Posts Tagged America magazine
Vatican diplomat to the U.S. recalled amid child pornography investigation / America: The Jesuit Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on September 18, 2017
“In declining to identify the priest, the Vatican said the case was subject to ‘investigative confidentiality,’ as ‘applicable to all preliminary inquiries according to the laws of the Vatican City State.'” (America: The Jesuit Review)
A Vatican priest working in the Holy See’s embassy in Washington has been recalled after U.S. officials flagged possible violations of child pornography laws, the Vatican said on Sept. 15.
“In a statement issued to the media, the Vatican press office revealed that the U.S. State Department had notified the Vatican on Aug. 21 ‘of a possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images by a member of the diplomatic corps of the Holy See accredited to Washington.’
“The Italian news agency ANSA has named the Vatican diplomat as Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella, 50, who was sent to the nunciature in Washington less than a year ago. A New York Times story confirmed the report.
“The Vatican has not identified the diplomat, but said Friday (Sept. 15 he was currently in Vatican City and that its promoter of justice, an office equivalent to a prosecutor or investigating judge, has opened an investigation into possible violation of U.S. laws relating to child pornography.
“Subsequently, it said, ‘the Promoter of Justice opened an investigation and has already commenced international collaboration to obtain elements relative to the case.’ In other words, the Vatican and the U.S. authorities are collaborating on this case.”
By Gerard O’Connell, Associated Press, in America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
The church must build ‘spiritual ramps to sex abuse survivors / America magazine
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on May 22, 2017
“Unless their trauma is addressed, survivors might never be able to walk through the doors of the church.”
In recent years, the church has made great progress opening its doors to people with disabilities. Most churches now have physical ramps that give people with limited mobility access to the spiritual nourishment of the church.
“But what about the Catholic faithful who are inhibited from entering the church, not by a physical disability but a sacramental one? When survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy encounter the symbols of Christianity through which they were abused, they may experience feelings ranging from severe discomfort to panic attacks. I consider these “sacramental disabilities.” One young girl, for example, was told by the priest who sexually abused her that if she ever told anyone about what he did to her, Jesus would come down from the cross and kill her. One young boy was sexually molested by a priest at the altar. Unless their trauma is addressed, survivors like this young boy and girl might never be able to walk through the doors of the church or participate fully in the sacramental life of the church.
“What might be a charitable response to those suffering from a sacramental disability? Wheelchair ramps help disabled persons enter into a church building. There is a need for spiritual ramps to enable Mother Church to go in the other direction: to come down and seek out those who have been sacramentally disabled, knowing that it is extraordinarily difficult for survivors to speak of their abuse to anyone, let alone ask for sacramental modifications.”
By Lea Karen Kivi, America: The Jesuit Review (Ms. Kivi is a member of Voice of the Faithful’s Broken Vessel™ Healing Circles program leadership tem) — Read more …
Atlanta archbishop says clericalism continues to hinder sex abuse reforms / America
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on April 12, 2017
If only clericalism could be quashed and the Vatican II promise of a broad, deep, significant, and effective participation of equal lay and ordained in the Church could be fulfilled — but we don’t see this happening anytime soon.
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who led the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the tumultuous years when the wide scope of the clergy sexual abuse scandal was brought to light, said in a new interview that clericalism is still hampering efforts to address the issue, even at the highest levels of the church.
“‘I would say there is a resistance to do the hard thing,’ the Atlanta archbishop told NPR affiliate WABE in a March interview broadcast on April 10. ‘I think it’s culturally driven as much as it is ideologically driven.’
“Archbishop Gregory addressed allegations by Marie Collins, an Irish laywoman and survivor of sexual abuse who resigned from the pope’s child protection commission. She complained that the Vatican refuses to implement recommendations from the group, even with the backing of Pope Francis himself. Ms. Collins, the archbishop said, ‘has touched on a truism.’
‘”‘It is the ugly face of clericalism that unfortunately still has too much influence in our church,’ Archbishop Gregory said. ‘Marie Collins is a very brave woman, and she is a very determined woman, and I believe she’s a grace for the church.’
By Michael O’Loughlin, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
How the church is combatting sexual abuse / America magazine
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 22, 2017
‘The impression that Pope Francis is not hard enough on perpetrators is wrong. The general line of judgment and sentence has not changed,’ Hans Zollner, S.J., president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told ‘America’ in this interview in which he explains what the pope and the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) are doing to combat child abuse and ensure the protection of children in church institutions worldwide.”
