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Rosminians sued for abuse

The Rosminians are being sued by a group of men who were abused as pupils at two schools run by the order. The 22 men have started a civil action against the order also known as Institute of Charity and among four priests named is Fr Kit Cunningham, the former Rector of St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, in the City of London. Details of the abuse, both sexual and physical, are given in a BBC documentary 'Abused: Breaking the Silence', which reports letters sent by the late Fr Cunningham where he confesses and apologises for sexual abuse of pupils while teaching at St Michael's School, Soni in Tanzania. He sent his MBE back to Buckingham Palace last year a few months before his death last December. The three other priests named in the action - Frs Douglas Rayner, Bill Jackson and Fr Bernard Collins - live in retirement in a Rosminian home in Surrey.

Cafod warns Government on aid

The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (Cafod) has cautioned the Government against using humanitarian aid as a political tool.
Speaking this week ahead of the Government's response to Lord Ashdown's review of Britain's response to humanitarian crises, Matthew Carter, humanitarian director for Cafod, said donor governments should not 'pick and choose' which crises deserve funding simply to meet political or security objectives, but should instead base their decisions on the needs of the populations affected. Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell said the Government was committed to delivering humanitarian aid based on 'need and need alone.'

Worth Abbey Church reopens

The Abbey Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians at Worth has reopened following the completion of a year-long refurbishment project.
The building, which was designed by Frances Pollen, is considered to be one of the finest examples of 1960s church architecture. The Benedictine community commissioned Thomas Heatherwick, who redesigned the Routemaster bus, to undertake the work. It was re-opened for worship on Pentecost Sunday, 12 June 2011. Worth Abbey is home to a community of 23 Benedictine Monks and is on the site of Worth School.

French Catholic concern about gender theory

Catholic education officials have warned that some new national science manuals for lycée pupils introduce views from gender theory that define sexual identity as an orientation individuals can choose rather than an anthropological reality. The national Catholic education authority denounced this as 'an ideology that contradicts the Christian conviction that one is born a boy or a girl and that God created men and women for each other, to love each other and transmit life.'

Irish continue to spend big on first communion

Irish parents are spending almost €1,000 on their child's first Holy Communion, according to a new survey.
The poll, carried out by Millward Brown Lansdowne for Ulster Bank, nevertheless showed that average spending by a family on the day is down 17 per cent compared with two years ago due to difficulties in the Irish economy.

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