Children of Priests - New Guidelines

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anikins

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I was browsing the Catholicism tag on The Irish Times and found this story I missed few months ago. It mentions that Pope Francis and the Vatican are developing new guidelines on how dioceses should respond to the issue of the children of priests. The guidelines read:
  1. The birth of a child to a couple brings into being a unique person with a mother and a father. The parents have a fundamental right to make their own decisions regarding the care of their newborn child.
  2. In justice and in love, the needs of the child should be given the first consideration. In the case of a child fathered by a Catholic priest, it follows that a priest, as any new father, should face up to his responsibilities – legal, moral and financial. At a minimum, no priest should walk away from his responsibilities. His relevant church authority (bishop or religious superior) should also direct such a priest in addressing his responsibilities
  3. Each situation requires careful consideration (*) but certain principles present themselves on which the decision of the priest should be made
    -The best interests of the child
    -Dialogue with, and respect for, the mother of the child
  • Dialogue with church superiors
    -Taking into account civil and canon law (**)
  1. It is vital in discerning a way forward that the mother, as the primary caregiver, and as a moral agent in her own right, be fully involved in the decision.
  2. In arriving at a determination regarding these cases, it is important that a mother and child should not be let isolated or excluded.
    *In particular, cultural contexts can have an important bearing. However, the moral agency of the mother will remain important to the cultural contexts
    **Such laws or norms may include rights of custody and maintenance (civil law) or the process of laicisation (canon law)
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www.irishtimes.com

Catholic bishops create guidelines for priests with children

‘At a minimum, no priest should walk away from his responsibilities’
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com
 
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