assault case loophole
MARK YOUR CALENDARS Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael D’Antonio is coming to the west coast to talk about his new blockbuster MORTAL SINS. D’Antonio and a panel of experts—including local-area advocates and survivors—will present a gripping discussion on the clergy sex abuse crisis in the United States. Publishers Weekly calls MORTAL SINS “The definitive history of the…Continue reading MORTAL SINS and Michael D’Antonio west coast dates are SET!
The California Child Victims Act—SB 131—has made it through Appropriations and is scheduled for a vote on the Senate Floor TOMORROW. The bill dramatically extends the civil statute of limitations for children who are sexually abused and gives older victims a one-year window to come forward, expose their abuser and seek accountability. In short, if…Continue reading The CA Child Victims Act Needs Your Support – NOW
Two years after they sought bankruptcy protection to avoid more than 200 embarrasing civil sex abuse trials, the New York-based Irish Christian Brothers (ICB) have settled with more than 400 victims of child sexual abuse (in Canada and the United States) for $16.5 million. This marks the end of the first step for many ICB…Continue reading Victims settle with Irish Christian Brothers for $16.5 million
Wade Robson has everything to lose: his career in Hollywood, his family, friends he has had in the industry since he was a child. He is opening himself up to criticism, accusations of “greed” and an onslaught of hate mail from Michael Jackson fans worldwide (and he will get it, because they have come after me…Continue reading Wade Robson’s truth: Worth the risk. But will Hollywood listen?
Let me get this straight: Lawyers for the Archdiocese of LA want six sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits against one of its former priests, Nicholas Aguilar Rivera, tossed out of court. Fr. Aguilar Rivera. Have passport, will molest Even though, according to the Associated Press: The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office in 1988 filed 19…Continue reading LA Archdiocese lawyers want suits tossed because people CARE about cover-up
Michael D’Antonio, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the new blockbuster Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal will be visiting the west coast for book signings and lecture events. He and a panel of experts, including Patrick Wall, Jeff Anderson*, Richard Sipe*, Irwin Zalkin*,and local survivors will discuss the history…Continue reading MORTAL SINS West Coast Book Tour
After more than 30 years of upsetting, insulting and disgusting Catholics, passers-by and anyone with eyes, Boner Jesus—a mural on the wall of St. Joseph’s Church in Santa Ana—has finally been covered up. Put this one in the “tentative win” column for new Orange Bishop Kevin Vann. Let’s just hope that Vann doesn’t…Continue reading Buh-BYE Boner Jesus!
From today’s OC Register: Sexual abuse victims seek more time to sue BY SCOTT M. REID / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Charmaine Carnes still remembers the sick feeling she had the first time her gymnastics coach sexually molested her. “I was 8 or 9 years old the first time I felt dread. My coach, Doug Boger, was…Continue reading California Child Victims’ Act Passes Judiciary
It’s not surprising that new Orange County Bishop Kevin Vann has put the Marywood Center up for sale. The 15-acre site (sitting on prime property in the swanky hills above the City of Orange) is redundant now that the ink is dry on the diocese’s purchase of the Crystal Cathedral (now Christ Cathedral) in Garden…Continue reading Bishop Vann puts Marywood up for sale: Secrecy contract included!
It’s not like he stole money or anything … because then he would have gone to jail AND been excommunicated. Eleven years after the U.S. Bishops’ Conference promised to “Mak[e] prompt and effective response to allegations; Cooperat[e] with civil authorities; and Disciplin[e] offenders,” we are offered this charming nugget from the New Jersey Star-Ledger: Newark archbishop allows…Continue reading Zero Tolerance is for the little people
On April 5, The Wall Street Journal reported that: As the church’s most powerful official in Argentina, [Pope Francis] didn’t comply with a Vatican call to create guidelines for handling sexual-abuse allegations in the country. But then, in the next paragraph: On Friday, Pope Francis met with Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who heads the office…Continue reading If he didn’t care yesterday … why such urgency today?
I’m not good at predictions. If I were, I’d be in Vegas and this blog would be a money-generating machine. Despite this failing, I’ve been asked a lot by the media what I think of the new pope, his record, what I expect to see in the next few months. So I made a…Continue reading My first week to-do list for Francis I