“After the decision on the increase in ambition was reached, a lot of investment decisions have been taken and […]
Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
Philip Pullella, Reporter - Thomson Reuters Foundation
Stephan: For several days I have been holding a series of stories and reports on the cancer of sex abuse that is literally bankrupting the Roman Catholic Church. I don't have the space for all of them, so I have chosen the following three as representative of the whole. What is clear is that the Roman church has a fourth-stage cancer eating it from within.
I have to say that if I were a Catholic parent with young children, particularly a young son, I would never leave my child alone with my priest, or any priest. I am not sure how one reconciles that with one's faith, but I guess that's the challenge facing every Catholic parent.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick testifying on sex abuse of children
VATICAN CITY, July 28 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, one of the U.S. Catholic Church’s most prominent figures who has been at the centre of a widening sexual abuse scandal.
McCarrick, 88, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., is the first cardinal in living memory to lose his red hat and title. Other cardinals who have been disciplined in sexual abuse scandals kept their membership in the College of Cardinals and their honorific “your eminence”.
The allegations against McCarrick, which first surfaced publicly last month, came with Francis facing an image crisis on a second front, in Chile, where a growing abuse scandal has enveloped the Church in the Latin American country.
A Vatican statement said the pope ordered McCarrick’s suspension from the exercise of any public ministry. This means he remains a priest but will be allowed to say Mass only in private.
Francis also ordered McCarrick to go into seclusion “for a life of prayer and penance until […]
No Comments
Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
Mark Scolforo, Reporter - The Morning Call
Stephan: Studies show only about 50% of Roman Catholic priests are actually celibate. That's a dogma issue that ought to be telling the Pope and the senior hierarchy they have a very serious hypocrisy problem. None of that surprises me, one of the hallmarks of modern religions is hypocriscy arising, I suspect, from the fact that early Iron Age cultures don't function very well in 21st century developed nations.
What does bother me, and what I think should bother you, is the fact that the Roman Church has a very serious pedophile problem. That's not new to be sure. But the extent of it continues to appall. This grotesque story is just the latest in a hundred such stories.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the release of a grand jury report into clergy sex abuse in six of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses, including Allentown. But the names of those who have challenged the findings will be redacted in at least the initial release.
Credit: Madeleine Cook / The Morning Call)
Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse identifies more than 300 “predator priests” in six of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses, including Allentown, according to the state’s high court.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices said the report on clergy child sexual abuse going back decades and allegations of cover-up efforts will be made public but without the names or “individual specific information” of priests and others who have challenged the findings, at least in the initial version to be released.
The court wants the redaction process to be completed by Aug. 8, when the 900-page report is expected to be made public. If there are disputes about what a court-appointed special master should black out, the report will […]
No Comments
Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
Stephan: Apparently, Roman Catholic sexual dysfunctionality extends beyond little boys to nuns. I see this as further evidence that early Iron Age dogmas and beliefs just don't exist very comfortably with 21st century social mores. Here's the story.
Nun
Credit: iStock
Nuns are forcing the Catholic Church to face another kind of sexual scandal among its clergy: the abuse of “religious sisters by priests and bishops,” the Associated Press reports.
The big picture: The Church has a rocky history of abuse of young children, but the abuse of sisters is a matter the community has “yet to come to terms with.” And in the era of #MeToo, no stone is being left unturned.
What’s happening
This isn’t a new problem. However, sisters are now going public with their stories around the world, the AP reports.
- The Vatican received a report on these issues in Africa in the 1990s, but no serious action was taken.
Nuns used to be considered “safe” sexual partners, per the AP, for men in the Church who were concerned about contracting a sexually transmitted disease if he went to women “in the general population.”
A leading expert on clergy sexual abuse, Karlijn Demasure, told the AP, priests “can […]
1 Comment
