Trevor Blake: Christianity in the News
Katharine Houreld, Churches involved in torture, murder of thousands of African children denounced as witches:
Nwanaokwo Edet was one of an increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files. Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” [...] The idea of witchcraft is hardly new, but it has taken on new life recently partly because of a rapid growth in evangelical Christianity. Campaigners against the practice say around 15,000 children have been accused in two of Nigeria’s 36 states over the past decade and around 1,000 have been murdered. In the past month alone, three Nigerian children accused of witchcraft were killed and another three were set on fire. Nigeria is one of the heartlands of abuse, but hardly the only one: the United Nations Children’s Fund says tens of thousands of children have been targeted throughout Africa. Church signs sprout around every twist of the road snaking through the jungle between Uyo, the capital of the southern Akwa Ibom state where Nwanaokwo lay, and Eket, home to many more rejected “witch children.” Churches outnumber schools, clinics and banks put together. Many promise to solve parishioner’s material worries as well as spiritual ones — eight out of ten Nigerians struggle by on less than $2 a day. “Poverty must catch fire,” insists the Born 2 Rule Crusade on one of Uyo’s main streets. “Where little shots become big shots in a short time,” promises the Winner’s Chapel down the road. “Pray your way to riches,” advises Embassy of Christ a few blocks away.
BBC, Vicar who raped young boys jailed:
A West Yorkshire vicar has been jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of raping two young boys and sexually attacking others. The Reverend Peter Hedge, 47, from Holy Trinity Church at Queensbury, near Bradford, had denied the attacks, which happened between the 1990s and 2000. A jury at Bradford Crown Court found him guilty of more than 30 indecent assaults as well as the rapes. A judge said he was a “dreadful disgrace” to the church. Hedge was also found guilty of another serious sexual assault. The court heard the vicar abused his position of trust to gratify himself sexually with six boys and then paid them to keep silent. The judge described Hedge’s actions as “calculated and systematic abuse”.
Using her influence as an ordained Pentecostal minister, Dr. Christine Daniel tapped into the vessel of faith to entice people from across the nation to try her regimen. She even appeared on cable’s Trinity Broadcasting Network in 2002 touting her cancer cure and its 60 percent success rate, according to federal investigators. Authorities arrested Daniel, 55, at her San Fernando Valley home Thursday and charged her with two counts each of wire and mail fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 80 years in prison.
John Christoffersen, Court won’t block release of sex abuse papers:
The Supreme Court refused on Monday to block the release of documents generated by lawsuits against priests in Connecticut for alleged sexual abuse. The justices turned down a request by the Roman Catholic diocese in Bridgeport. Several newspapers are seeking the release of more than 12,000 pages from 23 lawsuits against six priests. The records have been under seal since the diocese settled the cases in 2001. Courts in Connecticut have ruled that the papers should be made public. The decision ends a legal battle that dragged on for years and could shed light on how recently retired New York Cardinal Edward Egan handled the allegations when he was Bridgeport bishop.
Mark Mcgivern, College Reverend found dead faced investigation over child indecency:
A Cambridge University churchman who was found dead in his home faced child sex allegations in Scotland. Police were investigating indecency claims against the Rev Ian Thompson, 50, who is thought to have killed himself. Thompson, the dean of chapel at King’s College, died of asphyxiation at his house in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, on Thursday. The Glasgow-born cleric had already been reported to the procurator fiscal by Strathclyde Police over indecency allegations in Kilmarnock. His widow, Ann, said: “He was a wonderful man who was well-loved by people of all walks of life.” A university spokesman said: “We are neither confirming or denying any of the allegations.”
Nick Pisa, Vatican priest caught in red light district after police chase:
A Vatican priest led police on a high speed car chase leaving three officers injured after being caught in a red light zone, a court has heard. Father Cesare Burgazzi, 51, said he ‘floored’ his Ford Focus car after he mistook the plain clothes officers who tried to flag him down during a spot check as robbers. During the twenty minute early hours chase – which was described in court as “like something from a Hollywood movie” two police cars crashed and three police left injured. The court in Rome heard that Father Burgazzi was a priest who worked at the Vatican’s State Department and was also a master of ceremonies at St Peter’s Basilica.
Philadelphia Inquirer, Church court rejects Pa. ex-bishop’s new trial bid:
An Episcopal Church court has rejected a defrocked Pennsylvania bishop’s bid for a new church trial based on a recently discovered cache of letters related to his case. Charles E. Bennison Jr. was removed from his post last year after a church trial in Philadelphia found he covered up his brother’s sexual assaults of a teenage girl in the 1970s. Bennison’s lawyers argued that more than 200 letters recently found contradict witness testimony and show the victim tried to hide the relationship, hampering any intervention by the bishop.
