* SASCHA CHANDLER SUPPORTING VICTIMS FOLLOWING HIS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
SASCHA Chandler, who brought a notorious paedophile to justice 20 years after becoming one of his many victims, hopes his story will be ‘‘a beacon’’ to others who have suffered a similar ordeal. ‘‘I intend to spend a great deal of my professional and personal life supporting other victims and on education and prevention programs,’’ he said.
He will now team up with the organisation, Survivors Australia, founded by Nikki Wells.
‘‘We are like peas in a pod in regard to the concepts we have for supporting victims, and for prevention and education programs,’’ he said. Read more click here
* SURVIVORS AUSTRALIA CALLS ON AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT FOR AN IMMEDIATE AND URGENT INVESTISTIGATION INTO CATHOLIC ABUSE
Following the release of the Irish Cloyne report on the rape and torture of children. Listen to Survivors Australia Founder Nikki Wells being interviewd by ABC news Sarah Dingle. click here
* ENDA KENNY SPEECH ON THE CLOYNE REPORT
the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism....the narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.
The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation'.
Far from listening to evidence of humiliation and betrayal with St Benedict's 'ear of the heart'......the Vatican's reaction was to parse and analyse it with the gimlet eye of a canon lawyer.
This calculated, withering position being the polar opposite of the radicalism, humility and compassion upon which the Roman Church was founded.
The radicalism, humility and compassion which are the very essence of its foundation and purpose.
The behaviour being a case of Roma locuta est: causa finita est.
Except in this instance, nothing could be further from the truth.
Victims
Cloyne's revelations are heart-breaking. It describes how many victims continued to live in the small towns and parishes in which they were reared and in which they were abused. their abuser often still in the area and still held in high regard by their families and the community.
The abusers continued to officiate at family weddings and funerals. In one case, the abuser even officiated at the victim's own wedding.
There is little I or anyone else in this House can say to comfort that victim or others, however much we want to. But we can and do recognise the bravery of all of the victims who told their stories to the Commission.
Watch video click here
* MEDIA RELEASE: IRISH CHURCH ABUSE REPORT DETAILS BRISBANE BISHOPS COVER UP
Sydney, Australia :: 19 July 2011
Survivors Australia is calling on Governments around the globe to investigate further the global crimes against humanity and endangerment of children. “There has been so much hype about the Cloyne report in Ireland and the cover up over there, that people have overlooked the importance of this report to Australians.” Says Nikki Wells, Founder of Survivors Australia.
Recently in Ireland a report was released detailing widespread clergy sex crimes and subsequent cover ups by Irish Catholic officials. The Cloyne Report however, also contained information showing that as many as 7 bishops and auxiliary bishops in Brisbane also endangered kids and failed to reach out.
The Cloyne report is causing massive global media backlash, and uproar in Catholic circles, Irish citizens and governmental leaders. There has however been no interest and discussion on the parts of this report that relate to Australia.
The report states:
"In his first direct contact with the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Monsignor O’Callaghan wrote suggesting that it take a similar course of action. In this letter he also stated that the Diocese of Cloyne had concerns that there might be other victims in Cloyne. He did not ask directly about [the accused priest's] history in Brisbane but did say that he “may have had a history before retirement but, in the absence of the principles of good practice currently in place, that would not necessarily have been communicated to Cloyne”." (section 20.10)
The Archdiocese of Brisbane had not mentioned two abuse complaints to Irish Church officials in Cloyne because they “never asked” if there were any other complaints about the accused priest. (section 20.19)
Commission’s assessment
"The Commission is astonished that the Archdiocese of Brisbane did not tell the Diocese of Cloyne or Andrew [This is a pseudonym] about the two earlier complaints. It is, however, true that Monsignor O’Callaghan never asked the direct question." (section 20.39)
Nikki continued “It is time that the Church is held accountable on a global level. Hundreds of thousands of lives around the world have been damaged and some destroyed by these sex assaults and torture perpetrated by the Catholic Clergy and the abhorrence of the neglect and cover ups is beyond words.”
“Why does the Australian public think that this just happens in Ireland? The Catholic heirachy in Australia are just as guilty as their colleagues in Ireland. Australian bishops hid details of an abusive priest’s criminal past which was detrimental to the safety of Australian children. This must be exposed!" Wells stated.
(source Snap)
* AUSTRALIAN DIOCESE PAY $13M TO ABUSE VICTIMS
Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese is paying an "unprecedented" cost for failing to stop serial paedophile priests over decades, with at least $13 million compensation to the victims of two child sex abusers and the certainty of further claims.
The diocese is believed to have paid more than $7 million to victims of John Sidney Denham in the past year, surpassing the $6 million it paid to victims of Vince Ryan. READ MORE
* IRISH FATHER CALLS FOR BISHOPS TO BE JAILED
THE FATHER of a woman abused by a priest in the Diocese of Cloyne yesterday backed a call by an American canon lawyer for senior administrators in the Catholic Church who conceal abuse to be prosecuted.
Jack O’Donnell, whose late daughter Maeve made a complaint to Bishop John Magee that she was abused while a teenager by a Cloyne priest, supported the call by Fr Tom Doyle for members of the hierarchy to be jailed for covering up abuse.
Read more
* MEDIA RELEASE ; PAPAL APOLOGY NOTHING MORE THAN A PANTOMIME
Sydney, Australia :: 18 September, 2010
Following the Pope’s apology in London, Australian victims of child sexual assault by Catholic clergy claim the Vatican has no desire to take effective action to halt the epidemic of child abuse within its ranks, and no intention of doing anything concrete to assist victims to recover.
Survivors of Clergy Abuse Australia (SCAA) predicted this week’s Papal visit to Britain would include the well-rehearsed pantomime of a Papal apology for the benefit of the media. SCAA founders say that the British version of the now-familiar Papal PR stunt to be just as insulting and hurtful to victims as similar performances previously enacted in the US, Australia and Malta.
