Rat in the Vat Gives Up Funny Hat

Out of the blue, the world’s most powerful paedophile protector has announced he is handing over the keys to the best room in the Vatican.

This sudden and unexpected break with six centuries of tradition, where aged and often senile Popes usually only release their maniacal grasp on absolute power with their final breath, demonstrates just how easy it is to unleash radical change on previously unquestionable and immoveable Vatican customs, if, and this is the big if, there is a genuine desire for such change.

But in the area of protecting innocent children and unsuspecting communities from the perverted monsters so beloved of Ratzinger and his hierarchy, change has always been impossible.

Because there is no desire to put children first.

No desire to protect the innocent and the vulnerable instead of those who rape them and destroy their innocence.

No desire to deliver on oft repeated but still meaningless promises of truth, justice and healing.

So a change in the name of the paedophile protector in chief will not deliver a change to the policy of protecting the reputation and wealth of the institution and its hierarchy, no matter the cost to victims.

There is no voice amongst the hierarchy asking for real change.

Under JPII and B16 any such voices were ruthlessly eradicated.

Excluded, sidelined, ostracised, victimised and silenced.

The route to Vatican power is only open to those who support, not challenge, those already in power.

Yes men, mediocrities, conservatives, narcissists.

Those obsessed with the trappings and seductions of wealth, power and influence.

Those, like George Pell, adept at denying justice to victims while creating a facade of concern and of change.

None of the possible candidates for the funny hat will deliver change, though there will be plenty more empty promises.

And those in the running will not care how much damage their refusal to deliver change on this issue will endanger children or further damage victims or even damage the church itself. They only need to delay the inevitable march of justice until they are too old or dead to care.

As Ratso has himself demonstrated so tellingly, if they want to, they can change.

And they can act, swiftly and decisively, if they really want to. Like in cases of really serious crimes, such as discussing the possibility of the ordination of women.

They can even arrest and imprison wrong doers in their ranks.  Like in cases of the very worst criminals, such as the Pope’s butler, who revealed the truth about Vatican corruption to the media.

So, unconcerned with which particular power obsessed old man in a dress will now take possession of the solid gold toilet with diamond encrusted handle, there is really only one important question to ponder about this announcement.

Why did Pope Pinocchio retire?

I don’t for a moment swallow the line about age and infirmity. Ill health is the excuse they always use when moving rapists away because the locals are starting to twig to what is going on.

What’s your favourite conspiracy theory?

Post a comment below.

And, in tribute to the disgraceful reign of a self serving despot, here’s a list of a few of my favourite names for the old fraud.

B16, Ratso, Ratty, Benny the Rat, Bene the Bad, the Rat in the Vat, Rat in a dress, Pope Rat, Pope Nazi, Pope Pinocchio, Paedophile Protecting Pope, paedophile protector in chief, Protector of the Paedophiles, Monarch of the Paedophiles, Pied Piper of Paedophiles, His Weathiness, His Greediness, Monarch of the Rapists, the criminal known as BXVI, occupant of the best room in the Vatican, power obsessed narcissist, and rich old man who likes to play dress ups and has an out of control God-complex.

Stay safe everyone.

VV

Addendum:

Imagine my delight at a new name reflecting the despot’s hasty exit – Ex Benedict

Love it!

Child Rape, Truth and Politics

Regular readers will know Voiceless Victim was chosen to represent victims at a morning tea with the Australian Prime Minster, Julia Gillard, at her gorgeous official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, the day after the announcement of the terms of reference for our long awaited Royal Commission.

Since you could not all be there, the least I can do is share with you what I learned, and what I experienced.

We gathered at a nearby hotel to fill in consent forms and wait till the official party were ready to receive us.

Here was my first and only disappointment of this momentous day.

Some of those who most deserved to be there were not invited.

The list of those who should have been there is very long. I understand they could not invite everyone. But not inviting Chrissie and Anthony Foster, and their two surviving daughters Katie and Aimee, shows that those putting together the invitation list still have a lot to learn about who are the real contributors to this issue.

Some were invited who had no right to be there, who have worked in this area, but whose actions actively harm victims, and whose motives are less than pure. These self serving vultures were preening themselves smugly at being included in “the few” and sneering at “the many” who did not make the cut. Their salivating at the prospect of influence, media attention and generous funding to come their way was nauseating.

I have heard much about such opportunistic frauds and the harm they have done in Ireland from the amazing Irish defender of victims’ rights, Hanora Brennan.

It is very sad to see them rear their ugly heads in Australia even before our hard won Royal Commission has begun. But it is inevitable.

We must accept such creatures will appear, no matter what we do, and should we slay the current dragons they would simply make way for more of the same, inevitably attracted to the government gravy on offer, pushing the needs of victims aside in their desperate scramble to fill the gaping emotional holes in themselves.

But genuine victims and those genuinely working to help victims can take action to keep the focus on the needs of victims. I will address this topic specifically in a future post.

Back at Kirribilli House we were joined by representatives of the Forgotten Australians and the Stolen Generations. It was interesting to note that while some of us discussed our hopes for the success of the Royal Commission, Aboriginal representatives were slow to hope and wary of trusting government promises.

I don’t blame them.

Whatever we have suffered, they have suffered ten times worse. However much we have been lied to and betrayed by those in power, they have endured ten times the lies and betrayals. We must all remember they are our brothers and sisters in suffering, and especially deserving of truth, justice and healing. The real stuff, not the Catholic smokescreen, PR stunt, meaningless words with no action type.

