Posted on 04/23/2002 7:11:21 AM PDT by history_matters
VATICAN CITY, April 23 — Pope John Paul II bluntly told American cardinals Tuesday that sex abuse by priests is “rightly considered a crime by society,” and that there is no place in religious life for abusers. The pontiff made his comments — his strongest yet since allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests began pouring in this year — during an extraordinary meeting between U.S. cardinals and Vatican officials.
THE POWERFUL and specific words by the pope could have a determining effect on whether the Catholic Church in the United States formulates policy to automatically hand over pedophile priests to civil authorities — what some have called a “one strike and you’re out” standard.
“The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God,” the pope told the closed-door meeting. “To the victims and their families wherever they may be, I express my profound sense of solidarity and concern.”
“People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young,” the pope added, according to the official English text of the speech released by the Vatican.
The meeting opened a day after a report that a move was afoot by fellow cardinals to force the resignation of embattled Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, accused of mishandling sex abuse cases.
At a press conference held after the pope’s speech, a senior U.S. cardinal, Chicago’s Francis George, said the topic had not come up during meetings with Vatican officials. But George noted that Law told the group that “if he hadn’t made some terrible mistakes, we probably all wouldn’t be here.”
The pope, for his part, did not address the issue directly, but he did say “bishops and superiors are concerned above all else with the spiritual good of souls.”
“I ask Catholics to stay close to their priests and bishops and support them with their prayers at this difficult time,” he added.
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has been rocked by waves of sex abuse scandals that have shaken the confidence of the faithful, led to the resignation of one bishop, and cost the church millions of dollars in legal settlements. Church officials have been accused of covering up misconduct by priests, in some cases by moving known abusers from job to job.
Bishop William Skylstad, who is attending the talks as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, told NBC’s “Today” show that there has been “very strong discussion” of a national standard for dealing with sexual abuse and that more details might emerge when the talks conclude on Wednesday. A final decision, however, would not be made until U.S. bishops and cardinals meet in June, he noted.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with the pope, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., insisted that Law should stay in his place and insisted that the agenda in the meetings boil down to one thing.
“We’ve got to make sure that people can trust their priests,” he said. “We are here to find out what we can do, in concert with the Holy See, to create an environment that is safe for children.”
ACTION ON LAW UNLIKELY NOW
The ultimate fate of Law, accused of knowingly transferring pedophile priests from parish to parish instead of defrocking them, seems highly unlikely to figure in the closed-door meeting that concludes Wednesday night, despite what is said in personal conversations.
No cardinal spoke publicly about Law’s possible resignation, but a Los Angeles Times report quickly spread around the Vatican.
The report Monday quoted a cardinal, who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, as saying that several U.S. cardinals would push the Vatican to ask Law to resign.
McCarrick said he had not heard of an anti-Law push. “If some felt very strongly, they would speak to him privately. I can’t see a cabal.”
“The trouble began on his watch and he wants to fix it. Give him a chance,” McCarrick told reporters.
Upon his arrival in Rome on Monday, Law declined to answer questions about his trip to Rome earlier this month to discuss his possible resignation with the pope.
Law said he had made his position clear in a statement Sunday in Boston, in which he called the scandal a “wake-up call” for the Catholic Church that “must spark immediate and decisive changes.”
‘SEASON FOR ACTION’
Underscoring the urgency here, the head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., told a media briefing that “we’ve passed the time for mea culpas. We’re in the season for action.”
The ongoing Law saga aside, differences could emerge among bishops — and with the Vatican — over whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood and whether to relax the Catholic rule that priests be celibate.
McCarrick agreed with the pope’s weekend remarks that were interpreted as taking celibacy off the agenda. “It’s a straw man to bring that up at this time,” he insisted.
Church officials have said the pedophile scandals have deeply affected the pope, who turns 82 next month. John Paul suffers from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and has recently been forced to reduce his participation in long ceremonies because of knee pain.
Boston became the epicenter of the controversy in January, when reports disclosed that Law and other church leaders had reassigned a priest accused of pedophilia.
The aftershocks of these revelations have since been felt in parishes throughout the country as additional reports of abuse have come to light.
In the eighties, there was a bishop in New Jersey, and I can not remember his name, who was causing a lot of grief among the faithful. People started complaining to Rome, writing letters and such. This bishop favored homosexuals and was galavanting with them to the extent that he would have parties on his boat on the Jersey shore where a good time was had by all. It did not go unnoticed by Rome. Well, during this bishop's ad limina visit to Rome where he meets with the Pope, once every five years, and gives him a personal report, this bishop entered the Pope's office. JPII was sitting behind his desk and he invited this bishop to be seated and asked him about his diocese. The bishop began to talk about this and that program and how successful he has been, painting a very glowing picture of his diocese. When he started to wind down JPII asked him if that was all and the bishop said yes. "Are you sure?" asked the Pope, as he got up from his desk and proceeded to place boxes of letters written to him by people in his diocese complaining about him. It wasn't just a few letters, it covered the entire desk at least three feet high. Then, our dear Pope explained what was written in the letters and quizzed this bishop about his untoward activities. Having been deeply humiliated that the Pope had found out about him, this bishop agreed to step down as bishop. He was relieved of his duty. I can not remember his name but that doesn't matter.
This Pope acted decisively, but he has never had the bishops attention before like this present scandal has provided. Let us pray that something truly substantial will take place and that the good and faithful bishops will clean house and set all of their brothers straight. The abusers should feel the long arm of the law. The Pope can not do it alone.
That is so true and the bishops need the same treatment.
It would be good to find out this bishop's name for more credibility. I believe you, but a name would help the example. These types of bishops are not a few. Reginald Cawcutt is bishop of South Africa and openly gay. They must all go!! We need to help the Holy Father through honest concern and active disdain for their immoral behavior. I guess writing to the Holy Father really does work.
Mr. Joe Zwilling
Archdiocese of New York
1011 First Avenue
New York NY 10022-4134
212-371-1000 is the general phone number for the Archdiocese.
You can write letters of support to Msgr. Clark at:
Monsignor Eugene Clark
460 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022-6863
And send a letter to Cardinal Egan:
H.E. Edward Cardinal Egan
452 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022-6864
I am a faithful Wanderer reader. The Catholic newpaper hated by Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and liberal Catholics, especially liberal chancery offices.
An opinion also shared by the Church, meaning the Magisterium.
I think the political correctness cult is the apostate church of the end times. It will be a religion based on man and sin. If the Catholic church joins it, it just adds to their numbers and their power. Especially if a church of God supports the anti-Christs message. There will be a lamb of God that will endorse the Anti-Christ. It could very well be the Catholic church, but time will tell. If the Church changes its ways, it will be saved. If not, it's in for a rough ride.
Next they will come up with the don't ask, don't tell rule.
Perhaps the corrupt seminaries are being discussed. If a cardinal or bishop mentioned it to a reporter off the record I doubt it would be reported. In fact, I doubt it would be reported even if the pope said something about it. It would probably be "paraphrased."
FYI, Rose will be the guest on an upcoming Catholic Answers program.
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