Comments on:

By: Eye Care

Eye Care — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:26:25 +0000

After all, the pope’s meeting with abuse victims, and his expression of sorrow on behalf of the Church, and solidarity with them, can do more to heal the hearts of those who have been hurt and sinned against, than all the sensational stories and op-eds the media could ever publish.

By: social media

social media — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:49:13 +0000

Really it was certainly interesting for me to read that article. Thank author for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more soon.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:31:16 +0000

I personally do *not* think that the pope has chosen the best approach in meeting privately with abuse victims. I expressed these same sentiments when he visited the United States and did the same thing then.

Here’s why. There are thousands and thousands of victims, of course, and they’ve all been led – by friends and family members, by groups like the bishops accountability group, and first and foresmost by the media – into a series of erroneous beliefs.

The first is that the Pope is like the CEO of the Catholic Church – that he is that directly “in charge” of the Church. The role of the bishops, who are the “true” leaders of the individual churches (e.g., the church of New York, the church of Paris, the church of Boston, etc.) has been completely pushed aside.

Following from this first false idea, they’ve been led to believe that they either deserve, or in fact *need* to see the pope *himself* in order to move forward from their abuse. You have all kinds of people suffering and in need of healing, and they have been convinced that they’re not *allowed* to feel any better or to experience any healing unless they get to meet with the pope himself. Being from Boston, I know the tremendous lengths that Cardinal O’Malley went to to meet with all of the victims, to visit the parishes, to do all kinds of things, and yet for the victims – again, I contend, largely spurned on by the media and others – this was not enough. They demand the pope.

Now, the big problem is that the pope is one man. He’s simply not *capable* of meeting with every abuse victim. In fact, if he tried the inhuman feat of meeting with one every 5 minutes 24 hours a day, it would still take years to meet with them all. This is the reason Christ gafve us *bishops,* of course: they are our leaders here, in our local churches (that is, in our dioceses).

The concern I have is that when he meets with these small groups of victims on his visits, he really *isn’t* helping the victims. Now, we see from Mr. Allen’s article that he certainly has helped those he’s met with – whoch is great! The problem is that I believe this perpetuates the ideas that the pope is indeed “directly” in charge of every priest/parish and that every victim should be able to get to meet with him, or in fact needs to, in order to move on.

So while it helps the few he’s met with, I think it makes things much worse for those he *isn’t* able to meet with.

No malice intended towards our Holy Father, now. This is just my opinion, and it is a difficult pastoral issue, obviously. He’s doing what he thinks is best, no doubt. I just am not so sure it really is what’s best.

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:28:47 +0000

Filing a criminal complaint is the proper way to go. If you believe there has been a crime, you should report it. (And if it is a false report, that is a crime too.)

By: JD

JD — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:04:53 +0000

English:
My sentiments as well. I can’t speak for the whole Church but I know steps have been taken in my Diocese all across the board from not allowing a situation where this could take place (no child left alone w/ an adult) to better screening of clergy. My biggest concern remains though, that there still may be abuse within the walls of the Church. As good as the leadership is now leading all the way up to our Holy See, I can’t say for certain that it will never happen again. It’s the human, carnal element that we all have to deal with. I just know that it will never be as bad as it was.

By: ND66

ND66 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:03:02 +0000

“Ten men in 2003 filed a criminal suit against four priests the men said molested them when they were growing up in an orphanage in Malta. They and others have complained that the Malta diocese has been investigating the case for seven years and has not yet determined how to proceed against the priests. Three are still working as priests in Malta and one is now in Italy.”

Is this true? There is testimony from ten men, and it takes over seven years to decide what to do? And it hasn’t been decided yet?

If false, the Church should debunk this kind of report aggressively and specifically, and call out the irresponsibility of the media reporting it.

But if true, all the penance in the world won’t make up for a lack of positive action. From the outside, it looks like the same ecclesiastical inaction that caused this scandal in the first place.

By: Brian English

Brian English — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:09:22 +0000

“The worst offenders are out of office already. Many are dead. I keep asking people to find evidence that the norms aren’t working and point out new cases of the Church sweeping these matters under the rug. To date, no one can seem to come up with any. My take is that the media is ginning this up as payback to the Church for its stand on abortion, etc. and counting on the gullible and the bigoted not to reflect on the fact that the cases they keep mentioning are decades old. It’s like refighting the last war.”

Exactly. It is irritating that many who are critical of Benedict appear to be very poorly informed about all the Church has done over the past decade to deal with this issue.

By: tjm

tjm — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:52:30 +0000

The worst offenders are out of office already. Many are dead. I keep asking people to find evidence that the norms aren’t working and point out new cases of the Church sweeping these matters under the rug. To date, no one can seem to come up with any. My take is that the media is ginning this up as payback to the Church for its stand on abortion, etc. and counting on the gullible and the bigoted not to reflect on the fact that the cases they keep mentioning are decades old. It’s like refighting the last war.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:05:02 +0000

The Holy Father’s emphasis on meeting abuse victims is a wonderful personal approach. However, what it doesn’t address or heal is the lost trust of many sincere faithful in the episcopacy. This breach is simply huge as those inside the Church have watched Cardinals and Bishops who were involved get kicked upstairs to Rome or retire in comfort with little or no accountability required for their actions. It would not be a political move but a pastoral one for Benedict, as shepherd, to address his flock with some concrete plan of action regarding these Bishops and other clergy who have gotten off scott free.

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:58:22 +0000

Our Pope, God bless him, has been responding pastorally and administratively. When he’d done here, I’ve got some other places for him to clean up and shepherd.