Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

2. 

   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

3. 

   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

4. 

   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

5. 

   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

TWENTY people have so far claimed they were sexually abused for ten years by a monk named Father Thaddeus Kotik, inset above, at the abbey and that no action was taken to stop the abuse.

According to the BBC, Kotik died in 1992 without facing any criminal charges into claims he abused children between 1977 and 1987 on the island located in Carmarthen Bay of the Bristol Channel.

A report commissioned by Caldey Abbey revealed that victims of child sexual abuse were treated in a heartless, hostile and cruel way by monks on the remote island.

The review said frequent allegations of abuse had been made but not followed up on or reported to police, and the lack of challenge had enabled a monk to abuse children over four decades “in plain sight”.

Caldey Abbey commissioned the report, and its new abbot apologised for the pain and suffering caused.

Father Jan Rossey, Abbot of Caldey Abbey, above, said in a statement

It is with deep sorrow and regret that I have read in the review of the great suffering of children who were abused by Father Thaddeus Kotik and the closed culture of secrecy and cover-up which kept this hidden.

It is clear opportunities were missed to stop the abuse of children. It is particularly heartbreaking to hear children spoke up to adults and no action was taken.

One of Kotik’s victims, “Jenny”, released a photo to the BBC of her being held by Kotik.

Rossey added:

Children and their families were failed when they should have been supported and listened to. The abuses should have been reported to the statutory authorities.

On behalf of the monastic community, I sincerely apologise to all those who have been hurt and have suffered because of the abuse of Thaddeus Kotik and past failures in not protecting children and their families. It is particularly odious when abuse is committed and hidden by people who are in positions of trust because of their monastic or priestly vocation.

Since becoming the new Abbot on Caldey Island in 2023 I have been determined to create a culture of openness and transparency. I want to take ownership and responsibility for past failings. I want to ensure we learn lessons from the mistakes in the past and create a safer environment for everyone.

It is for these reasons that I commissioned an independent review into historical claims of child abuse on the island …

In a later report the BBC quoted a victim — identified only as Rebecca — as saying the review had “done justice to her truth” and the abbot’s apology was better than nothing but had come too late.

Learning that the abuse went back as far as the 1960s makes me feel even more angry and upset, because how many times could they have done something about it? I don’t think they’re men of God. They never have been, they don’t answer to anyone. It’s hypocrisy in the worst way. They’re living a lie.

Report author Jan Pickles said the abbey had responded in a “heartless way” to victims who were “very vulnerable and very damaged” by what had happened “at the hands of a monk, part of its community”.

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