Indian Police Arrest 2 Men For Sacrificing Child

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

NEW DELHI -- Two men have been arrested in central India for allegedly killing a 7-year-old girl and cutting out her liver in a ritual sacrifice to ensure a better harvest, police said Monday.
Lalita Tati disappeared in October and her dismembered remains were found a week later, Rajendra Narayan Das, a senior police officer in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state, told The Associated Press.

Police arrested two men, both poor farmers, last week and they told police they killed the girl to appease their gods and get a better harvest, Das said.

Tati was walking home after watching television at a neighbor's house when she was kidnapped, Das said. The two men confessed to cutting her open and removing her liver as an offering.

Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/02/indian-police-arrest-2-me_0_n_1179356.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=797632,b=facebook

‘Infidel Santa’ killed in Tajikistan

A young man dressed up as Father Frost, the Russian counterpart of Santa Claus, has been brutally killed in Tajikistan. The assailants reportedly shouted “infidel” as they stabbed him to death.

The tragedy unfolded in the capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday night. Parviz Davlatbekov put on a traditional Father Frost costume to visit his friends and celebrate New Year with them. But before reaching his destination, the 24-year-old encountered a group of youths who beat him up and stabbed him. He died in hospital shortly after.

According to some local media and reports on social networks, the attackers were Muslim radicals who had targeted Davlatbekov for wearing a Father Frost outfit. They are said to have called their victim an infidel during the attack. Reports say some 30 people participated in the killing.

Full story: http://rt.com/news/infidel-santa-killed-tajikistan-133/

The Netherlands: Clergy Sex Abuse Victims File International Court Case Against Pope

THE HAGUE, Netherlands

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Clergy sex abuse victims upset that no high-ranking Roman Catholic leaders have been prosecuted for sheltering guilty priests went to the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, seeking an investigation of the pope and top Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based nonprofit legal group, requested the inquiry on behalf of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, arguing that the global church has maintained a "long-standing and pervasive system of sexual violence" despite promises to swiftly oust predators.

The Vatican's U.S. lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, called the complaint a "ludicrous publicity stunt and a misuse of international judicial processes" in a statement to The Associated Press.

The complaint names Pope Benedict XVI, partly in his former role as leader of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in 2001 explicitly gained responsibility for overseeing abuse cases; Cardinal William Levada, who now leads that office; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state under Pope John Paul II; and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who now holds that post.

Attorneys for the victims say rape, sexual violence and torture are considered a crime against humanity as described in the international treaty that spells out the court's mandate. The complaint also accuses Vatican officials of creating policies that perpetuated the damage, constituting an attack against a civilian population.

Barbara Blaine, president of the U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by priests, said going to the court was a last resort.

"We have tried everything we could think of to get them to stop and they won't," she told The Associated Press. "If the pope wanted to, he could take dramatic action at any time that would help protect children today and in the future, and he refuses to take the action."

Full story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/13/clergy-sex-abuse-victims-court_n_959626.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C95252

Oregon: Another faith-healing death of a child puts parents on trial

Oregon City, Oregon

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OREGON CITY – When the trial of Dale and Shannon Hickman begins this week in Clackamas County, the curtain again rises on a familiar tragedy, one centered on the death of a child and on parents whose unwavering faith in divine healing may lead them to prison.

The Hickmans are members of the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City faith-healing church. The congregation has a long history of children dying from curable conditions because parents rejected medical care in favor of spiritual treatments.

The Hickmans are charged with second-degree manslaughter.

They are fourth couple prosecuted in the past two years by the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office for failing to seek adequate medical care for a child. In the previous cases, all but one defendant was convicted and sentenced to jail or prison.

Full story:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/another_faith-healing_case_puts_oregon_city_parents_on_trial.html

UK: Church helper Peter Holland jailed for abusing children

Nottinghamshire, UK

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Police fear a Nottinghamshire paedophile jailed for six years for abusing young boys could have hundreds of victims.

A predatory paedophile who volunteered at churches and scout groups in order to groom boys whom he sexually abused has been jailed for six years.

Peter Holland from Nottinghamshire admitted abusing 13 boys aged 11 to 15 between 1974 and 1993. Police believe there could be hundreds more victims.

He was caught when one man came forward to say he was assaulted as a child.

Holland, 79, of Bankfield Drive in Bramcote Hills, Beeston, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of gross indecency and 15 counts of indecent assault.
After the first victim - who is now 38 - contacted police, officers raided Holland's three-bedroom house and found more than 3,000 photographs in the loft.

Full story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-14851592

Ireland ramps up battle with Vatican over child abuse

Ireland

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Ireland stepped up its battle with the Roman Catholic Church over child abuse Sunday, with Justice Minister Alan Shatter vowing to pass a law requiring priests to report suspicions of child abuse, even if they learn about them in confession.

The Catholic Church regards information learned in confession as completely confidential.

But under the law proposed by Shatter, priests could be prosecuted for failing to tell the police about crimes disclosed in the confession box.

Shatter said in a statement through a spokesman last week that priests' failure to report what they learn in confession "that has led sexual predators into believing that they have impunity and facilitated pedophiles preying on children and destroying their lives."

Full story:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/09/04/ireland.vatican.sex.abuse/index.html?iref=allsearch

Texas Constitution: No Religious Test - Except This One

Texas Constitution.

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Article 1, Section 4.

RELIGIOUS TESTS. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.

Full constitution:

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/SOTWDocs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm