PRIESTS COULD HAVE SEX UNDER AUSTRALIAN PROPOSAL TO END CHURCH
CHILD ABUSE
BY
SHARE
A
five-year investigation of thousands of child abuse victims in Australia
has led to one stunning recommendation: that the Catholic Church should allow
priests to have sex in order to curb child abuse.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse reviewed more than 8,000 cases since 2013, and found that
schoolteachers and religious ministers accounted for the most child abuse
complaints. Catholic priests accounted for 61.4 percent of the alleged
religious perpetrators.
With that stat in mind, the final report released Friday offered
hundreds of recommendations, including an end to the Catholic Church's
centuries-old policy for compulsory celibacy, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The report said celibacy
was "not a direct cause of child sexual abuse" but
certainly "contributed to the occurrence of child sexual abuse,
especially when combined with other risk factors."
Pope Francis deemed child sex abuse by Catholic priests a
"monstrosity" last year and promised to crack down on
priests who violated the compulsory celibacy rule.
“We will counter those priests who betrayed their calling with
the most strenuous measures. This also applies to the bishops and cardinals who
protected these priests—as happened repeatedly in the past,” Pope Francis wrote.
It is
unclear how well the anti-celibacy proposal will go over. Archbishop
Anthony Fisher of Sydney immediately sought to widen the discussion beyond
pedophilia by priests, saying that child abuse is "an issue for
everyone, celibate or not." The commission also recommended that
priests should have to report child abuse cases that they hear in confessionals
to authorities, asking bishops to appeal the secrecy law to the Vatican. But
that also may be a nonstarter.
"The
seal of the confessional, or the relationship with God that's carried through
the priest and with the person, is inviolable," said Australian
Archbishop Denis Hart.
In any
event, changes are coming. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Trumbull said
the report "exposed a national tragedy" and called for a task
force to start acting on the recommendations as early as next month.
*
Jesuit Pope Francis is Coming Out; Backsliding on Pedophile
Crackdown, Catholic Official Says
By
-
Pope
Francis, the first Jesuit pope, has rescinded his policies regarding the crack
down on pedophilia, Catholic officials claim. In fact, the last abuse survivor
of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors recently left the
commission, citing resistance coming from Vatican offices against implementing
recommendations.
It is
not clear exactly where the opposition is coming from within the Catholic
Church, claimed the last abuse survivor Marie Collins, on the Pontifical
Commission. However, she resigned as a direct result of the Catholic Church’s
inability to implement recommendations that could curb sexual abuse within the
Catholic Church.
In
Australia, the cases of abuse are quite prevalent, and according to the chief
executive of the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council, Francis Sullivan;
“You have to seriously wonder whether this isn’t the Pope backsliding on what
has been a strong and determined crackdown on offending priests and the
circumstances that allowed abuse to take place,”
According
to Sullivan, it is a very dangerous time, he cites both the resignation of
Marie Collins, and the resistance from the Church to curb pedophilia. “Together
these two developments paint a picture of the Vatican establishment, its
bureaucrats, and courtiers, doing all they can to either undermine the Pope or
driving an agenda that is about maintaining the status quo and protecting the
institution.”
Sullivan
also said; “If the church in Australia doesn’t see continuous, concerted change
from our leaders driven and backed by an active and demanding Catholic
community, then our church as a religion will become a marginalized rump,
stripped of credibility and relevance, left to preach to an ever aging
congregation with eyes on an ever dimming hereafter.”
Resistance
to stop pedophilia within the Catholic Church stretches all the way throughout
the Vatican bureaucracy, and it is evident that Pope Francis is aware of the
scandals and is continually attempting to cover them up, hush them up, and push
them aside.
The Jesuit is coming out.
Before
Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, he was potentially involved in at
least five abuse cases. The following comes from Bishop-Accountability:
1Fr. Julio César Grassi
·
Grassi was convicted in 2009
of molesting a boy who had lived in a home for street children that Grassi
founded. After Grassi’s conviction, Bergoglio commissioned a secret study to
persuade Supreme Court judges of Grassi’s innocence. Bergoglio’s intervention
is believed to be at least part of the reason that Grassi remained free for
more than four years following his conviction. He finally was sent to jail in
September 2013. See our detailed summary of the Grassi case with links to
articles.
