"As the third millennium of the redemption draws near, God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs."
John Paul II
December 7, 1990
Will this great Springtime ever end?
1. In Colombia:
A Colombian court has ordered the Catholic Church here to pay the parents of two children abused by a priest $240,000, a first in this devoutly Catholic country, church officials said....The priest, Luis Enrique Duque Valencia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for abusing two boys, ages 7 and 11, who he had taken in along with their families because they had been driven from their homes by war.
2. In Illinois:
BELLEVILLE, Ill. - A clergy sex abuse case with misconduct dating back to the 1970s finally ended Wednesday when James Wisniewski's attorney was handed checks totaling $6.3 million.Though the case during trial shed a disturbing light on how disgraced priest Raymond Kownacki was assigned to minister at different parishes, it brought little resolution to a set of uncertainties facing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville.
A new report is expected to reveal how 20 priests abused hundreds of children in a Co Donegal diocese over 40 years.The report from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, into abuse in Raphoe, will be published later this month.The contents of this report follow an audit of the diocese of Raphoe by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic church.
"In deposition, priest says he feared falling in love for former altar server. ... When Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa, 82, arrived at the Children and Youth Courthouse ... he was asked if this was the way he thought he would celebrate his 60 years of priesthood, amidst judicial proceedings for abuse and sexual exploitation of minors...."A closer proximity to the young man began only in July 2007, when Fabiano turned 18 and got a watch from monsignor, 'so that he would not get late for his appointments.' ."
A Christian Brother has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for sexually abusing young boys at a series of Victorian schools.
Seventy-year-old Robert Best taught at schools in Ballarat, Box Hill and Geelong between the 1960s and the 1980s.
He has been convicted in the Victorian County Court of abusing 11 boys, mainly aged between eight and 11.
Best stood in the dock without emotion as he was sentenced to 14 years and nine months in prison, with a minimum term of 11 years.
6. Well, this is certainly caused by the celibate priesthood. Oh, wait (in Plymouth, England):
"A child protection official for the Catholic Church has been caught with 4,000 pictures [omitted] ."Father-of-four Christopher Jarvis was arrested after uploading pictures of [omitted] to a website."
