Posts Tagged Christopher White
Opening momentous Vatican summit, Pope Francis begs church to ‘not impose burdens’ / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 4, 2023
‘This is the primary task of the synod: to refocus our gaze on God, to be a church that looks mercifully at humanity,’ he (Pope Francis) said.
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
“Pope Francis on Oct. 4 officially opened a long-anticipated Vatican summit on the very future of Catholicism, encouraging its participants — bishops and lay people alike — to reject the temptations of doctrinal rigidity and to embrace a vision of the church that is open and welcoming to all.
“‘The blessing and welcoming gaze of Jesus prevents us from falling into some dangerous temptations: of being a rigid church, which arms itself against the world and looks backward; of being a lukewarm church, which surrenders to the fashions of the world; of being a tired church, turned in on itself,’ Francis said in a homily in St. Peter’s Square that marked the start of the monthlong Synod of Bishops’ synod on synodality.
“Some 450 delegates from all over the world have descended onto Rome for the occasion, representing a wide array of views and often sharp divisions on some of the hot button issues facing the church, such as clergy abuse, the role of women’s ministry, inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics and other questions surrounding the structure of church authority.”
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Synod document sets stage for wide-ranging debate on women, Catholic ministries and structures / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 20, 2023
The newly released document is the culmination of worldwide listening sessions through local churches that took place 2021-2023 and seven continental gatherings held in early 2023.
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter
“When prelates and lay delegates gather in October for the Synod of Bishops, they will be asked to directly confront a number of pressing questions — including the possibility of women deacons, access to the priesthood for married men, the integration of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and penance for sexual abuse and the abuse of power, conscience and money — in consideration of how the Catholic Church might transform and expand its structures to become more welcoming to all its members.
“In a much anticipated document released June 20, the Vatican’s synod office set the stage for a wide-ranging discussion for the first session of a high-stakes meeting that is attempting to respond with ‘missionary urgency’ to the challenges of church life in the modern world.
“Known in Latin as an instrumentum laboris, the 60-page document will guide the monthlong Vatican summit on a number of themes and concerns that have emerged during a three-year consultative process, which has focused on how the church could become more focused on greater listening and participation of all of the baptized, not just the Catholic hierarchy.
“Among the issues and considerations in the document are how a synodal church recognizes and values the central role of the poor; the experience of migrants; victims of sexual abuse, violence and other injustices; the disabled; divorced and remarried Catholics; the need for greater commitment to ecumenism and learning from other faith traditions; and the role of women in the church today.”
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Read also — Instrumentium Laboris, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” First Session, XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, October 2023
Abuse survivors, their advocates cast doubt on leadership of Vatican commission / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, financial transparency, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 13, 2023
When the British-born (Fr. Andrew) Small was appointed to serve as acting secretary of the Vatican’s abuse commission in June 2021, he arrived in Rome with little experience in child protection, but a background in fundraising and advising the U.S. bishops on foreign policy.
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter
“Leading Catholic sexual abuse experts, survivors and survivor advocates are questioning the suitability of the priest who leads the Vatican’s clergy abuse commission, following an investigation that has raised significant questions about his record of financial transparency and accountability.
Oblate Fr. Andrew Small ‘should be gone — voluntarily or forcefully,’ David Clohessy, longtime executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said in reaction to a May 31 Associated Press report.
“The Associated Press investigation revealed that under Small’s leadership as former U.S. director of the Pontifical Mission Societies at least $17 million was transferred from the Vatican’s U.S.-based missionary fundraising entity into an impact investing operation created by Small. The priest continues to run the investment organization while also serving as the No. 2 official at the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.”
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Pope Francis expands participation in synod to lay members, granting right to vote / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on April 26, 2023
For years, lay Catholic have lobbied for such reform.
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter
“Pope Francis on April 26 dramatically expanded participation in the Vatican’s upcoming Synod of Bishops to include lay men and women, for the first time granting them a right to be appointed as full voting members of the Catholic Church’s primary consultative body.
“In addition to the standard participation of bishops selected by the pope and episcopal conferences from around the world, the new changes allow for the participation of 70 non-bishop members at the upcoming October gathering — 10 from each of the seven global regional bishops’ conferences — with the request that young people be included and that 50% of those named be women.
“The changes were announced April 26 by the Vatican’s synod office, and were discussed at a press briefing at the Vatican with Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the 2023 and 2024 Synod of Bishops.”
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Pope Francis reorganizes Vatican’s doctrinal office, creating department to handle abuse cases / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on February 15, 2022
The discipline section of the congregation will manage concerns related to the sexual abuse of minors and other ‘grave’ crimes.
National Catholic Reporter
“Pope Francis on Feb. 14 overhauled the current structure of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, creating an independent section to handle disciplinary matters related to the sexual abuse of minors.
“Under its new structure, the office will operate with autonomous doctrinal and discipline sections that will be coordinated by separate secretaries, both of whom will report to the prefect of the congregation.
“The new legislation, Fidem servare (‘To preserve the faith’), represents the most significant organizational changes to the office in over 30 years.
