ABUSE TRACKER

ITALY
Gazzetta del Sud

Florence, March 6 – A new documentary about priest sex abuse is opening in Italy around the time that cardinals are convening in Rome to elect a new pope. Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney’s new film Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God premieres in Florence March 18. The hard-hitting documentary about the Vatican’s record on managing child-abusing priests spans decades and continents, beginning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Father Lawrence Murphy is believed to have abused up to 200 schoolboys as head of the St John’s School for the Deaf.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Charles J. Reid Jr.

We are not moving gently or confidently toward the next conclave. We are staggering toward it. The worldwide Catholic Church, in just the last few weeks, has had to confront some truly ugly scandals.

Consider: In late January, the new Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, had to order his predecessor, Roger Cardinal Mahony, to cease public ministry following the release of thousands of pages of personnel files detailing the Cardinal’s role in the cover-up of priestly molestation cases going back to the 1980s. Over the vigorous objections of Los Angeles’ Catholics, Mahony insists on voting in the forthcoming conclave. Then, on Feb. 22, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and the only British cardinal of voting age, resigned from office and indicated that he had no plans to vote in the conclave. His decision followed complaints made by several priests that the Cardinal had made unwanted sexual advances towards them. Earlier in February, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, published the story that Pope Benedict’s resignation was finally forced by a report made by three trusted cardinals detailing acts of sexual misconduct by Vatican priests. The report, whose contents remain unknown even though its existence has been more or less confirmed, will be delivered to the new pope for, it is hoped, swift action.

Can any good come of this? It is too much to expect sweeping reforms. Women priests, for instance, are simply not in the cards. Still, the situation facing the Church is sufficiently grave that we are entitled to hope for some dramatic actions. The Church — by which I mean not Catholics alone but all Christians — can only pray that at least some of the following steps are taken:

1. The Church’s government must become less monarchical.

Such a move would be in keeping with the progress of Church history since the latter 19th century. Prior to 1870, the pope was both the spiritual head of the worldwide Catholic Church and the temporal ruler of a large swatch of central Italy (the papal states). With the reunification of Italy in 1870, the papacy’s temporal rule was reduced to Vatican City.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Diarmaid MacCulloch, a professor of the history of the church at the University of Oxford, argues that the job facing the next pope is too great for one man. He says the church should not fear decentralisation, nor the ending of the doctrine of clerical celibacy, nor the affording of equal rights to women – even at the expense of unity

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ROME
Rome Reports

[with video]

March 5, 2013. (Romereports.com) Nearly an hour after the end of the third general congregations, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley said he would likely wear his Capuchin cassock until his death.

When asked if he would trade it for the white cassock if elected Pope, O’Malley said no, but not as an act of defiance.

CARD. SEAN O’MALLEY
Archbishop of Boston
“I’ve worn this uniform for over 40 years, and I presume that I will wear it until I will die, because I don’t expect to be elected Pope, so I don’t expect to have a change in wardrobe.”

The archbishop of Boston, along with Houston Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, answered questions about the pre-conclave deliberations taking place inside the Vatican.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 3, 2013

Rome

Seen through American eyes, perhaps the biggest surprise of the run-up to the 2013 conclave has been the emergence of Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston as a longshot candidate for the papacy, at least as these things are assessed by the global media.

Going in, many church-watchers believed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was the great American hope, and he’s indeed still drawing mention.

Yet in the days since Benedict XVI’s Feb. 11 resignation announcement, a striking number of handicappers also have tossed O’Malley into the mix, partly because of his profile as a reformer on clerical abuse scandals, and partly because his plain brown Capuchin habit contrasts sharply with stereotypes of the Vatican as a bevy of power games and wealth.

Speaking today to NCR, O’Malley described the buzz around him as “surreal” and, if he thinks too much about it, “very scary.” At the same time, he described himself as a “very dark horse” in the race.

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ROME
Boston Globe

By Lisa Wangsness
| Globe Staff
March 05, 2013

ROME — A reporter had a question for Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley that she said came from her daughter. Would the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston continue to wear his “cappuccino robe” if elected pope, the reporter asked at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

O’Malley, blushing, chuckled along with the reporters gathered at the Pontifical North American College, where the US cardinals are staying before the conclave to select a new leader of the church.

“I have worn this uniform for over 40 years, and I presume I will wear it until I die, because I don’t expect to be elected pope,” he said. He stammered slightly. “So — I don’t expect to have a change of wardrobe.”

O’Malley, a Capuchin friar whose order’s name derives from the brown hooded habits its members wear, has been deflecting a lot of questions lately about the possibility he could replace Benedict XVI, whose retirement last month triggered the meeting of cardinals. Most Vatican analysts consider the notion of an American pope a long shot, but some say that O’Malley’s chances could improve if no consensus emerges after a few days of voting.

O’Malley answered questions from the press for about 30 minutes with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston. O’Malley, who holds a doctorate in Spanish and Portuguese literature, answered two questions in Spanish during the session and then addressed a scrum of Spanish-language media afterward.

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ROME
Boston Globe

Strong policies on abusive priests vital for new pope, O’Malley says

By Lisa Wangsness
Globe Staff / March 5, 2013

ROME — Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said Tuesday that the next pope must make sure the Roman Catholic Church adopts measures to deal with bishops whose “malfeasance” allowed abusive priests to ­remain in ministry.

O’Malley said in an interview that the successor to Pope Benedict XVI will need to continue Benedict’s campaign to get bishops across the world to adopt policies for dealing with accused abusers. That should include procedures for disciplining bishops who protect abusive priests, said O’Malley, among dozens of cardinals gathered at the Vatican.

The US bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on clergy sexual abuse a decade ago, requir­ing removal from ministry of any priest credibly ­accused of abusing a minor, but some church leaders have not followed it. The bishop of Kansas City was convicted last fall of failing to report child abuse by a priest, but the church has not sanctioned him.

“There needs to be a path” for disciplining bishops, O’Malley said. “Right now, it’s not terribly clear, but it’s something the next pope will have to deal with.”

Without a protocol in place, he said, it falls to the Vatican to decide what to do with each ­errant bishop on a case-by-case basis. “My point is always that if you don’t have policies, you’ll be improvising, and when you improvise, you make a lot of mistakes,” he said.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston discussed some of the issues at stake in the papal election in a brief inter­view Tuesday in a corridor of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, a peaceful hilltop seminary about 10 minutes by foot from the Vatican.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

The process to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI is beginning amid yet another clergy sex scandal, this one involving the cardinal who, until last month, headed the Catholic Church in Scotland. The precise dimensions of the allegations directed at Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who has acknowledged engaging in inappropriate behavior, aren’t fully known. But the case underscores that the next pope will inherit a church leadership that is suffering from a crisis of confidence, has become alienated from many followers in Europe and the United States, and is looking for a deeper connection with the predominantly Catholic societies of Latin America.

In recent weeks, some prominent Catholics have mentioned the name of Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston as a possible successor to Benedict. O’Malley is assumed to be a long-shot candidate. Nevertheless, the speculation is a tribute to O’Malley’s work in restoring order to the Archdiocese of Boston after the revelation, a decade ago, of its efforts to cover up clergy sex abuse. O’Malley, a Capuchin friar, has a calm, pastoral manner that helped soothe the bitter feelings left by his more forceful predecessor, Bernard Law. O’Malley’s work in re-examining the archdiocese’s procedures for handling allegations against the clergy was recognized by Benedict when he chose the Boston cardinal for the politically sensitive task of examining the Archdiocese of Dublin in the wake of similar allegations there.

Moreover, O’Malley is fluent in Spanish and has long performed outreach to Hispanic Catholics in the United States and Latin America. He even holds a doctorate from the Catholic University of America in Spanish and Portuguese literature.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on four recent surveys of Catholics:

The larger the sample size of any population, the more costly the survey, but the more accurate the findings. Catholics make up anywhere between 70 and 78 million Americans, but even a sample of 1,500 can yield relatively accurate results (the margin of error in such a survey would generally be 3 percentage points). Two surveys of Catholics published today did not come close to this baseline sample.

The New York Times poll sampled 580 Catholics; it had a 4 percentage point margin of error. The Pew Research Center sampled 184 Catholics, allowing a margin of error of 8.2 percentage points.

Such samples are inadequate. By contrast, a Rasmussen poll of Catholics published last month had a sample size of 1,000; the margin of error was 3 percentage points. Ten days ago, Gallup did a survey of just one subset of Catholics, Hispanics, and had a sample size of 28,607; its margin of error was only 1 percentage point.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN

Published: March 5, 2013

Roman Catholics in the United States say that their church and bishops are out of touch, and that the next pope should lead the church in a more modern direction on issues like birth control and ordaining women and married men as priests, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Seven out of 10 say Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican have done a poor job of handling sexual abuse, a significant rise from three years ago. A majority said that the issue had led them to question the Vatican’s authority. The sexual abuse of children by priests is the largest problem facing the church, Catholics in the poll said.

Three-fourths of those polled said they thought it was a good idea for Benedict to resign. Most wanted the next pope to be “someone younger, with new ideas.” A majority said they wanted the next pope to make the church’s teachings more liberal.

With cardinals now in Rome preparing to elect Benedict’s successor, the poll indicated that the church’s hierarchy had lost the confidence and allegiance of many American Catholics, an intensification of a long-term trend. They like their priests and nuns, but many feel that the bishops and cardinals do not understand their lives.

