ECA GLOBAL NEWS
JUNE 2020
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“Several months ago, a new plague drove us all indoors and away from each other. And several weeks ago, an old plague drove us all outdoors, into the streets and back towards each other. The old plague of anti-Blackness demands that we socially reengage and spiritually reconnect — right here, right now, with each other."
Varun Soni, Dean of religious and spiritual life and vice provost of USC campus wellness and crisis intervention.
We have all witnessed and/or participated in the protests around the world where people fed up with police brutality against black and brown people said enough is enough. The blatant police violence against black and brown people in the United States bares an eerie similarity to the systemic injustices in Catholic church communities, where pedophile priests exert power and cruelty over the most vulnerable, without any seeming care or concern about being caught or punished. It is worth noting that the work being done to end systemic police brutality are efforts we can integrate into our campaigns as we continue to organize globally and raise our voices against the systemic injustices we have endured as survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Our work compels us to continue to demand committees on truth and reconciliation,
reparations, zero tolerance and restorative justice in all countries of the world.
The passion and protests of today are pushing a new vision vision forward. Now is the time to join forces with all our beloved brothers and sisters across the globe and take our fight for injustice to the next level of expression. We are all in this together to end injustice, and for ECA to end clerical abuse, especially child sexual abuse, in order to protect children and to seek effective justice for victims. Keep ECA informed of your
activities and efforts to end the Church’s structural mechanism that allows abuse. Click here to email us.
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INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
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ECA Board Members, Sara Oviedo and Adalberto Méndez, formally started conversations with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights for a bilateral meeting between ECA and the Commission, to discuss the adverse human rights impact of the covering up by the States of the clergy abuses committed by religious organizations in the Americas. They are trying to hold in the near future, a thematic
hearing about this topic before the Inter-American Commission. We will keep the community posted.
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ECA LAUNCHES PHOTO SHARING AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
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This project is born to help victims, survivors and friends of ECA Global who would like to help themselves and help ECA raise funds for our projects.
ECA has provided guidelines that will assist you in understanding which kind of images or videos you can produce which can be distributed through 2 agencies: SHUTTERSTOCK AND ALAMY.COM.
We will assist you in how to prepare and send your images for upload to the agency portals and how the financial aspect works.
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PHOTOVOICE PROJECT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA
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ECA Board Member, Photographer and Community Psychologist,Simone Padovani, is working with the University of Padua in Italy on a year-long research project to assist survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
Interested participants will be asked to collect a series of pictures accompanied by text that tell their daily life as survivors of abuse. In addition, participants will be interviewed and asked to answer a questionnaire that will investigate the quality of life, resilience, etc., according to the indications of the World Health Organization. A photographic report on the life of the survivor of sexual
abuse will be made and sent to the research group of the University of Padua for analysis.
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INDIGENOUS RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVORS OF CANADA
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REPORT OF EVELYN KORKMAZ, ECA MEMBER
ST. ANNE’S RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR
MEMBER OF FORT ALBANY FIRST NATION
MEMBER OF CREE NATION
CANADA
DATED APRIL 2, 2020
Advocating for the Indigenous Residential School Survivors of Canada at
the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and Rome, Italy,
February, 2020
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QUEBEC TO ABOLISH TIME LIMITS ON CIVIL ACTION IN SEXUAL ABUSE CASES
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The Quebec government intends to abolish the statute of limitations on civil proceedings in cases of alleged sexual assault.
Bill 55, tabled in the National Assembly Thursday by Justice Minister Sonia LeBel, will amend Quebec's Civil Code, to allow victims of sexual assault, childhood violence and spousal abuse to sue their alleged assailant, no matter how long ago the assault occurred.
The time limit was three years until 2013, when the Parti Québécois government extended it to 30 years.
Quebecers who were abused decades ago as children by pedophile priests have long sought the abolition of that time limit.
If passed, the bill will allow alleged victims who have sought redress in the past but whose cases were dismissed because the alleged abuse had occurred more than three decades ago to go back before the courts, within three years of the date the bill becomes law.
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SIGN THE PETITION CALLING FOR CARDINAL PELL TO RESIGN
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More than 90,000 people have signed a petition calling for Cardinal George #Pell to resign from ministry in the #Catholic church.
