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Greg Burke at Fox News took a trip to Rome recently:

In an extensive interview with Fox News, the chief Vatican prosecutor for clerical sex abuse cases, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, said he watched Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s “compassion, anger and frustration” as the future pope reviewed hundreds of cases between 2002-2005.

 When asked if those three years fundamentally changed Ratzinger’s view of the abuse scandal, Scicluna said the experience would change anybody. “I think it was an eye-opener to the gravity of the situation and to the great sadness of priestly betrayal and priestly failure,” he said. “I think that anybody who has to review so many cases will certainly change his perspective on things, on human failings, but also on the great suffering they create.” [Continue reading...]  

The photo I chose for yesterday’s Papist Picture of the Day is making waves today. The UK tabloids happily chirped little editorials such as this:

“Pope Benedict donned the trendy hat as he walked around his estate in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.”

The latest papal accessory has also inspired the inevitable photoshop entries:

It’s good to see people having a bit of fun with this (and in good taste!).

I have great faith in Pope Benedict. That’s why I’m not worried about what otherwise would be a very worrisome situation: his visit to England in September.

Before the pope’s visit to Turkey I asked readers to pray for his safety. Now I’m asking readers again to do so, especially in light of stories like this:

The controversy surrounding Pope Benedict’s September trip to the United Kingdom has kicked up a bit after an Islamic website invited Muslims to “tell the pope just what they think of him after his insults against the Prophet Muhammad.”

The Islamic Standard welcomed the change of venue for an event on the last day of the pontiff’s visit, Sept. 19, from Coventry to Birmingham.

Birmingham, the second-largest city in England after London, is about 15 percent Muslim, and the website said it was a good opportunity for Muslims to confront “disbelievers” and to “tell the pope in no uncertain terms what Muslims think of his evil slanders against the last Prophet of God and his message.”

Speaking of evil slanders, look at what else the Muslims are saying about the pope:

The Islamic Standard also referred to the Catholic Church as the “sodomite child-molesting Church of Rome.”

Pray for the pope’s safety, and pray for the conversion of those who hate him.

I know many AmP readers participated in this spiritual bouquet organized by the Cardinal Newman Society:

The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) announced today, July 20, that its spiritual bouquet compiled during an Eastertide Prayer Campaign for Pope Benedict XVI has been delivered to the Vatican. The bouquet offered more than one million prayers for the Pope, including 24,000 Masses offered by Catholic priests. The spiritual bouquet is available to view here.

The huge outpouring of prayer is impressive, just by the numbers:

24,714 Masses Offered by Priests
264,179 Holy Rosaries
439,413 General Prayers
137,363 Divine Mercy Chaplets
108,716 Mass Intentions
19,713 Novenas
31,847 Days of Fasting
44,357 Eucharistic Holy Hours

I’m especially proud about how many Catholic bloggers got behind this! Thank you all!

I’ve commented before on the statements made by Cardinal Schonborn which involved his fidelity to the Church’s teaching on homosexual unions and his public disagreement with Cardinal Sodano. The Vatican issued an official statement today which may shed light on the dispute – or at least provide evidence that it has been resolved internally:

The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference. The cardinal had asked to meet the Supreme Pontiff personally in order to report on the current situation of the Church in Austria. In particular, Cardinal Schonborn wished to clarify the exact meaning of his recent declarations concerning some aspects of current ecclesiastical discipline, and certain of his judgements regarding positions adopted by the Secretariat of State – and in particular by the then Secretary of State of Pope John Paul II – concerning the late Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995. 

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. were subsequently invited to join the meeting.

In the second part of the audience certain widespread misunderstandings were clarified and resolved, misunderstandings deriving partly from certain statements of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, who expressed his displeasure at the interpretations given to his words.

Briefly, the statement goes on to affirm that Schonborn agrees that it is up to the Pope exclusively to discipline Cardinals, that Cardinal Schonborn does not believe that Cardinal Sodano is insensitive to the suffering of persons who have been abused by priests, and that Pope Benedict renews his confidence in the pastoral ministry of Cardinal Schonborn (which implies that the doctrinal questions raised by Cardinal Schonborn’s comments to the press have been resolved to the satisfaction of the pope).

Spare the rod, spoil the world – according to the Holy Father:

The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray.

The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated.

Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented.

- From the papal homily at the end of the year for priests this weekend (the entirety of which is well worth the read)

I could reflect on many things in this short passage, but I want to focus on one: Pope Benedict has highlighted here the connection between laxity of discipline and laxity of orthodoxy.

Therefore, according to the Holy Father, the Church best safeguards herself (and her children) when she is vigilant both about protecting and defending the truths of the Church (i.e., doctrine) and the disciplines of the Church (i.e., punishment of sin, intolerance of evil). Those who criticize the Church for not “cracking down” on her guilty priests ought to also criticize the Church when she does not “cracks down” on her guilty teachers (to put it in imprecise but effective terms). Similarly, those who find fault when the Church disciplines her wayward teachers should realize they are harming the ability of the Church to discipline her wayward pastors.

At the same time, the fullness of the Church involves both promoting virtue and chastity in its priests and lay people, as well as promoting fidelity to the saving teachings of Christ and understanding of those same teachings in the wider world around us.

A holy universal and Catholic church will always be unified by the teachings of Christ and the personal witness of her shepherds.

Philip Jenkins, who I’ve said before is the one of the world’s leading authorities on the clergy sexual abuse controversy, has an excellent article in USA Today which asks, “How serious is the ‘predator priest’ problem?”