“I don’t think they are in the trenches with people,” said Therese Spender, 51, a homemaker in Fort Wayne, Ind., who said she attended Mass once a week and agreed to answer further questions after the poll. “They go to a lot of meetings, but they are not out in the street.”

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

[U.S. Catholics Welcome a Papal Change – video from The New York Times]

By DALIA SUSSMAN

Published: March 5, 2013

Just ahead of the conclave that will choose his successor, a quarter of American Catholics said Benedict’s leadership had helped the Church, just over 10 percent said it hurt the Church, while most, 52 percent, said it had been mixed.

Those results are similar to a 2010 poll, but are less positive than views of Pope John Paul II’s leadership in polls taken during his papacy by The New York Times and CBS News. In polls conducted in 2002 and 2004, more than 4 in 10 Catholics said his leadership helped the Church. Following his death in 2005, more than 6 in 10 said so.

“He just seemed kind of bland,” Dorothy Lascuola, 66, a frequent churchgoer from Butler, Pa., said of Pope Benedict XVI in a follow-up interview. “I guess I try to draw a parallel with John Paul II and I really admired him and his stance on a lot of different issues. I didn’t see Pope Benedict as a leader per se. I hope we have a stronger leader coming forth this time. And a younger one. I think he carried a lot of baggage.”

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 6, 2013

Rome

In the wake of today’s news that the Americans will no longer be doing daily press briefings in the run-up to the conclave, apparently after cardinals in the General Congregation meeting this morning expressed concern about leaks in the Italian papers, there are all sorts of good questions one might ask. Three, however, seem the most immediately intriguing.

• First, why did it happen?
• Second, what’s the PR fallout?
• Third, does this help or hurt the chances for an American pope?

The first two are easier to answer, at least without veering into the realm of the speculative.

In terms of the reason for the gag order, a statement from the U.S. bishops indicated that concerns had been expressed in the General Congregation meetings about details of their supposedly confidential discussions showing up in Italian newspapers, and as a precautionary measure, the Americans have decided not to give interviews.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Thomas C. Fox | Mar. 4, 2013

As the cardinals gather in discussions this week to determine the road ahead, I hope they stay focused on church governance as the key to moving forward.

It is widely understood that Vatican dysfunction has placed a heavy burden on the church and led to the burdens of which Emeritus Pope Benedict spoke before his retirement.

The Vatican is incapable of running the global church. But let’s keep in mind it did not have to be this way – and that our emeritus pope brought much of it on himself.

“My strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he told the world upon announcing his surprise resignation.

Few will find fault the honest recognition by the 85-year-old prelate that he was no longer up to the task of running the church.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Longtime Vatican reporter John Thavis’s new book is full of revelations about the last papal conclave, on the pope’s jet, and the sex scandals under Benedict’s reign. By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Vatican insider John Thavis always had a hunch Pope Benedict XVI would retire. But he had no idea it would coincide with the release of his book Vatican Diaries which was published on February 21. “I’d like to say I had planned it that way,” he told The Daily Beast in the Vatican’s press office days after the papal resignation. “But it was just a happy coincidence.” …

Thavis wastes no words on his condemnation of the Vatican’s handling of the various sex abuse scandals that have rocked the church in the 30 years he has been covering the Vatican beat. He dedicates several chapters to the unsavory sex abuse cases the Catholic Church has been involved in, and manages to explain in laymen’s terms the very complicated Legions of Christ scandal by walking through a series of investigations and interviews by high-ranking church officials including the Vatican’s promoter of justice. He focuses on the lurid life of Legions founder Father Marcial Ma­ciel Degollado and paints as vivid a character profile of the disturbingly strange man as has been written to date. Father Marcial, as he is referred to, was a favorite of Benedict’s predecessor Pope John Paul II, despite a myriad of allegations of sexual improprieties and financial corruption. Benedict, as pope, finally put an end to Marcial’s reign amid his apologies to seminarians he sexually abused and his admission that he had fathered several children with different women. “Nowhere was there any hint that the order itself bore any responsibility for a cover-up; on the contrary, the Legion’s highest officials were portraying themselves as victims of Maciel’s duplicity,” Thavis writes. “And while the Legion was admitting to the founder’s extramural heterosexual affair— he was human, after all— it re­fused to touch the more serious allegations that Maciel had turned his own seminary into a pedophilia camp.”

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ROME
Perth Now

AAP
March 07, 2013

CLERGY sex abuse victims have released a “dirty dozen” list of potential papal candidates – including Australia’s George Pell – and are urging the Catholic Church to “get serious” about protecting children, helping victims and exposing corruption.

“We want to urge Catholic prelates to stop pretending that the worst is over regarding the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis,” said David Clohessy, director of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

“Tragically, the worst is almost certainly ahead.”

The organisation cited a dozen cardinals from the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Italy, Australia, Czech Republic, Canada, Argentina and Ghana accused of protecting pedophile priests and making offensive public statements.

They are all considered to be contenders to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who was criticised for his handling of the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the church in the United States and Europe.

SNAP also opposes electing any member of the Roman Curia, the administrative branch of the Holy See.

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ROME
Sky News

US cardinals in Rome have abruptly cancelled media briefings in a victory for pre-conclave secrecy as workers readied the Sistine Chapel for a historic ceremony to elect the next Pope after Benedict XVI’s resignation.

‘Concern was expressed about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers. As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews,’ Sister Mary Ann Walsh, US Conference of Catholic Bishops spokeswoman, said in a statement.

US cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, had been due to address journalists at the Pontifical North American College in Rome as part of a series of congenial briefings which have drawn crowds of journalists.

Italian media earlier on Wednesday reported there were ‘sparks’ flying at pre-conclave meetings between US and German cardinals, keen to have longer discussions ahead of the conclave, and Italian ones pushing for a papal election as quickly as possible.

The Vatican denied it had intervened directly to censor the electors, with spokesman Federico Lombardi saying: ‘It seems natural that the path towards the conclave lead progressively to greater reflection and discretion.’

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VATICAN CITY
Moneycontrol

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Vatican officials on Wednesday told cardinals gathered for the election of the next pope to stop speaking to the media, as further indications emerged that a conclave would not start early next week as had been expected.

American cardinals who had been scheduled to hold their third media briefing in as many days cancelled it less than an hour before it was to have started at Rome’s North American College, where they are residing.

A spokeswoman for the American cardinals said “concern” was expressed at Wednesday’s closed-door meeting “about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers”.

More than 150 cardinals attended the third day of the preliminary meetings to sketch a profile for the next pope following the shock abdication of Pope Benedict last month. All but two of the 115 “cardinal electors” aged under 80 have arrived for the meetings, the Vatican said.

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ROME
Christian Post

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter

March 6, 2013

A group of survivors of sexual abuse by clergy have identified 12 cardinals who are currently a candidate for pope in the Roman Catholic Church that have the worst history when it comes to responding to child sex abuse claims.

SNAP, the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests, told media on Wednesday that it was basing its list on news reports, legal filings and victims’ statements.

“The single quickest and most effective step would be for the next pope to clearly discipline, demote, denounce and even defrock cardinals and bishops who are concealing child sex crimes. We think that’s the missing piece,” said SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy.

The top Catholic cardinals of the church are currently in Rome getting ready to vote on a replacement for Pope Benedict XVI, who became the first pope in close to 600 years to retire from his position. They know that the world is watching and expecting that they start taking steps to tackle the child abuse reports that have gripped the church over the past couple of decades.

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UNITED STATES/ROME
KTVA

By Joshua Norman / CBS News
Story Created: Mar 6, 2013

To call the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church the elephant in the room ahead of the conclave to choose the next pope is to not do justice to the enormity of the problem the institution still faces, and will likely face for years to come.

Addressing the problem directly, abuse victims and their advocates in four countries so far have begun naming various cardinals they believe should either be removed from papal consideration, or even from the very process to name the next pontiff, due to their actions around the scandal. Some of the names they have singled out are considered front-runners by Vatican observers.

“It is difficult. Who would be a good pope? I don’t know,” said Becky Ianni, Washington, D.C. and Virginia director for the advocacy group SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abuse by Priests. “It’s really hard to say.”

SNAP has singled out a “Dirty Dozen” cardinals who are contenders for pope that they consider “to be the worst choices in terms of protecting kids, healing victims, and exposing corruption.”

The members of the “Dirty Dozen” cardinals, according to SNAP, are: Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga (Honduras), Norberto Rivera (Mexico), Marc Ouellet (Canada), Peter Turkson (Ghana), George Pell (Australia), Tarcisio Bertone (Italy), Angelo Scola (Italy), Leonardo Sandri (Argentina), Dominik Duka (Czech Republic), Sean O’Malley (United States), Timothy Dolan (United States), and Donald Wuerl (United States).

Of those, Vatican magazine senior editor and CBS News contributor Delia Gallagher identified Dolan, Maradiga, O’Malley, Ouellet, Sandri, Scola, Turkson, and Carrera as legitimate contenders to be the next pope.

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IRELAND
The Economist

Mar 6th 2013, 17:21 by B.C. | MOYGOWNAGH, IRELAND

FATHER Brendan Hoban is a priest in a remote Irish village who is also active in the national and international Catholic scene. In the midst of this busy life, he told me, he often reflects on something he heard from a professor when he was in seminary 40 years ago. “Irish people,” the professor remarked, “have a great sense of the usefulness of things. When things are not seen as useful any more, they are discarded. In the era when the Irish language was seen as not useful for people’s lives and careers, they stopped speaking it. And that may eventually happen to the structures of the Catholic church.”

