Braz de Aviz: Those who have covered up abuses for 70 years are a mafia; They are not Church

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cathoholic
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Cathoholic

Guest
Story regarding an interview with Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

.

Braz de Aviz: “Those who have covered up abuses for 70 years are a mafia; They are not Church”​

  • The cardinal leads the closing day of the XXV General Assembly of CONFER
  • "We can not cover. Maybe we will become a smaller Church, but more correct, "he stressed.
  • The Vatican ‘minister’ recalled that "in the Gospel there are no superiors. From a baptized child to the Pope, we are all equal " . . .
. . . . "I have the impression that allegations of abuse will grow, because we are only at the beginning. We’ve been hiding for 70 years, and this has been a huge mistake. " This is how the cardinal expressed himself before a question in this regard. Also, Braz de Aviz has advised “be immediate in the face of abuse.” "What comes to us immediately has to be heard. We have to be attentive to the victims and not to the aggressors, this is what the Pope asks of us. The pain of those who suffer these abuses is enormous and we can not let it go. We can not cover, "he added.

In the same sense, he has asked the religious not to let this crisis "immobilize us, because it is true that now many tell us that we are all pedophiles. It is a difficult moment, but from here we will be converted. Maybe as a smaller Church, but also more correct. " . . .

Concealment of abuses​

Continuing with the abuses, the prefect has denounced that since 1943 the Vatican had documents on the conduct of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Marcial Maciel. “Who covered him was a mafia, they were not Church,” he stressed. At the time, he wanted to clarify that this has nothing to do with “the current life of the congregation, which has followed a very good process.”

According to his words, “the current problem tells us that many things in the past were done wrong.” And it is that "he was lying; to my generation no one spoke to us about sexuality, and this today has to be rethought in training ". . . .
Click to expand...

The above was from a news outlet in Spain from Oct., but updated in mid November. Translated into English by Android Google translate.

Below Ed Pentin does a blog update from Jan. 2, 2019 on this story presumably in preparation for the upcoming abuse crisis Conference that the Vatican will convene next month concerning itself, and the Bishops.

The implicit message it seems is, we must learn from past governing mistakes on how we have dealt with homsexuals within our priesthood and bishop ranks abusing boys and men (and heterosexual abuse within the clergy as well).
 
Last edited:
“I have the impression that allegations of abuse will grow, because we are only at the beginning.
We’ve been covering up for 70 years, and this has been a huge mistake.” – Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz

This is an astonishing statement coming from the head of the Vatican’s dicastery for religious life!

.
JAN. 2, 2019

Vatican Knew About Legionary Founder Maciel’s Abuse From 1943​

The head of the Vatican’s dicastery for religious life blames ‘a mafia’ for the cover-up, adding those responsible ‘were not the Church.’​

Edward Pentin National Catholic Register 2 Jan 2019

Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, has disclosed that the Vatican had documents on the abusive conduct of the disgraced founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Father Marcial Maciel, from as long ago as 1943.

The Brazilian cardinal said “those who covered it up were a mafia, they were not the Church,” according to the Spanish Catholic online magazine Vida Nueva.

Cardinal Bráz de Aviz did not give any more details about the documents, which he mentioned in a talk he gave at a Madrid conference late last year, but said the Legionaries currently have “nothing to do” with such a coverup and now follow “a very good process.”

According to a 2006 article in the Spanish newspaper El Pais , Rome investigated Father Maciel for suspected pedophilia between 1956 and 1959 on the instructions of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani — 13 years after the first reports referred to by Cardinal Braz de Aviz.

During those four years, Father Maciel was suspended as superior general of the Legion and expelled from Rome, but the investigation yielded no results and he soon returned to his old ways but with more power.

Father Maciel, who died in 2008, founded the Legionaries of Christ in 1941 but an apostolic visitation of the order was undertaken in 2009 after it emerged he had led a double life of having fathered three children with two mistresses, sexually abused minors, seminarians and even his own children, and embezzled funds. Some of the allegations dated back to the 1940s. . . . .

Immediate Response

. . . Cardinal Bráz de Aviz insisted the Church must immediately respond to abuse allegations. “We must be attentive to the victims and not the perpetrators, this is what the Pope asks of us,” the Brazilian cardinal said. “The pain of those who suffer from these abuses is enormous and we cannot let it go. We cannot cover it up.”

Speaking generally about the abuse crisis, the cardinal said: “I have the impression that allegations of abuse will grow, because we are only at the beginning. We’ve been covering up for 70 years, and this has been a huge mistake.” . . .
Click to expand...
(Bold mine)

 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top