2Fr. Rubén Pardo
·
In 2003, a priest with AIDS
who had admitted to his bishop that he had sexually assaulted a boy was
discovered to be hiding from law enforcement in a vicarage in the archdiocese
of Buenos Aires, then headed by Bergoglio. Pardo also was reportedly hearing children’s
confessions and teaching in a nearby school. One of Bergoglio’s auxiliary
bishops, with whom he met every two weeks, appears to have lived at the
vicarage at the same time. Typically, an ordinary must give permission for a
priest to live and work in his diocese. It is unlikely that Pardo lived and
ministered in Buenos Aires without Bergoglio’s approval. See our detailed
summary of the Pardo case.
3Brother Fernando Enrique
Picciochi, S.M.
·
After a victim discovered
that his abuser had fled Argentina to the US, eluding law enforcement, the
victim sought Bergoglio’s help in getting released from the confidentiality
order imposed by the cleric’s religious order. He conveyed his request in
meetings with Bergoglio’s private secretary and with the auxiliary bishop,
current archbishop Mario Poli. The archdiocese would not help. See our detailed
summary of the Picciochi case.
4Rev. Mario Napoleon Sasso
·
In 2001, following a
diagnosis as a pedophile at a church-run treatment center, Sasso was made
pastor of a very poor parish with a community soup kitchen in the
Zárate-Campana diocese. In 2002-2003, he sexually assaulted at least five
little girls in his bedroom off the soup kitchen. In 2006, with Sasso in jail
but not yet convicted, the parents of the little girls reportedly sought
Bergoglio’s help. Bergoglio was then president of the Argentine bishops’
conference, and the soup kitchen was just 25 miles from the Buenos Aires
archdiocese. Bergoglio would not meet with them. See our detailed summary of
the Sasso case.
5Rev. Carlos Maria Gauna
·
Gauna was an archdiocesan
priest under Bergoglio’s direct supervision. In 2001, two girls at a school
filed a criminal complaint saying Gauna had touched them inappropriately.
Bergoglio reportedly was going to look into it. Gauna still works in the Buenos
Aires archdiocese. Notably, he’s now a deacon and a hospital chaplain –
possible indicators that Bergoglio considered the allegations credible but
decided to demote him rather than remove him from ministry. See our detailed summary
of the Gauna case.
It is
no wonder that Pope Francis is ‘backsliding’ on pedophilia because he himself
could be involved in some of the scandals listed above. Marie Collins further
states;
“It is devastating in 2017 to see that these men still can put
other concerns before the safety of children and vulnerable adults,” she said
in an editorial published online March 1 by the National Catholic Reporter.
“However, despite the Holy Father approving all the
recommendations made to him by the commission, there have been constant
setbacks,” Collins said in a statement published on her website,
mariecollins.net.
“This has been directly due to the resistance by some members of
the Vatican Curia to the work of the commission. The lack of cooperation,
particularly by the dicastery most closely involved in dealing with cases of
abuse, has been shameful,” she said.
She said the “last straw” that led to her handing in her letter
of resignation was when she learned that the same dicastery that refused to
cooperate on the safeguarding guidelines had also refused “to implement one of
the simplest recommendations the commission has put forward to date.”
The recommendation, which the pope instructed that all Vatican
departments follow, asked that every Vatican office “ensure all correspondence
from victims/survivors receives a response. I learned in a letter from this
particular dicastery last month that they are refusing to do so,” she said.
“I find it impossible to listen to public statements about the
deep concern in the church for the care of those whose lives have been blighted
by abuse, yet to watch privately as a congregation in the Vatican refuses to
even acknowledge their letters!”
“It is a reflection of how this whole abuse crisis in the church
has been handled: with fine words in public and contrary actions behind closed
doors,” she said.
The
Vatican is against protecting children and the Pope is against defending
children. Sexual abuse cases surrounding the Catholic Church are stacking
higher and higher. Which is why according to Kristina Keneally, in Australia, “Catholicism
has done more harm to Australia than Islam.” What say you reader?