At the time, it seemed an extraordinary thing to say; Ireland was still a pious country, and hundreds of new priests were being ordained every year. Proud of having kept the faith in the teeth of oppression, the whole Irish nation, so it seemed, turned out to welcome the newly elevated Pope John Paul II as a super-star when he visited in 1979. But since then, of course, the professor’s words have turned out to be prophetic. This is a land where the church’s institutional prestige has fallen more vertiginously than almost anywhere else in the Western world, thanks mainly to a series of reports that have documented horrific suffering in church-backed schools and institutions, and to an ever clearer picture of scandalous cover-ups. By rich-world standards Ireland is still quite a devout nation—nearly half the population attends church regularly—but its religious orders are in their death throes and the annual number of ordinations is now in single figures.

It was partly in the Irish spirit of tough-minded practicality and “usefulness” that Father Hobhan and several colleagues founded the Association of Catholic Priests a couple of years ago, with the open intention of revisiting thorny questions like priestly celibacy, the possibility of women priests, and church teaching on contraception. They say the response has been overwhelming. When they organize events, far more people attend than they expected. The aim is not, he stresses, to overturn any of the the core doctrines of the church; what he and his fellow clerics are calling for is a faithful implementation of the second Vatican council which raised hopes, in the mid-1960s, of a church that was more responsive to local bishops, priests and ordinary believers.

From the viewpoint of Father Hoban’s west-of-Ireland flock, mostly pretty faithful Catholics who expect the church to minister to their needs, mourn their dead and accompany them in life’s hardest moments, the present order of things simply seems to have outlived its usefulness. In one large nearby parish, the number of priests has fallen by natural attrition from four to two; but there are seven ex-priests in the locality who left the clerical state to get married. They would help out again if the rules allowed them. In Dublin, “permanent deacons” (many of them married) have been ordained, with the authority to peform most rites except the Eucharist. That looks like a significant step on the road to letting clergy marry.

I was struck by the huge differences (and one or two points of convergence) between Father Hoban’s liberal perspective and that of George Weigel, who is one of America’s most influential lay Catholics and a staunch conservative; I interviewed him recently for an Economist podcast. Both claim to be strong supporters of Vatican II but they interpret that council in very different ways. Mr Weigel hails the fact that Vatican II fully endorsed the liberal-democratic idea of religious freedom, renounced theocracy and made peace with the Jews; he sees the last two popes as faithful implementers of the council. Father Hoban, in line with liberal-minded Catholics across the world, feels that the ideals of the council were badly let down during the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on some of the findings from a survey of self-identified Catholics as reported in today’s New York Times:

Whether someone who “attends Mass a few times a year or never” can be considered Catholic is debatable, but at any rate those responses make for interesting reading when compared to those who “attend Mass weekly.”

The majority of weekly attendees have a favorable view of Pope Benedict XVI; only a quarter of those who rarely attend feel the same way. Regarding recent papal events, 72% of weekly attendees have been closely following the news stories, while only 35% of those who rarely attend have been doing so. The majority of weekly church-goers would like to see the new pope either continue Benedict’s teachings or adopt more conservative ones. Among the no-shows, only 20% agree with that position (66% want more liberal teachings).

Not surprisingly, weekly attendees see the healthcare insurance debate as a religious liberty issue, but nominal Catholics see it as a matter of women’s health. Regular church-goers want the next pope to be against abortion (70%) and the death penalty (67%), but the figures for lax Catholics are 45% and 50% respectively. In other words, those who rarely or never attend Mass are more inclined to oppose the death penalty for a convicted murderer than they are to oppose the killing of innocents!

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY Michael O’Keeffe

New York state lawmaker Margaret Markey will hold a rally and press conference outside City Hall on Friday before a Manhattan hearing on her Child Victims Act, which would eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations in sex abuse cases.

The speakers will include Kevin Mulhearn, the attorney who represented 12 men in a sex abuse suit filed against Poly Prep Country Day School, and Phillip Culhane, one of the plaintiffs in the case. Markey, a Democratic assemblywoman from Queens, has said the bill was inspired in part by the Poly Prep, Syracuse and Penn State scandals.

Also on the roster: Christopher Anderson, the executive director of MaleSurvivor, Mia Fernandez of the National Crime Victims Center and Yeshiva Law School professor Marci Hamilton. Two men close to the Horace Mann sexual abuse allegations – Amos Kamil, the author of The New York Times Magazine article on abuse at Horace Mann and Robert Boynton of the Horace Mann Action Coalition – will also be present. So will Tina Weber, an attorney who persuaded authorities in Massachusetts to prosecute an Albany-area priest after her clients were shut out in New York because of the statute of limitations.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

I highly recommend T.F. Charlton’s essay right now at Religion Dispatches, re: the culture of abuse being exposed by lawsuits filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM). Chariton grew up in an SGM church. He describes the group as “a U.S.-based church-planting network (they say ‘family’) of predominantly white, suburban, reformed evangelical congregations.” This church-planting network sprang from Covenant Life Church (CLC) of Gaithersburg, Maryland, which is named in the lawsuits filed against SGM.

As Charlton notes, Lou Engle, the influential dominionist pastor who founded The Call and who has been in the thick of the movement to export American-style homophobia to Africa, got his start with CLC. Chariton also maintains that it’s no accident that SGM and CLC have ended up facing lawsuits alleging that this movement has fostered a serious culture of abuse of women and children: as he maintains, that culture of abuse is “the result of the group’s toxic teachings on parenting, gender, and sexuality.”

Charlton notes that briefs filed by plaintiffs in the suits against SGM and CLC “describe a church culture where pastors’ sympathies routinely lay with male perpetrators of sexual abuse, particulary married fathers, who were allowed continued access to victims and other children in the church.” Women plaintiffs allege that they have been bullied and ostracized when they have tried to make their abuse known, and have been told that their obligation is not in any way to undermine the “leadership” position of their husbands in their families. One woman who discovered that her husband was sexually abusing their 10-year-old daughter was informed by church officials that this happened because she was not meeting her husband’s sexual needs, and she was encouraged to enhance their sexual relationship to prevent his molestation of their daughter.

All of this is rooted, Charlton maintains, in a “perfect storm of doctrine.” As he observes,

It’s no accident that so many allegations of serious abuse have arisen across SGM’s churches. The combination of patriarchal gender roles, purity culture, and authoritarian clergy that characterizes Sovereign Grace’s teachings on parenting, marriage, and sexuality creates an environment where women and children—especially girls—are uniquely vulnerable to abuse.

Charlton cites E.J. Graff, who maintains that purity cultures which envisage women’s bodies as primarily for procreation and male pleasure also generate rape cultures: rape culture is the obverse side of purity culture, which by its very nature sexualizes the female body in order to subject it to male control. The demand within SGM doctrine that children submit absolutely to parents and wives to husbands also issues in a culture of abuse, in which both women and children are enjoined to endure even violent expressions of male control as God’s will.

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VATICAN CITY
7 News

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – The Vatican on Wednesday urged “greater reserve” ahead of the conclave to elect a new pope, as US cardinals scrapped their daily press briefings saying that “concern was expressed about leaks”.

US cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, had been due to address journalists at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

“Concern was expressed about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers,” the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

“As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews,” it added in a statement.

Italian media earlier on Wednesday reported there were “sparks” flying at pre-conclave meetings between US and German cardinals on one side and Italian ones on the other.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

SNAP’s “Dirty Dozen” list – the “papabile” who would be the worst choice for children

Posted by David Clohessy on March 06, 2013

First, we want to urge Catholic prelates to stop pretending that the worst is over regarding the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis. Tragically, the worst is almost certainly ahead. This scandal, we believe, has yet to surface in most nations. It’s shameless spin and deliberate deception to claim otherwise. It’s tempting to reassure the public and the parishioners by making this claim. But it’s also irresponsible. (It leads to complacency, and complacency protects no one. Only vigilance protects the vulnerable.)

Clergy sex crimes and cover-ups remain deeply hidden in the vast majority of nations (where most Catholics live), and has really only become widely known – and barely addressed – in the US about a decade ago and in a few European countries even more recently.

History, psychology and common sense all suggest that since the vast majority of clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the developing world are yet to be exposed, the bulk of the scandal is yet to come. Further, we believe the worst is yet to come because it’s likely that thousands of predatory priests across the world are still molesting and still live and work among unsuspecting families and flocks. (Church officials admit that there are 6,100 accused predator priests in the US alone. And the US represents only about 6% percent of the planet’s population.)

We hear less about clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Africa, Asia, and South America because there tends to be less funding for law enforcement, less vigorous civil justice systems, less independent journalism, and an even greater power and wealth difference between church officials and their congregants (which makes abuse and cover ups harder to prevent and expose).

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

In advance of the cardinals gathering in Rome for the election of a new pope, The New York Times and CBS News conducted a poll of Roman Catholics in the United States. Related story.

From Feb. 23 to 27, 580 Catholics were polled. Margin of sampling error is ±4% pts. for all Catholics.

Show responses from ALL U.S. CATHOLICS▼

American Catholics say that their church and bishops are out of touch, but they feel far more warmly toward their local priests and nuns. Benedict apparently made little impression on Catholics in his eight years as pope, with half saying that they had no opinion of him. Three-fourths of those polled said that they thought it was a good idea for him to resign.

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UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Mar 6, 2013

Let’s say you’re an American Catholic bishop and you’re thinking about what your people would like to see in the new pope. You’re not really interested in the views of all those nominal Catholics who rarely darken your door. It’s the loyal parishioners, the leaven in the lump, whose opinions you want to know.