After a security check we lined up to do the official greeting with Julia Gillard, and Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. We shook hands first with Jenny, then if she knew us she introduced us to Julia, or if she didn’t, we introduced ourselves.

Say your name, smile, shake hands, move on for the next person to take your place. Simple.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get my name out. I burst into tears, right in front of the waiting, and now delighted, media.

As I struggled to compose myself enough to croak out my name, I could see the media trying not to celebrate too obviously at the prospect of a “crying victim” shot with Julia.

Julia was gracious, patient and understanding.

I’m not sure if she could hear my name, but I think she heard the “thank you” that followed it.

I have done enough healing not to beat myself up about bursting into tears on meeting the Prime Minister. Or to let the prospect of photos of my distress being splattered around the media disturb me. I can shut those unhelpful emotions out.

What overwhelmed me was that after decades of our abuse being allowed to continue unhindered by those supposed to protect little children, and ignored by the whole country, suddenly the most powerful politician in Australia was putting investigating and taking action to stop the crimes against us right at the top of our national priorities, where it belongs.

As I explained when I emerged into the stunning harbourside gardens, they were good tears. Good because finally we were going to get the help we had always deserved. But being treated well upsets me. Never having experienced it, I don’t know how to handle it. I can handle being abused, dismissed, ignored, or treated as worthless, insignificant, beneath notice or a liar.

But to be treated as an innocent grievously harmed by cunning criminals, worthy of an investigation of the truth, of healing and of law reform to prevent similar crimes – well, like all of us, that is something I have been ruthlessly denied.

Something the Catholic church works tirelessly to prevent happening.

Something I find overwhelming.

It is something we are all going to have to get used to in 2013.

Julia spoke briefly to us as a group. She spoke without notes and her staff informed me it was unscripted, and her own words.

It was compassionate and well considered like her two terrific speeches to announce the Royal Commission itself and its Terms of Reference.

I spoke to many of the staffers and advisers surrounding Julia and Jenny and found them as a group to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about this issue, with a genuine commitment to delivering justice to victims and implementing real changes.

Jenny Macklin has a solid background of working in this area and was greeted with delight as an old friend by many of the Forgotten Australians and Stolen Australians. That is very encouraging.

I spoke to our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, one on one for some minutes, and spoke at length to her staffers. As far as is possible to gauge from such a short acquaintance, I feel confident Julia has a genuine commitment to and understanding of this issue, not just a political commitment.

I don’t have a lot of respect for politicians as a breed and politics as a whole. It attracts so many self seekers and influence peddlars, so many whose opinions and morals (or lack of them) are for sale that most aspirants with a genuine desire to improve our society fall away in disgust at what a dirty, filthy game it is, or are punished for not playing power games well enough.

But in recent months Julia has been starting to earn my respect. She gave the smirking royalist former seminarian mysogynist Tony (some of my best friends are women) Abbott what for and gave all Australian women hope that we can change the blokey, jokey, don’t get your knickers in a twist, vicious mysogyny that infects our culture.

Julia has also taken action on climate change, on making greedy mining companies contribute rather than just steal, on care of our disabled, on mental health and so many other issues. I don’t agree with everything she has done, and her tenuous hold on power means compromise, serious compromise is inevitable.

But unlike many of her predecessors and her opponent in this years’ election, she has tried to to take on important issues. Issues that could make this country a great place to raise children. Issues that are deserving of attention, not just attractive to voters.

One of the issues I raised with Julia at the morning tea was the need to overcome legal professional privilege, as this is one of the most likely scams catholic officials will use to hide the truth from the Royal Commission. Along with shredding documents and sending them to the Vatican.

Julia assured me that despite the ability to overcome legal professional privilege not being conferred automatically by the Royal Commissions Act, this Royal Commission would be able to use such power, if the Commissioners ask for it.

We need to ensure the Commissioners ask for this power, and for many other things.

Because the Royal Commission is now out of the hands of the politicians. I feel comfortable that the politicians, led by Julia Gillard, have done the best possible job under the circumstances.

Who would have thought that in the space of a few months we would have been given the Royal Commission we were told so many times would never happen, and it has been established as a genuine attempt to succeed in its stated aims.

But in this it is almost unique.

We are accustomed to those inquiries that are allowed to proceed suffering in their ability to uncover the truth as a result of the corrupt influence of catholic church officials and other powerful protectors of those who prey on children.

This is the first such inquiry not designed from the beginning to fail.

But it still can fail.

The Commissioners are now the ones who can deliver us justice or prevent its delivery.

It is up to all of us who have knowledge and experience of these terrible crimes to help them and to advise them in the delivery of truth, justice and healing, and the fight against the vested interests who will use all their wealth, power and influence to hide the truth, evade justice and deny us healing.

But even if the corrupt and the guilty snatch the truth from us, and the self serving steal the assistance meant for victims, they can never take away the fact that we were here.

A Royal Commission, a genuine desire for change, and victims honoured guests of the Prime Minister.

We have already, all of us, achieved great things, and we should all smile to ourselves and think, “They tried to stop this ever happening, and they failed.”

Stay safe everyone.

VV

Why did you make us wait so long?

The sheer joy of Monday’s announcement of a national Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in religious and other institutions in Australia was not the only emotion bringing victims to tears this week.