Must See Video: The Bodies and Atrocities are Piling up at
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6Works Cited
Australian Associated
Press. “Pope may be backsliding on paedophile crackdown, Catholic official
says.” The Guardian. . (2017): . .
Kristina Keneally . “Catholicism has done more harm to Australia
than Islam. Where's the outrage?” The
Guardian. . (2017): . .
Carol Galtz. “Abuse survivor quits papal body, citing Vatican
resistance to safeguarding.” Catholic
News Service. . (2017): . .
BishopAccountability.org. “Pope Francis and Clergy Sexual Abuse in
Argentina.” BishopAccountability.org.
. (NA): . .
One in 50 priests is a
paedophile: Pope Francis says child abuse is 'leprosy' infecting the Catholic
Church
·
Pope
Francis quoted as saying figure included bishops and cardinals
·
He condemned
child sex abuse as 'leprosy in the church', in interview
·
Vatican
has said quotations 'didn't correspond to what pope actually said'
·
·
·
·
·
Pope Francis has revealed that
around one in every 50 Catholic priests is a paedophile.
Condemning
the issue as a ‘leprosy’ which infects the Church, the Pontiff was yesterday
reported as claiming that even bishops and cardinals are among the ‘2 per cent’
carrying out child abuse.
He also
said that many more in the Church are guilty of covering it up, adding: ‘This
state of affairs is intolerable.’
+3
·
Damning
reports by the UN this year have accused the Vatican of ‘systematically’
adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest thousands of children
over decades, failing to report allegations to the authorities and transferring
offenders to new dioceses where they could abuse again.
In a
wide-ranging interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica yesterday,
Francis denounced the corruption of children as ‘the most terrible and unclean
thing imaginable’ and vowed to ‘confront it with the seriousness it demands’.
The
Pope’s comments come as Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned that fresh
child abuse would be uncovered in the Church of England.
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Asked on
the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday whether more cases would emerge, he said:
‘I would love to say there weren’t but I expect there are.
‘There
are in almost every institution in this land.’
He added
that the Church needed to apologise and explain how ‘utterly devastated’ it was
about its history child abuse.
He said:
‘It is becoming clearer and clearer that for many, many years things were not
dealt with as they should have been dealt with. We must show justice to
survivors of abuse.’
While
Pope Francis has carried out sweeping reforms to the Vatican, he has been
accused of not doing enough to tackle the child abuse crisis.
+3
·
In his
interview, Francis was quoted as saying: ‘The Church is fighting for the
eradication of the habit and for education that rehabilitates.
'But this
leprosy is also present in our house. Many of my colleagues who are working
against it tell me that paedophilia inside the Church is at the level of 2 per
cent.’
He said
that the figures supplied by Church officials were supposed to reassure him,
but added: ‘But I have to say that they do not reassure me by any means.
‘On the
contrary, I find them deeply concerning. Among the 2 per cent who are
paedophiles are even bishops and cardinals.’
Last
night Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the newspaper’s report
had ‘captured the spirit’ of the conversation, but denied that Francis had said
there are some cardinals who are paedophiles.
In his
interview, the Pope acknowledged that paedophilia was common and widespread in
the Catholic Church, and reportedly called the requirement for celibacy among
priests ‘a problem’ for which he is ‘finding the solution’ – although the
Vatican also denied that he said this.
Last week
Pope Francis issued his strongest words on paedophile priests so far as he held
a historic three-hour meeting with six abuse victims, including two from
Britain and two from Ireland.
+3
·
In a mass
before the meeting, he begged abuse survivors for forgiveness for the
‘sacrilegious’ crimes committed by ‘the sons and daughters of the Church who
have betrayed their mission’.
British
abuse victim Peter Saunders, 57, who was molested for more than five years by
two priests, a teacher and a member of his family from the age of eight,
described the experience as ‘life-changing’.
The first
cases of abuse at the hands of priests came to light in the US and Canada in
the 1980s. In the 1990s, revelations began to emerge of widespread abuse in
Ireland, before cases were exposed in more than a dozen countries in the last
decade.
In 2009,
two damning reports into allegations of paedophilia in Ireland revealed the
extent of cover-ups spanned decades and involved thousands of victims.