So you turn to the interactive graphic of the New York Times‘ new survey of American Catholics and click on the drop-down box in the upper right so it says, “Show responses from ATTEND MASS WEEKLY.”

Sure enough, these folks are more with the program than the other demographic cohorts. Seventy percent of them think the next pope should be against legalized abortion and 67 percent think he should oppose the death penalty.

On the other hand, 61 percent think he should be in favor of letting priests marry; 57 percent, that he should be in favor of letting women be priests. Sixty-two percent think he should support artificial methods of birth control; 82 percent, that he should favor the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV infection and other diseases.

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ROME
Wall Street Journal

By John D. Stoll

Cardinals from the United States have played an outsized role in steering public discourse in the days leading up to the conclave to elect a new pope. The American Church officials have used interviews, social media and daily press briefings to inform the world about the pre-conclave meetings currently going on in Rome.

But the party could be over…or at least a lot less lively.

The North American College of Cardinals — where seminarians from North America come to train in Rome for the priesthood — cancelled a press briefing Wednesday amid concern over potential leaks during a particularly sensitive time.

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ESPANA
El Pais

Mario Vargas Llosa 24 FEB 2013

No sé por qué ha sorprendido tanto la abdicación de Benedicto XVI; aunque excepcional, no era imprevisible. Bastaba verlo, frágil y como extraviado en medio de esas multitudes en las que su función lo obligaba a sumergirse, haciendo esfuerzos sobrehumanos para parecer el protagonista de esos espectáculos obviamente írritos a su temperamento y vocación. A diferencia de su predecesor, Juan Pablo II, que se movía como pez en el agua entre esas masas de creyentes y curiosos que congrega el Papa en todas sus apariciones, Benedicto XVI parecía totalmente ajeno a esos fastos gregarios que constituyen tareas imprescindibles del Pontífice en la actualidad. Así se comprende mejor su resistencia a aceptar la silla de San Pedro que le fue impuesta por el cónclave hace ocho años y a la que, como se sabe ahora, nunca aspiró. Sólo abandonan el poder absoluto, con la facilidad con que él acaba de hacerlo, aquellas rarezas que, en vez de codiciarlo, desprecian el poder.

No era un hombre carismático ni de tribuna, como Karol Wojtyla, el Papa polaco. Era un hombre de biblioteca y de cátedra, de reflexión y de estudio, seguramente uno de los Pontífices más inteligentes y cultos que ha tenido en toda su historia la Iglesia católica. En una época en que las ideas y las razones importan mucho menos que las imágenes y los gestos, Joseph Ratzinger era ya un anacronismo, pues pertenecía a lo más conspicuo de una especie en extinción: el intelectual. Reflexionaba con hondura y originalidad, apoyado en una enorme información teológica, filosófica, histórica y literaria, adquirida en la decena de lenguas clásicas y modernas que dominaba, entre ellas el latín, el griego y el hebreo.

Le ha tocado uno de los períodos más difíciles que ha enfrentado el cristianismo en sus más de dos mil años de historia.

Aunque concebidos siempre dentro de la ortodoxia cristiana pero con un criterio muy amplio, sus libros y encíclicas desbordaban a menudo lo estrictamente dogmático y contenían novedosas y audaces reflexiones sobre los problemas morales, culturales y existenciales de nuestro tiempo que lectores no creyentes podían leer con provecho y a menudo —a mí me ha ocurrido— turbación. Sus tres volúmenes dedicados a Jesús de Nazaret, su pequeña autobiografía y sus tres encíclicas —sobre todo la segunda, Spe Salvi, de 2007, dedicada a analizar la naturaleza bifronte de la ciencia que puede enriquecer de manera extraordinaria la vida humana pero también destruirla y degradarla—, tienen un vigor dialéctico y una elegancia expositiva que destacan nítidamente entre los textos convencionales y redundantes, escritos para convencidos, que suele producir el Vaticano desde hace mucho tiempo.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

The Archbishop of Chicago, George, admits U.S.S cardinals know very little about the Vatileaks case

Paolo Mastrolilli
Rome

The Archbishop of Chicago, Francis George shakes his head, smiles and says: “It’s not the rules that are the problem: even if all cardinal electors had arrived in Rome, I would not want to start the Conclave now, for one very simple reason: We are not ready yet.”

The sun is setting over the Pontifical North American College on Rome’s Janiculum Hill where the powerful U.S. bishops’ delegation is currently residing.

New York’s Cardinal Dolan returns from the Vatican and greets his colleague from Chicago who had led the U.S.S Episcopal Conference before him. Just a few metres away, the Archbishop of Boston, O’Malley, dressed in his Capuchin monk’s robes, is getting ready to stroll into the city centre: “There are still too many questions that need to be answered and too many people to meet,” said the cardinal who tops the list of American papabili.” “It is still too soon to start the Conclave: whilst it is true that we would all like to return to our dioceses in time for Easter, we have a choice of historic dimensions to make here and we must take all the time we need to choose.” Also so that cardinals have time to familiarise themselves with all that has gone on in the Vatican recently: “I’m not saying the Vatileaks scandal will be the determining factor but I expect to familiarise myself with all relevant aspects of what we do,” Cardinal O’Malley added.

Top Vatican correspondents reported behind-the-scenes information about the Curia, particularly its Italian members, wanting to speed up the voting process as this would give one of their candidates an advantage over others. This would explain the interpretation of the rules according to which the vote for the Conclave start-date can be held even if not all cardinal electors have arrived in Rome yet. Foreign cardinals, on the other hand, would like more time, to get to grips with the Vatileaks case and possibly reach a consensus on a foreign figure for Pope: a pastor, a surprise.

O’Malley was more explicit about the behind-the-scenes situation: “It is true that there are two schools of thought. The first one claims that since the source of the Church’s current problems is the Curia, we should go for a leader who comes from the outside; the second school of thought, however, says the future Pope needs to be someone from the Curia, because his number one task will be to reform this body.” The Boston friar is the first school of thought’s favourite because he was efficient in reforming the archdiocese that was at the centre of the Church’s sex abuse scandal in the U.S. He shielded himself, however, by saying: “I have worn these Capuchin robes for forty years and I plan to do so until the very end.” But he suggested looking close to home: “Latin America has a very dynamic Church. It will have a strong influence.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Cardinals are calling for stronger communication between the Pope and his “ministers” and between the Church headquarters in Rome and the local Churches

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

After asking for more information on the Vatileaks affair, cardinals are calling for reforms in the Curia. There needs to be better communication between the Pope and his “ministers”, improved coordination between dicasteries and stronger links between the central Church in Rome and the local Churches. These were some of the issues discussed during the third General Congregation session yesterday morning. The Conclave start date is still to be decided and a number of cardinals have asked for the discussion phase to be extended to the beginning of next week. They are eager to get to know each other, to examine the state of the Church across the world and to find out what the state of affairs within the Roman Curia is, given the various scandals it has recently been at the centre of.
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts gave a speech on the last of these issues. The Milanese cardinal spoke of the need for better communication between the Pope and dicastery leaders: there needs to be constant contact and exchanges with the Pope. Once upon a time, the Pope used to hold pre-scheduled audiences throughout the year, not just with prefects of Congregations, but also with secretaries; so even deputies had contact with the Pope and could get a first hand idea of the problems the Church was facing, helping them in their decision-making.

In recent decades, the number of pre-scheduled audiences has been reduced and were only attended by some heads of dicasteries such as prefects of bishops and of the former Holy Office. The Secretariat of State has increasingly acted as a buffer: recently one dicastery leader/cardinal had to wait several months before he was able to meet with the Pope.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 6 March 2013 (VIS) – “At the fourth General Congregation, which began this morning at 9:00am with the prayer of the Liturgy of Hours, 153 cardinals were present. This number includes four additional cardinals who arrived and were sworn in today, three Cardinal electors: Cardinal Antonios Naguib, patriarch emeritus of Alexandria, Egypt; Cardinal Karl Lehmann, bishop of Mainz, Germany; Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong, China; as well as Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, archbishop emeritus of Munich, Germany who is not an elector,” said Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office during his daily news conference with journalists.

To date, there are 113 Cardinal electors present. Tomorrow the two remaining Cardinal electors are expected—Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, will arrive this afternoon and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam tomorrow morning.

“In the fraternal spirit that characterizes the Congregations,” Fr. Lombardi reported, “Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano wished a happy birthday to Cardinal Walter Kasper (who turned 80 yesterday), Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio (who turns 75 today), and Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval, C.SS.R., (who turns 77 tomorrow). Cardinal Kasper continues to be a Cardinal elector—he will be the oldest to cast his vote in this Conclave—because the Apostolic Constitution regulating the procedure for electing the pontiff establishes the age limit for cardinals entering the Conclave to be determined from the beginning of the period of the Sede Vacante.

This morning 18 cardinals addressed the gathering. Without going into details, the director of the Holy See Press office gave a general overview of their nature. “The major theme,” Fr. Lombardi said, “was the Church in the world, the New Evangelization. Other topics included the Holy See, its Dicasteries and relations with bishops. A third theme was a profile of expectations for the next pope in view of the good government of the Church.”

“There have been 51 speeches since the beginning of the Congregations,” he added. Given the large number of cardinals wishing to address the gathering, a five minute time limit was established but is not strictly enforced. It was decided that tomorrow they will meet in a morning as well as an afternoon session.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

Monday, March 4, 2013

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

It’s a lingering mystery from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse trials — where did the term “sessions” come from?

