Archive for August, 2015
The ‘Francis agenda’ is making inroads in the U.S. / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on August 10, 2015
Since his election, Pope Francis has become one of the world’s most influential moral leaders, and despite a drop in a recent opinion poll, he is wildly popular in the United States.
“With a little more than a month until Francis lands in Washington for an eight-day tour of the I-95 corridor, how are his priorities influencing the Church in the United States?”
By Michael O’Loughlin, Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
In search of Cardinal Bernard Law / WGBH-FM
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on August 5, 2015
When Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston, fled to the Vatican in 2002, he left behind a trail of human and financial wreckage: 550 victims abused by parish priests and court judgments that eventually topped $85 million. Meanwhile, Law was assigned a comfortable post in Rome, where he disappeared from the headlines.”
“Meanwhile, Law was assigned a comfortable post in Rome, where he disappeared from the headlines.
“Law led America’s fourth-largest archdiocese for 18 years. His reputation as a public figure peaked during Boston’s court-ordered school desegregation crisis, when the cardinal emerged as a steadying voice of sanity.
“However, as his role as the architect of the abuse cover-up emerged, first in the Boston Phoenix, then in the Boston Globe, Law was transformed into a pariah. With permission from Pope John Paul II, he resigned in 2002 ahead of the mandatory age of 75. Law was subsequently appointed head of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the most significant basilicas in Rome. He retired from that post in 2011. Where is he now? What has he been doing since then?”
By Phillip Martin, WGBH-FM — Click here to read and hear the rest of this story.
Milwaukee archdiocese settles for $21 million with abuse victims / Associated Press in The Boston Globe
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on August 4, 2015
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Tuesday (Aug. 4) that it will pay $21 million to more than 300 victims of clergy abuse in a settlement that would end a four-year bankruptcy proceeding.
“The proposed deal, which will be part of a reorganization plan submitted to a bankruptcy court later this month, was to be reviewed by a judge overseeing the case at a Nov. 9 hearing. Archbishop Jerome Listeki called the settlement a ‘new Pentecost.’
“’Today, we turn the page on a terrible part of our history and we embark on a new road lined with hope, forgiveness and love,’ Listecki said in a statement …
“Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents 350 of the approximately 570 people with bankruptcy claims, criticized the archdiocese for trying to have hundreds of claims thrown out of court before a November bankruptcy hearing. As a result, the creditors’ committee was forced to prevent the case from being drawn out any longer, Anderson said.”
By Scott Bauer, Associated Press, in The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Do the U.S. bishops get it? / Religion News Service
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on August 4, 2015
It’s been 30 years since Jason Berry broke the Catholic sex abuse story by courageously reporting on the case of serial abuser Fr. Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana. When national publications refused to touch the story, Berry published his investigation in the Times of Acadiana, and that little paper proved to be the mouse that roared. The National Catholic Reporter immediately took the plunge and before long the mainstream media lost its fear of reporting how bishops systematically put the protection of their clergy and their church’s reputation ahead of the protection of minors.
“NCR marked the anniversary last month with a tough editorial, which has drawn an appropriately non-confrontational response from Bishop Edward J. Burns of Juneau, Alaska, chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. To his credit, Burns acknowledges that the church’s considerable effort to establish a safe environment for children should not be taken as ‘a sign that we have somehow put this scandal behind us, nor is it an occasion for self-congratulation … Rather, our shepherds, myself included, need to face and repent of the betrayal of trust. Authentic and heartfelt repentance by the shepherds of our church is not a distraction from our mission: It is the mission at this moment in the life of the church and her leaders.’
“So what’s wrong with this?”
By Mark Silk, Religion News Service — Click here to read the rest of this commentary.
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Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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