Last week
the Pope said the Catholic Church had been guilty of ‘complicity’ in covering
up what he called ‘despicable actions’ and ‘grave sins’.
He said
members of the Catholic Church should ‘weep before the execrable acts of abuse
which have left life-long scars’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2690575/Pope-Francis-admits-two-cent-Roman-Catholic-priests-paedophiles-interview-Italian-newspaper.html#ixzz51S0q4nak
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El Salvador continues crackdown on pedophile priests
El Salvador’s Roman Catholic Church revealed that it suspended another priest for sexual abuse after a preliminary investigation.
The Archbishop of San Salvador Jose Luis Escobar announced on Sunday that Juan Francisco Galvez, a parish priest in the town of Rosario de Mora, was relieved of ecclesiastical duties after the conclusion of a preliminary investigation carried out in October 2015. Escobar said that Galvez victimized several people, but declined to give details on the victims’ identities.
Galvez denied the charges.
“I invite all those who have experienced sexual abuse from priests to come forward and directly approach me, Bishop Gregorio Chavez, or Monsignor Rafael Urrutia,” Escobar said.
He also reiterated the Catholic church’s zero tolerance towards sexual abuse.
Galvez’ case comes less than a week after the announcement of a high-profile priest’s suspension on charges of rape.
Even a “well-loved” priest is not exempted
Monsignor Rafael Urrutia, head of external affairs for the archdiocese of San Salvador, told reporters on Thursday that Jesus Delgado was suspended on November 15 for raping a minor multiple times.
“Monsignor Jesus Delgado has been suspended from all priestly, pastoral and administrative roles because of a complaint of sexual abuse of minors,” said Urrutia.
A 42-year-old woman told authorities that Delgado, now 77, raped her when she was eight years old. The abuse continued for nine years until the victim turned 17. The accused priest said that he’s willing to meet the victim and apologize.
It is unclear if charges will be pressed against Delgado as the alleged crime took place more than 20 years ago. According to Urrutia, the victim only wants the priest to leave the priesthood and apologize.
“We deeply regret these facts, we apologize to the victim, society and ask the Lord to call us to conversion. Our archdiocese will not cover up any cases of abuse. We will always be in favor of justice and truth, and will defend the children,” Urrutia added.
Bishop Delgado is a notable priest in the country. He served as the biographer and personal secretary of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran priest who was shot in 1980 while giving mass. Archbishop Romero was recently beatified by Pope Francis in Vatican.
Vanda Pignato, secretary of the country’s social inclusion ministry, expressed her outrage on Delgado’s inclusion to the delegation of El Salvadoran priests who traveled to Rome to thank the Pope for Romero’s beatification. According to her, the Catholic Church already know of the victim’s affidavit when they let Delgado attend the ceremony in Vatican.
“Not only is he included in the delegation, but he was also sitting at the front row,” Pignato said in an interview.
Accused priests take refuge in Latin America
A year-long study by GlobalPost titled Fugitive Fathers revealed many priests who were accused with sexual abuse relocating to poorer countries in Latin America. The report was published early this year.
GlobalPost found out that the Catholic Church only transferred accused priests, mostly from the United States, to less-developed countries instead of turning them over to the authorities. The priests were able to start new lives, far from the reach of the media and investigators until eventually, their cases are forgotten. Some are even leading mass or hold high ranks in their local church.
“As developed countries find it tougher to keep predator priests on the job, bishops are increasingly moving them to the developing world where there are less vigorous law enforcement, less independent media, and a greater power differential between priests and parishioners,” said David Clohessy, spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
The report also told the stories of several victims who are still carrying the traumas and scars from the actions of the abusive priests.
One priest preaching in the a small Peruvian village even admitted to GlobalPost that he had molested a 13-year-old boy when he was with the diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. He has since moved to Peru because he is now barred from working in the U.S.
Since the publication of GlobalPost’s report, two priests have been suspended. Namely, Jan Van Dael from Brazil, and Federico Baeza from Colombia.
According to the GlobalPost, official representatives of the Roman Catholic Church declined to speak with them or give a statement.
Read more at http://latincorrespondent.com/2015/12/el-salvador-continues-crackdown-on-pedophile-priests/#DWGqOHPbogmvmJSs.99
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