Australia
Australia bishop to appeal conviction for protecting pedophile
By Rod McGuirk — July 4, 2018
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse said Wednesday that he would appeal the verdict and resist public pressure to resign as archbishop of an Australian city.
Australian bishop sentenced to year’s detention for cover-up
By Rod McGuirk — July 3, 2018
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — It's a landmark case welcomed by some abuse survivors as a strong warning to institutions that fail to protect children.
At last, bad news is good news in the Catholic sex abuse scandal
By Thomas Reese — June 28, 2018
(RNS) — The truly bad news of the scandal, of course, has been the horrible abuse of children and the negative effects of the abuse will be with them for the rest of their lives. The good news is that perpetrators have been caught and exposed. Accusations are being investigated and the guilty are being punished.
Australian archbishop convicted of child sex abuse cover-up
By Paul O'Donnell — May 22, 2018
An Australian archbishop on Tuesday became the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world convicted of covering up child sex abuse and faces a potential two years in prison.
Abandoning celibacy won’t stop sexual abuse by priests
By Thomas Reese — December 19, 2017
(RNS) — We know for a fact that noncelibate men, including married men, also abuse children.
Australian probe into child abuse attacks Catholic celibacy
By Rod McGuirk — December 15, 2017
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian inquiry into child abuse recommended that the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and that priests be prosecuted for failing to report evidence of pedophilia heard in the confessional.
Australian Parliament allows same-sex marriages
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 7, 2017
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Amendments meant to safeguard freedoms of speech and religion for gay-marriage opponents were all rejected, though those issues may be considered later.
Australian ad promotes lamb as fit for the gods, offending some Hindus
By Kimberly Winston — September 11, 2017
(RNS) — India has filed a complaint against an Australian ad showing a pantheon of gods, including the Hindu deity Ganesh, promoting lamb as "the meat we can all eat." The problem — Ganesh, being Hindu, is a vegetarian.
Anti-Muslim Australian senator wears burqa in Parliament
By Rod McGuirk — August 17, 2017
(AP) — 'To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments is an appalling thing to do and I would ask you to reflect on what you have done,' said Attorney General George Brandis to the senator who donned the burqa.
Australia police weigh abuse charges after investigating top Catholic
By Byron Kaye — May 18, 2017
SYDNEY (Reuters) Cardinal George Pell, who before his Vatican appointment was archbishop of Sydney, has rejected any involvement in alleged child abuse in Australia.
Report says 1,100 complaints of child abuse made against Australia’s Anglican church
By Reuters — March 17, 2017
SYDNEY (Reuters) Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier said he felt a 'personal sense of shame and sorrow' at the way the church had apparently silenced victims.
Australian archbishop: ‘As Catholics we hang our heads in shame’
By Josephine McKenna — February 6, 2017
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Over 4,440 Australians claim to have been victims of church abuse between 1980 and 2015, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told.
Off with his hat! Why we want to see cardinals punished in the abuse scandal (COMMENTARY)
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — March 4, 2016
(RNS) The church needs more than apologies, commissions and tribunals on abuse. It needs to take symbolic action, too. Like taking away the red zucchetto.
Vatican financial chief denies he is under investigation
By Rosie Scammell — February 19, 2016
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Melbourne publication on Friday (Feb. 19) claimed Pell was the subject of a probe in Australia’s southeast state of Victoria over allegations he sexually abused between five and 10 boys.
Australian abuse victims crowdfund trip to Rome to confront Cardinal Pell
By Reuters — February 17, 2016
After he was excused from traveling home to testify in a clergy sex abuse hearing, victims raised funds to fly to Rome to witness Pell's video testimony.