In the 2011 grand jury report, “sessions” is the code name that two predator priests used for having sex with a 10-year-old altar boy known as “Billy Doe.”

But the two priests in question — Father Charles Engelhardt and former priest Edward V. Avery — went off to their jail cells telling their lawyers that they had never used that word before and had no idea where it came from.

“He [Engelhardt] said that’s a phrase that’s been put in my mouth, it’s been put in Avery’s mouth,” defense lawyer Michael J. McGovern remembered his client telling him. “That’s a term I’ve never used,”the priest told his lawyer. Furthermore, “He [Engelhardt] has never heard a priest use that phrase,”McGovern said.

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ROME
NBC Chicago

By Mary Ann Ahern

Wednesday, Mar 6, 2013

Cardinal Francis George planned to brief the press Wednesday morning in Rome about the process to elect the next pope, but that media availability was abruptly canceled 90 minutes before.

“The cardinals have been told to give no more interviews,” George’s spokesman said via email.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “concern was expressed in the General Congregation about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers. As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews.”

The cardinals are still waiting for two cardinals – from Warsaw and Vietnam – who are expected to arrive by Thursday. The group decided to hold two meetings tomorrow, in the morning and the afternoon, indicating they may be getting closer to setting the date for the conclave.

At Wednesday’s press briefing, Rev. Frederico Lombardi said the cardinals will give “some days” notice.

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VATICAN CITY
News 24

Vatican City – Suspense over the date of the conclave to elect a new pope intensified on Wednesday as some cardinals called for more time for debate and seized the chance to speak out about the problems facing the church and what the future holds.

“We need a new way of governing the church. A more horizontal government. The Curia must be revolutionised,” German Cardinal Walter Kasper said in an interview with La Repubblica daily, referring to the Vatican’s bickering governing body.

The Curia has become one of the key issues of debates surrounding the future of the church after secret papal documents leaked to the press last year in a scandal dubbed “Vatileaks” alleged corruption and intrigue in the administration and infighting many hope the new pope will tackle.

“I think the Curia in general, beyond whatever emerges from Vatileaks, needs to be revolutionised. And as well as the word reform, there must be a second: transparency. The Curia must begin to open up, and not fear transparency,” Kasper said.

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ROME
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, March 6 – A group representing American survivors of sexual abuse by priests on Wednesday named a ‘Dirty Dozen’ of cardinals they said shouldn’t be ‘papabili’ or candidates for pope because of their handling of child sex abuse claims. The Vatican replied that it would not be swayed by the list. The list of those deemed unsuitable to succeed Benedict XVI was drawn up on the basis of “their actions and/or public comment about child sex abuse and cover-up in the church,” said SNAP, the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP representatives Barbara Doris e David Clohessy read out the list to journalists in a Rome hotel.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Cardinal O’Malley just said Cardinals must take whatever time they need because picking a Pope is the most important decision a Cardinal makes. He is right, of course, but taking time is not enough. Let’s be honest, please, as the Gospels mandate. You cannot hang this papal election process on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not foolish; but the current election process surely is foolish.

Many of 115 electors are barely familar with each other and are suddenly going to pick a monarch for life. Why not just pick a name out of a red biretta, at least then Cardinals cannot be manipulated by the Vatican Cardinal clique or by ill informed Vaticanisti? Life tenure may have worked for chieftains and kings appointed in the pre-modern era by small groups who knew each candidate well, but it makes little sense in a modern papal election. The antiquated procedures are the best evidence the Holy Spirit has not shown up yet at the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps he has stayed behind with Germany’s Cardinal Lehmann? Is the successor to Cardinal Frings at the German Bishops Conference planning now to emulate Frings’ bold stand against the Vatican Cardinal clique at the Second Vatican Council?

If the key voting percentage can be changed and a Pope’s term can be ended by retirement, as the ex-Pope has done, then the papal election procedure surely can now be changed quickly to elect a Pope for a fixed term, that could always be extended by a future re-election of the same Pope. The Cardinals are using procedures that may have made sense to elect a monarch for a small medieval Italian kingdom, but the procedures are really inadequate, even ludicrous, for electing the leader of a one billion plus worldwide organization in the modern era. There is no good reason, other than saving Vatican Cardinals’ jobs apparently, to continue with this medieval nonsense. If the procedures are not changed now, the next Pope will likely soon throw up his hands as Joseph Ratzinger apparently had to.

What can Cardinals do? For starters they can elect a new Pope for a fixed term, say three years, then meet thereafter with adequate preparation to address the structural management and numerous pastoral problems threatening the continued existence of the Catholic Church.

Over 2,000 Cardinals and Bishops a half century ago decided overwhelmingly at the Second Vatican Council that the Catholic Church’s governance structure desperately needed reform, in particular, power sharing mechanisms. Their will was thwarted by an entrenched Vatican Curia, or papal court, that controlled subsequent Popes and sought to protect their turf against worldwide bishops. This undercutting of the Council’s original decision, which ex-Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, had strongly endorsed in 1965, that was intended to address the desperation of 1965 has directly led to the governance crisis of 2013 that hangs on a seemingly mythical “infallible thread”. By now, Cardinals must in their hearts and heads all know this firsthand, especially if they have become aware of the contents of the secret dossier on current Vatican scandals. What can and must the Cardinals now do?

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

March 6, 2013

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

We sincerely hope this is not what’s happening in the view of the world’s Cardinals as they read interviews by the Cardinals from the United States and speak with them over coffee, meals and in reception lines during these days.

Because a vast amount of news print and broadcast minutes were brought to bear on the sexual abuse scandal in the United States, the country’s Cardinals should not be seen as experts on the protection of children or justice for the survivors. Neither should Ireland’s Primate Sean Brady nor Australia’s Cardinal George Pell.

For that, we sincerely hope the Cardinals and especially the man who emerges as Pope know that accountability will come only from hard Church examination from experts across a number of critical fields: legal, psychological, medical, sociological, educational, and financial.

Cardinals, it appears from the dribbling in approach that some of them have engineered to delay the setting of a date for the conclave, do know how to strategize.

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VATICAN CITY
adnkronos

Vatican City, 6 March (AKI) – The Vatican on Wednesday declined to comment on the cancellation Wednesday by US cardinals gathered in Rome of their daily pre-conclave press-conference.

“It’s not up to me to tell the cardinals how they should behave, “said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.

“The College of Cardinals is imposing on itself an increasing degree of reserve as they attend pre-conclave meetings,” he added.

Until Wednesday, the US cardinals gathered in Rome for meetings ahead of this month’s papal election had been holding daily media conferences in Rome at the Pontifical North American College located near the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
Detroit Free Press

by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

American cardinals in Rome to for the lead-up to voting for the next pope may have been blabbing too much about secret discussions in advance of the super-secret conclave.

The day after stories in world media that the U.S. leaders daily press conference, mobbed with reporters, were exerting influence in the advisory meetings now underway, the Wednesday conference was canceled.

Tuesday, the Associated Press had described the scene with more than 100 journalists from the US, Britain and European countries “packing an auditorium for what has become the daily ‘American Show’ at the North American College, the U.S. seminary just up the hill from the Vatican.”

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a Wednesday statement, “Concern was expressed” in the daily meetings of the College of Cardinals “about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers. As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews.”

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VATICAN CITY
Windsor Star

The Associated Press | Mar 06, 2013

VATICAN CITY – The American cardinals in Rome for the conclave to elect the next pope have cancelled their popular daily press briefings — purportedly because of concern that details of the secret proceedings under way ahead of the election might leak to the media.

The Vatican denied it exerted any pressure on the Americans to keep quiet. But the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Holy See considers these pre-conclave meetings to be secret and part of a solemn discernment process to choose a pope.

The U.S. cardinals’ spokeswoman, Sister Mary Ann Walsh, said Wednesday’s briefing was cancelled after concern expressed by other cardinals “about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers.” As a precaution, interviews were halted.

Italian newspapers haven’t reported any significant information from the confidential talks.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee,Dennis Coday | Mar. 5, 2013

Rome —
As the cardinals of the Roman Catholic church meet to determine who will be the next pope, they must realize that “it is a time of thirst” for the church, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said Tuesday.

Schönborn spoke to NCR after a memorial service for Hungarian martyr Maria Restituta at a Roman parish that is a shrine to 20th-century martyrs, such as El Salvador Bishop Oscar Romero. Asked what issues the conclave faces, Schönborn replied, “This is the kind of events that shows what is really important.”

Schönborn’s comments came as the church’s cardinals are meeting in general congregations this week in preparation for the conclave.

Some see Schönborn, a 68-year-old member of the Dominican order known for both for his quick response to sexual abuse issues and personnel clashes with his archdiocesan staff, as a possible moderate fall-back candidate should the cardinals find themselves deadlocked.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 6, 2013

ROME – John Allen is offering a profile each day of one of the most frequently touted papabili, or men who could be pope. The old saying in Rome is that he who enters a conclave as pope exits as a cardinal, meaning there’s no guarantee one of these men actually will be chosen. They are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome these days, ensuring they will be in the spotlight as the conclave draws near. The profiles of these men also suggest the issues and the qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.

One shouldn’t presume that continuity with Benedict XVI will be the top concern of all 115 cardinals now getting ready to elect his successor, since many of them believe the “pope emeritus” was a great teacher but a mixed bag as CEO.

Yet for those who do see continuity as job number one, their candidate might well be the man known around Rome for years as “the little Ratzinger.”

