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Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic church’s top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. “Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies,” he said. “I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — A foundation supporting victims of pedophile priests in Poland on Thursday released a report documenting nearly 400 cases of sex abuse by clergymen in the staunchly Catholic country. The publication of the 27-page report, which activists presented to Catholic Church’s Pope Francis on Wednesday, coincided with the pontiff gathering the world’s top Catholic bishops at the Vatican at a summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. Images broadcast on Polish television […]
by Catherine Marciano with Ella Ide in Rome Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis on Thursday opened a landmark Vatican summit on fighting child sex abuse, calling for “concrete measures” and handing top Catholic bishops a roadmap to tackling paedophilia in the church. “The holy people of God looks to us, and expects from us not simple and predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be undertaken. […]
by Ella Ide Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis on Thursday handed the world’s top Catholic bishops guidelines to shape the debate at a landmark Vatican summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. “As a help, I would share with you some important criteria formulated by the various episcopal commissions and conferences — they came from you and I have organised them somewhat,” he said as the meeting began. “They are guidelines to […]
By Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Survivors of clerical paedophilia related their traumatic experiences to the world’s top bishops on Thursday at a landmark summit at the Vatican on the protection of minors. Here are some extracts from their video testimonies, the transcripts of which were provided by the Vatican, without identifying the speakers. – Victim from South America – “The first thing they did was to treat me as a liar, […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — More than 2,500 foreign children from 30 countries who have fled the Islamic State group’s last redoubts are living in desperate conditions in camps in northeastern Syria, Save the Children said Thursday. The charity urged their countries of origin to “take action to ensure the safety of their citizens” as US-backed forces battle IS in the final sliver of territory it holds near the Iraqi border. “They need specialised help to […]
(Eagle News)—President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure that will grant protection to children in conflict areas. Under RA 11188, the government is ordered to take all measures to prevent the “recruitment, re-recruitment, use, displacement of, or grave child rights violations against children involved in armed conflict.” It also requires the government to provide special protection to children, called “zones of peace,” in “situations of armed conflict from all forms of abuse, violence, neglect, […]
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday. In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 and 2017. They succumbed to war and its effects, among them hunger, damage to hospitals and infrastructure, a lack of access to health care and […]
by Aaref Watad Agence France Presse KAFR LUSIN, Syria (AFP) — Outside a camp for the displaced in northwest Syria, 15-year-old Sabaa al-Jassim hacked away at a mountain of trash hoping to find scraps to sell for food. Using a hooked metal rod, he stabbed at acrid household waste in the village of Kafr Lusin, looking for plastic to trade for a few dollars to feed his 11-member family. “I go to the dump to […]
(Eagle News) — The Commission on Human Rights on Thursday, Jan. 24, expressed opposition to lowering the age of criminal liability anew even after the House of Representatives amended its original proposal pegging the minimum age of criminal liability at nine years old to 12 years old. The amended bill was approved by the House on second reading on Wednesday, Jan. 23. A bill that pegs the minimum age of criminal liability at 13 years […]
(Eagle News) – The Senate is set to tackle today, Tuesday, Jan. 22, the bill lowering the age of criminal liability, from the previous 15 to the age of 12. This is much higher than the House of Representatives approved version of the bill that lowered the minimum age of criminal liability to nine years old. Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said that he agreed with lowering the minimum age of criminal liability to […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Freezing temperatures and the lack of medical care have killed at least 15 displaced Syrian children in recent weeks, the United Nations reported on Tuesday. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said eight of them had died as a result of the cold in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria and seven others during the displacement from the jihadist bastion of Hajin, further north. “Freezing temperatures and harsh living conditions in Rukban… […]
