Ten years after the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in the United States, Catholic bishops from all over the world will meet next week at a Vatican summit aimed at preventing abuse and protecting children.

The conference, “Towards Healing and Renewal,” will be held on Feb. 6-9 and is organized by the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome.

The Vatican’s top spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters on Friday (Feb. 3) that the summit enjoys the “full support and participation” of the Vatican’s highest offices, but Pope Benedict XVI is not expected to attend.

Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s chief abuse prosecutor, said the protection of children must become “a permanent principle and concern” in every decision of the church.

“There cannot be a distinction between the good of the church and the protection of youth,” he said Friday.

Last May, the Vatican gave all bishops conferences around the world one year to draft voluntary “guidelines” on preventing abuse, caring for victims, disciplining abusive priests, and reporting suspected abuse to local police.

Next week’s summit will bring together representatives from 110 bishops conferences, the heads of 30 religious orders and officials from most Vatican departments. Workshops will focus on a bishop’s responsibility to protect children and the psychological effects of abuse.

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon on Joliet, Ill., chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is the official representative of the U.S. church.

The bishops and other delegates will hear the story of a sex abuse victim and participate in a “penitential vigil,” where representatives of seven groups who have been responsible of sex abuse or failed to prevent it will ask for forgiveness.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, will preside over the vigil while Cardinal William Levada, whose Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has jurisdiction over all abuse cases, will give the opening address.

Victims’ advocates have criticized the Vatican’s response to the scandal, accusing church officials of not disciplining bishops who failed to punish and report predator priests. Mary Collins, an Irish sex abuse victim, told journalists that she had been unsure whether to accept the Vatican’s invitation to address the conference, but had finally accepted in order to help protect as many children as possible.

“The church can become a leader in child protection,” she said, adding that she hoped Benedict would personally and publicly ask for forgiveness. “It would be the most wonderful thing for victims and for the church.”

Lombardi said Benedict would send the conference participants a message through his Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

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The head of Poland’s largest child protection agency has urged the Roman Catholic church to respond to growing complaints of sexual abuse by its priests.

“It’s not the scale of this phenomenon which is worrying, but the church’s attitude. So far, the Bishops Conference has said nothing,” said Jakub Spiewak, director of the independent Warsaw-based Kidprotect Foundation, which runs a hotline for abuse victims and seven separate child protection programs.

“The Catholic church occupies a special position here, but could begin to lose it if it fails to address problems like this,” said Spiewak, speaking in the wake of the publication of a book of interviews with Polish Bishop’s Conference president Archbishop Jozef Michalik, who says Polish church leaders are doing everything possible to counter “inappropriate behavior” among Catholic priests.

Kidprotect has launched a campaign, “Silence is Not Golden,” to encourage victims to come forward. However, Spiewak said police and civic officials were sometimes afraid to challenge priests suspected of abuse in small towns and villages, where they were “often the most powerful people.”

Leading Roman Catholics, including Poland’s Children’s Rights Spokesmen, have urged clear church procedures for handling abuse claims since 2002, when the archbishop of Poznan, Juliusz Paetz, resigned after media reports he had molested local seminarians.

A movement of priest’s victims, recently formed with U.S. backing, says several dozen Polish priests convicted for molestation have received only light suspended jail terms, while most are still serving in parishes, often working with children.

Many cases were not reported by the Polish church’s Catholic information agency, KAI, which has covered abuse scandals in other countries extensively.

Sexual abuse claims against priests have severely affected the Roman Catholic church in several countries over the past two years, including Ireland, Germany, Austria, and the United States.

In May, the Vatican instructed all Bishop’s Conferences to have abuse guidelines in place by May 2012, and to introduce child protection programs, exchange information about clergy transferring between dioceses and ensure “spiritual and psychological assistance” for victims.

However, in a recent special issue, a Catholic monthly called “The Link” said the Polish church lacked psychological checks for its clergy and “transparent norms” for vetting employees, and had no “information policy” or “norms of conduct” for handling abuse accusations. It also cited a “lack of co-operation between church and state” on abuse issues.
Spiewak says the Catholic journal’s warnings have been ignored, adding that most bishops were showing “extraordinary laxity.”

“There’s growing frustration here; any criticism of a priest, even by loyal Catholics, is treated as a frontal attack on the church and faith,” Spiewak said.

“If the church doesn’t uphold the law and stop sheltering its priests from canonical and criminal responsibility, it will face the same crisis as the church in other countries. But its leaders seem to think they can simply avoid the issue.”

