Friday, August 17, 2018
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Critics slam Vatican's 'disturbing' silence on abuse cover-ups
Vatican: 'We have no comment at this time'
The Vatican has declined to respond to an explosive grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups by priests and bishops in Pennsylvania, refusing even to say whether church officials in Rome have read the damaging documents.
"We have no comment at this time," Paloma Ovejero, deputy director of the Vatican's press office, said Wednesday.
But in the United States and elsewhere, pressure is mounting on Pope Francis to address a rapidly escalating crisis that has spread across several continents, from Australia to Latin America.
In the United States, both liberal and conservative Catholics displayed a rare unity in pressing the Pope to respond to the Pennsylvania grand jury report.
"The silence from the Vatican is disturbing," said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. "I don't think the Pope necessarily has to say something today. He needs time to understand the situation. But someone from the Vatican should say something."
Faggioli noted that ...
British Police Arrest 31 Muslims Connected To Child Sex Ring
Thirty men and one woman were found to have trafficked and raped girls between the ages of 12 and 18, between 2005 and 2012.
Detectives believe the offences were committed in the Huddersfield area.
Fehreen Rafiq, 38, is the only woman accused. She is charged with two counts of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
BBC News reports:
Twelve men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been charged with “numerous offences in connection with the same investigation”, police said.
The accused are due at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court on 5 and 6 September.
- West Yorkshire Police said the accused who can be named are:
- Banaras Hussain 37, of Shipley, charged with one count of rape of a female over 16
- Banaris Hussain, 35, of Huddersfield, charged with one count of rape of a girl aged 13-15
- Mohammed Suhail Arif, 30, of Huddersfield, charged with rape of girl aged 13-15
- Iftikar Ali, 37, of Huddersfield, charged with attempted rape of girl aged 13-15 and three counts of rape of a girl aged 13-15
- Mohammed Sajjad, 31, of Huddersfield, charged with four counts of rape of a female age 13-15, one rape of a girl under 13 and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence
- Fehreen Rafiq, 38, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence
- Umar Zaman, 30, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
- Basharat Hussain, 31, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
- Amin Ali Choli, 36, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of rape of a female over 16-years-old
- Shaqeel Hussain, 35, of Dewsbury, charged with rape of a female aged 13-15 and two counts of trafficking
- Mubasher Hussain, 35, of Huddersfield, charged with rape of a female aged 13-15 and sexual assault
- Abdul Majid, 34, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of rape of female aged 13-15
- Mohammed Dogar, 35, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of facilitating the commission of child sex offence
- Usman Ali, 32, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
- Mohammed Waqas Anwar, 29, of Huddersfield, charged with five counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
- Gul Riaz, 42, of Huddersfield, charged with rape of a female aged 13-15
- Mohammed Akram, 41, of Huddersfield, charged with two counts of trafficking with a view to sexual exploitation of a female and rape of a female aged 14-15
- Manzoor Akhtar, 29, of Huddersfield, charged with trafficking and three counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
- Samuel Fikru, 30, of Camden, charged with two counts of rape of a female aged 13-15
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