Pope’s child protection board urges transparency from Vatican sex abuse office, compensation

Above, activists hold a protest against pedophilia within the Catholic Church on Sep. 27, 2023. The Vatican’s first report on protecting minors, due on Oct. 29, 2024, was compiled at the personal request of Pope Francis. (AFP)
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Updated 29 October 2024
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Pope’s child protection board urges transparency from Vatican sex abuse office, compensation

  • In its most critical note, it called for greater transparency from the Vatican’s sex abuse office
  • Francis created commission in 2014 to advise the Vatican on best practices to prevent clergy sexual abuse

Pope Francis’ child protection board called Tuesday for victims of clergy sexual abuse to have greater access to information about their cases and the right to compensation, in the first-ever global assessment of the Catholic Church’s efforts to address the crisis.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued a series of findings and recommendations in its pilot annual report, zeroing in on the church in a dozen countries, two religious orders and two Vatican offices with detailed analysis.

In its most critical note, it called for greater transparency from the Vatican’s sex abuse office, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. It said the office’s slow processing of cases and secrecy were retraumatizing to victims, and its refusal to publish statistics or its own jurisprudence continues “to foment distrust among the faithful, especially the victim/survivor community.”

The 50-page report marks something of a milestone for the commission, which in its 10-year existence has struggled to find its footing in a Vatican often resistant to confronting the abuse crisis and hostile to endorsing victim-focused policies.

Francis created it in 2014, a year after his election, to advise the Vatican on best practices to prevent clergy sexual abuse. He named Boston’s then-archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, as the commission’s head.

After several founding members resigned in frustration, fed up with Vatican stonewalling and the commission’s own internal problems, the commission has stabilized in recent years, focusing on realistic areas where it can be of service. One key priority has been providing funding and expertise to churches in poorer countries where there are fewer resources to craft and implement child protection guidelines and tend to victims.

In its report, the commission noted, for example, that the Catholic Church in Mexico is hampered by “significant cultural barriers to reporting abuse that prevent the process of justice.” In Papua New Guinea, limited funding means insufficient training for church personnel and services for victims. Even rape kits that are needed for criminal investigations are prohibitively expensive, the report found.

Its main conclusions, though, were of a global nature: Victims, it said, must have the right to information about their cases held by the church, since the secrecy and long processing times often serve to revictimize them. It proposed a special Vatican advocate or ombudsman to look after victims’ needs.

As a function of restorative justice — termed “conversional justice” -– victims must have the right to compensation for their abuse, including financial reparations but also public apologies to help them heal, it said.

And it called for a more uniform definition and understanding of church policies to protect “vulnerable adults” from abuse, moving beyond the tendency to only consider abuse of minors as criminal. The call is meant to address demands that the church do more to protect religious sisters, seminarians and even ordinary adult faithful from religious gurus who abuse their authority and take advantage of adults under their spiritual sway.

Francis in 2022 asked the commission to produce the report, saying he wanted an audit of progress of what is being done well and what must change.

The commission noted that in at least this first effort, the report wasn’t an audit of the incidence of abuse in the church. It said in order to become an actual auditing mechanism, “the commission would need access to more specific statistical information” from the Vatican sex abuse office, which receives all credible reports of abuse of minors in the church but apparently didn’t provide the data to the commission.

The commission called for greater collaboration and dialogue with the office, and said it was “pleased to note the dicastery is exploring what steps can be undertaken” to help bishops and religious superiors tend to victims.

It also called for the office to make more public its work, including via academic lectures and conferences, and also offer more material to bishops to help them administer justice.

Francis earlier this year allowed O’Malley to retire, five years beyond the normal retirement age for bishops, and recently hinted that leadership of the commission would pass to its current No. 2 official, Bishop Luis Manuel Ali Herrera.


Thailand says assured of Uyghurs’ safety after US visa bans

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Thailand says assured of Uyghurs’ safety after US visa bans

  • Thailand on Saturday responded to a United States visa ban on officials from the kingdom involved in deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, saying it had “received assurances” of their safety
BANGKOK: Thailand on Saturday responded to a United States visa ban on officials from the kingdom involved in deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, saying it had “received assurances” of their safety.
The Thai government has suffered intense criticism from around the world for its decision to hand over at least 40 Uyghurs, who were flown by special plane to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region in late February.
The Uyghurs had spent years languishing in Thai detention facilities after fleeing China more than a decade ago.
On Friday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on an unspecified number of former or current officials from Thailand involved in the deportation.
Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Saturday it noted the US decision adding it had “received assurances from the Government of China concerning the safety of the Uyghurs.”
It said Thailand “will continue to follow up on the well-being of this group.”
Thailand is the oldest US ally in Asia but maintains friendly relations with Beijing.
“Thailand has always and will continue to value the long-standing and close treaty alliance with the United States,” the statement said.
The United States accuses China of genocide over its mass camps for Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
China rejects the accusations and says it is providing vocational education to improve Uyghurs’ future.

Ukraine says shot down 130 Russian drones launched overnight

Updated 20 min 25 sec ago
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Ukraine says shot down 130 Russian drones launched overnight

KYIV: Ukraine said Saturday it had downed 130 Russian-launched drones across the country at night, as international efforts to end the three-year war intensify.
Kyiv’s air force said the Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over 14 regions and that Moscow had also attacked with two ballistic missiles.


Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026

Updated 15 March 2025
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Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026

Washington: SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow “as soon as 2029.”
“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” Musk said on his X social network.
Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — is key to Musk’s long-term vision of colonizing Mars.
NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.
But before SpaceX can carry out those missions, it must prove the vehicle is reliable, safe for crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling — critical for deep space missions.
SpaceX faced a setback this month when its latest test flight of the Starship prototype ended in a fiery explosion, even as the booster was successfully caught in its orbital test.
It was a near replay of the previous attempt.
Minutes after liftoff and booster separation, a live video feed showed the upper stage tumbling uncontrollably before the signal abruptly cut.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said SpaceX will be required to conduct an investigation before it can fly again.


After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent

Updated 15 March 2025
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After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent

  • Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses
  • International students say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country

In the span of a week, a hush has descended on higher education in the United States.
International students and faculty have watched the growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University with apprehension. Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses.
The elite New York City university has been the focus of the Trump administration’s effort to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges last year.
Federal immigration agents have arrested two foreigners — one of them a student — who protested last year at Columbia. They’ve revoked the visa of another student, who fled the US this week. Department of Homeland Security agents also searched the on-campus residences of two Columbia students on Thursday but did not make any arrests there.
GOP officials have warned it’s just the beginning, saying more student visas are expected to be revoked in the coming days.
Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism issued a statement reporting “an alarming chill” among its foreign students in the past week.
“Many of our international students have felt afraid to come to classes and to events on campus,” said the statement signed by “The Faculty of Columbia Journalism School.”
It added: “They are right to be worried.”
Alarm at campuses across the country
International students and faculty across the US say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country.
“Green-card-holding faculty members involved in any kind of advocacy that might be construed as not welcome by the Trump administration are absolutely terrified of the implications for their immigration status,” said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
Dubal, who is also general counsel for the American Association of University Professors, says some international faculty are now shying away from discourse, debate, scholarly research and publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals.
“We are literally not hearing their voices. There is a silencing happening that has a huge impact on the vibrancy of higher education,” Dubal said. “People are very, very scared.”
The first arrest
The first publicly known arrest occurred last Saturday, when federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and outspoken graduate student, in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus.
Khalil has become the face of President Donald Trump’s drive to punish what he calls antisemitic and anti-American protests that swept US campuses last year. Khalil, a legal US resident with a green card, is being held in a federal detention complex in Louisiana.
Students and faculty who participated in the protests at Columbia have insisted criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights isn’t antisemitic. Some Jewish students and faculty say the anti-Israel rhetoric made them feel unsafe.
Civil rights advocates say the detention of Khalil is an assault on free speech. But the ongoing arrests send a wider message that disagreeing with the Trump administration could get you kicked out of the country, said Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“If the administration can do this to Mr. Khalil because of the speech about Palestine, it can do it to any non-US citizen who takes a position on hot-button global issues, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, the tariffs imposed against US allies or the rise of far-right political parties in Europe,” he said.
That worry has spread outside New York.
A Bangladeshi student at Louisiana State University, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has stopped posting about anything political on social media since the first arrest at Columbia. She fears losing her green card.
“I feel like it’s not safe for me to share those things anymore because I have a fear that a quote-unquote ‘authoritarian regime’ is lurking over social media posts,” the student said. When she lived in Bangladesh, she said, people could be arrested for posting dissent on social media. “What I fear is a similar situation in the United States.”
Advice from colleges and universities
Some schools have been advising international students to be cautious of what they say publicly and to watch what they say online. Several international students on a variety of college campuses said they preferred not to speak with a reporter out of concern for their immigration status.
Administrators at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism have warned students who are not US citizens about their vulnerability to arrest or deportation.
“Nobody can protect you, these are dangerous times,” the school’s dean, Jelani Cobb, said in a post Thursday on Bluesky explaining the comment. “I went on to say that I would do everything in my power to defend our journalists and their right to report but that none of us had the capacity to stop DHS from jeopardizing their safety.”
At the University of California, Davis, the Global Affairs Program has updated its website with guidance on the First Amendment and advice on free speech for non-US citizens.
“While international students and scholars have broad rights to freedom of speech and lawful assembly, please be aware that being arrested or detained by law enforcement may trigger current and/or future immigration consequences,” the school says on its website. “Each person should take appropriate care and utilize their best judgment.”
Escalations after Khalil’s arrest
Immigration authorities’ activities at Columbia quickly escalated this week.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by immigration officers for overstaying her student visa, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The former student’s visa was terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance,” the department said. She was previously arrested for her involvement in protests at Columbia in April 2024, the agency added.
The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student at Columbia University, for allegedly “advocating for violence and terrorism.” Srinivasan opted to “self-deport” Tuesday, five days after her visa was revoked, the department said.
The president has warned the arrest and attempted deportation of Khalil will be the “first of many.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday that more student visas were likely to be revoked in the coming days.


US declares South Africa’s ambassador persona non grata

Updated 15 March 2025
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US declares South Africa’s ambassador persona non grata

  • The US State Department and South Africa’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday declared Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa’s ambassador to the US, persona non grata, calling the envoy a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and President Donald Trump.
“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio said.
Rasool presented his credentials to then-President Joe Biden on January 13, a week before Trump took office, marking the start of the envoy’s tenure, according to the South African embassy’s website. It said this was Rasool’s second stint in Washington.
The US State Department and South Africa’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, posted on X that the government “will engage through the diplomatic channel.”
Ties between the United States and South Africa have deteriorated since Trump cut US financial aid to the country, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington’s ally Israel.
Trump has said, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.”
South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said white South Africans have been the victims of “racist ownership laws.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill in January aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner.
Ramaphosa has defended the policy and said the government had not confiscated any land. The policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation, he said.