There was sadness at years of unnecessary suffering by victims who had begged and begged for anyone to stop ignoring this issue and deal with it head-on.

There is the unbearable tragedy of those who did not survive, those who are collateral damage to the reputations of callous careerists and to institutional arrogance and greed.

There is shock that, at the end, as developments accelerated, this decision seemed so simple and everyone suddenly seemed to get it. Or at least, at last, to publicly admit they get it.

There are the feelings of abandonment, and of worthlessness from having been neglected and ignored and knowingly allowed to suffer all those years. Feelings which can come out now that, finally, finally, finally, our leaders are saying in the national media that we are important after all, we are worth saving, we are worth holding the criminals that harmed us and those who protected them, accountable for their crimes.

Suddenly the inexplicable inability of powerful people to understand that child rape is wrong, always was wrong and will always be wrong has evaporated.

What caused them all to suddenly gain so many extra IQ points, almost overnight?  Let’s hope their clarity and understanding don’t disappear as quickly as they appeared.

There is disgust.

Disgust at the disgraceful attempt by the once arrogant and now bumbling, but always callous, Big George Pell to paint himself as the victim here.

And there is pride.

Pride that in this highly flawed country, in this far from perfect world, Australian politicians took the high moral ground to address and eradicate real evil in our midst.

Pride in our own contribution to this outcome, no matter how small.

Pride in those incredible, brave individuals amongst us who made a stand on this issue, no matter the personal cost.

Pride in those who took a terrible beating in the early days, but couldn’t be beaten down. And who made the way easier for those who followed.

The fact that we have announced this Royal Commission is, deservedly, a source of national pride.

Countries around the globe are now looking to us to set a new international standard of child protection.

And, wonderfully, it seems our politicians have given us a real opportunity to achieve just that.

But the fact that wealthy, powerful, politically influential criminals were protected for so long, that brave victims were ignored and abandoned for so many years, that our suffering was increased exponentially, that so many additional children’s lives and potential were derailed, and that far, far too many never lived to see this day, that is, most deservedly, a national disgrace.

Stay safe everyone,

VV

Pope’s butler faces jail, unlike rapists and their protectors

In yet a further example of pernicious Vatican hypocrisy, the Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, faces trial and very likely jail for the crime of revealing the truth about the corruption and infighting endemic amongst the ‘holy’ men who inhabit the Vatican.

It is indeed encouraging to know that the Vatican is capable of arresting, imprisoning, and convicting wrong doers.

Unfortunately, in the upside down world of Vatican morals, truth is considered a crime, while those who rape, or enable and cover-up the rape of little children, are protected and rewarded.

There are plenty of criminals hiding out in the Vatican who should be occupying a cell rather than a palace.

Such as Cardinal Bernard Law, described by the 2003 Report of the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts into the Sexual Abuse of Children in Law’s former Archdiocese of Boston as bearing ultimate responsibility for an institutional acceptance of the criminal sexual abuse of children and a massive and pervasive failure of leadership, and for placing huge numbers of children at obvious and known risk of sexual assault. Which did indeed result in the rape of innocent children on a truly horrific scale.

For his crimes, instead of jail and a trial like Gabriele, Law has been offered a safe refuge from justice, and been accorded positions of enormous power and respect. And, on his 80th birthday, Law was publicly feted at great expense and treated as a hero and inspiration to all.

We can only hope such rewards do not encourage too many to follow in his insidious footsteps.

If the Vatican insists on behaving like an outlaw state, harbouring fugitives from international justice and obstructing the lawful operation of local law enforcement in sovereign countries throughout the world, can we at least be honest enough to treat it like one.

Paolo Gabriele was trying to expose the criminality, the twisted immorality, the lies and hypocrisy of a obsessively secretive institution that aims to control the world, commands that you believe every word they utter without a shred of proof, and insists they are infallible, despite the sheer impossibility of the concept itself, and the mountains of evidence to the contrary.

He was trying to expose the fact that many church leaders are supremely evil men posing as godlike beings. That they are allergic to honesty. That they function through coercion, manipulation of the gullible, the trading of influence and wealth, and unending deceit.

We should not kiss the rings of the Princes of the church, and grovellingly hand over tax breaks, inequitable political influence, undeserved respect and a free pass to commit crimes against humanity.

We should not surrender our hearts and our brains every time they open their mouths.

Not if we, and our children, want to consider ourselves free and independent.

Letter to politicians demanding Royal Commission and Law Reform

In my previous post I called on everyone to write to politicians to demand action to ensure that John Pirona’s tragic death is the last one.

I am happy to help make this important job easier.

Here’s a draft letter if you don’t have time to write your own. Or use it as a start and make whatever alterations you want.

If you knew John personally, please add some details about how much his loss will be felt in the future. Pollies need to understand these are real people, not numbers, with real families and friends, jobs and responsibilities, and many ways they made your life better just because they were alive.

Most politicians will accept email if you prefer to deliver this way, but they may not pay attention to or reply to emails without a return address, so be sure to include one.

Both State and Federal politicians should be contacted. Choose your local member, and/or state and federal Attorneys General, Premiers and the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, plus any other ministers or politicians you think are relevant. Each Parliament, state and federal, offers contact details for its members on its official website. That is the easiest way to find them. I will shortly post a few of the most important ones as an addition to this post.

