ECA MEMBER UPDATES
on Global Projects
JUNE 2019
Ending Clergy Abuse - Global Justice Project (ECA) is a global network of survivors of clergy abuse, human rights activists, organizations and advocates from over 17 countries and 6 continents who work towards providing a global voice and action on the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Members work to protect children, seek effective justice for victims and
examine ways to end the structural mechanisms in the Roman Catholic Church which allow for this abuse.
Even though ECA is going through some difficulties, ECA members still continue to address the global mission. Updates on current member projects can provide opportunities to bridge cultural divides and to collaborate with the wider ECA network.
Below are the member updates that were submitted.
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Leona Huggins and Bernadette Howell are members of ECA from Vancouver, Canada.
June 8, 2019 both Leona and Bernadette attended the final meeting of a committee gathered by the Archbishop of Vancouver, Michael Miller (British Columbia, Canada) in this Archdiocese’s first ever historical sexual abuse case review committee.
Archbishop Miller played a role in the advancement of tackling the issue of clergy sexual abuse when he funded (in part) Leona and Bernadette’s travel to Rome in February 2019 during the time of Pope Francis summit on clergy abuse.
Canada’s recent document “Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse” (Sept 2018) produced by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) was recently hailed by Jesuit priest Frederick Lombardi (chosen to chair the historic Feb 21-24 2019 summit on clergy Abuse at the Vatican) as a model for others to follow quoting its “ precise and detailed recommendations and action points”.
Leona is also currently liaising with some media contacts who are interested in getting a response from survivor advocates once the report of the case review is made public.
In addition Leona has been working on creating a stronger network of Canadian survivor-advocates and activists some of which want to lobby for a royal commission.
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Juan Carlos Claret Pool is currently working on two projects:
1) To finish writing a book to unravel the institutional responsibility of the Catholic Church for the sexual abuse of clergy in Chile.
2) To collaborate in the landing of these ideas in the Catholic communities. For this reason, I have been chosen as Executive Secretary of the National Network of Laity of Chile, a body that gathers communities from Arica to Punta Arenas, to confront the cause of abuses from within: reflection on the exercise of power within Catholic institutions and strategic alliances of collaboration to accompany victims in their personal and/or judicial
process.
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Sara Oviedo Fierro is working on projects involving all types of sexual abuse of children and adolescents: in families, in educational establishments, in dance academies, in the church. In addition, in Ecuador eradicating sexual abuse in all these areas is a national priority and that is what we have assumed the "National Coalition against Sexual Abuse" - COCASEN of which I am the coordinator.
As COCASEN we are promoting:
1. Inter-institutional Tables throughout the country, with the participation of civil society to follow up the judicial processes against sexual abusers.
2. A law of reparation for victims.
3. A permanent commission on childhood and adolescence in the National Assembly (Congress), to oversee institutions that do not fulfill their responsibilities for both prevention and sanction of sexual abuse.
4. We are conducting an online survey on sexual abuse,
5. We are doing seedlings before the different institutions once a month.
6. We are implementing a retroactive strategy to punish abusers.
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Viginia Saldanha and her group, the Indian Women Theologians Forum and Ecclesia of Women in Asia, are currently planning on steps to support the sister survivor whose case has come up in court. The sisters have been marginalized by their
congregation and the official Church so they struggle even in every day life.
"The cardinal in my diocese has wiggled out of the case against him by distorting facts. That is the power that the official church wields in a country even though we are a so called minority. Another group is handling this case."
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Simone Padovani and Francesco Zinardi, Founding Members of ECA / Rete L'Abuso are working on:
a. Organizing a series of awareness-raising events on the Italian territory. The first will be in Padua in September, the second in Milan in January. The purpose of these events is to make people understand what abuse by the clergy means in all aspects: psychological, legal, relational, short and long term consequences.
The adopted method, a chronological narration of an abuse, has been designed specifically to allow for a greater impact and to make it more engaging.
b. Creation of a victim's manual, where besides suggestions on how to recognize abuse, what to do, from all points of view, there will be a section dedicated to the situation in Italy.
c. Photovoice project with the victims and their families in Italy. Already started with the Alessandro case.
d. Two celebratory events: 10 years since the birth of Rete L'Abuso and All Survivors Day (3 November) in at least 10 Italian cities
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Denise's Projects:
1. Organizing meetings with the Jamaican High Commissioner in Abuja, Nigeria (July 24-29) to discuss the transfer of alleged sexual predator priests from Nigeria to Jamaica.
2. Working with Jamaicans for Justice, Ltd to include in Jamaica's report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, a submission on clergy sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults.
3. Co-founded a resource center for sexually abused and troubled youth In Jamaica to learn life skills and principles of finance, business and entrepreneurship for successful living.
4. Met with the Founding Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Southern California School of Law to collaborate on legal pathways to challenge the human rights violations and the lack of accountability in the global Catholic Church and we explored the possibility of a filing to the UN Committee Against Torture.
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Attorney Adalberto Mendez Lopez is working with the Mexican press in an article for HBO Latam, related to the clergy abuses in Mexico and Latam. They will publish it shortly.
