BBC News – Vatican forced to defend itself over abuse cases

As accusations of historic sexual abuse by Roman Catholics emerge in another European country, the Vatican has insisted it has dealt with “the very serious issue” promptly and decisively.

Pope’s brother to testify in sex abuse case

The brother of Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to testify in the sex scandal rocking Germany’s Catholic Church.

Couple’s baby dies while they raise virtual child – Boston.com

After a five-month chase, Korean authorities last week arrested a couple for allegedly allowing their 3-month-old daughter to starve to death while they nurtured a virtual child online.

BBC News – Vatican accused over German sex abuse allegations

Germany’s justice minister has criticised the Vatican for what she called a “wall of silence” over recently-emerged abuse allegations.

Marian Wright Edelman: Children Need Better Protection from Abuse and Neglect

In January 2008, four sisters were found dead in their southeast Washington, D.C. home. The girls, ages 5, 6, 11 and 17, had been murdered by their mother, Banita Jacks, months earlier. She was recently convicted and sentenced to 120 years in prison. None of the District of Columbia’s social service agencies or the police intervened to save the girls despite some alarming signs that they were in great peril. The Jacks case is by no means isolated.

The Associated Press: Pope’s brother’s choir faces abuse claims

BERLIN — An ever-widening sexual abuse scandal involving Germany’s Roman Catholic Church spilled into the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland Friday when a former member of a boy’s choir led for 30 years by his brother claimed he was a victim.

German monastery raided over child sex abuse claims – CNN.com

Authorities have raided a monastery in southern Germany as part of a probe into allegations that priests sexually abused children there, prosecutors said.