If you wish, you can email a copy of your letter to voicelessvictim@gmail.com. If we get enough together I can make sure they are all copied and delivered to the relevant politicians, including those who support the call for a Royal Commission. The bigger the number of letters, the more seriously they will take it.

Here is a link to an online petition calling for a Royal Commission if you don’t want to write a letter.

(Politician name)

(Politician address)

(Your  name)

(Your address)

(Today’s date)

Dear (Politician name),

I am shocked and saddened by the suicide death last week of John Pirona. His suicide was caused by his abuse at the hands of a notorious paedophile priest, a priest already known to be a child abuser and allowed by catholic church officials to have continued privileged access to innocent children including John.

But John could have survived his abuse if Australia took the scourge of child sexual abuse seriously and offered appropriate help for its victims to recover.

Instead John was abandoned to the tender mercies of the secretive and power obsessed catholic church hierarchy, which has been proven the world over to callously and recklessly sacrifice vulnerable children and adult survivors to protect its own interests.

Everything the catholic church leaders do to survivors like John could have been designed deliberately to inflict the maximum additional harm, to make recovery, and even survival, almost impossible.

John was brave, fought hard and had a loving family to support him, but it was not enough to save him against the weight of the vested interests that wanted to bury the truth of the crimes committed against John. Unfortunately while doing so they also buried John, and he became forever a victim of the catholic church’s greed, and our nation’s neglect.

It would be simply appalling if this was just about John, but it is much, much worse than that. At least 40 known suicides in Victoria have been attributed by police to just two child rapist priests. Information about other clusters of suicides is emerging in some of the areas where predators were given free reign by the catholic church to destroy children’s lives. The tragic story of Emma and Katie Foster’s suffering and Emma’s death by suicide and Katie’s permanent damage is horrifying, especially as their rapist was knowingly allowed free reign to commit absolutely vile crimes on huge numbers of tiny children, little more than babies, for decades. Their suffering, and the terrible loss their families and friends suffered, and the many, many more cases the church has managed to suppress, must all be added to the tally of needless death from this criminal conspiracy.

For it is a criminal conspiracy.

The sexual abuse of many thousands of Australian children is obviously a most serious crime. It is a crime against humanity. The deliberate coverup of these widespread and systematic crimes is itself a crime. The deliberate mistreatment of vulnerable survivors, leading in some cases to death by suicide, if not already a crime, certainly should be.

In its efforts to ensure that its ‘holy’ men, who it knows are guilty, escape the legal consequences of their horrific crimes, the catholic church acts as judge, jury and executioner towards the innocent children it has already allowed to be sexually exploited, and by denying them justice callously hands them a life sentence. Or in the case of John Pirona and too many others, a death sentence.

(If you knew John personally, this might be a good place to include some details)

John’s death is one too many. We should be saying “any death is one too many” but we are far, far beyond that.

Concerned citizens and distressed victims have been begging for a proper investigation of this criminal conspiracy for years, even decades. But this topic is too hard to face, and the damage is too easy to ignore, hidden by shame, denial and a smokescreen of church lies. But if we adults find it hard just to think about the true nature, the true scale, the true horror of this problem, imagine how hard it is for little children to survive the actual experience. And how much harder we make it for them by ignoring their pain and suffering and refusing them help.

Abused children can recover. The majority of children can be protected from exposure to dangerous sexual predators. But not if the problem is just ignored. And not if we don’t take action to put child protection above institution protection.

The time for asking for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in the catholic church is long past. The time for asking for urgently needed law reform is long past.

We demand them. There is simply no valid excuse for refusal.

We demand our politicians comply with their obligations under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory.

Yours faithfully,

(Your name and signature)

Callous church leaders kill another victim

The suicide death of clergy sex abuse victim John Pirona has devastated an entire community in the Hunter region of NSW, and saddened and enraged his fellow victims around the country.

The news was made all the more tragic because John disappeared nearly a week before his body was found, leaving room for hope. But with knowledge of his history as one of dozens of victims of a notorious paedophile priest, and the existence of a suicide note telling of the overwhelming pain of his abuse, it was hard to see any other outcome of the search for John Pirona this week.

Until his body was found, we could cling to even the tiny chance of finding him alive, and avoid facing the fact that another innocent had been cut down by this awful epidemic. But as the terrible news broke yesterday, many were unable to hold back tears, overcome by his needless suffering and preventable death.

As his family struggles to cope with the lifelong loss of a beloved husband, father, son and brother, questions must be asked about the criminal conspiracy which sacrificed John’s safety, his entire human potential, his family’s happiness, and finally his life.

John did not have to die. His abuse did not have to result in a suicide note and a search for his body. He could have recovered. He could have become a survivor and lived to see his kids grow up.

But the fact of his abuse threatened the interests of the secretive, wealthy and influential catholic church. A callous, self serving institution ruled by a hierarchy that routinely sacrifices innocent children’s lives, while proclaiming its superior understanding of love and compassion.

An institution claiming moral leadership and demanding generous tax concessions for its commercial enterprises, while systematically engaged in crimes against humanity, while imposing upon all its members a conspiracy of silence and while hiding behind a criminal coverup of serious child sex crimes.

