falsely accused

[cleofet]

Our Priest has just been removed from Priestly ministry because of abuse accusations, which had gone to Rome. Rome returned them to the diocese because there were inconsistencies in the one accuser and his cousins’ claims on what had happened 10 years ago on a CYO trip. Rome said it was up to the Archbishop to decide. No criminal charges were filed by this accuser and no one else has ever come forward. This priest has never had any thing negative on his record. Almost a year later the decision came down last night at Mass. Our Priest who was removed from us abruptly almost a year ago is now not allowed to return to any ministry. What exactly does it mean that he "will not have his priestly faculties restored” and “Father _____ will not be able to continue in any active priestly ministry” We are all so upset about this decision as no one here or at any of his prior parishes believe he did anything wrong. False accusations and wrong decision in these cases are bringing irreparable damage to the Catholic Church and the world. The shortage of Priest will become the extinction of the Priesthood. We cannot let this happen. I pray that our Priest decides to appeal this unjust and wrong decision. I pray for the Archbishop whose final decision was made to placate the media and the local sexual abuse organizations and not to stand up for an innocent man. God bless all those falsely accused.

 

[CJE]

What exactly does it mean that he "will not have his priestly faculties restored” and "Father _____ will not be able to continue in any active priestly ministry"

Basically, it means that the priest no longer has the authority to celebrate Mass, hold confession, bless anything, etc. However, he is still a priest. Once, someone is ordained a priest, he is ALWAYS a priest. It leaves an indellible mark on his soul that will always be there, much the same way baptism leaves a mark on the soul.

 

[tee_eff_em]

(Sorry to hear about your heartbreaking situation)

CJE:

Basically, it means that the priest no longer has the authority to celebrate Mass, hold confession, bless anything, etc. However, he is still a priest. Once, someone is ordained a priest, he is ALWAYS a priest. It leaves an indellible mark on his soul that will always be there, much the same way baptism leaves a mark on the soul.

More specifically, I think, it means his bishop has revoked his celebret, the credential that authorizes him to administer the sacraments in ordinary circumstances.

In extraordinary circumstances, viz. in the case of a dying penitent, he may still licitly hear his confession and administer the Annointing of the Sick.

tee

 

[puzzleannie]

it means the bishop is in possession of facts that made it mandatory under the norms adopted by the bishops in Dallas and approved by Rome (actually, approval extended until the new pope can review them) to suspend the priest from performing priestly functions and from contact with minors. If those facts included substantial suspicions (not proofs, that is the business of the state) of criminal activity the bishop is obliged by the norms and by law to report this to the appropriate civil authority. What happens then is up to them. The bishop is now concerned with canon law as it applies to the priest, and has grounds under canon law to deprive the priest of his faculty to perform the sacraments, teach and preach.It also means that you or anyone else may never know what those facts are. Continue to support your priest by prayer but it is fruitless to second guess the bishop since you are not and never will be in possession of all the facts.

 

[rwoehmke]

My wife and I worked with a priest who we were convinced was one of the best ever. After having to look him up in several different parishes, we read in the paper that he had been arrested for abusing a number of alter boys. He was a delightful man who could teach and preach with the best. Unfortunately he was flawed in a way not at all obvious to most of the laity in his parishes. Never say never about these unfortunates.

 

[vern_humphrey]

rwoehmke:

My wife and I worked with a priest who we were convinced was one of the best ever. After having to look him up in several different parishes, we read in the paper that he had been arrested for abusing a number of alter boys. He was a delightful man who could teach and preach with the best. Unfortunately he was flawed in a way not at all obvious to most of the laity in his parishes. Never say never about these unfortunates.

As a Catechist, I have to go through Virtus training. It is a very distrubing thing, because you find the average pedophile is exactly like you would expect a favorite uncle or a doting grandfather to be.

As they describe a pedophile’s actions and attraction to children, you think, “They’re describing ME!”

It takes a while to understand that the difference between the favorite uncle, the doting grandfather, the man who takes kids camping and so on, and the pedophile is that somewhere there’s a switch that’s flipped the wrong way.

You would expect a pedophile to be a likeable, helpful person always willing to work with children – and you would expect children to like him. Until . . .

 

[geezerbob]

cleofet:

Our Priest has just been removed from Priestly ministry because of abuse accusations, which had gone to Rome. Rome returned them to the diocese because there were inconsistencies in the one accuser and his cousins’ claims on what had happened 10 years ago on a CYO trip. Rome said it was up to the Archbishop to decide. No criminal charges were filed by this accuser and no one else has ever come forward. This priest has never had any thing negative on his record. Almost a year later the decision came down last night at Mass. Our Priest who was removed from us abruptly almost a year ago is now not allowed to return to any ministry. What exactly does it mean that he "will not have his priestly faculties restored” and “Father _____ will not be able to continue in any active priestly ministry” We are all so upset about this decision as no one here or at any of his prior parishes believe he did anything wrong. False accusations and wrong decision in these cases are bringing irreparable damage to the Catholic Church and the world. The shortage of Priest will become the extinction of the Priesthood. We cannot let this happen. I pray that our Priest decides to appeal this unjust and wrong decision. I pray for the Archbishop whose final decision was made to placate the media and the local sexual abuse organizations and not to stand up for an innocent man. God bless all those falsely accused.

Here is a link to the procedures followed in our diocese. If you take the time to read all the legal mumbo jumbo, you will realize that the bishop or archbishop does not impose such sanctions arbitrarily. I’m not saying they can’t be wrong but the odds are certainly against it.

catholic-doc.org/

 

[vern_humphrey]

geezerbob:

Here is a link to the procedures followed in our diocese. If you take the time to read all the legal mumbo jumbo, you will realize that the bishop or archbishop does not impose such sanctions arbitrarily. I’m not saying they can’t be wrong but the odds are certainly against it.

catholic-doc.org/

Actually, the procedures in most diocese are modeled on those established by Bishop MacDonald right here in the Diocese of Little Rock.

You have to strike a balance between the rights of the accused and the danger to the children. Many bishops leaned too far in favor of the accused (or of protecting the Church from scandal) and a lot of young people’s lives were badly damaged as a consequence of what happened to them.

Another consequence is that the Church is continually strapped for cash – because of the huge settlements and judgements.

 

[cleofet]

Yet another consequence of these false accusations is that no adult wants to have any contact with children for fear it will be later taken as abuse. This is very sad because some children and adults just need that caring hug. There are a lot of evil people out there that are lured by the almighty (in their estimation) dollar. They would turn an honest caring comforting touch into a sordid abusive sick action and destroy that person’s life along with many others. I am not naive enough that I think that there are not priests that do these horrible things but to assume that every accusation is true and be afraid to stand up for the innocent makes me sick and sad. It is easier to get rid of one priest that has been accused then to stand by the truth and say this person is innocent. Fear of being criticized can have devastating effects if left unchecked. I know the Church has looked the other way in a lot of instances and has transferred many priest around to other parishes just to hide the fact that we have molesters in the ranks but to sacrifice innocent people to try to make up for the hurt we have caused in the past is WRONG. Not that my two cents will make any difference to anyone but fear can’t replace truth and innocents.