NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF AND JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITERS | THE RECORD
Some want Pope Francis to reach out even further to estranged members of the faith, taking the church in a more liberal direction that mirrors their views on family issues and helping the poor.
Others, saying the pope has put church doctrine on a back burner, want him to forcefully reaffirm church teachings barring abortion and same-sex marriage.
In North Jersey as in the rest of the country, Catholics have wide-ranging expectations of this first pope from the New World as he makes his initial visit to the United States. …
Sex-abuse scandal
The pope has addressed clerical sex abuse by creating a tribunal to examine whether bishops should be punished for negligence in such cases, a move that is widely seen as unprecedented in the church, and by forming a papal commission on abuse that includes laypeople and victims. “This is the first time you’ve seen policy created from bottom up instead of top down,” Formicola said.
Yet some advocates for victims say they are waiting to see whether the tribunal actually issues any punishments to a bishop. “One thing that is really lacking: He has not removed a single bishop for sexual abuse,” said Mark Crawford, the New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Formicola, who wrote a book about clerical sex abuse, said she would like the pope to address the issue this week “to show the world that the church is trying to reconcile with people who have been abused. People are still hurting.”
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