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, 67, has led the Congregation for Divine Worship since December 2008, after six years as the Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain. The nickname “little Ratzinger” comes from earlier in his career, when Cañizares served as the chief of staff for the doctrine committee of the Spanish bishops’ conference from 1985 to 1992.

They were years of high drama, as Spanish theologians were prominent in the church’s intellectual Avant-garde. Cañizares played the same role in Spain that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger did at the global level in holding the line against these currents, and the two men became close friends.

(The qualifier “little” works in another sense too, as Cañizares is a fairly short man. In pictures with the pope, Benedict often seems to tower over him.)

Both admirers and detractors of Cañizares have embraced the nickname “little Ratzinger,” suggesting that whether you find his similarity to the retired pope encouraging or distressing, everyone can agree it fits.

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ROME
adnkronos

Rome, 6 March – Rome’s conservative mayor Gianni Alemanno on Wednesday predicted that emeritus pope Benedict XVI’s successor could be installed on 17 March – without giving an explanation.

“Three exceptional events are in the offing on 17 March, celebrations to mark the [152nd anniversary of the] unification of Italy, the probable enthronement of a new pontiff and the 19th Rome marathon,” Alemanno stated.

”If the new pope is enthroned on that day, the marathon will be postponed until the afternoon,” Alemanno told an event in Rome presenting the upcoming race.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

The Vatican on Wednesday said no date had been set for a conclave to elect a new pope and that all the 115 “cardinal electors” expected to take part in the vote will only be in Rome on Thursday.

“The date of the vote has not been decided,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters.

Lombardi also said Vietnamese cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man would be the last of the cardinal electors — cardinals below the threshold age of 80 — to arrive in Rome on Thursday.

“By tomorrow, all the cardinal electors should be in Rome,” Lombardi said.

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ROME
CBC

Marc Ouellet, the Canadian cardinal who many believe has a shot at the papacy, says that questions regarding the role of women in the church, gay marriage and abortion are important but “secondary.”

In the second part of a world-exclusive English language interview with CBC’s chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, the cardinal weighed in on major social issues of our time, including women’s role in the church and challenges the institution faces in modern times.

“Obviously these questions are, have their importance, but it is secondary, you know, and it has been always secondary,” said Ouellet.

At present, women cannot be ordained, which means they cannot become priests — the first step in becoming the pope.

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ROME
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley has said the next pope must deal with Bishops who allowed abusive priests to remain in ministry.

The Boston Globe reports that the Cardinal claimed in Rome that the next Catholic Church leader must adopt measures to deal with bishops whose ‘malfeasanc’ permitted child sex abusers to stay on as priests.

He said in a Rome interview that the successor to Pope Benedict XVI will need to continue Benedict’s campaign to get bishops across the world to adopt policies for dealing with accused abusers.

As dozens of cardinals gathered at the Vatican, Cardinal O’Malley said that should include procedures for disciplining bishops who protect abusive priests.

The report says that US bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on clergy sexual abuse a decade ago, requiring removal from ministry of any priest credibly accused of abusing a minor.

The paper claims that some church leaders have not followed it, with the bishop of Kansas City convicted last fall of failing to report child abuse by a priest. The church has yet to sanction him.
Cardinal O’Malley said: “There needs to be a path for disciplining bishops. Right now, it’s not terribly clear, but it’s something the next pope will have to deal with.

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ROME
Tribune-Review

By Betsy Hiel

Published: Tuesday, March 5, 2013

ROME – Two American cardinals with Pittsburgh roots said Roman Catholic officials will closely examine the church’s troubles before choosing a pope.

Cardinals Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and Sean O’Malley of Boston stepped from a College of Cardinals’ meeting on Tuesday to talk with reporters about church operations, including a scandal that embarrassed the resigned Pope Benedict XVI.

Terrence Tilley, Fordham University’s theology department chairman and a professor of Catholic theology, described their remarks as “unusual.”

“They are sending a message,” he said.

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VATICAN CITY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Ann Rodgers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

VATICAN CITY — In the absence of actual news, the 5,000 journalists gathered in Rome for the election of a successor to Pope Benedict XVI are awash in conspiracy theories. Some may have substance, but probably only by coincidence.

An example is the question of why three of the four cardinal-electors with archdioceses in Germany were among the dozen who hadn’t arrived in Rome Monday for the first day of general meetings to prepare for the conclave. They had had two weeks’ notice and, unlike latecomers from places such as Vietnam, face no travel challenges.

Could it be that they were trying to postpone the opening of the conclave? Did they fear that Italian cardinals who work in the Vatican would try to rush the international cardinals into voting before they could identify a worthy candidate from outside the Vatican?

German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is 80 but voting because his birthday fell after Pope Benedict stepped down on Thursday, could be construed as hinting at this in remarks to the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.

“We need time to get to know one another,” he said. “A papal election is not something you should rush.”

Cardinal Kasper is president emeritus of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, where he was known as an ally of diocesan bishops who felt they weren’t getting a fair hearing in other Vatican offices. Was he still running interference for them?

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ROME
USA Today

Editorial

In Rome, where 115 cardinals are gathering to elect a new pope, the conclave will include these luminaries:

•Cardinal Roger Mahony, former archbishop of Los Angeles, who in the 1980s plotted with an adviser to conceal child molesting priests from law enforcement.
•Cardinal Sean Brady, the leader of Ireland’s church, who failed in the 1970s to follow up on incriminating evidence against a priest, who went on to become a notorious serial molester.
•Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the former head of the Belgian church, who once advised an adult victim of 13 years of childhood abuse against making “a lot of noise” about it because his molester, a bishop, was about to retire.
•Cardinal Justin Rigali, former head of the Philadelphia archdiocese, where it took two grand juries issuing scathing reports of abuse before the cardinal saw fit in 2011 to suspend 21 priests accused of molesting children.

The full list of cardinals who abetted the child abuse scandal that has dogged the church for more than a decade is longer. But for coverups and allowing abuse to flourish, these four are among the worst offenders.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Michael O’Malley, The Plain Dealer
on March 06, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Rev. Robert Marrone, who broke away from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland after Bishop Richard Lennon closed his downtown church in 2010, has been excommunicated, according to a statement issued by the diocese Tuesday.

Lennon said in the statement that Marrone violated terms of a leave of absence he had received from the diocese and that he refused to abandon a worship space he and his followers had set up outside the authority of the diocese.

“Father Marrone’s recent actions have been in direct defiance of the church’s teachings and authority,” Lennon said.

Marrone could not be reached for comment.

Frank Titus of Lyndhurst, a member of Marrone’s breakaway church said, “I’m certainly saddened by the bishop’s actions. But I’m not surprised . . . this is a disappointing and troubling development.”

Maronne and his congregation of more than 300 broke away from the diocese in August 2010, four months after Lennon closed their parish, St. Peter Catholic Church on Superior Avenue at East 17th Street.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

Alison Philipps

6 Mar 2013

He lost everything and for what? For breaking his vow of celibacy? No, because he was a hypocrite. And a nasty one, too

Keith O’Brien is today hiding in a safe house undoubtedly considering how his life has gone so wrong.

He’s lost his job as Britain’s top Catholic, he’ll soon lose his title of Cardinal, and he has lost the faith and respect of people in parishes all over the world.

And for what? For a drunken fumble with a young priest 30 years ago? For breaking his vow of celibacy?

No, I don’t really think so. He lost ­everything because he was a hypocrite. And a nasty one, too.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Wednesday 6 March 2013

TWO more of Scotland’s ageing bishops are expected to be stood down by the summer, as a leading Catholic voice has predicted the wake of the Cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal will be a priority for the next Pope.

Bishop of Motherwell Joe Devine and his counterpart in the Diocese of Galloway, John Cunningham, have submitted their resignations having both turned 75 in recent months but have been expected to hang on until replacements are found.

In the case of a former Glasgow archbishop this took three years.

However, the crisis following the revelations of Cardinal O’Brien’s “inappropriate behaviour” towards young priests in the 1980s and his subsequent admissions of sexual behaviour, on top of collapsing morale across the Catholic Church, are understood to have accelerated the need for change in Scotland.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Joan McAlpine

IN a week which saw Cardinal Keith O’Brien apologise for his sexual conduct, Joan McAlpine says he will be suffering too.

LET he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Those were the words of Jesus to a baying crowd ready to execute an unfortunate woman for the “crime” of adultery.

They should be remembered before we hurl verbal rocks at Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

This is an old man who must be suffering.

His humiliation is of his own making. But that’s no excuse for wanton cruelty.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

FATHER John Robinson welcomed the shamed cardinal’s apology but said the Catholic Church should not now brush the scandal under the carpet.

THE first priest to criticise the Catholic Church in the wake of the Keith O’Brien scandal has called for the affair to signal a new beginning.

Father John Robinson welcomed the axed cardinal’s apology for sexual misconduct.

But he said it was wrong for Catholic leaders to now try to draw a line under the scandal.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mitteldeutsche-kirchenzeitungen

Im Gespräch: Ein evangelikaler Theologe und Kenner der römisch-katholischen Kirche zum zurückgetretenen Papst

Der scheidende Papst gilt vielen als rückständig und ­antiökumenisch, sein Jesus-Buch manchem Theologen als »peinliche Entgleisung« (Lüdemann). Im Interview mit dem Medienmagazin »pro« zeichnet der Vorsitzende der Theologischen Kommission der Weltweiten Evangelischen Allianz, Thomas Schirrmacher, ein differenzierteres Bild.