Riazat Butt and Anushka Asthana, Sex abuse rife in other religions, says Vatican:
The Vatican has lashed out at criticism over its handling of its paedophilia crisis by saying the Catholic church was “busy cleaning its own house” and that the problems with clerical sex abuse in other churches were as big, if not bigger. In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males. The statement, read out by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the UN, defended its record by claiming that “available research” showed that only 1.5%-5% of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse.
Jennifer Dobner, Woman in Smart case competent for trial:
A state court judge said Friday the Utah State Hospital has determined that the woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart is competent for trial. [...] Barzee, 63, and her estranged husband, Brian David Mitchell, 55, face charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary for the June 2002 kidnapping of Smart in Salt Lake City. [...] Barzee had long refused medication for religious reasons. In 2006, Atherton ruled Barzee should be forcibly medicated, and the Utah Supreme Court upheld the ruling in late 2007. Attorneys for Barzee appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court but were denied a review in May 2008 and Utah State Hospital doctors began forced treatment. [...] A self-proclaimed religious prophet, Mitchell also has been ruled incompetent for trial. Last year, Atherton refused to order forced medication, saying she was not convinced that anti-psychotic medications would restore Mitchell’s competency. Mitchell faces a Nov. 30 competency hearing in the federal case. Smart was 14 in 2002 when she was taken from her bedroom at knifepoint. In federal court testimony Oct. 1, Smart said Mitchell raped her daily and forced her to use drugs and alcohol. She also said Mitchell used religion as a ruse to get what he wanted, but never appeared to be spiritual or close to God.
Press Association, Priest jailed for child sex attacks:
A Roman Catholic priest referred to as the “devil in a dog collar” has been jailed for eight years over a string of sex attacks on young boys. Father David Pearce, of Ealing Abbey, Charlbury Grove, Ealing, used his “undoubtable charm and guile to bamboozle these boys and put them in a state of mind control”, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Mike Ference, Let’s make a deal – let’s finally protect children instead of dysfunctional sex freaks:
My last examiner article was not meant to be prophetic. I guess after almost 20 years of investigating dysfunctional sex freaks like Raymond Lahey, a 69-year-old Roman Catholic Bishop who was recently released on $9,000 bail, charged with possessing and importing child pornography, maybe it just comes with the territory. [...] CBS News quoted from an email Earle had sent to his brother Billy: “During the investigation in 1989 I did reveal to police that during a visit to Father Raymond Lahey’s house in Mount Pearl, I found catalogs of child pornography addressed to Ray Lehay. The pictures were of teen boys sexually aroused.” If the report is accurate, did Lehay play let’s make a deal with the Canadian court system to keep the information hushed up? Was Lehay rewarded with a bishop post because of his skills in parleying deals with government officials to cover up sex abuse crimes against innocent children? Did Lehay help Catholic hierarchy cover-up other clergy abuse crimes? If so, how many other victims went without help? How many resorted to drugs or alcohol? How many victims committed suicide? We have to ask these questions. Catholic church hierarchy have had decades – if not centuries – to fess up to dysfunctional sex freaks parading around as priests, bishops, cardinals - and yes, even popes. Instead, God’s most precious commodity – innocent children – are nothing more than bargaining chips for whatever prizes the Catholic church doles out to protect dysfunctional sex freaks. Contestants can win cash and other prizes; scholarships to Catholic universities and colleges for sons and daughters; lucrative distribution contracts with Catholic institutions; career advancement and job placement with corrupt political cronies; the list goes on and on. And so do the crimes and the cover-ups.
Tanya Gold, Ignore the bells and the smells and the lovely Raphaels, the Pope’s visit to Britain is nothing to celebrate:
In his actions on child abuse and Aids, Joseph Ratzinger has colluded in the protection of paedophiles and the deaths of millions of Africans. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Pope John Paul II’s chief enforcer), it was Ratzinger’s job to investigate the child abuse scandal that plagued the Catholic church for decades. And how did he do it? In May 2001 he wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication. He referred to a previous (confidential) Vatican document that ordered that investigations should be handled “in the most secretive way . . . restrained by a perpetual silence”. Excommunication is a joke to me, perhaps to you, but to a Catholic it means exclusion and perhaps hellfire – for trying to protect a child. Well, God is love. He also waved aside calls to discipline Marcial Maciel Degollado, the Mexican founder of the global Legion of Christ movement. Allegations of child abuse have stalked Maciel since the 1970s. His victims petitioned Ratzinger, only for his secretary to inform them the matter was closed. “One can’t put on trial such a close friend of the Pope as Marcial Maciel,” Ratzinger said. Two abuse victims sued him personally for obstruction of justice, but he claimed diplomatic immunity.
All articles continue at links. Part of a series that never ends [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] and etc.