Cardinal George Pell needs to be removed from the priesthood after the full details of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse findings were finally released, acknowledging he knew of child abuse in the Ballarat diocese. Pell allowed Gerald Ridsdale and others to continue to abuse children in their care for decades by simply moving them around to continue abusing.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE
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CATHOLIC WOMEN IN INDIA DEMAND IMPARTIAL PROBE INTO NOVICE'S DEATH
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Photo courtesy of: India_MattersIndia_Divya P John
New Delhi, June 1, 2020:
ECA Member, Virginia Saldanha in India is part of the formation of "Sisters in Solidarity" to support women victims of clerical abuse. Below is their intervention on the most recent case of clerical abuse.
A group of Catholic women in India on June 1 urged the head of the Syro-Malankara Church to start an impartial inquiry into the mysterious death of a novice nun in a convent in Kerala, southern India. “In these times of growing mistrust, it becomes extremely important that the Church authorities seize the moment and initiate an impartial inquiry which will bring out the true facts in a transparent and ethical manner,” says the letter
from the Sisters in Solidarity ...READ MORE HERE
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HAIL MARY MOVEMENT LAUNCHED IN INDIA
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ECA MEMBER R. Joseph Kennedy and Savio Rodrigues kicked off a campaign named 'Hail Mary Movement', to expose incidence of sexual crimes within the church and talk about the need for systemic change to end it.
The duo believe that few of the churches are involved in covering up for the clergy which involved pastors, priests, Bishops and Cardinals.
Other demands included to initiate dialogue with the Vatican embassy in India, Apostolic nuncio, Indian ambassador to the Vatican and Christian denominations to apprise them in the situation and to impress upon the Catholic Church in India to set up a mechanism for the laity to report cases to government NGOs.
Jesuit Abuse in India (Update)
R. Joseph Kennedy and Savio Rodrigues' story on Vatican investigations into Loyola College crimes and the subsequent submission of clergy abuse petition by them to the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi,
prompted the Jesuit Curia in Rome to launch another full fledged investigation into the crimes reportedly taken place at the Madurai Jesuit Province. The outcome of the investigation resulted in the Madurai Jesuit Province being split into two – Madurai Jesuit Province and Chennai Province.
Hail Mary - Documentary (Update)
Owing to global lockdown our production 'Hail Mary' has been postponed. International and Indian schedules now stand postponed. Hail Mary - is India's first docu-film on the evil of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in India. Based on our research over five-years. The Docu Drama is Produced by Savio Rodrigues and Directed by R. Joseph Kennedy.
Chennai-Goa duo of R. Joseph Kennedy and Savio Rodrigues, Founders of the Hail Mary Foundation and promoters of Arihan Pictures have announced a brand new partnership with NatakCrew to curate and collaborate on their ongoing eponymous movie Hail Mary.
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SNAP Aotearoa has become a charitable trust in New Zealand. This incorporation will enable survivors to benefit from the resources their nation can offer to help support their charitable community needs.
SNAP USA
For those needing additional support, the SNAP network provides support to survivors who might be feeling alone, isolated, or just need someone to speak to. According to SNAP, “By reaching out to others, we can reduce those feelings of isolation and loneliness and restore some sense of control when everything feels out of control. While the rest of the world is social-distancing, you can get closer to your fellow survivors, just
reach out and ask.” For anyone needing someone to speak to, SNAP has a US national HelpLine. Call 1-877-SNAP-HEALS for help. Many SNAP leaders are also offering virtual support groups. For more information, visit the SNAP website: http://www.snapnetwork.org/
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HOW AND WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH COVERED UP ABUSE BY PRIESTS
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Below is a two-part interview with ECA Member Peter Isely, on The Aaron Harber Show where Peter and Aaron discuss how and why the Catholic Church covered up abuse by priests and what is needed to end the systemic abuse in the church.
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PODCAST ON THE FAITH BASED ABUSE CRISIS
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If you have experienced childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a faith base institution in New Zealand and need some help to find some support,
members of their Network have lived experience that can help make the road a little easier to navigate. Contact them in confidence at: The Reckoning NZ
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"Ending Sexual Violence Campaign"
IN UGANDA
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If you experienced sexual violence or know of anyone who has, and you wish to talk to someone, reach The Totya Platform at our free and anonymous hotline: 0800 220 630
(Uganda only)
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Sebastian Cuattromo, Argentina Survivor/Founder,
Adultxs por los derechos de la infancia
"As adult survivors of the crime of sexual abuse and as representatives of our collective association, we are happy to have met new colleagues who, like us, have the conviction
to fight to end the sexual abuse of children in the world. It was a great pleasure...
Hopefully we can continue to work together for justice for survivors and for the protection of today's children." Sebatián Cuattromo and Silvia Piceda
Founding members of the Civil Association “Adults for Children´s Rights”
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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Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and choose Ending Clergy Abuse USA as your charity.
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