GLOBAL
The Straits Times (Singapore)
May 1, 2018
MELBOURNE (AFP) – Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday (May 1) became the highest-ranked Catholic ever to be sent to trial for sex offences, adding to a series of scandals facing the church globally.
Here is a rundown of notable cases:
AUSTRALIA
Cardinal George Pell, the third highest member of the Vatican hierarchy, has been ordered to stand trial on “multiple” historical sex charges, which he denies.
His case coincided with a public enquiry that found that seven percent of priests were presumed to have committed paedophilic acts in Australia between 1950 and 2010.
AUSTRIA
Two scandals forced the Vatican to revoke two high-ranking ultra-conservative clerics, Viennese Archbishop Hans Hermann Groer in 1995 and the bishop of Sankt-Poelten, Kurt Krenn in 2004.
BELGIUM
In 2010, the bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after acknowledging sex abuse of two nephews. Since 2012 the Catholic Church in Belgium has received hundreds of complaints and paid almost 4.13 million euros in compensation.
CANADA
In the late 1980s, a huge scandal broke out regarding the mistreatment of children at an orphanage in Newfoundland in the 1950s-1960s.
CHILE
Some 80 members of the Chilean clergy have been implicated in a series of sex abuse affairs over the past few years.
Controversy over the bishop Juan Barros, accused of covering for a paedophile priest, marred Pope Francis’ trip to the country in January 2018 when he hugged and defended the bishop.
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