With the right help, it is absolutely possible for most child sex victims to overcome the effects of their abuse. These efforts are made easier if:

the abuse is stopped and does not continue for years

the child is supported and offered help as soon as possible after the abuse occurs, or as soon as they report the abuse

the child is treated with respect, understanding, sympathy and consideration, and is listened to, believed and taken seriously, and action is taken to hold the perpetrator responsible for their crimes

the child is helped to feel that they have no reason to be ashamed of or feel guilty for what happened to them

the child is helped to feel less powerless and worthless and to rebuild their life, including learning techniques to deal appropriately with ongoing effects of the abuse such as PTSD

In Australia few victims of any child sex crimes receive the best possible help. In many cases nothing is ever done to help them. Our society simply does not take this crime, or the hidden damage it inflicts, seriously enough. It is a tough topic to address and we prefer to avoid it, to allow it to stay hidden, to consider victims somehow “wrong” rather than looking for what has caused their damage, to not believe or help victims so we can go on pretending it doesn’t exist in epidemic numbers in all sections of society.

Unfortunately that attitude only ensures plenty more children will suffer abuse in the future, and struggle to recover for most of their lifetime.

But of all the victims of child abuse, those little children preyed on by predator priests not only don’t receive the help they need, they all also suffer an ongoing and devastatingly damaging campaign of re-abuse by a huge and powerful organisation, that makes their job of recovery so much harder. And in the case of far too many courageous innocents like John Pirona, it becomes impossible.

In the catholic church no one lifts a finger to protect the children and get them out of harm’s way, instead leaving them to endure regular abuse for years. It is common for responsible adults including priests, bishops, teachers, principals, in some cases even parents, to be aware of or told of the child’s suffering, but instead of helping, ignore this knowledge or even punish the child, and send them back for more abuse.

This abandonment is often accompanied by emotional manipulation or threats to prevent public knowledge of the abuse, which are devastating enough by themselves, and doubly so in conjunction with sexual abuse.

With victims, families and witnesses under enormous pressure to remain silent, very few of these dangerous criminals are ever reported, tried or convicted, which means serial child sex predators continue to convincingly pretend to be trustworthy and respectable, and exploit the community’s trust and respect in order to ruin as many lives as possible.

The children find themselves utterly alone, unable to tell those supposed to care for them, or betrayed by them in the most devastating manner. Somehow, traumatised and disconnected, they make it to adulthood, and one day, often decades later, are able to or forced to face their abuse.

This is the stage most likely reached by John in 2008, when he spoke out about his abuse. While dealing with the lifetime of buried pain that emerges as part of the healing process, survivors can sometimes feel stronger than ever before, but are also extremely vulnerable and fragile. They need plenty of support. But they also need to learn how to stop being a victim, how to properly care for themselves, how to live and how not to be drawn relentlessly towards self harm and death. Even at this stage it is possible to overcome abuse and re-abuse. This is made easier if survivors are listened to, believed, and if they find justice, truth, and an acknowledgement of their experience, if they know their abuser is facing responsibility and serious consequences for his crimes, and are reassured that concrete changes have been made that will prevent anyone else suffering as they have done.

It is not a lot to ask.

But the catholic church begrudges even this to victims of its crimes.

It is not just that the church never considers the human lives it is sacrificing when it protects child rapists and keeps them out of jail and free to rape, and imposes them on unsuspecting communities, blessed with a disguise which makes their horrendous crimes frighteningly easy to commit.

It is not just that the church denies, dismisses, minimises, excuses and shifts blame for these crimes, and in every possible way undermines victims’ already fragile self worth and ability to survive the emotional and psychological devastation wrought by the abuse, and encourages them to feel ashamed and guilty about what happened to them.

It is not just that the church keeps victims in the dark about this incredibly personal issue, and buries the truth under a mountain of lies and excuses.

It is not just that the church never offers any form of help to victims in their efforts to recover, in order to discourage all but the strongest, most vocal, or best supported from ever coming forward, and so ensuring the majority of victims suffer in silence, and do not challenge church lies about the scale of this problem.

It is not just that victims must somehow find the strength to face the church’s determined obstruction of any police investigation, or the heroic defence of dangerous criminals they know to be guilty, brutal treatment of victims in any court proceedings, and use of a range of legal loopholes and technical defences to comprehensively deny justice to the majority of victims.

It is not just that the church will not even pay for the most basic form of support such as counselling, unless victims submit to either an aggressively antagonistic  mediation or civil court process, or a biased, misleading, in-house system which pretends to be designed to help victims, but serves primarily to protect the church’s reputation, and to minimise publicity and financial compensation.

It is not just that the church makes ludicrous claims to have child protection measures in place when no measures exist to limit the crimes committed by the child rapists already protected and enabled by the church, and the only efforts consist of feeble attempts to limit the number of new rapists entering the priesthood, plus a PR campaign to promote a misleading facade of safety to lull catholics into complacency around this issue.

It is not just that the church manipulates politicians and lobbies ferociously against any law reform or judicial investigation that might actually improve child protection or force the church to be held accountable for its actions, or be forced to comply with the law, all the while making fallacious claims of willingness to co-operate.

It is not just that many church personnel treat survivors with a thinly veiled mixture of resentment, suspicion, contempt, condescension, disbelief and hostility, and act as if survivors are unpredictable and childish aggressors being humoured by the grown ups and guilty of attacking an innocent and unfairly victimised church.

