Survivors of Catholic Abuse to Confront Pope

In the wake of a growing child abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church, and last October's historic rally outside the Vatican to remember the victims of church crimes, members of The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) will return to Europe next week to help convene an international Tribunal into crimes against humanity in which Pope Joseph Ratzinger is personally implicated.

Rev. Kevin Annett, who has spear headed a movement to bring to justice the churches that caused the death of thousands of aboriginal children in Christian residential schools in Canada, will lead a delegation of the FRD to Italy on March 29 that will include Cree nation elder Lillian Shirt and Ojibway nation elder Charles Cook, both of whom survived incarceration and torture in Catholic residential schools.

The FRD delegation will make a formal presentation to a human rights committee of the Italian parliament and will seek its endorsement for an international inquiry into the death of more than 50,000 children in the predominantly Catholic-run Indian residential school system in Canada.

The delegation will also conduct a sacred ceremony and memorial service for all victims of the Roman Catholic church outside the Vatican in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, April 4, at 11 am

After speaking to audiences in a half dozen Italian cities between March 29 and April 8, the FRD delegation will travel to England and Ireland to unite with other survivors of Catholic church abuse, and hold public protests and rallies at government and church facilities in both countries.

In England, the delegation will hold memorial rallies outside Westminster (Catholic) Cathedral and Westminster (Anglican) Abbey on Sunday, April 11 between 10 AM and 12 noon, to remember children who died in residential schools run by these two churches.

That same evening, Rev. Annett will speak at a public meeting at 7 pm at Passing Clouds Centre in Dalston, London, 1 Richmond Road, E 8, concerning the genocide of native people in Canada, and the complicity of the Queen of England in this crime.

On Monday, April 12 at 12 noon, Annett and the delegation will hold a protest rally and press conference outside the Canadian Embassy, Canada House, at 5 Trafalgar Square, to indict the government and churches of Canada with charges of crimes against humanity.

In Ireland, on Thursday, April 15, Rev. Annett and the delegation will unite with survivors of Catholic Church abuse at a protest rally outside the Irish Dail (Parliament) in downtown Dublin at 12 noon.

The next day, on Friday, April 16, Rev. Annett will speak at a public meeting at the Happy Pear in Greystones, Co. Wicklow at 7.30 pm.

For more information on the details of these events, or to arrange media interviews with Rev. Annett and the aboriginal delegation, contact Annett through this email, or:

In Italy: Camilla - cnovelli@alice.it

In England: Penelope - penelope.pullen@sky.com

In ireland: Judy - judyrussell2@gmail.com

For background information, and to view the award-winning documentary of the FRD on genocide in Canada, Unrepentant, which will be screened at all the venues of the delegation see: www.hiddenfromhistory.org .