News & Updates

AUSTRALIA: Extent of abuse in Catholic church in Australia revealed - 4,444 victims
6 Feb 2017
A royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse released damning statistics on the scale of the crisis within the Catholic Church.
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HOLY SEE: Critic of Vatican refuses to step down from sex abuse commission
8 Feb 2016
A prominent and outspoken British member of a papal advisory commission on sexual abuse by the clergy on Saturday refused to step down despite a no-confidence vote, and said only Pope Francis could dismiss him.
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UNITED KINGDOM: Bishop escaped abuse charges after royal family, MPs intervened, court told
7 Oct 2015
MPs, a lord chief justice, a member of the royal family and public school headmasters all intervened to stop a bishop being prosecuted for sexual abuse 22 years ago, the Old Bailey has heard.
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CANADA: Forced schooling of aboriginal children was ‘cultural genocide,’ truth commission finds
9 Jun 2015
The findings are part of a report documenting widespread physical, cultural and sexual abuse at government-sponsored residential schools run mostly by churches that Indian, Inuit and other indigenous children were forced to attend. 
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USA: Judge approves landmark settlement in Minnesota Catholic church abuse case
30 Oct 2014
Catholic church leaders accused of creating public nuisance.
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AUSTRALIA: Catholic Bishop charged with child sex abuse
30 Jun 2014
Bishop Max Davis is believed to be the most senior clergyman in the Catholic Church, and the first bishop, to be charged with a child sex offence.  
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HOLY SEE: UN Committee Against Torture criticises Vatican handling of sex abuse
27 May 2014
UN experts reject argument that Vatican only exercises control over city state and is not accountable for priests' actions worldwide.
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HOLY SEE: Joint press release by CRIN and OMCT on UN torture committee's report
23 May 2014
Joint press release by CRIN and OMCT on the UN Committee against Torture's Concluding Observations of the Holy See
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HOLY SEE: Notes from the UN Committee Against Torture’s review
19 May 2014
In May 2014 the UNCAT reviewed the Holy See, and asked detailed questions about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Read the “unofficial minutes” produced by the World Organization Against Torture and CRIN.
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UNITED STATES: Court to review prosecution of Catholic church official
12 May 2014
Pennsylvania's highest court will review the long-debated prosecution of a Roman Catholic church official who was tried, imprisoned and then freed over his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints.
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HOLY SEE: UN Panel on Torture Presses Vatican Envoy on Abuse
6 May 2014
Vatican has faced sharp questioning by UN about whether it failed to abide by an international treaty against torture in its response to the sexual abuse of children by priests.
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HOLY SEE: Joint press release by CRIN and OMCT to UN torture committee
2 May 2014
Joint press release by CRIN and OMCT ahead of the Holy See's review before the UN Committee against Torture
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HOLY SEE: Pope adds former child victim to new commission on sex abuse cases
26 Mar 2014
A new commission that will advise Pope Francis on sex abuse policy within the church includes an Irish psychiatrist who was assaulted by a chaplain when she was 13 years old. But it remains unclear if the commission will deal with the critical issue of disciplining bishops who cover up for abusers. 
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Commentary: No Jurisdiction of the Holy See over the Catholic Church?
10 Feb 2014
This commentary notes how the Holy See has disregarded the rights of victims of sexual abuse by clerics and its mandatory reporting duties to UN bodies, and has been written to coincide with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's recent review of the Holy See.
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HOLY SEE: UN rebukes State on child sexual abuse
5 Feb 2014
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has released its concluding observations on the Holy See’s review.  
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UNITED KINGDOM: Lawyers seek US-style damages for abuse at public schools
3 Feb 2014
A firm of top international lawyers says it intends seeking huge damages from British public schools where former pupils have suffered serious sexual abuse by teachers.
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HOLY SEE: Vatican criticised in report on child abuse
15 Jan 2014
Report from child rights group outlines allegations and controversies relating to sex attacks by clerics.
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HOLY SEE: Child sexual abuse - UN review
11 Jan 2014
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is reviewing the Holy See on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church on 16 January. CRIN is reporting LIVE from Geneva.  
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