Posts Tagged john l allen jr
What new Catholic bishops are, and aren’t being told on sex abuse / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on February 10, 2016
Given what a cancer the clerical sexual abuse scandals have been for the Catholic Church, one would imagine the Vatican would want new bishops to get a state-of-the-art presentation on best practices in terms of preventing such meltdowns in the future.
“The Vatican has been running just such a training course since 2001 for newly appointed bishops around the world, and almost 30 percent of the Catholic prelates in the world today have taken it …
“On Monday (Feb. 1), the top official at the Congregation for Bishops, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, outlined the papers presented during the most recent course, saying he wanted to invite ‘suggestions for improving the experience’ …
“The presentation was entrusted to French Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a consulter to the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, who’s based at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris. He’s a psychotherapist controversial for his views on homosexuality and ‘gender theory.’
“Although his presentation was long on therapeutic analysis, Anatrella did a credible job of slogging through components of the Code of Canon Law governing clergy accused of sexual crime with a minor.
“In other ways, however, his presentation seemed seriously wanting. For instance, Anatrella argued that bishops have no duty to report allegations to the police, which he says is up to victims and their families. (emphasis added) It’s a legalistic take on a critical issue, one which has brought only trouble for the Church and its leaders. Why, one wonders, was it part of a training session?
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story, and click here to read a follow up in The Guardian “Catholic bishops not obliged to report clerical child abuse, Vatican says,” by Stephanie Kirchgaessner.
In new scandals, Catholicism feels the birth pains of reform / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Voice of the Faithful on January 12, 2016
Recently news broke in Germany about widespread sexual and physical abuse at a well-known Catholic boys’ choir, news that ricocheted around the world because when the abuse occurred, the choir was being directed by Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the brother of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI … Around the same time, the Vatican was reeling from the latest twists in the ‘Vatileaks 2.0’ saga, centering on leaks of secret papal documents revealing various kinds of financial corruption or dubious expenditures … Both stories are embarrassing for the Vatican and for the Church, and both raise troubling questions … Lost in the shuffle, however, is another point that both the German abuse story and Vatileaks 2.0 have in common: Neither would have come to light had the Church itself not made the decision to get to the bottom of things.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
The countdown is on for Pope Francis’ big decision on the family / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod on the Family, Voice of the Faithful on January 4, 2016
Pope Francis celebrated a Mass for the Holy Family on Sunday (Dec. 27), designed as a reminder of the spiritual and pastoral importance of the family in the context of his Holy Year of Mercy. Plans called for similar Masses to be held around the world in basilicas where there’s a holy door for the jubilee year …
“In terms of Church politics, however, Sunday’s Mass was also a reminder that we’re on a countdown to perhaps the biggest decision of Francis’ papacy, on a question that arises directly from his two recent Synods of Bishops on the family.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Questions remain about Synod of Bishops’ closing document / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Synod of Bishops, Synod on the Family, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 20, 2015
As the Oct. 4-25 Synod of Bishops on the family nears its end, two features of the process seem especially striking. One is how much the bishops have left to do; the other is how much uncertainty still surrounds exactly what they’re doing.
“The final result is to be a document to be presented to Pope Francis. It’s designed to be based on a working document distributed before the synod, but there’s been enough dissatisfaction with that earlier text that it’s possible the 10-member drafting committee could essentially start from scratch.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Cardinal Pell rejects conservative call for a walkout at the Synod of Bishops / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Synod of Bishops, Synod on the Family, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 19, 2015
Despite an online petition calling on prelates ‘faithful to Christ’s teaching’ to abandon the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family, due to perceptions of a ‘pre-determined outcome that is anything but orthodox,’ one of the summit’s most outspoken conservatives says ‘there’s no ground for anyone to walk out on anything.’
“Australian Cardinal George Pell, who heads the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, told Crux on Friday (Oct. 16) that by the midway point of the Oct. 4-25 synod, concerns about stacking the deck circulating in some quarters have ‘substantially been addressed.’”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
‘Yes, we can!’ emerges as rallying cry at 2015 synod / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Synod of Bishops, Synod on the Family, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 14, 2015
Given the blindingly obvious fact that there are deep divisions at the 2015 Synod of Bishops, various ways of analyzing those fault lines have been proposed. Some see them in terms of the difference between a deductive and inductive approach, some between meeting the world halfway versus not being swallowed up by it, and so on.
“As the synod rolls into its second week (week of Oct. 12), yet another way of understanding the fundamental divide is coming into focus: The gap between those who believe the demands of classic Catholic teaching on sex, marriage, and the family may be unrealistic or inappropriate for some share of the contemporary population, and those convinced that it’s widely attainable in the here-and-now.
“Perhaps one could call the latter position the “Yes We Can!’ brigade at the 2015 synod.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this commentary.
Francis faces a balancing act on sexual abuse reform / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on October 13, 2015
A member of Pope Francis’ Vatican commission to fight child sexual abuse said Monday that when the pontiff praised the ‘courage’ of the American bishops in handling abuse during his recent trip to the United States, he was engaged in a delicate balancing act.
“That line stirred controversy among abuse survivors and their advocates, who argued that some US prelates have a less than exemplary record in terms of making the Church’s ‘zero tolerance’ standard stick.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Synod Notebook: On Day One, a debate about process and taking things off the table / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Synod of Bishops, Synod on the Family, Voice of the Faithful on October 6, 2015
As the 2015 Synod of Bishops gets underway, two things seem clear. One is that many prelates seem determined to stay positive as much as possible, playing down their differences and trying to shift the discussion away from controversial matters toward areas of potential common ground.
“The other is that real tensions over issues, as well as the synod process, may make that goal awfully hard to achieve.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Vatican trial for Jozef Wesolowski a pivotal moment for Pope Francis / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on July 8, 2015
While Pope Francis is wowing vast crowds on a triumphant homecoming to Latin America this week (July 7), one of the pivotal moments of his papacy is set to begin back in Rome on Saturday with the opening of a criminal trial for former papal diplomat Józef Wesołowski on charges of sexual abuse of minors.
“Ultimately, it’s the threat of criminal sanctions from Vatican tribunals that underlies new accountability measures Francis has created to face the two most chronic sources of scandal he inherited when he was elected in March 2013 – sexual abuse and financial misconduct.
“The Wesołowski trial is the first major test of that criminal justice system under Francis. And it will have a great deal to say about whether this pontiff’s celebrated vow that there will be no ‘daddy’s boys’ on his watch, meaning clerics able to remain above the law, actually has teeth.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Here are five Francis forecasts for Tres Ano / Curxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on March 13, 2015
Today (Mar. 13) is the beginning of Year Three of the Pope Francis era, as the pontiff completes two full years in office since his surprise election in March 2013. Although the Vatican says there are no festivities planned aside from giving most employees the day off, that hasn’t stopped the rest of the world from taking stock of the spiritual tsunami this maverick pope has become.
“One almost strains to find the right adjective: ‘Eventful,’ ‘tumultuous,’ and ‘momentous’ all suggest themselves, but somehow each seems inadequate to fully capture the drama of the last 24 months.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this article.
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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