Jenkins is a hero for the work he has done on this issue. He is a first-class academic who does not lightly take a side on a complex issue. And yet take sides he does on this issue – against those who attempt to villainize the Church:

No reputable scholar has ever conducted a survey of the abuse problem as it affects any other profession, in a way that would allow us to make direct comparisons with the Catholic clergy. If anyone believes that priests offend at a higher rate than teachers or non-celibate clergy, then they should produce the evidence on which they are basing that conclusion. I know of none. Saying “everybody knows” does not constitute scientific methodology.

… Why, then, do we hear so much about Catholic cases? What is different about the Catholic Church is the manner in which its problems have come to light, and this involves both the nature of the institution itself and the workings of the law. As a result, the church is much more open to civil litigation than any other institution. These lawsuits allow the exposure of numerous cases that would never have surfaced if the perpetrators were not priests.

Jenkins proceeds to make many more excellent points. I’ll leave you with his conclusion:

The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous offense with lifelong consequences, and the trauma is all the greater when the offender is a trusted mentor, a pastor, priest, or teacher. It is profoundly unjust to focus all our attention on the victims of one type of perpetrator to the exclusion of others.

I believe this article is required reading for anyone who is seriously questioning their Catholic faith because of the scandal of clergy sexual abuse. Moreover, it strikes me that this is a very good article to send to our non-Catholic friends who are trying to understand this issue but only learn about it from the mainstream press, which so often makes the mistakes that Jenkins highlights.

On a related note, I just received the newly-published Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis: Working for Reform and Renewal in the mail. Published by the fine folks at OSV it promises to be an excellent explanation of the crisis and provide information for a charitable conversation.

OSV has also launched a blog where the authors of the book are keeping up on the latest news coverage, including a response to that horrible Time Magazine cover article “Why Being Pope Means Never having To Say You’re Sorry: The sex abuse scandal and the limits of atonement” (which Kathryn Lopez also responded to on NRO: “Being Catholic Means Not Feeling Sorry about Being Catholic“).

Praise God that the Church is not lacking for brave defenders.

What she said.

Photo: AP.

For those of you with international texting plans (like, who doesn’t have one of those?!) – an easy way to show support for Il Papa:

 Roman Catholics can send now text messages of support to Pope Benedict XVI, Italian public television said Saturday, as the Church faces an international paedophile scandal.

The mobile phone service was launched by Rai television’s Sunday weekly religious programme, ahead of a gathering organised by lay groups in Saint Peter’s Square on May 16 to show their backing for the pontiff.

All messages sent to the special number — +39 335 18 63 091 — will be passed along to the pope by the end of May, the broadcaster said. They will be shown from Sunday during the television show “In His Image”. (AFP)

I wonder if our European papist friends could assemble 100,000 texts of support?

The AP makes its claims with the thinnest of proof:

Pope Benedict XVI may issue a mea culpa for clerical sex abuse at a June meeting of the world’s priests at the Vatican.

The June 9-11 summit, initially called to mark the end of the Vatican’s year of the priest, had already morphed into a pep rally for the pope as he came under fire amid a new wave of reports on sex abuse by clerics.

Now, according to the top Vatican official dealing with abuse, it’s possible that Benedict may issue some form of an apology at the meeting.

Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told U.S. public broadcaster PBS on Tuesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the pontiff issues a mea culpa at the meeting.

… and that’s it. That’s the entire article.

This article sadly follows the template that almost all mainstream reporting falls into:

1. Selective comical use of Catholic phrases (…”may issue a mea culpa”).
2. Ignorant petty descriptions of the Church (…”morphed into a pep rally”).
3. Stretching statements by officials (… “he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if the pontiff [apologized]“).

I mean – what was +Levada supposed to say? That the pope would never issue an apology?

The mainstream media wants an apology – is hungry for it – keeps asking for it – because that will validate not only their factual reporting, but their other claims about the cause of the abuse, the personal responsibility of the pope, and practically every misleading and ignorant thing they’ve reported about the Church in this most recent cycle.

If there’s anything holding back the Church’s ability and desire to apologize, it’s how the media will cannibalize such a “mea culpa” and are more likely to portray it as a “pep rally” than a pastoral response to past victims.

Think of the headline: “Pope issues mea culpa at pep rally by priests.”

Running around today so only time to excerpt, not comment:

 Pope Benedict XVI is about to release a letter announcing the creation of a new Vatican dicastery called the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. The new department will be aimed at bringing the Gospel back to Western societies that have lost their Christian identity.

Andrea Tornielli, the Vatican correspondent for the daily Il Giornale who is usually well-informed on new appointments at the Vatican, wrote today that “Benedict does not cease to surprise: in the upcoming week the creation of a new dicastery of the Roman Curia dedicated to the evangelization of the West will be announced, and be presided over by Archbishop Rino Fisichella.”

The new dicastery is aimed at evangelizing “countries where the Gospel has been announced centuries ago, but where its presence in their peoples’ daily life seems to be lost. Europe, the United States and Latin America would be the areas of influence of the new structure,” Il Giornale says.

According to Tornielli, the new dicastery would be “the most important novelty of Pope Benedict’s pontificate, a Pope that, according to the expectations, was supposed to slim down the Roman Curia.” (CNA)

A direct communique from the Papist Blogger-in-Chief:

The need to give the Internet a soul and humanize the dynamics of the digital world was at the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s message Saturday to participants in a conference on modern means of mass communication.

… “Without fear we must set sail on the digital sea facing into the deep with the same passion that has governed the ship of the Church for two thousand years. Rather than for, albeit necessary, technical resources, we want to qualify ourselves by living in the digital world with a believer’s heart, helping to give a soul to the Internet’s incessant flow of communication”. (Vatican Radio)

There’s more, so follow the link!