St. Patrick must be weeping. As we mark this day that bears his name, the sex abuse scandal that scarred the U.S. Catholic Church is shaking Ireland to the core.
Growing worse across Europe by the day, it reaches now into Pope Benedict XVI's former archdiocese in Germany. Photo
As a result, devoted priests and devout Catholics -- who exemplify what is right with the church -- are weighed down once more by the burden and shame of what has gone wrong.
Recently, at a large funeral mass for a dear friend in Chicago, I counted eight priests on the altar. I know most of them. And I know the fine and faithful work they do in parishes, with the poor and disabled and in the classroom.
They are not the problem.
It is the secrecy, arrogance and lack of transparency of the hierarchy that have been toxic for the reputation of the church and its moral authority.
The parallels between the 2002 Boston sex abuse scandal and the one that now comes out of Dublin are striking. They are the subject of a superb piece in the current issue of Commonweal magazine by Nicholas P. Cafardi. Read more - BY CAROL MARIN - Chicago Sun-Times
Why pope is at center of media storm - By John L. Allen Jr., CNN Senior Vatican Analyst
(CNN) -- From a distance, it may be difficult to understand why Pope Benedict XVI finds himself at the center of a media storm this week since it pivots on a single case of an abuser priest in Germany almost 30 years ago.
Yet the story could have profound implications not only for the pontiff himself, but also for the Catholic Church's ability to emerge from the sex abuse scandals that have plagued it for the last decade. Photo
The Catholic Church in Germany is in the middle of a mushrooming crisis, with more than 300 allegations of sexual abuse against priests, nuns and other church personnel having surfaced over the last month, often involving charges from decades ago.
The pope is himself a German, and over the weekend the crisis was directly linked to him for the first time through reports about a priest who served in the Archdiocese of Munich in southern Germany during the time Benedict was archbishop there from 1977 to 1982. Read more - By John L. Allen Jr., CNN.com - Senior Vatican Analyst
Pope to Address Abuse in Letter - By RACHEL DONADIO – The New York Times
ROME — As hundreds of new allegations of sexual abuse surface in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that he hoped a forthcoming letter dealing with one part of the scandal in Ireland would help “repentance, healing and renewal.” Photo
The pope, the former Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, was addressing his weekly general audience at the Vatican after days of disclosures concerning the German church, where one case happened on his watch before he became pope in 2005. The pope’s comments on the scandal in Ireland came a day after a top Vatican official acknowledged on Tuesday that, with only 10 people handling such cases, his office might not be adequate for the task. Read more - By RACHEL DONADIO – The New York Times
Church sex scandal rocks faithful in Brazil – Javno
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SBT television last week aired video from a hidden camera showing father Marques Barbosa, 82, having sex with a 19-year-old boy.
SAO PAULO, March 17, 2010 (AFP) - Child sex scandals roiling the Roman Catholic church spread to Brazil Tuesday after the Vatican said three priests were under investigation following allegations of child abuse.Photo
The Vatican's acknowledgement takes controversies that have rocked the church in the United States and more recently in Europe to the country with the largest Catholic population in world. About 74 percent of Brazil's 190 million citizens, or roughly 140 million people, identify as Catholics. Read more – Javno
This about the reckless endangerment of children in a calculated, purposeful strategy to protect the institutional Church - By Jason Walsh – December 2, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor – Read more
RC hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges - falsely accused gay priests WATERGATE? Read more
Ratzinger, Hurley, Maida & Accomplices - Kids Are Being Hurt!!! (Sequential Order of Reactions) Read more
Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation, Dr. Gregory Herek, University of California at Davis & Yale University & City University of New York – Read more
Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests' – London Evening Standard – standard.co.uk Read more
Child Protection Service of the Archdiocese of Dublin, November 2009 -Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child abuse against clerics of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. Read complete report
Vatican Scapegoats Gays and Leaves Criminals Unaccountable -Human Rights Campaign- September 15, 2005 Read more
Shifting the blame: the Vatican's campaign to purge gay men from Catholic seminaries is an attempt to shift the blame for the sexual abuse scandal away from the bishops - 2006 Read more
New Catholic Sex Abuse Findings: Gay Priests Are Not the Problem – by DAVID GIBSON – Politics Daily - November 18, 2009 Read more
Report: Sexual orientation not a factor in priest sex abuse -Philadelphia Gay News - Jen Colletta Read more
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