Word: benedict
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...father of a son who, five years ago, on the eve of his first communion, asked me what clerical sexual abuse was, I'm as gratified as any Catholic that Pope Benedict XVI confronted the issue as strongly as he did during his U.S. visit. And yet, as the celestial glow and the cable news giddiness wear off, most U.S. Catholics will still be angry at the church over the scandal; most still won't adhere to church teaching on issues like birth control, homosexuality, divorce, female ordination and the death penalty; and most still won't believe you have...
Cardinal William Levada, a high-ranking Vatican official whom Pope Benedict XVI hand-picked to succeed him in his old job as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, offered early signs on Friday that the Vatican will change its internal, or canon, laws concerning the church's response to sexual abuse allegations - a matter that has become the main topic of the Pope's American visit. The changes would follow adjustments made some time ago involving the church's statute of limitations with regard to some particularly egregious offenses. The Cardinal suggested that laws meriting amendment may involve statutes...
...American-born Cardinal, who was Archbishop of San Francisco before Benedict brought him to Rome, said that there have already been some abuse cases in which the Vatican had "made exceptions" to canon laws - cases in which victims may not have spoken up until years later. "We found that many of the cases go back over quite a number of years, and [victims] don't feel personally able to come forward until they reach a certain level of maturity. Some canon norms are like statutes of limitations, and if the case warrants...we've been able to make exceptions...
...fact, the message that expressed itself most urgently today was in the philosophical, rather than the policy-setting part of the talk, and it dealt with the definition of freedom, which is becoming a recurring theme on this trip, as Benedict repeatedly stresses that it is found only in faith. "While we have sought diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have neglected the will," the Pope mused. Because free will, if rightly tutored and exercised, does not involve "an opting-out" of belief, "but an opting...
...those who think that definition of freedom may be fine for a priest but constricting for an academic whose findings contradict Church teachings, Benedict had an answer: it's time to reconsider what you mean by truth. "Truth means more than knowledge," he commented. "Only in faith can truth become incarnate and reason truly human." And "the truths of faith and reason never contradict one another." There may be some Catholic educators who have trouble with that simple equation. But for now, they're probably happy that the Pope is bandying words rather than taking action...