CATHOLIC WATCHDOG GROUP CALLS ON U.S. CARDINALS TO AFFIRM CHURCH TEACHING WHILE IN ROME

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. ^ | April 17, 2002 | Stephen G. Brady

[Brian Kopp DPM]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1 PM EDT, April 17, 2002

CATHOLIC WATCHDOG GROUP CALLS ON U.S. CARDINALS TO AFFIRM CHURCH TEACHING WHILE IN ROME

An international group of faithful Roman Catholics has contacted Vatican prelates and all active U.S. cardinals and asked them to publicly affirm the Church's 1961 pronouncement against admitting homosexuals or pedophiles to the priesthood.

Stephen G. Brady, the president of Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. (RCF) issued a statement on Wednesday that was directed to 8 active U.S. cardinals as well as a number of additional American and Vatican prelates. The American cardinals include Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Francis George of Chicago, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., William Keeler of Baltimore, Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, Edward Egan of New York City, Adam Maida of Detroit, and the currently embattled Bernard Law of Boston. They will be traveling to Rome next week with National Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop Wilton Gregory and others at the summons of the Holy Father. They will be participating in closed-door meetings with Vatican representatives to address the scandal and damage the Church in America is undergoing due to an increasing number of sexual abuse cases coming to light. A number of prelates have been accused of protecting abusive priests and moving them to other areas, where they have repeated their predatory acts with new victims. An overwhelming number of offenses have involved homosexual acts.

"As a measure of their sincerity in addressing this horrible crisis inflicting so much damage on the souls of the innocent," Brady charged, "we challenge each and every one of these princes of the Church to sign a statement agreeing they will follow the direction of a letter issued by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome." Brady is asking each prelate to affirm the following declaration: "I, ________ Cardinal ________, hereby agree to follow the direction of the letter issued by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome in 1961, which states: 'Those affected by the perverse inclination to homosexuality or pederasty should be excluded from religious vows and ordination'". The Church directive has never been rescinded and is still officially in force.

"If a cardinal is not willing to sign this document," Brady stated, "then there is no point in his traveling to Rome. Moreover, if he travels to Rome and doesn't sign it, I wish he'd do us a favor and just stay there."

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. (RCF) is a not-for-profit lay organization, with many religious members, dedicated to promoting orthodox Catholic teaching and fighting heterodoxy and corruption within the Catholic hierarchy.

ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITHFUL, INC.
P.O. Box 109
Petersburg, IL 62675
Phone 217-632-5920
Fax 217-632-7054
Web www.rcf.org

Press Release

Contact: Stephen G. Brady
Phone: (217) 632-5920

[ventana]

The laity should not allow the attempt to marginalize them to succees, though I recognize this is difficult. This tragedy within our church is a call to arms for all our brethren in other churches that have overtly accepting homosexual policies to point out the inherent aggression towards young boys in adult male homosexuals, as evidenced by our scandal and similar scandals in organizations tolerating overt and covert homosexuality. V's wife.

[Palladin]

Bump. I wish the bishops would pay attention to what the faithful are saying. Even the most devout Catholics want to see an end to predatory priests. Those who have never said a word against the hierarchy are now speaking out. I am impressed by the sincerity of those who want to see a real change in the attitude of the cardinals. Egan's "Mistakes were made" statements to his people are neither convincing nor truthful. He said this week that "IF" he made any mistakes in reassigning pedophile priests, he is sorry. I think I'll try that the next time I go to confession: "Bless me, father, IF I have made a mistake".

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

It's apparent that the needs and concerns of many Catholics have not been addressed by bishops, cardinals, Catholic politicians, or many Catholic educators and religious. When you have factions of the clergy committed to liberal dissent, bureaucratic coverup, or a pray/wait and see attitude, that leaves many of the lay faithful in precarious positions as the media unleashes propaganda assaults. I could add that the reticence of some bishops has also been apparent in problems regarding Ex Corde Ecclesiae, liturgical abuses, homeschooling issues, and homosexual activism by clergy. The strategy of avoiding controversy and trying to "keep things quiet" has clearly not worked too well on the current scandals. What is needed is a policy which gives due respect to lay people whenever they report any kind of abuse going on which impacts negatively on their religious life. When someone reports violations of canon law or serious outrages directed against faithful Catholics or Church doctrine, ignoring these reports or smearing the whistleblowers just cannot go on. If they try some minimalist approach - "Well, we're only going to get tough about following church doctrine and policy when it looks like we might lose money in a sex abuse case" (which seems to be the mentality of some) - they court more disaster.

[Palladin]

If I hear another bishop or cardinal say from the pulpit, or on TV, that "Mistakes have been made" (always passive tense), I am going to run howlingly and absurdly screaming into the night!

[Palladin]

A bump to get the original thread message to the aides of the cardinals meeting in Rome, just in case they want to know what the Faithful are really thinking.