Kenyan based Catholic priest in double trouble over sexual assault offenses

Questions are being raised into the Catholic Church's ability to deal with sexual predators among its clergy around the world following reports that church authorities ignored or covered up allegations against priests all over the world.

In Kenya June 2009, an Italian priest based in Kenya Father Renato Kizito Sesana was accused by three young men and a boy and arraigned in court for molestation charges. One year and half later, his acquittal of the sexual offenses  due to lack of sufficient evidence again raise eyebrows with new charges being pressed by his male secretary (26) who is accusing him of sexual assault in Riruta area of Nairobi.

The allegations triggered public outrage coercing Cardinal John Njue(the head of the cardinal church in Kenya) to promise a thorough investigation on the issue .recently when the Cardinal was asked about the  investigations, he could not remember any of the details and referred inquiries to James Nyiha – the church’s lawyer who stated that he knows of no church investigation and that the matter was being handled solely by the police.

Elsewhere, the Belgium's Roman Catholic Church is set to compensate the victims of paedophile priests in the wake of a child abuse scandal that has rocked the Church for the past year.

The scandal erupted in Belgium in April 2010 when the bishop of Bruges admitted abusing his nephew, leading to the creation of the commission that exposed a many abuses committed by other priests since the 1950s. Roger Vangheluwe, who resigned as bishop of Bruges last year, caused outrage again, last month when he revealed that he had abused a second nephew. He has since disappeared form public view after being ordered by the Vatican to go into spiritual retreat in a religious community in France.

The Church is following recommendations from a special parliament committee on priest abuse, which called in March for the creation of an arbitration panel that would decide compensations for victims in prescribed cases.

Accused for months of showing little compassion for the victims, the bishops and heads of religious orders deplored the abuses that were documented last year by a Church-backed commission, which revealed nearly 500 cases that took place over several decades, resulting in 13 suicides.