He is also working on starting to recover a law proposal in the Mexican Senate, related to the prohibition of statues of limitation related with sex crimes committed against children in Mexico by Clergy.
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Denise is particularly interested in what is happening in Nigeria as she has interviewed Jamaican clergy abuse survivors and gained feedback that alleged sexually exploitative Nigerian priests have been transferred from Nigeria to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, and then transferred either back to Nigeria, the Caribbean or within Africa when complaints were received.
ECA has received a request for collaboration with a Nigerian survivor group to work with them on the growing clergy sexual abuse crisis in Nigeria. On the invitation of advocates in Nigeria, Denise will self-fund a trip to Nigeria (July 24-29) to follow-up on this information.
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Perdo Salinas reports that unfortunately in Peru there is no information on clerical pederasty at the country level. He is focused on the Sodalitium Case.
He reports that in August there will a Congressional commission proposed, a Truth Commission, or something similar, to start an investigation throughout Peru. But he doesn't think such an initiative would go ahead.
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A CNN documentary featuring Benjamin Kitobo's story is in the final stages of production. It will shine the light on clergy sexual abuse for the first time in the Republic of the Congo which includes tracking the transfer of perpetrator priests from country to country.
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Miguel Hurtado is working on:
2) Campaign to approve national violence against children act by Spanish congress
3) Writing a book about clergy sex abuse in Spain (autobiography)
4) Ted talk about child abuse culture in Catholic Church
5) Working with regional (Catalonia) human rights commissioner to establish commission of enquiry about clergy sex abuse cases in Catalonia
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Jean-Marie Fürbringer and ECA's Swiss members of SAPEC will be represented in Bern, Helvetiaplatz on 29 June. They will be speaking in French and Italian.
They will be addressing the Vatican authorities with concrete requests for more consistency and closure in the handling of cases of sexual abuse, and they are calling for change.
Their event, Rally "against abuse, let's act" is with Doris Wagner, a former religious nun and theologian who was abused by a priest.
Everyone is invited to join the rally with a sign on site or on social media saying why they are support the event.
For those in Switzerland, Meet them a little before noon on Helvetiaplatz. This place is very close to the Apostolic Nunciature.
They also invite everyone to sign the online petition at:
which will be given to the nuncio.
Membre du SAPEC/ECA
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Speaking openly about clergy sexual violence is still very dangerous in Africa. Nearly 45% of Ugandans are Catholic and the African Catholic Church has been reluctant to admit there is an issue of clergy sexual abuse. However, when the Pope stated in Rome in February that clergy abuse is a world-wide
problem even in Africa this gave permission for the issue to be discussed. This was an important statement for the people of Africa to hear.
ECA has since been working with Janet Aguti, a Ugandan survivor of sexual violence who was introduced to us by Matthias. She is part of a German sponsored organization in Uganda called the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) who helped her
to create what she now calls Totya Platform, which provides support to both women and men who have been sexually abused as children or young adults.
Denise and Tim will be with Janet in July (12th – 24th) to meet her team. We will be there while 500 bishops are meeting at the African Bishops Conference Golden
Jubilee in the capital of Uganda, Kampala. We are discussing having a press conference in Mpigi and Kampala to give prominence to Janet and Totya Platform’s work on the issue of child sexual abuse and to call upon the bishops to openly discuss this issue. ECA’s efforts in Uganda and Africa are exploratory at this time but we see this as a great opportunity to be part of the conversation and active in assisting our African survivor/activists.
Any ECA members with relevant leads or connections in Uganda would be greatly appreciated.
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More Information
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Pete Saunders:
"Despite multiple meetings and email communications with C Vincent Nichols- Archbishop of Westminster- he has failed to get back to me about a proposal to support NAPAC.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse continues to produce damning reports into institutions that failed and continue to fail children. Anyone interested in reading these reports can do so by visiting the site: Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse: www.iicsa.org.uk. Catholic institutions are included."
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ECA is vocal in the accountability of US Bishops to report the names of accused clergy and for the dioceses to stop lobbying against the elimination of the statute of limitation laws.
ECA will join with SNAP (Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests) in submitting a joint letter to all 50 Attorney General offices in the country to address the concerns of the Bishop's approved third party system for reporting abuse.
Peter Isely has been invited to be one of the featured speakers at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival, which will take place at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado, June 23-29, 2019. He will be discussing the recent blizzard of high-profile cases exposing patterns of child sexual abuse in America and ECA's work around
the prevention of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Aspen's Ideas Festival is the nation’s premiere public gathering for insightful dialogue on the today’s most critical issues.
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Zero Tolerance + Zero Cover Up = Truth and Justice
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BE AN ECA SOCIAL MEDIA AMBASSADOR
ECA’s Social Media Ambassadors Program is an exciting and easy way FOR YOU to get involved with ECA and to encourage existing members who know and love the mission of ECA to spread the word about ECA globally.
ECA will utilize Social Media Ambassadors to direct strong social media campaigns and ECA messages to target specific regions and issues relating to the sexual abuse of children by clergy.
ECA has a number of campaigns in the pipeline and we need you to get involved. Together we will #EnditNOW!
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