Global Church Crime News 07/30/2023

(July 28) Pope Francis To Visit Portugal, A Country Facing A Reckoning Over Child Sex Abuse In The Church | PORTUGAL

When a panel of experts read aloud some of the harrowing accounts they had collected from victims of child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, the country’s senior bishops squirmed in the auditorium's front-row seats.

During a live television broadcast, the experts reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls had been abused since 1950, most aged 10 to 14.

Senior Portuguese church officials had maintained there had been only a handful of cases. Their response was so clumsy victims were inspired to form Portugal's first survivor advocacy group to press for compensation.

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(July 26) Vatican Prosecutor Seeks 7 Years In Prison, $15 Million In Cardinal’s Financial Trial | VATICAN

The top public prosecutor for the Vatican on Wednesday asked the judge in Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s financial malfeasance trial to serve the embattled prelate with seven years and three months in prison and to confiscate more than $15 million in connection with his alleged mismanagement of Holy See funds.

Becciu has been charged with embezzlement, abuse of office, and several other allegations regarding a series of financial investments that prosecutors claim were meant to benefit his family at the expense of the Vatican.

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(July 26) Clergy Abuse ‘Swept Under The Carpet’ In Indian Church | INDIA

On June 1, the Vatican accepted the resignation of Indian Bishop Franco Mulakkal, almost five years after police arrested him on charges of raping a nun.

The Vatican “requested” his resignation, said a statement from the apostolic nunciature in India, adding that this action should not be seen as a “disciplinary measure imposed upon” the bishop.

The Mulakkal case has once again revived the demand for speedy and transparent action into allegations of clerical abuse in India as delays can lead to embarrassment for Christians, who make up 2.3 percent in the Hindu majority nation of 1.4 billion people.

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(July 25) Victim Of Rape In Polish Care Home Run By Nuns Awarded 500,000 Zloty Compensation | POLAND

A victim of abuse in a Catholic residential care home for children run by nuns has been awarded 500,000 zloty (€112,908) compensation in the largest ever such payout in Poland.

His experiences – which have previously resulted in the director of the centre being jailed – included being beaten and psychologically abused by the nuns, who also allowed him to be raped and beaten by older children.

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(July 24) Palestinian Youth Confront Israeli Extremists Attack at Catholic Church For Second Time in Week | ISRAEL

For the second time in a week, a group of Israeli extremists attempted to raid the Roman Catholic Church and Monastery of Mar Elias in the city of Haifa, according to eyewitness, the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA reported on Sunday.

Witnesses said that around 50 Israeli Jewish settlers who arrived in the vicinity of the church by minibuses tried to break into the church, but they were confronted by Palestinian youths.

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