Catholic Church Paedophile Networks
Title: Catholic Church paedophile networks to be mapped ‘like organised crime’ by academics
Author: Giselle Wakatama
Publisher: ABC News Newcastle
Date: 05FEB2021
A “mafia-like” code of silence among “dark networks” within the Catholic Church has begun to emerge from a world-first project mapping clerical paedophile networks, says an academic behind the project.
Key points:
- The first mapping effort linked 99 clergy to 16 paedophile networks in the Melbourne and Ballarat dioceses
- Documents and the oral histories of at least 50 survivors are being used
- Women in the church and nuns will be examined as part of the mapping process
The project is led by Newcastle sociologist Kathleen McPhillips and criminologist Jodi Death (pronounced Deeth) from Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) law faculty.
The research builds on work done by Sally Muytjens, one of Dr Death’s doctoral students, who mapped Catholic paedophile networks in Victoria, and will now include other hotspots such as Newcastle and the role of women in the church, nuns and seminaries.
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3 thoughts on “Catholic Church paedophile networks to be mapped ‘like organised crime’ by academics”
i’m so pleased to hear this news! I’m a UK survivor of organized RC CSA, so I appreciate your focus is on Oz. I’ve been regularly referring to Sally’s study on my blog. See
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LLWF2RhRYO39NDdqukPxyz3Tg0E5SFHn/edit
I also cover areas that Sally has previously covered briefly. Namely the role of the Laity in organised RC CSA. I have researched this in depth, but this survivor’s account below is the most accessible and vivid. It’s also the most shocking
https://
patmills.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/the-shocking-truth-about-st-josephs-my-old-school/
There are follow ups to this testimony
I’ve further explored the role of organised elite Catholic Laity women in RC CSA, based on my experiences as a child. I was lined up for the priesthood, my mother was a widow with mental health issues, so – in effect – I was indentured to the Catholic Church. My knowledge and understanding of the female aspect is a work in progress and is, of course, the hardest to prove. They had a belief system that motivated them. As for its validity all I can say is I found them the most terrifying of my abusers, perhaps because of the betrayal of trust.
I regularly tweet on a survivor orientated account…
@PatrickEMills
As I say, I appreciate you are focussed on Oz but any way I can help, do say. I think what I bring, perhaps uniquely, to the table is the role of the Laity. I think I have in one of my blogs an Oz article by a Catholic female writer for an Oz Catholic on line magazine. In that article she comes very close to admitting that the Laity do play a role in organized (Oz) RC CSA. If it’s important, I’ll dig it out. I have so many testimonies and related articles now, I need a map myself to cover them all!
Thanks to Sally and all of you who are doing this work. It validates my experience which otherwise would be ignored.
Best wishes
Patrick Mills
I’ve read with much interest. Please inform yourself of Catholic mafia running rampant in Australia. It’s all in my book released last year & available via DM to me. Read google reviews THE UNFORESEEN WARRIOR WOMAN. Alarming story of generational abuse for over a century.
Has the wagga diocese been examined as part of this worthy exercise?
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