Several siblings have been expelled from a faith-based school in St Kilda because their parents refused to sign a memorandum of understanding that limited who they could talk to about the alleged sexual abuse of their children.
Royal Commission
Religions for Peace Australia is providing coverage of state and national inquiries into child sexual abuse with multi-faith and interfaith perspectives as a service to the interfaith community.
This select coverage is offered as service to the religious and faith communities of Australia; there is no intention to single out nor provide critique of any single institution … Religions for Peace gives service to multifaith, multicultural and Interfaith networks.
World Day for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Healing and Justice
The first world-wide day Day for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Healing and Justice was recently observed online, on 8 April 2021. This virtual event was hosted by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard Divinity School, the Chan School of Public Health and the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America and the World Council of Churches.
Video: Appraising the Royal Commission Report into Sexual Abuse and Religious Organisations
University of Melbourne Chaplaincy and Religions for Peace Australia – Victoria Branch presented one lecture on Tuesday 6th February 2018 on Appraising the Royal Commission Report into Sexual Abuse and Religious Organisations.
Victoria Police says it won’t investigate Vatican wire transfer claims
Victoria Police says there is no evidence to warrant an investigation into allegations that Vatican funds were used in an attempt to secure the conviction of Cardinal George Pell. Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera earlier this month claimed a rival of Pell’s, former cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, was suspected of arranging for €700,000 ($1.1 million) to be transferred to people in Australia to support the prosecution of child sex abuse charges against Pell.
Australia: The High Court and Cardinal Pell
Religions for Peace Australia has not taken one side nor the other about the legal processes Cardinal George Pell has been involved. Visitors to this website will be aware that we took a multifaith approach to the Royal Commission and covered the progress and investigations of the Royal Commission into all religions. We have 105 articles on the Royal Commission from a multifaith perspective on this website.
The Chair of Religions for Peace Australia, Emeritus Professor Desmond Cahill presented evidence on the impact of clerical culture to the Royal Commission itself and as part of World Interfaith Harmony Week in 2018, gave an appraisal on Clerical Culture, Religious Organisations and the Royal Commission Report.
Prof. Cahill also presented “And What Would God Think, Rebuilding Pastoral Health and Integrity after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse” to the Health and Integrity Conference conducted by the major religious orders and clerical groups in Melbourne. At present Prof. Cahill is working on a book on the Theology of the Child. We take no side on the decision of the High Court of Australia regarding Cardinal Pell. In this article, we share the observations of the ABC’s Religious Affairs reporter, Noel Debien.
‘A long time coming’: These Muslims are bringing sex abuse by sheikhs out of the shadows
Over the past two to three years, scholars and advocates say, North American Muslims have risen up in an unprecedented movement to openly confront sexual and spiritual abuse perpetrated by Muslim religious leaders.
Pope Francis abolishes ‘pontifical secret’ in clergy sex abuse cases
Pope Francis has abolished the “pontifical secret” used in clergy sexual abuse cases, after mounting criticism that the high degree of confidentiality has been used to protect paedophiles, silence victims and keep law enforcement from investigating crimes.
Australia: 2019 Human Rights Day Oration
The Hon Peter McClellan AM QC delivered the 2019 Human Rights Day Oration. His co-orator was Ms Chrissie Foster, mother of two girls who experienced child sexual abuse. “I cannot comprehend how any person, much less one with qualifications in theology and very often further qualifications from recognised universities, could consider the rape of a child to be a moral failure but not a crime,” The Hon Peter McClellan said.
Brisbane: Safer Churches Conference 2019
The 9th biennial Safer Churches Conference will be the first conference held by the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) Safe Church Program since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommendations were released in December 2017. The theme for the conference, “Transforming Cultures: Listening, Reflecting, Acting” will provide the framework across the two-day event, at the Mercure Hotel, Brisbane on 16-17 September 2019.
Pope Francis orders bishops to report sex abuse, allows direct complaints to Vatican
Pope Francis introduced sweeping changes in Catholic Church law on Thursday local time to hold bishops accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up, making reporting obligatory for clerics and allowing anyone to complain directly to the Vatican if needed.
Victoria: Healing Pilgrimage For the Innocents
For the Innocents invites you to come on pilgrimage to espouse the National apology – to all those who experienced Sexual Abuse as children in an Institution – by the Prime Minister. Our pilgrimage will gather at 11.30 at the Healing Remembrance Garden of St Patrick’s College, 1431 Sturt St Ballarat on Saturday, 20 October, 2018.
Buddhism: Pema Chödrön apologizes for dismissing allegation of sexual assault from young woman
On Saturday, famed Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön released a statement responding to an allegation that she once dismissed a woman’s report that she was raped by a Shambhala Center director.
Chödrön is a Buddhist nun, best-selling author, and senior teacher in the Shambhala community. She is a member of Shambhala’s “Transition Task Force,” the temporary committee appointed to appoint a new Shambhala board after the previous board resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct by leaders in the community.
Dalai Lama meets with survivors of abuse by Buddhist teachers
The Dalai Lama met with four survivors of abuse by Buddhist teachers on Friday. The meeting took place in the Netherlands, on the first day of His Holiness’s four-day tour of the country.
Royal Commission into Aged Care
Religions for Peace Australia (RfPA) today welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government of a Royal Commission into aged care in Australia. More than one in every three older Australians was born overseas, as per the recent Census.
Rebuilding Pastoral Health and Integrity after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
“… And What Would God Think?”
Keynote address presented at the Health and Integrity Conference held in Melbourne at the University of Divinity on 27th – 29th August 2018 after the December 2017 release of the Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse sponsored by the University of Divinity, three Catholic religious orders (Franciscans, Redemptorists and the Passionists), the Yarra Theological Union and Carroll and O’Dea Lawyers.
National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
The government has announced when it will deliver the national apology to survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: 22 October.
There are only 800 places, with 400 going to organisations that support survivors, and the other 400 open to a ballot. A website has been created for people to join the ballot for places at the National Apology
Royal Commission: Catholic Church must reform canon law in wake of child sex abuse royal commission
Amid international media hype and confusing reporting, Australia’s Catholic leaders delivered their official response to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse last week.
So, has the Australian Catholic Church “rejected mandatory reporting“, as Al Jazeera published? Or did The Hindu get it right with their headline: “Australian Catholic leaders vow to end abuse cover-up“?
The devil is, as always, in the detail. And there is a lot of detail.
The joint response from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA), which represents nuns, sisters and brothers, monks and friars, says bishops and religious leaders accept most of the recommendations of the royal commission.
Simultaneously, the long-awaited Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC) report, a self-analysis commissioned by the ACC and the CRA, was made public — it’s a bitter medicinal pill Catholic leadership themselves had paid for and asked to be administered.
The bottom line is that the diverse and independent parts of a complex Catholic Church in crisis have managed — for better or for worse — to pull themselves together and form a coordinated response.
Royal Commission: exploring the task of rebuilding and renewal for Australia’s Christian churches
The conference Health and Integrity in Churches and Ministry calls for a ‘reformation’ of Australia’s churches following Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Participating churches were the Catholic Church (and Catholic Religious Orders), the Anglican Church, the Uniting Church, Churches of Christ and members of the Salvation Army along with representatives of other Christian denominations.