By Gerard O’Connell, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
Deacons, women and the call to serve / America: The National Catholic Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on December 8, 2016
The current Vatican commission exploring the possibility of women deacons has raised a number of questions about their role in the church. As ordained ministers who are neither priests nor lay people, the actual role of deacons in the parishes where they minister remains unclear to many Catholics. What are deacons, and how has their role changed over history?Could women deacons revolutionize pastoral ministry and transform the church? How can the diaconate better meet the changing needs of the faithful today? Join us for a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture and America Media featuring:
- Nancy Dallavalle, theologian and vice president for mission and identity at Fairfield University
- Deacon Greg Kandra, blogger at Aleteia’s “The Deacon’s Bench,” multimedia editor at Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
- Rita Ferrone, contributing editor at Commonweal and blogger at “Pray Tell Blog”
- George Demacopoulos, theologian and founding co-director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University
- James Martin, S.J., moderator, author and editor-at-large for America Media
By The Editors at America: The National Catholic Review — Click here to read the rest of this article and access links to videos and transcripts of the roundtable discussions.
It’s not a complement / America: The National Catholic Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on November 7, 2016
“Women priests or not, gendered theology is hurting the church.”
One thing everyone can agree on about Pope Francis: His press conferences give us something to talk about. This week’s was no different. When asked about women’s ordination, the pope recalled St. John Paul II’s assertion that women could never be considered for the priesthood as a final, settled matter …
“More troubling than the question of whether women can participate in the church’s sacramental ministry as priests is the infiltration of such a gendered ecclesiology into the highest echelons of the church’s hierarchy.”
By Natalia Imperatori-Lee, America: The National Catholic Review — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Want to see Catholic women preach? Soon you’ll be able to. / America magazine
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Women in the Church on October 27, 2016
One of the more intriguing questions Pope Francis prompted earlier this year when he announced that a Vatican commission would study whether the early church had women deacons was: How would Catholics react to women preaching?
“Some Catholic women hope to find out.
“A new website called Catholic Women Preach will publish videos showing just that, Catholic women preaching. The reflections will draw from the church’s weekly readings. The women backing the project say they hope the videos will help Catholics deepen their faith and become more comfortable with the idea of women preaching.”
By Michael O’Loughlin, America: The National Catholic Review — Click here to read the rest of this story.
New cardinals signal a shift away from U.S. culture wars / America
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Future of the Church, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 11, 2016
The pope’s decision to make two American archbishops cardinals is a message to other U.S. prelates that the church needs leaders less concerned with culture war issues and who are instead focused on building bridges and making the church a more welcoming place.
“In a move that will further shake up how the American hierarchy operates, Pope Francis on Sunday (Oct. 9) announced the creation of 17 new cardinals, including three American bishops: Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop Kevin Farrell, the former bishop of Dallas who was appointed by the pope to lead a new Vatican department on family life earlier this year.
“The impact on how the church operates in the United States could be immense.”
By Michael O’Loughlin, America: The National Catholic Review — Click here to read the rest of this article.
What some critics of ‘Amoris Laetitia’ are missing / America
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Synod on the Family, Voice of the Faithful on April 14, 2016
In its statement regarding Amoris Laetitia, Voice of the Faithful pointed to the role of conscience in moral decision-making and quoted Pope Francis, who said, “We also find it hard to make room for consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.” James Martin, S.J., is concerned in the article below that some critics of the Pope’s letter are missing “… the notion that God can deal with people directly. The way that this notion is framed in the document is primarily through the lens of ‘conscience.'”
What some critics of “Amoris Laetitia” are missing
By James Martin, S.J., Editor at Large, America
Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” has been accepted by most Catholics as a breath of fresh air. Its warm encouragement to families to place love at the center of their lives, its clear invitation to pastors to accompany Catholics in the ‘complexity’ of their situations and its strong reminder that the church needs to recover an appreciation of the role of conscience have been welcomed by millions of Catholics as a sign that the church wants to meet them where they are.
“But not by all Catholics. In a few quarters of the church it has not been received warmly at all. In fact, it was greeted with a vituperation that seemed to approach apoplexy.
“Many critics were frustrated, alarmed and angered by the same thing. They claimed that Francis had muddied the clear moral waters of the church by elevating a concept that had landed St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order to which the pope belongs, in jail: the notion that God can deal with people directly.
“The way that this notion is framed in the document is primarily through the lens of ‘conscience’ …”
Click here to read the rest of this article.
The long, resistant road to reformation: the Church today and “Spotlight” / America magazine
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Future of the Church, Voice of the Faithful on November 12, 2015
On Saturday I saw “Spotlight,” the powerful new Tom McCarthy film about the Boston Globe’s work to break the Boston sexual abuse story in 2002 … It’s a surprisingly restrained, quietly devastating drama that well captures the unfolding horror of that moment. To my mind “Spotlight” is also a film that pushes the church to consider where it is today, and where it needs to go.” (boldface added)
By Jim McDermott, America magazine — Click here to read the rest of this article and click here to read “Watching ‘Spotlight’ as a young priest” by Sam Sawyer, S.J., for a similar take on the movie and the Church’s scandal.
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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