On top of all those huge challenges the church conducts an aggressive campaign of PR stunts and media statements which paints a completely false picture of this issue, claiming to already be doing the very things victims most want to see, but inflicting devastating additional harm on large numbers of victims every time they are quoted in the media, as victims know from painful personal experience that church leaders are lying, while survivors’ voices trying to tell the truth are undermined or drowned out by the aggressive and manipulative church PR machine, and rarely heard.

Put together, this overall treatment of victims results in devastating re-abuse, serious impediment to, if not total prevention of healing, and an almost insurmountable obstacle to leaving the pain of the past behind and getting on with their lives.

John Pirona did not die simply because of his abuse. He died because the way he was treated by catholic church leaders compounded the effects of his abuse and made him feel too powerless and worthless to live.

It is completely unacceptable that John Pirona and so many others were killed by the catholic church in this tragic, tragic way.

It is completely unacceptable to allow the catholic church to kill any more victims.

There is no question that if this issue involved any other organisation there would have been exhaustive police investigations, arrests and convictions. We  cannot trust the catholic church not to try to circumvent our democratic system of government and dictate public policy so that they can continue to commit their crimes in secret and remain above the law.

Many other victims are devastated by this loss, whether or not they had the privilege of knowing John. Many are thinking of the times when their own despair at their treatment by church leaders led them to contemplate suicide. They know “that could so easily have been me”.

There is no time to wait. We cannot allow church leaders to cause another death.

Our politicians for years have flatly refused to come to the aid of victims of this brutal organisation. But support of the catholic church is fast moving towards becoming electoral poison.

Either we move directly to desperately needed law reform.

Or immediately put in place a Royal Commission to investigate these crimes and make recommendations for law reform.

Make a commitment to end the deaths and relieve the suffering.

To do nothing is to admit we are happy to live in a totalitarian theocracy by stealth with no respect for truth, justice, human life or human dignity. Or the law.

For the sake of my own recovery I try not to wallow in anger about the abuse and injustice I have suffered at the hands of the catholic church.

But I am very, very angry that another victim has had to die while we wait for even a semblance of justice.

We cannot bring back the loved ones already lost.

But we can refuse to let them kill any more innocents.

It is time to write to your politicians and demand change. My next post contains a draft letter for those who would like help to do this.

Stay safe everyone and if you feel you are not coping, promise me one thing.

Ask for help.

VV

Anything Less Than A Royal Commission Is Just Part of the Coverup

For far too long Australians have been happy to turn their backs on the untold suffering of thousands of victims of church-enabled sexual predators.

But ignoring the problem simply ensures it continues, and gives rapists the message that they have a right to destroy as many innocent lives as they can get their grubby hands on.

At what point do we decide that our children are important enough to have a right not to be raped?

And that victims have a right to recovery?

And that those who coverup and enable the rape of children, as well as those who rape children, must face the consequences of their criminal behaviour?

Because we have left these crimes unreported and covered up for decades, because churches have put their own reputations and assets before child safety and bullied victims into silence, there is an urgent need for strong action, informed by the findings of a Royal Commission into church crimes against children.

Abuse of power, exploitation of the vulnerable, conspiracy of silence, punishing victims and whistleblowers swiftly and viciously while forgiving and even enabling the real criminals have all become institutionalised while your backs were turned and your heads buried in the sand.

Nothing can stop these crimes except to rip away the cloak of secrecy which hides the dark heart of powerful religious institutions. Institutions which serve only to enrich and empower the greedy and to prey upon the powerless.

Melbourne’s Archbishop Hart is claiming to be happy to co-operate with Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry. Which means he is certain it will indeed do nothing more than scratch the surface.

Church officials do not willingly give up their dirty secrets about this most despicable crime. Ever.

This has been proven time and again in country after country.

Claims to co-operate with police. Lies.

Claims to protect children. Lies.

Claims to help victims. Lies.

Claims not to be hiding and moving around rapists. Lies.

Claims to have learned from the past and to have changed. Lies.

Claims to co-operate with judicial inquiries. Lies.

They even have a policy encouraging priests and bishops to lie to authorities. It is called mental reservation.

I can understand that Archbishop Hart desperately wants this inquiry not to get to the bottom of his church’s web of deceit and criminality.

Because in the US right now, the historic first trial of a senior church official for covering up and enabling child rape is setting a worrying precedent.

Worrying for every Australian Bishop and Provincial.

For far too long, widespread, serious crimes by arrogant and entitled religious rapists and those callous cowards who coverup for them have gone unnoticed, unpunished and unchecked.

The parliamentary committee tasked with investigating these crimes has a huge job before it, its workload is already full and indeed overburdened, and the ridiculously tight timeframe means it can do little more than regurgitate church PR spin, leaving no ability to hear the real truth from the only people able to tell it – the victims.

No wonder Denis Hart is smug in his lies, confident that victims like myself, whose personal experiences directly disprove his gloating claims to be doing the right thing, will never have a chance to be heard.

Australian children deserve nothing less than a Royal Commission.

Or must another generation of innocents be sacrificed on the altar of undeserved church privilege and sanctimonious lawlessness?

Rare Opportunity for the Real Truth to be Told

It was less than edifying this easter when the feeble monarch of the Church of Child Rape pronounced from his viciously defended high moral ground atop St Peter’s Square, tottering under the weight of pathetically opulent gold encrusted vestments and symbols of status, that

‘Life is stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Truth is stronger than lies,’

Read more: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126720/Pope-Benedict-XVI-ushers-Easter-candle-lit-vigil.html#ixzz1rWSOMPn1

They are indeed.