“In announcing the new structure, which comes in advance of a much-anticipated new apostolic constitution that will reorganize the Vatican’s central bureaucracy, the Vatican did not announce any personnel changes at the congregation.
“The office’s current prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, is 77 years-old and has passed the Vatican’s traditional retirement age of 75. Last month, Francis reassigned the doctrinal office’s secretary, its number two official, to lead Italy’s Reggio Emilia-Guastalla Diocese, indicating the pope could soon remake the top leadership of the office in the near future.
By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
New database of abusive clergy will ‘put pressure’ on bishops to improve transparency / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on January 30, 2020
As of January 20, they (Pro Publica) note, there have been at least 178 lists produced by U.S. dioceses and religious orders. 41 dioceses and dozens more religious orders, they write, have not yet done so. (Cruxnow.com)
A new, independent database listing nearly 6,000 priests accused of abuse was launched this week, marking what some observers say is a sign of a new era of transparency in the Catholic Church and others labeling it the “privatization of justice” after years of church leaders blocking such efforts.
“The database, which was activated on Monday, was a yearlong effort by ProPublica, “a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.” The launch comes after the 2018 release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which sent shock waves through the U.S. Church as it chronicled seven decades of abuse of more than 1,000 victims at the hands of 300 priests.
“Since then, numerous dioceses have rushed to publish their own list of accused priests.
“‘Nationwide, the names of more than 5,800 clergy members have been released so far, representing the most comprehensive step toward transparency yet by a Catholic Church dogged by its long history of denying and burying abuse by priests,’ write the researchers behind the ProPublica effort.”
By Christopher White, Cruxnow.com — Read more …
Wyoming bishop’s decades of abuse destroyed lives, traumatized families / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on August 28, 2019
This is part one of Crux’s three-part investigative series into Bishop Joseph Hart, who could become the first U.S. bishop to face criminal prosecution for sexual abuse. Part two will run tomorrow. (Cruxnow.com)
As parishioners attended the Feast of the Assumption Mass inside Guardian Angels Catholic Church on August 15, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) gathered outside on the sidewalk for a press conference marking an occasion that many believed would never come.
“Less than 24 hours earlier, police in Cheyenne, Wyoming recommended to prosecutors that a one-time Guardian Angels priest, who would go on to become a beloved Catholic bishop, face criminal charges for the sexual abuse of minors.
“Prior to being named a bishop, Joseph Hart had served in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph for the first two decades of his priesthood, following ordination in 1956. Although his ecclesial career has spanned over five decades, serving in two states where he was widely popular, he has been trailed by allegations of serial abuse – which he has consistently denied – dodging both civil and canonical adjudication for more than two decades.
“Now, in the twilight of his life he not only faces criminal charges, where he could become the first U.S. bishop ever to face criminal prosecution for abuse, but also the possibility of being stripped of his title of bishop and removed from the clerical state as a church trial in the Vatican is also underway.”
By Christopher White, Cruxnow.com — Read more …
Two decades into crisis, no consensus on what ‘credibly accused’ means / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on January 3, 2019
When it comes to clerical sexual abuse, she (Professor Cathleen Kaveny of Boston College’s law school and theology department) noted that it’s particularly complicated because “we’re forced to ask ‘do we need something other than the sheer testimony of the victim?’ and if so, what?” (cruxnow.com)
In a recent interview with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), DiNardo was asked about a pledge that all dioceses in Texas would release the names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.
“‘Credibly accused’ is being worked out in terms of our lawyers even now as we speak,’ DiNardo said, adding that independent auditors were also reviewing archdiocesan files.
“As the U.S. Catholic Church has attempted to reckon with a mounting crisis of clerical sexual abuse, dioceses throughout the country have begun to release the names of accused priests. …
“Yet despite the increasing trend to release names – an initiative widely demanded by sex abuse survivors and praised by watchdog organizations – the practice also raises new questions, most notably being what ‘credibly accused’ actually means and who gets to decide.”
By Christopher White, Cruxnow.com — Read more …
Connecticut bishop appoints laywoman to lead parish / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on December 12, 2018
He (Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bishop Frank Caggiano) went on to note that the appointment was the first of its kind in the diocese of Bridgeport and added that it has support in canon law. (Cruxnow.com)
Less than two months after serving as delegate in the Bishops Synod on Youth which called women’s leadership within the Church ‘a duty of justice,’ Bishop Frank Caggiano has established a new leadership model in a Connecticut parish, appointing a woman to serve as parish life coordinator.
“The appointment of Dr. Eleanor W. Sauers, which was announced on Sunday in a letter to parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua in Fairfield, Connecticut, grants Sauers decision-making authority over a team of priests who will be responsible for sacramental ministry.
“‘We are at a very particular moment in the history of our Diocese, and indeed, within our Church,’ Caggiano wrote to parishioners. ‘As I travel throughout Fairfield County, it has become apparent to me that many lay women and men are seeking new ways to serve their parishes, and, in collaboration with the clergy, to create vibrant and thriving communities.’
“He went on to note that the appointment was the first of its kind in the diocese of Bridgeport and added that it has support in canon law.”
By Christopher White, Cruxnow.com — Read more …
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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