Now that we've completed the exposé on the Holy Father's book Values in a Time of Upheaval, let's turn our attention to another subject. I've never been one to shy away from controversy, so let's just jump in with both feet.
When sexual scandals rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America, many observers and faithful alike called on the church to abandon its beliefs about the vocation of priesthood and sexuality outside marriage, but George Weigel saw the crisis differently.
Shortly after the crisis was first made public, Mr. Weigel, a weekly columnist who lives in North Bethesda, Maryland, published his reflections in a volume entitled The Courage to be Catholic.
In this book, Weigel explains his belief that the crisis has more to do with the question of fidelity to the true esence of Catholicism. He examines patterns of dissent and self-deception that became entrenched in seminaries, among priests, and ultimately among the bishops who failed their flock by thinking like managers instead of apostles.
Recalling the biblical insistence that 'crises' also are times of great opportunity, invitations to deeper faith, Weigel sets forth an agenda for genuine reform that challenges clergy and laity alike to lead more integrally Catholic lives.
The Courage to be Catholic was first published in hardcover (2002) by Basic Books
ISBN - 10: 0-465-09260-8
ISBN - 13: 978-0-465-09260-4
and subsequently in softcover (2004)
ISBN - 0-465-09261-6
ISBN - 978-0-465-09261-1
Publicly known cases of sexual abuse by members of the clergy first came to the fore in Canada in the late 1980's. Since that time, the bishops of Canada have implemented a number of protocols to protect the innocent and the young.
Following a lengthy period of serious reflection, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 1992 published From Pain to Hope, a report by the Ad Hoc Committee on Child Sexual Abuse, which can be found by clicking here. Concacan Inc. holds copyright on this report. For reproduction of any of its material, permission is necessary from the Publications Service of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In 2003, a Special Taskforce was created by the Bishops of Canada to review From Pain to Hope. Its report was received in September 2005 at an annual meeting of the CCCB.
In the coming weeks, I will try to examine some of the key points raised in George Weigel's book, and invite discussion about how these findings are being implemented in Canada and the United States.
4 comments:
Thanks for writing about this BUT you are focused too much on the sex abuse. That is not the real crime. The crime was transferring and hiding the pedophiles instead of dealing with them. The CRIME was putting the assets and reputation of the church above the safety of children. The CRIME was thinking a little sexual play on a child is no big deal, teh child will forget, no one was hurt.
The real crime here is greed. If the church had dealt with this problem at the beginning and prosecuted the pedophiles about a thousand persons would have grown up normal instead of permanently damaged.
I don't think the pedophile priests are the real criminals. The bishops and monsignors who covered up the crimes belong in PRISON for long periods of time.
Then we will be on the way to healing. Only then. As long as all the attention is put on the individual priests this won't happen.
weigel is a papal brown-noser who link to fame and fortune is that he got the jpII book deal. his arrogance is often spotted in his column where he will tell about dining with the pope and the type wine at the table- all bs.
try the new book "broken trust"- 5 abuser first person accounts of why they abused and 3 survivor stories. the bottom line is that most abusers should have been screened out before the seminary- unfortunatley from the 50's on the church took any man who had a pulse.
kairos
When Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (aka "Teflon", "Hollywood", "His Slickness", "I Was Not At The GAY ORGY At St. John's Seminary, In Camarillo, CA, Despite Bishop Brom Testifying As Such Under Sworn Oath", "Helliport") is burned alive at the stake, in front of his downtown LA Mahal, with Excommunication and Censoring of all his works canonically, then justice will be served, in this truly CHRISTIAN act of excorting such an OVERT DEVIL with a red cap!!!
Edmud Burke remains correct: "The only condition for EVIL to exist, is for good men (and women) to do nothing!"
There is an old Roman saying, predating the Church, that goes: "They Pretend To Be Pious, We Pretend To Believe Them."
This is no longer true.
We the laity paying in excess of $12 Billion Dollars in bills for the Curial Ongoing GLOBAL Cover Up, No Long Pretend To Believe Any Of Them!
A festering eternal pox on the damned souls of these miters and red hatted (and yes, white hatted Ratzy also) ENABLERS!
No Bishop Accountability, No Laity Monies!!!
Dear anonymous,
Please don't confuse those spirits who infiltrated Christ's Church with the Church itself. This infiltration was indeed a sign of the times. In a society which commits 1.5 million sex crimes a year in the form of abortion (Canada and US alone), it is not surprising to have seen the overflow of a sick society into Christ's Church.. Remember, that unlike the pedophile victims, these 30 million unborn victims have neither voice nor civil-law to assist them. Pray daily for the overall conversion of a sick society. Meanwhile, the priest-pedophile scandal I would suspect is a thing of the past since priesthood is now the western world's worst "cover" for a pedophile!
God Bless!
Lost in the Cosmos!
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