Pope Benedict XVI has become embroiled in new revelations over child sexual abuse, over a letter he is said to have signed in 1985 before becoming pontiff.
Associated Press said it had obtained the letter, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, resisting the defrocking of offending US priest Stephen Kiesle.
Cardinal Ratzinger said the "good of the universal Church" needed to be considered in defrocking, AP reported. Photo
It said the Vatican had confirmed the cardinal's signature on the letter.
However it quoted Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi as saying it was "not strange that there are single documents which have Cardinal Ratzinger's signature".
He added: "The press office doesn't believe it is necessary to respond to every single document taken out of context regarding particular legal situations." Read more – BBC News
Catholic church at crossroads in Milwaukee – John Rondy – Reuters
(Reuters) - Stung by fresh charges of priestly sexual abuse and allegations of a cover-up that reach the Vatican, the Roman Catholic church in the United States faces a crisis of empty pews and empty coffers.
Attendance was down noticeably at some Easter Sunday services in Milwaukee, reflecting the litany of troubles facing the U.S. church and a torrent of criticism over its handling of abuse cases.
"The church is at a crossroads," said Tim Flanner, 51, a member of St. John Vianney church. "There are people who are really ticked off, and there are a lot of them.
"The church needs to address its own failures, acknowledge its own guilt, and ask for forgiveness, and heal as a family," he said. Photo
Last month, amid explosive charges that a now-dead priest molested some 200 boys at a school for the deaf over more than two decades, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki apologized to the victims and acknowledged the church was wrong to not defrock the priest, Rev. Lawrence Murphy.
But beyond the church's tarnished reputation, the financial fallout from paying settlement claims to victims is being felt in Milwaukee and dioceses across the United States.
Four lawsuits are pending in Milwaukee, and the diocese has put its headquarters, the Cousins Center, up for sale to help pay $27 million in settlement costs that have threatened to bankrupt the diocese. Read more - John Rondy – Reuters
Related link:
AP EXCLUSIVE: Future pope stalled pedophile case - By GILLIAN FLACCUS - Associated Press Writer – reads more
Ignorance about human sexuality is harmful to children.
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.” Erik Erikson
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6
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