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Christians in Nigeria are demanding more government protection from militant Muslims even as thousands have been slaughtered in recent attacks, largely in central and northern Nigeria.

A number of human rights groups also want help and intervention from the United Nations and the U.S., CBN News said. Last July 26, according to Continental News, 12 Christians were killed, three of them pastors, who died from beheading at the hands of the militant Islamic Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has also launched attacks on military bases. The violence, according to Continental News, started in Baruchi state in northeastern Nigeria, then spread out to the states of Kano in the northwest, Yobe in the north and Borno in the northeast.

Continental News reported that in the series of attacks churches were set afire and a number of Christians along with people of other faiths were abducted. Christians were also threatened with genocide if they did not convert to Islam.

The three pastors, Sabo Yukubu, Sylvester Akpan and George Orji were killed through decapitation as the extremists shouted “Allah Akbar.” They did this upon the order of the militant group’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, whom authorities later killed, Continental News said.

Worst attack in years

CBN News said the worst attack in recent years took place on March 7 when militants attacked the village Dogo Nashawa at night, and massacred villagers while they were sleeping.

The victims were either hacked to death or burned alive in their homes, including children. Some 500 Christians were murdered in this way. CBN News said the militants wielded AK-47 rifles.

According to CBN News, in the past only bows, arrows and machetes were wielded by extremists, and the use of high powered weapons indicated a new level of war.

Last October, a Christian village was also attacked in the middle of the night and the assailants also had high powered weapons. Six people were killed and 21 houses were burned, CBN News said.

At the same time, no one has been prosecuted for thousands of deaths linked to terrorists, CBN noted.

CBN News said Central Nigeria is where the most recent attacks occurred, including the Plateau state which is a key battleground. Twelve of Nigeria’s northern states are under Shariah law.

Central Nigeria is a strategic area and poses a barrier to the rest of the country where extremists hope to impose Shariah law, CBN News said. Nigeria is also crucial as a nation because it is a strategically located country that can serve as a jumping point to spread Islam throughout Africa.

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Many religious archives from the U.K., some dating as far back as the medieval period up to the present, are becoming lost or are at peril, a recent study shows.

The survey, which was put together by the U.K. Religious Archives Group, the U.K. Archives and Records Association and the U.K. National Archives, was undertaken to provide a clear picture of information storage systems by faith organizations, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported.

According to the report, over one-third of faith groups lack the means to secure their records from flood, theft or fire. Other organizations shred documents to generate space, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Additionally, 41 percent of religious archives are handled, for lack of staff, by volunteers who are not trained even in basic work like cataloguing, the Yorkshire Evening Post said.

As a result, the report has recommended action on both national and local levels to preserve this important component of British history and to prevent gaps that might be incurred if records continue to be lost, the Yorkshire Evening Post said.

Low response rate

Some 2.686 major faith organizations were sent questionnaires for the survey, but only 15 percent responded, or a total of 414. Out of the total respondents, only 17 percent had fully catalogued archives. One in 10 respondents said mold and damp had distressed their archives, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported.

The study noted, “It is perhaps not surprising to see that although well over half of the questionnaires sent were to non-Christian organizations, Christian bodies account for 76% of responses,” according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Storage inefficiencies

The report also showed that only 44 percent of surviving collections of religious organizations had adequate storage protection from fire, theft and flood. Of the remainder, some 39 percent had no protection, Yorkshire Evening Post said.

It was noted that many religious groups are self-funded and lack the resources for archiving efficiently, more so amid a difficult economy. Furthermore, the archival heritage lacks sufficient recognition to generate support, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported.

Adding to the problem is the lack of access to training and/or professional advice and guidance on suitable archiving, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Oliver Morley, U.K. National Archives head told the Yorkshire Evening Post, “Religious archives should be recognized as the asset they are, not only by the faiths that created them but also society as a whole, even in tough financial times.”

Rt. Rev. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London agreed, telling the Yorkshire Evening Post, “Much of our national heritage is recorded in the archives of faith organizations, but the information extends far beyond the religious sphere.”

According to Chartres, faith archives supply “the key to our self-understanding as a diverse union of nations built out of very different communities and traditions,” the Yorkshire Evening Post reported.

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The Vatican decried recently the way the Belgian police handled the raids on church grounds and a cardinal’s home. They expressed outrage that the tombs of two cardinals were drilled open.

The tombs of Cardinals Van Roey and Suenenes were drilled open, and a camera was inserted to see if documents were hidden inside that may pertain to child sexual abuse by clergy, the National Post said.

