Archive for December, 2015
Catholic Church knew it had abuse ‘time bombs,’ child sex abuse inquiry says / The Guardian
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on December 3, 2015
The Catholic church knew it had child abuse ‘time bombs’ ticking away in a number of Australian dioceses, an inquiry has heard.
“A special issues committee meeting at the Australian Catholic Bishops conference in 1992 noted: ‘It was agreed that there are serious time bombs ticking away in a number of dioceses at the present time’ …
“(Bishop Hilton) Deakin (Melbourne vicar general, 1987-1992) said when he was an auxiliary bishop he spoke to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Pope’s representative in Australia, about a priest called Peter Searson.
“‘I was telling him about this priest, who was a most evil person, doing evil things to little children in a school and had been doing it for quite some time,’ he said.
“‘I was hoping and praying that something would be done.’
“He said the Apostolic Nuncio thanked him and walked away.”
By Australian Associated Press in The Gudardian — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Editorial: U.s. church leadership is in transition / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on December 2, 2015
In Florence, Italy, last month, Pope Francis addressed the Italian church and gave a bracing, 50-minute exhortation on how integral change is to a healthy life of the church.
“‘Before the problems of the church, it is not useful to search for solutions in conservatism or fundamentalism, in the restoration of obsolete conduct and forms that no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally,’ he told the gathered clerics and laypeople.
“At another point, he said, ‘Christian doctrine is not a closed system incapable of generating questions, doubts, interrogatives — but is alive, knows being unsettled, enlivened. It has a face that is not rigid, it has a body that moves and grows, it has a soft flesh: It is called Jesus Christ.’”
By National Catholic Reporter Editorial Staff — Click here to read the rest of this editorial.
Panel on ‘Spotlight’ film explores priest sex abuse scandal, institutional cover-up and advocacy for vicitms / Harvard Law Today
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on December 2, 2015
The film “Spotlight” focuses on the dogged pursuit by Boston Globe reporters to expose the Catholic Church’s cover-up of the sexual abuse of children by Boston priests. But there is much more to the story, as evidenced by a wide-ranging panel discussion of the movie last week at Harvard Law School that touched on legal issues, secrets and shame, and even a potential lawsuit against the filmmakers.
Sponsored by the Harvard Law School Library and the Dean of Students Office, the panel featured Josh Singer ’01, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Tom McCarthy; Mitchell Garabedian, who represented dozens of plaintiffs in suits against the church (and was depicted by Stanley Tucci in a prominent role in the movie); and HLS professors Jeannie Suk ’02 and Lawrence Lessig, with Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 moderating. In the audience were Ben Bradlee Jr. and Michael Rezendes, journalists from the Globe who were also depicted in the film, and who participated in the discussion.
By Lewis Rice, Harvard Law Today — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Association of Catholic Priests voices ‘disquiet’ over Vatican’s selection of Irish bishops / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on December 2, 2015
The Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland is to write to the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops expressing its 1,000 members’ ‘grave disquiet’ over the current selection process for bishops in the Irish church.
“A resolution was carried unanimously at the association’s annual meeting in Athlone Nov. 24 which criticized the ‘lack of any credible process of consultation’ with priests and people in recent years and the Vatican’s ‘preference for candidates drawn from a particular mindset.’
“Over 100 members of the ACP who attended the meeting backed the statement which said the choice of candidates is ‘out of sync with the realities of life in Ireland today’ and with the openness of Pope Francis to change and reform in the church.”
By Sarah Mac Donald, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
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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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