Peter Ball victim: ‘I forgive him from my heart’ —-

link:              http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p034w3yk

Radio 5 Live this morning Saturday Breakfast 6.00 am

A victim of the Bishop Peter Ball told 5 live Breakfast that he forgives him for the sexual abuse he suffered.

The Reverend Graham Sawyer, a vicar in Burnley, described Peter Ball as “a monster” but feels that “justice has been done” and he is able to forgive him.

“Not only do I forgive Peter Ball but I forgive him from my heart. I refuse to become part of this cycle of unpleasantness and nastiness. The only response is one of forgiveness and love”.

Reverend Sawyer received a handwritten letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury apologising unreservedly for the abuse he endured.

This week 83-year-old Peter Ball was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in public office and 15 months for indecent assaults, to run concurrently. The Church of England said there were “no excuses”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p034w3yk

Any similarities with Ball, his grooming and abuse,  and the grooming and abuse  that took place at Mirfield……………

The Catholic Church has been strongly criticised at the UN Human Rights Council for obstructing disclosure of child abuse and payment of victims’ compensation.

In an oral statement at the UN Human Rights Council 30th Session in Geneva, the European Humanist Federation rebuked the Holy See for its continued failure to accept the criticisms of the Committee on the Rights of the Child over child abuse.

The UN Human Rights Council was urged to press the Vatican on clerical child abuse and to ensure that justice is done for the victims.

An accompanying written statement, prepared with the assistance of the National Secular Society, accused the Vatican of continuing to “fiercely” obstruct the disclosure of information related to perpetrators of abuse, while dragging out the payment of compensation to victims.

The statement called on the Human Rights Council to press the Holy See to make all information about child abuse perpetrators available to local law enforcement, and urged the Human Rights Council to “instruct the Church worldwide, and its lawyers and insurers, to fairly and expeditiously settle claims and cases against the Church, including for compensation”.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: “The Vatican has largely ignored the 67 concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Child to disclose information and report suspected abusers. Instead the Vatican criticised the Committee of experts and set up a powerless Commission on child abuse that has neither authority nor responsibility.

“Similarly, the Tribunal to oversee bishops’ actions over child abuse, cynically created in the wake of convictions of bishops for complicity over child abuse, gives the appearance of being a legitimate alternative channel for dealing with reprobate bishops. Whatever the intention it prevented bishops being reported to relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution.

“Both Commission and Tribunal have been a publicity triumph but have compounded the Church’s abuse of victims.”

Meanwhile, in a separate intervention, the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has told the UN that secularism is essential for the genuine promotion of human rights around the world.

Elizabeth O’Casey, head of IHEU’s delegation to the United Nations, told the UN Human Rights Council that secular democracy is “essential” for the defence and advancement of human rights, and for “guaranteeing inclusivity and ensuring four principles underscoring human rights: freedom, equality, dignity and universalism.”

Ms O’Casey said secularism is “necessary for individual freedom. Its origins are rooted in the principle of free thought, from which many other rights guaranteeing freedoms emanate – such as freedom of religion or belief and expression.

“It is necessary for equality. Underpinning secularism is the equality of all under the law and a rejection of discriminatory traditional, cultural or religious practices.

“It is necessary for human dignity. It identifies individuals as equal citizens and not merely members of a religious or non-religious group; this gives dignity to the individual as a human rights bearer, not to be stereotyped as a member of a particular group or fetishized for the sake of inherently divisive identity politics.

“It is necessary for universalism. Whilst a secular democracy creates space for dialogue and the recognition of diversity, it asks that arguments are presented in universal terms so as to ensure mutual understanding. It is upon these universal foundations our rights and the vocabulary common to all humankind are grounded.

“Secular democracy provides a backdrop essential for the prevention of human rights violations.”

Ms O’Casey added that human rights “will only flourish in a political framework where people are seen as human rights agents and not defined primarily by their beliefs or arbitrary characteristics [such as gender or race].

The statement called on the High Commissioner and Council to explore the role of secularism in the protection of human rights.

The Human Rights Council has attracted serious criticism this week after it emerged that Saudi Arabia had been selected to head a key UN human rights panel.

On Oct. 2, a Chilean news channel brought to light a May 6 recording of Pope Francis defending Bishop Juan Barros, who was recently assigned to Osorno, Chile, despite allegations that the new bishop covered up clergy sex abuse by a priest in the 1980s and 1990s.

Though evidence of the priest’s abuse was verified by Chile’s judicial court, statute of limitations allowed Fr. Fernando Karadima to dodge prosecution. When a separate Vatican investigation found the priest guilty of abuse, he was condemned in 2011 to a life of prayer and penance in a convent outside of Santiago.

“[The diocese] lost its independence once it let its head be filled with what politicians say, who are judging a bishop without any evidence, even after 20 years as bishop,” Francis said in the May 6 recording, before a group of Chilean Catholics in Rome who asked the pope to send a message to those in Osorno disappointed by the arrival of Barros. “Think with your heads and do not be led by the noses by the lefties who orchestrated this whole thing,” he said in Spanish, as translated by NCR.