But does the obscenely wealthy and power obsessed Paedophile Protector in Chief even realise that he personifies death, evil, hate and lies in this ongoing struggle?

I think not, for only someone utterly lacking in self-awareness, compassion, insight, understanding, wisdom, respect, honesty and humanity could behave as he has behaved throughout the decades of his mishandling of the rampant despoilation of millions of children by his fiercely protected, enabled and rewarded rapist priests and other religious.

Not satisfied with heartlessly sacrificing our safety without a thought, without a qualm, without a moment’s consideration of our immense suffering, not satisfied with denying us help, denying our experience, and denying our very existence, not satisfied with branding us liars for telling the truth and unleashing the most horrific bullies his abusive organisation can spawn to brutalise us and exploit our defencelessness, our damage and our vulnerability and terrify us into silence, he also, to our very great detriment, pretends to care, to be sorry, and to have made changes to his dangerous and illegal practices.

But this habitual liar, this hate filled, entitled, intolerant fancy dress wearing misogynist, this evil murderer of children will not be the only voice heard this year, despite the most strident efforts of the Vatican’s PR army and their legions of lies.

Because this year, in Australia, the voices of his victims are being listened to, and our experiences noted down.

Because this year there is a genuine attempt to record the truth of what has happened to us and our experience with the catholic church, with law enforcement and with the courts and the criminal justice system.

Our suffering and our first hand knowledge of this issue will not be lost every time one of us succumbs to the relentless pressure to pretend we don’t exist and to wipe us out of existence.

What we went through will no longer be buried under piles of steaming PR ordure liberally shovelled about by those in the employ of the powerful, corrupt and wealthy organisation that sacrificed us in the first place.

Even if only a tiny sample of the many thousands of affected innocents come forward and tell their story, still our abuse is so consistent in its pattern and in its cover-up, that some aspect of everyone’s suffering will be there on record for our politicians to dare to continue to ignore. And supported by an increasing number of official, properly investigated records of the worldwide scale of this atrocity.

Of course the catholic church does not want our truth to be told.

What better reason is there to ensure your story is included, than to thwart the efforts of this most secretive, inhumane, criminal organisation to keep you forever a victim, forever a silent, terrified child denied help, denied even existence?

If you are able to participate, please contact the researcher, Judy Courtin, a PhD candidate in the Law faculty at Monash University, at jcourtin@netspace.net.au. At present Judy is looking for victims of catholic church child sexual abuse in NSW and Victoria. I have personally spoken to Judy a number of times, and have participated in her research. She treats victims with the courtesy, respect, understanding and compassion we have never received from anyone associated with the catholic church.

Judy’s research is being conducted with a careful eye to proper scientific methodology and is supervised by an ethics committee from Monash University to try to minimise harm to victims from speaking about their traumatic experiences. She is not able to approach victims directly, they must first contact her.

The catholic church are not involved in the research in any form, and are certainly not funding it. As most victims know from first hand experience, church leaders and many of their supporters will stop at nothing, no matter how harmful to victims, in order to silence us, and will not be happy at the truth seeing the light of day.

And as even Pope Pinocchio acknowledges, “Truth is stronger than lies.”

I hope he is ready for the consequences when the truth finally makes its presence felt.

Taste of justice at last for state victims, but will Church victims be tossed to the wolves?

The most horrifying evidence in recent weeks from a West Australian inquiry into the reign of terror of convicted serial child rapist Dennis McKenna at the head of a state run hostel at Katanning is not about the abuse itself, but about the complete and utter betrayal of dozens, possibly hundreds, of abused children. Every responsible adult the children turned to while trying to find a way out of their nightmare put their own interests above child protection. It seems there was no-one brave enough, or strong enough, to stand up to the influential and highly respected dangerous criminal, McKenna.

Those who sent defenceless kids back to be repeatedly raped, bullied, humiliated, emotionally abused and economically exploited included teachers, principals, Board members, parents, social workers, councillors, police, leading politicians and even the head of Anglicare.

In many cases there was absolutely no question what was going on. But all these powerful adults deliberately turned their back on innocent children’s right to safety and to not have their lives stolen from them.

What this says about Australian culture is shockingly challenging to our misguided perception of ourselves as a caring and compassionate society. Even those who do not knowingly participate in a conspiracy to cover up serious child sex crimes, are still happy to ignore the suffering of victims, to not talk about this issue, to not demand we do better to protect today’s children from sharing the terrible fate of so many of yesterdays victims.  Or to offer victims justice and healing.

The fact these adults were threatened by, or afraid of the influence of McKenna is no excuse. It is always, unquestionably, wrong to sacrifice children to protect adults. To rely on children’s vulnerability and their silence to avoid facing responsibility for your own actions.

The result? Destroyed lives lasting for generations, a community with its heart ripped out, and a swathe of needless, preventable suicides.

It is imperative the inquiry by Justice Blaxell does not just expose the appalling suffering of McKenna’s victims, and their disgraceful betrayal. It must lead to additional jail time for McKenna, who has only been convicted of a tiny fraction of his actual crimes, to criminal charges for those who covered up his crimes, and to unstinting help with healing for all his victims.

