Vatican spokesman says justice and prevention for abuse cases allow Church to look forward

[lemonbeam]

The way in which the Church confronts sexual abuse and its extensive coverage recently in the media is “crucial” for her moral credibility, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said on Saturday. He looked to Pope Benedict XVI and various bodies within the Church working to “eradicate the scourge of abuses.”

In a note released through Vatican Radio, he stated that recognizing the facts and making amends for cases that “generally” took place years ago is the price of “the reestablishment of justice” and of that “purification of memory" which will allow the Church to look to the future with “renewed commitment" and “humility and trust”

He highlighted the responses of episcopal conferences in different parts of the world which have “reinforced, updated and renovated” directives that provide for the “correct management and prevention of abuses.”

Referring to the “decisive measures” and actions of the U.S. Bishops, he said their recently released annual report shows that the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” is obtaining positive results. Fr. Lombardi remarked that it must be recognized that efforts are proving to be “effective.”

“The Church in the United States has taken the good road to renewing itself,” he noted.

The U.S. Bishops’ Conference reported on March 23 that accusations of sexual abuse had dropped by a third in the past year, with “virtually all cases” having taken place decades ago.

This, Fr. Lombardi continued, is an "important news item in the context of recent media attacks, that have undoubtedly provoked damages.

“But,” he added, “to an unsuperficial observer it doesn’t escape their attention that the authority of the Pope and the intense and coherent commitment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith come out not weakened, but confirmed in supporting and orienting the episcopates in combating and eradicating the scourge of abuses everywhere they might manifest themselves.”

The Vatican spokesman concluded that it is with “humility and trust, in the spirit of penance and hope” that the Church begins Holy Week “and asks the mercy and grace of the Lord who suffers and rises again for us.”

Read more here: catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican_spokesman_says_justice_and_prevention_for_abuse_cases_allow_church_to_look_forward/

 

[lemonbeam]

It’s a bad time to be a Catholic. Everywhere you look, Church-bashers are crowing about the left-footers caught kiddy-fiddling. Sensationalist stories of horriffic child abuse keep coming out like rats in a ramshackle house. Reports of cover-ups make you want to spit at anyone wearing a bishop’s mitre, or a cardinal’s red hat: if they weren’t at it, they were probably covering up for one of their own who was.

So when it comes to the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict, the instinct is to spit all the more. But to do so would be wrong. This Pope has done more than any other churchman to address the issue of priestly child abuse. He has stopped the practice of turning over priests accused of abuse to therapists, as we now know that therapy seldom helps a paedophile. He has fast-tracked the defrocking of priests found guilty of abuse. He has promoted co-operation, at a diocesan level, between church authorities responsible for canon law and police.

He can point to some real success in the protection of children: in England and Wales, for instance, child protection officers monitor every encounter between children and clergy. The result, is that, ironically, there is no safer place for a child today to be than with a Catholic priest.

Yet in this crisis everyone wants a scapegoat. The victims of abuse and their family do, because turning the other cheek in the face of evil on this magnitude and scale is impossible. (I, for one, would be indefatigable in waging a truly Italian-style vendetta against anyone who harmed my child.) The media wants a scapegoat, because to claim a big scalp is a sign of successful reporting. And the Church does, because so many guilty men can hide behind a larger-than-life figurehead.

Step forward Benedict XVI, the perfect scapegoat. It doesn’t matter that the overwhelming number of abuse cases happened in John Paul II’s time; or that the policy of cover-up was allowed to take root well before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Benedict XVI. Accusations fly, and allegations mount. In this feverish atmosphere, facts become, frankly, irrelevant. Who cares that when, as Cardinal, Benedict assigned a known paedophile to a course of therapy, this was the practice not only within the church, but the outside world too? Who cares that when Fr Lawrence Murphy was abusing 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin, the police were called in and did not believe the victims and absolved the priest of any wrong-doing? Who cares that when, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Benedict allowed Fr Murphy to die a priest rather than be defrocked, he was fulfilling a dying man’s wish?

We must resist those baying for Benedict’s blood. By persecuting the Pope, we risk undoing his hard work in the area of clerical child abuse. His reforms makes life very uncomfortable for many churchmen. They will seize upon any opportunity to stop the cleaning of their Augean stables. Those who besmirch Pope Benedict XVI’s reputation risk giving these men the upper hand. We, lay Catholics, will suffer as a result, condemned to wade through the muck and filth for generations to come.

Read more here: blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100031596/pope-benedict-xvi-is-part-of-the-solution-not-the-problem/