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DEUTSCHLAND
A Thin Red Line

Inzwischen vergeht kaum ein Monat, kaum eine Woche, ohne dass es Neues über den sexuellen Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche zu berichten gibt. Gerade in Deutschland sind derartige Vorfälle seit Jesuit Klaus Mertes, Rektor des Berliner Canisius-Kollegs, sich Anfang 2010 bei Opfern aus den 1970er und 1980er Jahren entschuldigte, ein Dauerthema. Aber auch zuvor bereits, nicht zuletzt durch die Aufdeckung des Boston Globe im Jahr 2002 von sexuellem Missbrauch und systematischer Vertuschung in der katholischen Kirche der USA. Vier Jahre später widmete sich Regisseurin Amy Berg in ihrer Dokumentation Deliver Us from Evil dem Thema anhand der Vorfälle um den katholischen Pater Oliver O’Grady.

Vor zwei Jahren berichtete Claudia Keller auf Zeit Online, dass allein 2006 „in den USA 714 glaubhafte Beschuldigungen gegen 448 Priester erhoben“ wurden [1]. Der in die USA emigrierte Ire Oliver O’Grady dürfte dazugehört haben. Im Jahr 1971 war er in die Vereinigten Staaten gekommen und in Kirchen und Gemeinden in Kalifornien als Priester tätig. 22 Jahre später wurde er in vier Fällen wegen Kindesmissbrauchs verurteilt und gab an, über zwei Dutzend Kinder in seiner Zeit als Priester vergewaltigt zu haben [2]. Ein Trauma, nicht nur für die Kinder, die als Erwachsene weiter von dem Missbrauch gebeutelt sind, sondern auch für ihre Eltern, die in ihrem religiösen Glauben ihre Kinder Pater O’Grady anvertrauten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Heise

Peter Bürger 05.03.2013

Viele Medien verbreiten vor der Papstwahl aberwitzige Personalkarusselle. Sinnvoller wäre es, zum Amtsverzicht von Benedikt XVI. und zum Chaos der Römischen Kirche unbequeme Fragen zu stellen

Die berühmten Bischöfe aus den ersten Jahrhunderten der Kirche, auch die Bischöfe von Rom, wurden von den Gläubigen gewählt. Bis heute ist bei jeder Weihe eines Priesters zwingend die Frage vorgeschrieben, ob denn auch das Volk befragt worden sei. Indessen wird das Volk in der lateinischen Kirche nie befragt, so dass schon die Klerikerweihe mit einer Lüge beginnt. Alle Kandidaten für Bischofsstühle, auch für den von Rom, gehen somit in nachapostolischer Betrachtung aus einer illegalen Hierarchie-Bildung hervor.

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ROME
CNN

By Richard Allen Greene and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
March 6, 2013

Rome (CNN) — A group representing survivors of sexual abuse by priests on Wednesday named a “Dirty Dozen” list of cardinals it said would be the worst candidates for pope based on their handling of child sex abuse claims.

Their presence on the list is based “on their actions and/or public comment about child sex abuse and cover up in the church,” the group said.

The list includes cardinals from several countries.

SNAP, the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests, said as it released the list Wednesday that its accusations were based on press reports, legal filings and victims’ statements.

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MAINE
WCSH

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Catholic clergy across Maine are saying prayers for victims of past sexual abuse incidents in the church.

Wednesday has been designated as a day of prayer and penance in churches in the Maine Catholic diocese.

During Wednesday Masses, priests are being encouraged to say special prayers calling for the healing of abuse victims and the repentance and justice of abuse perpetrators, as well prayers for families and church clergy and staff. The largest Mass will be held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

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UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

By T.F. Charlton

I was not surprised when Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), the church group I grew up in as a teen and young adult, was served with a lawsuit this past October, alleging clergy cover-ups of sexual abuse.

Sadly, I was even less surprised when the suit was amended in January to include Covenant Life Church (CLC), the congregation I had attended for nine years, and to add new charges of physical and sexual abuse by pastors, as well as allegations of abuse on church property. From what I’d seen inside Sovereign Grace and Covenant Life from 1996–2005, the alleged abuse seemed almost predictable—the result of the group’s toxic teachings on parenting, gender, and sexuality.

Sovereign Grace is a U.S.-based church-planting network (they say “family”) of predominantly white, suburban, reformed evangelical congregations. C.J. Mahaney, the current president, and Larry Tomczak—today a pastor at Bethel World Outreach Church in Brentwood, Tennessee—co-founded the Gaithersburg, Maryland church that would become Covenant Life in 1977. It was the first in what would become a network of 91 churches across 25 states and 17 countries. And it would launch the careers of several conservative Christian activists, including Lou Engle, whose ministry The Call has played a significant role in exporting American religious homophobia to Uganda, as well as Che Ahn, president of the charismatic Harvest International Ministries. Both men were among Covenant Life’s early leaders.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

The following twelve papal candidates are the ones that we are most worried about becoming the next pope. These twelve were chosen based exclusively on their actions and/or public comments about child sex abuse and cover up in the church. Sources include mainstream media accounts, legal filings and victims’ experiences. The names are in no particular order.

1) Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Mexico

–He blamed the media for “attacks on the church,” alleging “over-reporting” of church sex cases.

[National Catholic Reporter]

–He claimed that there are no “documented” cases of abuse against minors in Mexico.

–He also repeatedly minimized and concealed multiple child sex abuse allegations against Fr. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera who traveled between his native Mexico and the Los Angeles archdiocese, molesting kids in both places. Aguilar Rivera’s current whereabouts are unknown.

2) Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, Honduras

–He said much of the U.S. media was anti-Catholic and that the major networks and newspapers “made themselves protagonists of what I do not hesitate to define as a persecution of the church.”

[Catholics News Service]

–He also opposes bishops turning allegations of clerical sexual abuse over to civil authorities for investigation and possible prosecution. “I would be willing to go to jail before harming one of my priests — I am not a policeman,” he said.

[BishopAccountability.org]

3) Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York

–In August of 2011, Dolan took minimal steps against Fr. Jamie Duenas, who repeatedly abused a teenage girl who worked for him and was arrested. Instead of helping the police or the victim, Dolan attacked the victim on his official website for going back to work after the first assault.

[New York archdiocese blog]

–That same year, Dolan kept silent for nine months about the case of Brother Lawrence Gordon, an assistant principal who had child porn on his computer. Such delays and secrecy give predators ample time to potentially destroy evidence, intimidate victims, discredit witnesses, threaten whistleblowers, and fabricate alibis.

[New York Post]

[Wall Street Journal]

–Internal church documents released by a judge last summer show that Dolan devised a secret plan to pay pedophile priests $20,000 each to quietly leave the ministry. Some of the clerics went elsewhere, but Dolan warned no one. At least 12 priests are known to have gotten payouts.

[New York Times]

–In 2007, Dolan publicly and vehemently denied paying off offender priests after it was discovered that one notorious priest child sex offender, Fr Franklyn Becker, was given money.

[NY1]

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WORCESTER (MA)
Republican

By Kevin Koczwara, MassLive.com
on March 05, 2013

WORCESTER — The Vatican has defrocked three priests from the Worcester Diocese who were accused of sexual abuse.

Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, announced today that David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert Shauris are no longer in the clerical state.. Pope Benedict XVI accepted the voluntary laicizations of Thomas Kane and Robert Shauris prior to his resignation as the Roman Pontiff. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the decision in the case of David Blizard.

As a result of the laicizations, the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.

According to a Diocese of Worcester press release, the decisions were reached by late 2012. Formal announcement waited until the period for any individual appeals was concluded.

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ROME
Big Pond News (Australia)

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Advocates for victims of clerical sex abuse have asked three cardinals withdraw from the papal conclave.

Advocates for victims of clerical sex abuse in Chile, Mexico and Italy have asked for three cardinals to withdraw from the papal conclave, accusing them of covering up crimes.

The victims in Chile say Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz failed to act on accusations that they were abused by the Reverend Fernando Karadima, who was long one of the country’s most popular priests.

They say the cardinal, who will vote for the successor to Pope Benedict XVI, declined to carry out a probe and refused to even meet them.

‘My clients say it’s incongruent and disrespectful to all the victims, not only Karadima’s but those of other priests who abused minors when he was an archbishop,’ Juan Pablo Hermosilla, the victims’ lawyer told The Associated Press.

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WORCESTER (MA)
International Business Times

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | March 6, 2013

A priest blesses the coffin of Honda MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli during his funeral service at a church in Coriano October 27, 2011. Simoncelli, 24, was killed during the Grand Prix race at Sepang on October 23 when he lost control of his bike and was struck by fellow riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.

Mr Kane and Mr Shauris voluntarily offered to “laicize” or defrock themselves, which now retired Pope Benedict XVI accepted and approved before his actual resignation took effect on Feb. 28. The Vatican’s Congregation of the Faith, meanwhile, decided to oust Mr Blizard from the priesthood.

Although all three have been removed from ministry for nearly two decades, it was only late last year that the Diocese of Worcester in Central Massachusetts decided to defrock the priests as the diocese had to entertain individual appeals made against the three in the course of investigation.

Mr Blizard was removed in 1988 from ministry work by Bishop Timothy Harrington when allegations of sexual abuse lodged against him, that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, seemed credible. Mr Blizard became priest in 1974. He served in the parishes of St. Roch in Oxford, Our Lady Immaculate in Athol, Christ the King in Worcester and Holy Angels in Upton, all located in Central Massachusetts.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

[with photos]

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com

WORCESTER — The Vatican has “laicized” or defrocked three Central Massachusetts Roman Catholic priests who had been accused of sexual improprieties.

