News
and Laws Worldwide 
Main page * Site map and search * My story * Survivors' bill of rights * Who we are * Info for survivors * Writings by survivors * Motivating thoughts * Forgiveness and apologies * Protocols * Protection skills * News and laws worldwide * Statistics * Post-traumatic stress disorder * Perpetrator list * Books * Contacts * Links * Email me
News
and Laws Worldwide
Because of the frequency with which laws are first announced in local news media, the distinction between laws and news is often blurred. For this reason, news and laws are listed together, and reading news articles can often give a good idea of the laws extant in any given country.
May 2004: Due in part to the uncovering of systemic clergy abuse and hierarchical cover-up in Boston, USA, in 2002, along with the Hollingworth saga in Australia the same year, worldwide news on the topic of clergy sexual abuse has expanded way beyond my capacity to keep up with adding new articles. I have decided to leave up the articles already here, as an indication of how the issue was covered during the 1990s, but will not be adding more. For other sources of worldwide news on this topic, access Survivors First, Poynter, SNAP or AdvocateWeb. Poynter and AdvocateWeb both have email news digests available. Survivors also have cause to be grateful to the Boston Globe's active role in uncovering and researching the issue in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The Globe team won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for their research and the publication of thousands of pages of court documents relating to hundreds of cases. For more information see the link to their document archive at the foot of this page.
For ease of access, articles below have been categorised by country, and are then listed by country code and date of publication. To select a country, click on the country code listed below. For the text of any article, then click on the listing. Note: European news is frequently published in another language. Volunteers willing to assist in gathering and translation of news articles would be welcome.
Country codes
worldwide, and miscellaneous other
= wd
Australia = au
Canada = ca
Egypt = eg
Italy = it
Spain = sp
United Kingdom/England = uk
United States = us
wd200398
Ecumenical News International: Decade on Solidarity of Women
seminary
A firsthand account of life in St Thomas' Seminary, Colorado
***Approximately 50 news items waiting to be uploaded Sep 99
to Sep00***
***More news items to be uploaded Nov00 to Aug01***
au080598
Bishop apologises for church's sex abuse
au141098
Australia gets tough on cults
au190199
Former church worker to face new child sex charges
au030299
Priest who molested children escapes jail
au190299
Anglican Minister charged with sex offences
au270999
Bishop quits in disgrace
ca040999
Parents of abuse victim countersued by church
ca110801 Anglican victims
awarded damages; diocese files for bankruptcy
eg120299 Athanasios to be new Bishop of Limassol
it270699
Pope speaks on clergy sexual abuse
Note: In December 2001, Italy hosted its first
ever conference on child sexual abuse. Given the lack of
understanding and acknowledgement of the issue that this implies,
news articles are likely to be scarce for some time to come.
sp140202 Priest in child porn ring - church says he "didn't understand criminal implications"
uk170199
Sentencing of sexual offenders falls short
uk260299
Union attacks Child Abuse Bill
uk231000
Church didn't report alleged abuser
us080698
Settlements in relation to ex-Rev John Geoghan NB.
For related articles see Boston articles Jan02
us170798
Diocese ordered to pay $30 million
us230399
High court reinstates priest's rape conviction
us290399
State may allow victims to testify at more parole hearings
us29o399
Store technician finds child porn on priest's computer
us300399
Judge ruled suit can proceed
us310399
Archdiocese probing sex charges against priest
us040499
Priest accused of soliciting resigns
us100499
Diocese of Peoria settles sex suit
us090499
Archdiocese, Scouts subject to sex abuse liability
us160499
Compensation could beggar churches
us140899
Clergy Sex Scandals in California
us010999
New law in California
us020200 Scandals Rock Santa
Rosa Diocese
us100801 Jehovah's Witnesses
sued over abuse
us150801 Victims confront
abuser in court
boston January 2002: 6 articles
uploaded; c.30 Boston archdiocese and area articles still coming
us110202 Criticism of
churches grows in paedophile cases
The 11,000 pages of Catholic Church documents which the Boston Globe uncovered during their 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into abuse concealment can be found here.
Main page * Site map and search * My story * Survivors' bill of rights * Who we are * Info for survivors * Writings by survivors * Motivating thoughts * Forgiveness and apologies * Protocols * Protection skills * News and laws worldwide * Statistics * Post-traumatic stress disorder * Perpetrator list * Books * Contacts * Links * Email me