Police authorities explained that they were told that work had been newly done on the external part of a tomb. The Vatican called the act a violation, the National Post said.

The Vatican summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See, who met with the Vatican’s foreign minister who conveyed the Vatican’s ire and issued a formal protest, the National Post said.

The Belgian police raided and sealed two main Mechelen church offices of the Brussels archdiocese. A meeting of bishops was taking place at the time of the raid, and the bishops could not leave or make phone calls for nine hours during the raid, the National Post said.

Also raided was the home of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who headed the Belgian Church since 1979. He stepped down in January, the National Post said.

Confiscated during the raids were several computers, files and some 475 dossiers of abuse victims who had spoken to a church commission that was investigating clerical sexual abuse of minors, the National Post said.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a U.S. organization, lauded the raids and called for similar action in other countries as well. They were also critical of the Vatican response, the AP said.

Joelle Casteix of SNAP said, “Vatican officials who criticize the Belgian police raid of the Brussels church hierarchy should be ashamed of themselves. While Roman church officials talk about stopping abuse, Belgian police officials take action to stop abuse,” the AP said.

The Vatican expressed regret that the confidentiality of victims who chose to communicate with the church commission would not be respected. The church commission was charged with the church’s own investigation of clerical sexual abuse of minors, the National Post said.

It is believed that the police raids came about because of the resignation last April of Bishop Vangheluwe, 73, who left his post after admitting to have sexually abused a young boy, the Telegraph said.

Yesterday, Pope Benedict named Monsignor Jozef De Kesel as the new bishop of Bruges, replacing Roger Vangheluwe, the National Post said.

Pope Benedict XVI has met with victims of clerical abuse in the past, asked for their forgiveness and assured that the church would work for the protection of children. In a statement, the Vatican said criminal abuse of minors must be condemned and justice and change is needed, the Associated Press said.

The issue of child abuse is a sensitive one in Belgium, particularly in light of the perceived police bungling of the case of pedophile killer Marc Dutroux in the 1990s. Many still believe he had protection from higher ups, and the issue led to mass protests at the time, beliefnet says.

It is extremely rare that church offices and cardinal homes are raided. More often, many countries in Europe will work in cooperation with the church in establishing investigating bodies, the National Post said.

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Bus ads offering advice and protection for Muslims who would like to convert to Christianity have recently sparked controversy in New York and led to a lawsuit in Detroit.

The ads say: ” Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you? Leaving Islam? Got Questions? Get Answers” and include the website RefugeFromIslam.com.

Credit:RefugeFromIslam.com

Some versions add a toll free phone number, according to The Detroit News.

In New York, the $10,000 ad campaign came shortly after a proposal had been made to build a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero in lower Manhattan, according to ABC News.

Muslim leaders in New York have called the ad inflammatory, and a former Muslim, Samir Selmanovich, who runs an interfaith group called Faith House Manhattan, said the ads could be a source of provocation and escalate other issues, ABC News said.

Meanwhile in Detroit the Freedom Defense Initiative (FDI), who sponsored the ad, filed a lawsuit against the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) buses for refusing to display the ad, according to Detroit News.

The lawsuit alleges that SMART violated the First and 14^th Amendment rights dealing with free speech and equal protection.  It also noted that SMART previously displayed an ad from the Detroit Area Coalition of Reason, an atheist group, which read “Don’t Believe in God?  You are not alone.”

Robert Muise, who is representing FDI said, “Such blatant discrimination is offensive, and it violates our Constitution,” according to Detroit News.

The FDI also filed a lawsuit in Florida when the paid ads were taken off the buses after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) protested, according to the Refuge From Islam website.

The website noted that Muslims are able to run ads in America inviting people to convert to Islam, yet they cannot make information available to Muslims who would like to leave Islam.

The website also noted that at least three bus companies that advertised the dawah (invitation to Islam) in Florida turned down the FDI ad.

Pamela Geller, who runs the website that is placing the ads said, “There are people that live in real fear and whose lives are threatened.  We want to provide an opportunity for them to have a resource to go to. It’s a religious freedom issue,” she told ABC News.

She said that in response to the ads, “We’ve gotten a number of people who have reached out.  It’s not a huge number, but then again it’s not a huge campaign. I can’t reveal anything about them except to say they were looking for help,” ABC News reported.

Geller said her campaign was partly inspired by the case of Fatimah Rifqa Bary, the formerly Muslim teenager who converted to Christianity, then fled her home in Ohio and hid in Florida because she was afraid that her family might kill her, ABC News said.

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