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	Area Catholics Respond to Vatican Rulings on Sex Abuse, Women By Meredith Moss Dayton Daily News July 18, 2010 http://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyle/ohio-churches-religion-faith/area-catholics-respond-to-vatican-rulings-on-sex-abuse-women-816582.html An apostolic letter issued by the Vatican on Thursday, July 15, has elicited a variety of responses from Dayton-area Catholics. Issues addressed in the new document range from sexual abuse of the mentally disabled by priests to the attempted ordination of women. According to Dan Andriacco, communications director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, most of the new rulings simply codify practices already in place. "What is new is a provision that says offenses against mentally disabled adults will be treated the same as offenses against children and that the statue of limitations for any serious sexual abuse crime has been increased from 10 to 20 years," he said. The document also establishes that a cleric who engages in child pornography is subject to punishment that may include dismissal from the priesthood. Also included: attempted ordination of women as a canonical crime equal in gravity to molesting minors and heresy. David O'Brien, professor of faith and culture at the University of Dayton, said the new pronouncements are an example of the Vatican's constant lack of good public relations. "There's a chronic problem of explaining things clearly to the public in a way that doesn't confuse people," he said, adding that the rulings are obviously an attempt to straighten out a problem in canon law that relates to speedy adjudication dealing with priests accused of serious sexual abuse. O'Brien said that there has been a backlog of such cases from around the world. "They are trying to make the process work better and that's good," he said. "But there are a whole host of other things that were not dealt with and this is just one small piece of a larger problem." Another major public relations blunder, he said, was to include the subject of women's ordination in the same document. "You would have thought that with the spotlight of attention on them, they would all have gotten around the table and come up with a comprehensive, integrated response to the problem." Kristine Ward of The National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) labeled the Vatican response "puny." "What's really needed is a major overhaul of the way Vatican laws look at and respond to sexual abuse among the clergy," said the Kettering woman. Jack Roach, an active member of Emmanuel parish in Dayton, sees last week's statements as a step in the right direction. "The church is fighting a lot of attacks by persons with an agenda of harming the church and it's being misquoted and accused falsely," Roach believes. "The percent of priests who have abused teenagers or children is smaller than Protestant ministers and it's smaller than teachers. Why would one group get all the press and not the others? Anti-Catholicism is the only remaining group prejudice still socially acceptable." Roach said from the very first days of the church it has been clear that Christ instituted permission for the church to only ordain men." Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch headquartered in Lakeside, Ohio, believes the juxtaposition of the women's clergy and sexual abuse discussions constitute " a stunning and inept public relations issue." "You can't help but think they must be living in some kind of bubble over there," she said. "Most people would know you don't put those things in the same category. Most people will look at that and say: "why is it that women who want to serve God are being considered guilty of a crime as serious as clerical sex abuse?" Schenk said it's because she loves the church and Catholic tradition that she and 5,000 members in her organization believes it really needs to come into the 21st century. "We need a system of checks and balances in the church so that leadership have accountability for what they do." Contact: MMoss@DaytonDailyNews.com
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