Though Barros was never tried for covering up Karadima’s abuse, testimonial evidence has suggested Barros destroyed incriminating correspondence, while other victim testimonies claimed Barros was present during the sexual acts. Though Chilean courts uphold the testimonial evidence, Barros has denied the allegations and has never faced a canonical or civil case.

Francis appointed Barros bishop of Osorno in March, meeting stiff resistance by its people, most notably demonstrated by the hundreds of protestors at Barros’ installation Mass March 21. Francis made the appointment despite the objections, which haven’t abated.

In the video from May, Francis said, “The only charges brought against Barros were discredited by the judicial court, so please do not lose serenity,” he continued. “Osorno suffers, yes, but for being foolish, because they do not open their hearts to what God says, and instead get carried away by all this silliness that everyone speaks of.”

The Karadima case touches Francis not just through Barros: In 2013, Francis appointed Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa – Karadima’s most powerful defender, and Santiago’s archbishop from 1998 to 2010 – as one of nine on the Council of Cardinals, a group that advises the pope. But Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima’s alleged victims who testified that Barros was present during the sexual acts, has long been outspoken in accusing Errázuriz of conspiracy.

Then, in early September, a Chilean newspaper published an email exchange (dated 2013 and 2014) between Errázuriz and his successor, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati. In the emails, which the archdiocese confirmed were authentic, the two cardinals discussed how to block Cruz from being invited to speak at a meeting of the pope’s child protection commission.

According to the Associated Press, Ezzati’s office said the emails were merely private exchanges of opinion, acknowledging that they had no influence on the Vatican’s decision. But the email scandal reignited outrage throughout Chile just months after Francis appointed Barros as Osorno’s new bishop.

The video of Francis was released two days after Errázuriz testified in a civil lawsuit against the archdiocese, filed by Cruz and two other victims of Karadima’s abuse. The accusations against Errázuriz asserted that the cardinal was fully aware yet chose to ignore the abuse as early as 2003. In his five-hour testimony, Errázuriz admitted that he knew of the allegations against Karadima, but said he failed to act because he sincerely believed the charges were untrue.

“I am the first to try and punish someone with these types of accusations,” Francis continued in the recording. “But in this case there is no proof – on the contrary. I say this from the heart. Do not be fooled by those who only look for fuss, who look for scandal.”

Asked if the children were in some way responsible, he replied: “In many cases, yes.”

“Unfortunately there are children who seek affection because they don’t get it at home and then if they find some priest he can even give in (to the temptation). I understand this,” Flaim said in an interview on the private La 7 network on Tuesday.

The diocese said in a statement that Flaim’s comments did not reflect the diocese’s position on child sex abuse by clergy and ran counter to “the sentiments of the entire Church community” on the scandal.

Pope Francis has met victims of sexual abuse twice since his election in 2013, the latest during his visit to the United States last month.

The pope offered them his most comprehensive comments on the sexual abuse scandal in his 2-1/2 year papacy and used his strongest language yet in condemning it and promising that “all those responsible will be held accountable”.

I feel that the Combonis are just waiting for the whole sordid mess relating to those that were abused at Mirfield to go away.
Many people do not want to hear or read about it anymore.
One terribly disparaging comment I heard recently was that it had become, “a little too long in the tooth.” For me, and I am sure for many others, that comment causes tremendous pain and anguish.
It is not about the abuse that I, and many others, suffered being old news and old stories.
It is not about stories.
It is about people’s lives – it is about my life.
Sexual abuse, on the scale that it happened at Mirfield, was unbelievably appalling.

Sexual abuse such as what happened at the Combonis Junior Seminary at Mirfield  destroys  the lives not only of the children that were abused, but also the lives of those children when they are adults – that is was what I experienced. It can tip you over the edge.
Some children will never understand or come to terms with what happened to them. They block it out. They run away. They do anything to escape from their nightmarish memories. Some kill themselves.
And those that were abused by members of an institution such as the Catholic Church are often more severely traumatised by their experiences. They spend many years, as I did, trying to look and accept the abuse that happened to them. And when they have understood and come to terms with that, they then spend many more years attempting to engage with the abuser, and the abuser’s institution.
In my case, as has been demonstrated and written about in the last couple of days by the Combonis, it shows just how difficult this can be.

The twenty years of attempting an engagement and a meeting with the Combonis  have been to no avail.
However, in my opinion,  the abuse that happened by the Comboni Missionaries at Mirfield – and still happens psychologically to this day – has not yet  become “too long in the tooth.”

Mark Murray

I hope, as I am sure that many others do, that the Brothers and Priests of the Comboni Missionary order, see the appointment of a new Father General as a route to truth and justice when dealing with the present abuse crisis that surrounds the Comboni order.

Do not be afraid of the truth – do not be afraid of listening.

You are all anonymous on this Blog if that is what you wish.
We look forward to some writings from Combonis, those that are strong and those that want to live their life the way your Gospel wants.

Mark Murray

Who has been voted in as the new Boss of the Comboni Missionaries?

Many would like to know.

I contacted the Comboni Missionaries in Sunningdale last week. I wanted to speak with them. I still had this niave belief that it could happen, that they,  in the spirit of humility, compassion and understanding may want the same as me – an opportunity to move on.     I was wrong to think that.  The phone was put down on me when I informed them who I was.

Instead, I then rang Italy and spoke with newspaper, La Repubblica.