As well, the Victorian State Attorney-General Robert Clark needs to pay close attention to the evidence as he considers the clear recommendation from the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry, also known as the Cummins Report, earlier this month, for a formal investigation of the response of religious organisations into the criminal abuse of children by religious personnel within their organisations.

And every other Attorney-General should also, finally, put this issue under serious consideration, particularly since the WA head of the Anglican Church’s Anglicare, Ian Carter, has been implicated as part of the coverup of McKenna’s crimes. And particularly since church protected rapists benefit from, not just apathy, negligence and influence, but also the entire resources of wealthy, powerful and highly secretive organisations who regularly lie to and obstruct law enforcement, believe themselves above the law and will stop at nothing to hide the truth of this issue.

In fact, if the Catholic Church was not a paradise for paedophiles, and the breeding ground for a poisonous rape culture, McKennna’s victims may have been spared all their suffering. McKenna’s experience of bullying and sexual abuse at a Catholic school is very likely to have inspired his own crimes. If the Catholic Church had stopped just one of their thousands of child rapists, hundreds of dead or damaged victims would have been able to live long and normal lives, with every possibility of realising their full potential.

How well I remember, like McKenna’s victims, the feeling of being trapped in an insane adult controlled world with no hope of help from anywhere. I remember with the intensity of long years of terror that those supposed to protect you, supposed to be custodians of justice and morality, just couldn’t give a damn. That every single adult you know is a liar and a hypocrite and a rapist protector. No wonder it is so hard for us to feel worthy of living, worthy of trying to have a future of our own choosing, or worthy of ever elusive justice.

Surely by now we have finally learned enough to understand the importance of delivering justice to all victims of these monsters, and protection from influential predators for all our children.

Catholic Church has no business policing itself

Below are some excerpts from this week’s Report of the Inquiry into Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children (Australia) demolishing some of the Catholic Church’s favourite excuses for its appalling record on child endangerment.

Thankfully the inquiry refused to be fooled by the Catholic Church’s pretence of proper process:

The investigation and prosecution of crimes is properly a matter for the State. Any private system of investigation and compensation which has the tendency, whether intended or unintended, to divert victims from recourse to the State, and to prevent abusers from being held responsible and punished by the State, is a system that should come under clear public scrutiny and consideration.

In particular the private processing of matters involving children should come under clear public scrutiny. A private system of investigation and compensation, no matter how faithfully conducted, by definition cannot fulfil the responsibility of the State to investigate and prosecute crime. Crime is a public, not a private, matter. The substantial number of established complaints of clerical sexual abuse …reveal a profound harm, and any private process that attempts to address that harm should be publicly assessed.

And called for a proper investigation into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse cases:

There is a strong public interest in the ascertainment of whether past abuses have been institutionally hidden, whether religious organisations have been active or complicit in that suppression, and in revealing what processes and procedures were employed.

This is not a mere historical artefact. It can, and should, lead to present remedy of any deficiencies in the processes of investigation and to future prevention.

Further, people who once were abused would be accorded proper acknowledgement and respect by being able to discuss and disclose their concerns about any deficient private processes. The Inquiry considers that is a most significant rehabilitative matter.

Finally, it should not be forgotten that although the abuse may have occurred in years long past, the suffering of victims continues to this day, often most grievously.

Recommendation 48

A formal investigation should be conducted into the processes by which religious organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by religious personnel within their organisations. Such an investigation should possess the powers to compel the elicitation of witness evidence and of documentary and electronic evidence.

The report also noted that there is currently a law already in force in Victoria which clearly identifies that it is a crime to sacrifice children to protect priestly rapists. If this law were actually enforced,  nearly every Australian Cardinal, Bishop and Provincial of a Religious Order would face imprisonment, perhaps even lengthy imprisonment due to the huge numbers of these offences that have been committed.

…it is an offence for a person who has a duty of care in respect of a child to intentionally fail to take action that does, or is likely to, result in harm to the child.

Perhaps there should also be an investigation into why, when there is clear evidence Church leaders have broken this law, none have been charged or convicted with any of the offences they committed.

Victoria Police advised the Inquiry that, between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2010, there were 15 recorded alleged offences. 15 charges laid over 10 years. For a crime the Catholic Church commits daily.

The inquiry also recommended that mandatory reporting be widened to specifically include religious personnel. Naturally the Catholic Church, which claims to be co-operating with police and doing everything possible to help victims, argued desperately against such a measure. Against being forced to end centuries of secrecy and cover-up.

Once again the inquiry did not fall for the Catholic Church’s polished excuses in favour of them continuing in their evasion of responsibility and neglect of duty of care.

mandatory reporting laws do not allow society to ignore wrongs committed by adults against children,  …when entrenched into positive law will produce a less unjust society, …these laws directly acknowledge and protect a child’s right to safety .

Victoria clearly has a very long way to go before the State can claim to value, protect or care for its children. But at least it has taken the first step by holding such an inquiry. Other Australian states refuse to even consider the disastrous state of child protection or hold an official inquiry, abandoning abused children to additional suffering, and increasing the numbers of abused children in need of help.

Thank you Justice Cummins and his team for finally delivering a glimmer of hope that Australia’s thousands of victims of rapist priests and other religious, and of those who enable and cover-up their crimes, may one day see something approaching justice. Justice which, to date, we have been comprehensively denied.

www.childprotectioninquiry.vic.gov.au/report-pvvc-inquiry.html