F
FiveLinden
Guest
Don’t know if Cardinal Pell will win his appeal. This post is not about that. It is about the real situation the Church faces, win or lose for the Cardinal.
Win or lose significant number of Australian Catholics in other countries will believe him guilty. A significant number will not. That first significant number will link this offending to perceived failures in his leadership of the response to abuse, re-opening old wounds. Some who do not think him guilt will agree that a person of his communication skills should not hovered any part of the response to the abuse crisis and agree something further now needs to be done.
Huge numbers of Catholics and others will distract every priest they meet in relation to abuse. This is already the case but the ‘all the way to the top’ argument is very influential.
So, what to do? Well, there are communications experts (I imagine) trying to advice the Church now. Given the past failures in this area I imagine they have little hope that their advice will be accepted. Here is what mine (less expert than some) would be:
Do something really dramatic to show change. E.g 1) (and please don’t derail the thread by arguing it is impossible, it is possible) make half the College of Cardinals women by removing half an appointing women in their place. 2) Require all priests and religious who have abused children to seek laicisation without the need to say why they are seeking this. 3) Withhold absolution from abusers until they have self-reported to the civil authorities or at least require confessors to strongly recommend this. 4) Require abusers to specify the sin of child abuse in exact terms (not just ‘offended against the 6th and 9th commandment, x times’) without which specificity the absolution would be of no effect. 5) Add child sexual abuse and rape in Canon law as a sin against the 5th commandant also as an abuse of power and crimes of violence. 6) Fund an entirely independent organisation to continually inquire into and seek out cases of abuse or cover-ups, with the right to make public any cases unactioned after reporting to the Vatican.
And does anyone know where to find the full recording of Cardinal Pell’s interview with the police? I can find only edited versions.
Win or lose significant number of Australian Catholics in other countries will believe him guilty. A significant number will not. That first significant number will link this offending to perceived failures in his leadership of the response to abuse, re-opening old wounds. Some who do not think him guilt will agree that a person of his communication skills should not hovered any part of the response to the abuse crisis and agree something further now needs to be done.
Huge numbers of Catholics and others will distract every priest they meet in relation to abuse. This is already the case but the ‘all the way to the top’ argument is very influential.
So, what to do? Well, there are communications experts (I imagine) trying to advice the Church now. Given the past failures in this area I imagine they have little hope that their advice will be accepted. Here is what mine (less expert than some) would be:
Do something really dramatic to show change. E.g 1) (and please don’t derail the thread by arguing it is impossible, it is possible) make half the College of Cardinals women by removing half an appointing women in their place. 2) Require all priests and religious who have abused children to seek laicisation without the need to say why they are seeking this. 3) Withhold absolution from abusers until they have self-reported to the civil authorities or at least require confessors to strongly recommend this. 4) Require abusers to specify the sin of child abuse in exact terms (not just ‘offended against the 6th and 9th commandment, x times’) without which specificity the absolution would be of no effect. 5) Add child sexual abuse and rape in Canon law as a sin against the 5th commandant also as an abuse of power and crimes of violence. 6) Fund an entirely independent organisation to continually inquire into and seek out cases of abuse or cover-ups, with the right to make public any cases unactioned after reporting to the Vatican.
And does anyone know where to find the full recording of Cardinal Pell’s interview with the police? I can find only edited versions.