Posts Tagged Ruth Graham
Pope says a strong U.S. faction offers a backward, narrow view of the Church / The New York Time
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on August 31, 2023
His (Pope Francis) comments were an unusually explicit statement of the pope’s longstanding lament that the ideological bent of some leading American Catholics has turned them into culture warriors rather than pastors, offering the faithful a warped view of Church doctrine rather than a healthy, well-rounded faith.
By Jason Horowitz and Ruth Graham, The New York Times
“Pope Francis has expressed in unusually sharp terms his dismay at ‘a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude’ opposing him within the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, one that fixates on social issues like abortion and sexuality to the exclusion of caring for the poor and the environment.
“The pope lamented the ‘backwardness’ of some American conservatives who he said insist on a narrow, outdated and unchanging vision. They refuse, he said, to accept the full breadth of the Church’s mission and the need for changes in doctrine over time.
“‘I would like to remind these people that backwardness is useless,’ Francis, 86, told a group of fellow Jesuits early this month in a meeting at World Youth Day celebrations in Lisbon. ‘Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith.'”
By Jason Horowitz and Ruth Graham, The New York Times — Read more …
What the latest investigations into Catholic church sex abuse mean / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on June 6, 2023
About 20 state attorneys general have mounted investigations that have cataloged decades of abuse but yielded few criminal prosecutions.
By Ruth Graham, The New York Times
“The nearly 900-page report landed like a grenade when Josh Shapiro, then the attorney general of Pennsylvania, delivered it on a stage in Harrisburg, Pa., five years ago. It detailed widespread sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church throughout Pennsylvania, and a ‘sophisticated’ cover-up by senior church officials. Victims of abuse and their families, sometimes visibly weeping, joined Mr. Shapiro on the stage.
“More than 300 priests were found to have abused children, at least 1,000 of them, over the course of seven decades. The report reverberated at the highest levels of the church, with the Vatican expressing ‘shame and sorrow’ over the findings. And it reached the pews, too: A Gallup poll the next year found that more than one-third of Catholics in the United States were considering leaving the faith because of “recent news about sexual abuse of young people by priests.””More than 300 priests were found to have abused children, at least 1,000 of them, over the course of seven decades. The report reverberated at the highest levels of the church, with the Vatican expressing ‘shame and sorrow’ over the findings. And it reached the pews, too: A Gallup poll the next year found that more than one-third of Catholics in the United States were considering leaving the faith because of ‘recent news about sexual abuse of young people by priests.’
“In the years since the Pennsylvania report was published, it has inspired some 20 other investigations into the Catholic Church by state attorneys general.
“Now the results of those investigations are rolling out, refocusing attention on the sprawling abuse scandal, and in some cases providing fresh details. The attorney general of Illinois, Kwame Raoul, released a report in May that found more than 450 credibly accused child sex abusers in the Catholic Church in Illinois since 1950. Almost 2,000 children under 18 were victims.”
By Ruth Graham, The New York Times — Read more …
Maryland finds that for hundreds of clergy abuse victims, ‘No parish was safe’ / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on November 21, 2022
More than 20 state attorneys general have initiated investigations, most of which are still underway … The scale of the abuse outlined is on par with other large abuse cases uncovered in lawsuits and other investigations in dioceses in Boston, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
The New York Times
“The attorney general of Maryland has identified more than 600 young victims of clergy sexual abuse over the course of 80 years in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, according to a court document filed Thursday (Nov. 17).
“The filing, which broadly outlines the attorney general’s findings, requests that a judge allow the release of the full report: a 456-page document detailing decades of clergy sex abuse in Maryland.
“The new report marks a symbolic milestone in the long-running international abuse scandal that has shaken faith in the Catholic Church and led to some reforms and billions of dollars in settlements. The Baltimore report is one of the first major investigations completed by a state attorney general on sexual abuse in the Church since a scathing report on six dioceses in Pennsylvania shocked Catholics across the nation in 2018. Colorado investigators issued their own report in 2019 on church abuse.”
By Ruth Graham, The New York Times — 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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