Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio)  A new report has found that at least 547 young members of the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir in Germany were subjected to physical and in some cases sexual abuse.The report accuses 49 members of the Church of carrying out the abuse between 1945 and the early 1990s.The lawyer tasked with investigating the abuse Ulrich Weber spoke about the investigation during a press conference in Regensburg."The fact is this: it is likely that there are almost 550 victims, of these 67 were victims of sexual violence; There are altogether 9 accused of carrying out sexual violence against children... There have been cases of severe physical and sexual violence, which have always been prohibited.Even physical violence, with rare exceptions, was forbidden even punishable in the era where the facts and our assessments are placed, and in any case not justified by the predominant mentality of the time... External institutions also have responsibilities ranging from "n...

(Vatican Radio)  A new report has found that at least 547 young members of the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir in Germany were subjected to physical and in some cases sexual abuse.

The report accuses 49 members of the Church of carrying out the abuse between 1945 and the early 1990s.

The lawyer tasked with investigating the abuse Ulrich Weber spoke about the investigation during a press conference in Regensburg.

"The fact is this: it is likely that there are almost 550 victims, of these 67 were victims of sexual violence; There are altogether 9 accused of carrying out sexual violence against children... There have been cases of severe physical and sexual violence, which have always been prohibited.

Even physical violence, with rare exceptions, was forbidden even punishable in the era where the facts and our assessments are placed, and in any case not justified by the predominant mentality of the time... External institutions also have responsibilities ranging from "not paying attention" to the parents, to which the events were reported, which did not give enough weight (to children's accounts), and in this we acknowledge the violation of the duty of protection; But there are also shortcomings by the external control and oversight bodies: the board of directors who have the task of overseeing the establishment of state controlled institutions. In fact, according to our assessments, laws concerning school inspections and the protection of pupils in colleges were not adequately applied."

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Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jul 19, 2017 / 12:01 am (CNA).- Gunmen have abducted two Catholic priests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting the country’s bishops to plead that the captives not be harmed.“Priests are men of God who devote their lives to the good of the population without a political agenda. To hurt them is to harm the community they serve,” said the National Episcopal Conference of Congo.The bishops called on security forces to do everything they could to free the two priests.Fathers Charles Kipasa and Jean-Pierre Akilimali were abducted at Our Lady of the Angels parish in Bunyuka just before 10 p.m. Sunday, Reuters reports. About 10 assailants were involved in their abduction.Bunyuka is in North Kivu province in the country's east, fewer than 10 miles northeast of Butembo and near the border with Uganda.The Congolese bishops’ statement noted that three other priests abducted in the same area in October 2012 still h...

Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jul 19, 2017 / 12:01 am (CNA).- Gunmen have abducted two Catholic priests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting the country’s bishops to plead that the captives not be harmed.

“Priests are men of God who devote their lives to the good of the population without a political agenda. To hurt them is to harm the community they serve,” said the National Episcopal Conference of Congo.

The bishops called on security forces to do everything they could to free the two priests.

Fathers Charles Kipasa and Jean-Pierre Akilimali were abducted at Our Lady of the Angels parish in Bunyuka just before 10 p.m. Sunday, Reuters reports. About 10 assailants were involved in their abduction.

Bunyuka is in North Kivu province in the country's east, fewer than 10 miles northeast of Butembo and near the border with Uganda.

The Congolese bishops’ statement noted that three other priests abducted in the same area in October 2012 still have not been released.

The border region, whose lands are rich in minerals, suffers from ethnic tensions and has been the site of wars and rebellions for two decades.

The nearby city of Beni has suffered major violence in the last two years. A series of nighttime massacres took place there beginning in October 2014. Unidentified attackers, mostly using hatchets and machetes, have killed hundreds in the city of 230,000 people.

In June an attack on Beni’s prison killed 11 people and freed over 930 prisoners. Another 12 people were killed in a raid on the city center by the Mai Mai militia coalition.

In December 2016, a nun in Bukavu, in neighboring South Kivu province, was murdered in an apparent robbery.

And that March, Fr. Vincent Machozi Karunzu was murdered by armed militants in North Kivu. He had documented human rights abuses in the country.

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