Word: sexuality
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...Catholic liturgical calendar—Pope Benedict XVI was preparing for an apology instead of a celebration. On Sunday, March 21, congregations throughout Ireland were read a letter authored by the Pope, which expressed his “shame and remorse” for the acts of child sexual abuse committed by priests in the nation. The Pope was responding to two reports released by Irish officials last year, which discovered frequent abuses in parochial schools and widespread efforts by ecclesiastical authorities to cover up these crimes. Ultimately, despite the penitential tone of the Pope’s letter...
...number of specific reforms, if immediately adopted, could reduce the ability of priests to engage in sexual abuse and of bishops to conceal these crimes. First, the Church must reaffirm its commitment to treating cases of sexual abuse as open civil matters rather than concealed ecclesiastical ones. For example, one of the reports in Ireland noted the Church hierarchy’s systematic failure to inform local authorities of felonies committed by priests. Priests need to be made aware of the appropriate means of reporting crimes to civil enforcement officials and mandated to do so in many cases. The obligations...
...second reform involves providing bishops with more authority to handle cases of abuse. Constructing this extra layer of local defense against priestly indiscretions would demonstrate the Church’s commitment to ending sexual abuse in its dioceses. Bishops should be granted the authority to report cases of abuse on their own (without consulting the Church hierarchy), impose consequences such as mandated leaves of absence or counseling for priests guilty of felonies, recommend the defrocking of priests to the Pope, and speak out against transferring priests simply to conceal histories of abuse...
...Germany in 1980, a priest in his diocese struggling with pedophilia was permitted to move to Munich for therapy. The priest was subsequently appointed to serve in a church, and civil officials were never informed of the allegations against him. Within five years, the priest was again accused of sexual abuse and he was convicted in 1986. Providing bishops with more power and more incentives to speak out against incidents like this—times when abusive priests are discreetly transferred without informing civil authorities of their criminal actions—can provide a local mechanism to limit widespread abuse...
...Catholics around the world. A controversial letter recently published in USA Today, for example, likens the Pope to a “martyr” who, “like Jesus, is completely innocent and is doing everything in his power to weed out those priests guilty of sexual abuse.” These and similar claims, which portray the Pope as a martyr for bringing the sexual abuse claims to light, are offensive to the victims of these crimes and unacceptable if the Church is to move past these allegations. The Pope’s controversial actions have certainly...