Predator priest returns to duty:
A leading Australian priest who sexually preyed on a disabled and vulnerable woman on Sydney's north shore for 14 years has been allowed to return to preaching and running community groups at one of the nation's busiest churches.
The recent decision by the Catholic Church to allow Father Tom Knowles to return to full duties at St Francis' in Melbourne's central business district after about 16 months of "administrative leave" has outraged his victim and victims' groups.
Father Knowles's reinstatement comes after the church apologised to Jennifer Herrick, paid her $100,000 in compensation and acknowledged "the harm that can be caused to vulnerable people in such a case".
Ms Herrick's story highlights a rarely exposed facet of church abuse: vulnerable adult parishioners who are targeted by their priest for a sexual relationship.
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While the case falls outside the royal commission on child sex abuse because she was 22 when the sexual relationship began, her lawyer, Peter Karp, said: "The adult victims [of clergy abuse] are voiceless victims."
Psychologists say such relationships may be compared with those in which doctors have sex with vulnerable patients, while a professor of theology at the Australian Catholic University, Neil Ormerod, believes there may be hundreds of similar cases yet to emerge....
Father Duro said last week: ''We express our deep regret at the hurt suffered by the complainant and the harm Fr Knowles's behaviour has caused his fellow religious and the church; we believe everything … to alleviate the complainant's suffering and to address Fr Knowles's responsibility for his actions has been done and it is appropriate for him to return to public ministry.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/predator-priest-returns-to-duty-20130119-2czy4.html#ixzz2ISVm8hGE
'via Blog this'
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GJ - Minnesota LCMS DP and CC - We knew. We didn't know.
LCMS SP - erase the thread at Steadfast. And Steadfast (sic) erased the entire thread.
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| Peter Scaer - MDiv, certified by LCMS. |
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| Darwin Schauer - certified twice by LCMS - once after his sex offender conviction. But do not criticize Holy Mother Missouri. Or WELS. |