Bishop Robert J. McManus said that, as a result of the Vatican’s actions, David Blizard, Thomas Kane and Robert A. Shauris “are no longer in the clerical state.”

According to chancery officials, the Vatican’s Congregation of the Faith decided to oust Mr. Blizard from the priesthood. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI, before stepping down as pontiff last Thursday, accepted the “voluntary laicizations” of Mr. Kane and Mr. Shauris.

Chancery officials said that the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.

The Vatican made the decision to strip the three men of the priesthood late last year but held off announcing anything until the period allowing for appeals expired.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on March 05, 2013

■Victims release “Dirty Dozen” list
■“None of them should be next pope,” they say
■All 12, from 10 nations, are considered ‘papabile’
■ Group blasts prelates “who pretend the worst is over”
■Scandal has yet to surface in most nations, victims contend
■It’s ‘shameless spin’ & ‘deliberate deception’ to claim otherwise,” they say

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, at a news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will release a list of the 12 “worst” prelates who’ve been identified at likely papal candidates, based on their records in dealing with clergy sex crime and cover ups. They will also urge the College of Cardinals to

–elect no one on their list as the next pope, and

–stop pretending the crisis has abated, since it remains deeply hidden in the vast majority of nations (where most Catholics live), and has really only become widely known- and barely addressed – in the US about a decade ago and in a few European countries even more recently.

WHEN
TODAY, Wednesday, March 6 at 10:30 a.m.

WHO
Two leaders of an international support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including the organization’s long-time executive director

WHERE
The Orange Hotel at 86 Via Crescenzio in Rome (+39 06 686 8969)

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WORCESTER (MA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ray Delisle
508-791-5357

March 5, 2013, WORCESTER, MA — Following the Catholic Church’s commitment to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, has announced that David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert Shauris are no longer in the clerical state. The Holy Father accepted the voluntary laicizations on the part of Thomas Kane and Robert Shauris prior to his resigning as the Roman Pontiff. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the decision in the case of David Blizard. As a result of the laicizations, the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests. Although the decisions were reached by late 2012, formal announcement waited until the period for any individual appeals was concluded.

I ask the Catholic community to join with me in prayer for healing for anyone who has been abused by these men or anyone in the Catholic Church,” said Bishop McManus. “Allow me to echo the poignant words of Cardinal Francis George at the meeting of Cardinals in Rome on Monday, that ‘The wound is still deep in their hearts, and as long as it’s with them it will be with us.’ May we never lose sight of this.”

Along with asking for prayers for healing for all those who have been harmed in any way by any member of the clergy, the bishop encourages anyone in need of pastoral assistance as a result of clerical abuse to contact the diocesan Victims Assistance Coordinator in the Office of Healing and Prevention by calling 508-929-4363.

David Blizard was removed from ministry in 1988 by Bishop Timothy Harrington following the determination of credible allegations of abuse having occurred in the 1970s and 80s. Blizard has not had faculties as a priest since 1988. He was ordained in 1974 and served in the following parishes: St. Roch, Oxford; Our Lady Immaculate, Athol; Christ the King, Worcester; Holy Angels, Upton. He was in residence in various parishes while assigned to the Catholic School Department from 1983 – 1988.

Thomas Kane was removed from ministry in 1993 by Bishop Timothy Harrington after learning of credible allegations of abuse which had occurred in the 1970s and he has not had faculties to serve in priestly ministry since 1993. Kane was ordained in 1969 and was resident in various parishes while continuing advance studies in psychology. These included St. Mary, Uxbridge, St Joan of Arc, Worcester followed by assignment to the House of Affirmation in Whitinsville. He was serving as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart in Gardner beginning in 1992 when he was placed on leave.

Robert Shauris was removed from ministry in 1995 by Bishop Daniel Reilly after learning of credible allegations of inappropriate behavior in the 1990s and subsequently learning of credible allegations of abuse dating to the 1970s and 1980s. Shauris has not had faculties to serve in priestly ministry since then. Shauris was ordained in 1974 and served as an associate at St. Mary, Uxbridge and was in residence at Immaculate Conception, Fitchburg, St. Anthony of Padua, Fitchburg, and Our Lady of Fatima, Worcester during teaching assignments at St. Bernard Central Catholic High School (CCHS), St. Peter-Marian CCHS and Anna Maria College.

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ROME
San Angelo Standard-Times

By Nicole Winfield Associated Press
Posted March 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY — The two American cardinals sat on the stage, microphones in hand, fielding questions from the world’s news media on everything from the delayed arrival of some of their colleagues to their own wardrobe choices if elected pope.

Most experts doubt the upcoming conclave will select an American pope, but the U.S. cardinals already are exerting a surprising amount of control over the message — simply by talking. Their lively daily briefings contrast sharply with the sober summaries from the Vatican spokesman and almost nothing from anyone else.

More than 100 journalists and two dozen television crews from the U.S., Britain, France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Italy showed up Tuesday, packing an auditorium for what has become the daily “American Show” at the North American College, the U.S. seminary just up the hill from the Vatican.

Cardinals Daniel Di Nardo of Galveston-Houston and Sean O’Malley of Boston held court, gamely trying to answer questions about when the conclave will begin, why five voting-age cardinals still hadn’t shown up and whether they’d all be home in time for Holy Week.

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ROME
The Globe and Mail (Canada)

ERIC REGULY
ROME — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Mar. 05 2013

Rome is full of unusual sights as the machine to select the next pope rolls forward. Italians and 5,000 members of the media have seen gaggles of cardinals scurrying across St. Peter’s Square en route to pre-conclave meetings. They have seen the next pope’s fresh wardrobe – in three sizes, depending on his dimensions – on full display at an ecclesiastical tailor’s shop.

Perhaps the most unusual sight on Tuesday took place on the auditorium stage of the Pontifical North American College, on the leafy Janiculum Hill overlooking the Vatican. Seated next to one another were two live-wire American cardinals, Sean O’Malley of Boston and Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.

Why was the event unusual? Because cardinals almost never talk to the press during the pre-conclave congregation meetings. Traditionally, selecting a pope is a highly secretive process. Details of who says what in the meetings, who is up and who is down, goes to the grave with them. Even talking in general terms about the conclave process is rare, or at least was until now.

Neither man looks remotely like a cardinal. Sporting a brown hooded robe and white rope belt, Cardinal O’Malley was dressed like a Franciscan. Cardinal DiNardo was all in black, like a simple, though elegant, priest. They were taking questions from the mob of reporters about the conclave process (though careful not to break their oaths of secrecy) and having fun.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on Wednesday 6 March 2013

THE Catholic Church in Scotland arranged for a teenage victim of an abusive priest to be paid £200 and made him sign a legal document promising not to tell anyone.

“Sam Y” told The Scotsman he was made to feel that he was to blame for the assault by Father Desmond Lynagh, who had been moved by the Catholic Church from Blairs Seminary after he abused a 14-year-old to Stirling University, where he served as a chaplain.

Lynagh attempted to kiss and fondle the student while driving him home from a party in October 1983. After complaining to an Edinburgh priest, the 18-year-old student was taken to a meeting in a lawyer’s office in Glasgow, paid £200 for “travel expenses” and ordered by what he believes was a senior figure in the Catholic Church not to tell anyone about the assault.

Sam Y, who came forward after reading about the experiences of “Michael X” in The Scotsman, said he wanted to highlight how the Catholic Church in Scotland lied to him about Lynagh’s abusive past and attempted a cover-up.

He said: “A senior member of the Church told me a story that was utter fiction. The overwhelming thing that has eaten away at me for years and years is that the Church definitely knew about Lynagh at Blairs and, in the full knowledge of that information, they moved him to a university campus.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Over 2,000 Cardinals and Bishops a half century ago decided overwhelmingly at the Second Vatican Council that the Catholic Church’s governance structure desperately needed reform, in particular, power sharing mechanisms. Their will was thwarted by an entrenched Vatican Curia, or papal court, that controlled subsequent Popes and sought to protect their turf against worldwide bishops. This undercutting of the Council’s original decision, which ex-Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, had strongly endorsed in 1965, that was intended to address the desperation of 1965 has directly led to the governance crisis of 2013 that hangs on a seemingly mythical “infallible thread”. By now, Cardinals must in their hearts and heads all know this firsthand, especially if they have become aware of the contents of the secret dossier on current Vatican scandals. What can and must the Cardinals now do?

Fortunately, two brief and pertinent resources are readily available to assist the Cardinals in their current deliberations. The first is a “blueprint” recently prepared by dozens of the world’s leading Catholic scholars and accessible by clicking on at:

[Church Authority]

The second resource is a 2008 column by an informed and dedicated Jesuit, UCBerkeley political scientist and author of the definitive works on current Vatican and episcopal governance, Thomas Reese. Fr. Reese offers some very pertinent proposals to reform Church governance that are accessible by clicking on here:

[Commonweal]

It is now or never, it appears, for the Cardinals. Intentionally or not, ex-Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, who earlier unfairly tried to silence some of the authors of these helpful remarks, has now, by his fateful de facto admission of failure, made their contributions to Church reform that much more relevant and urgent.

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CHILE
WRAL

By EVA VERGARA, Associated Press; LUIS ANDRES HENAO, Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile — Advocates for victims of clerical sex abuse in Chile, Mexico and Italy asked Tuesday for three cardinals to withdraw from the papal conclave, accusing them of covering up crimes.

The victims in Chile say Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz failed to act on accusations that they were abused by the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was long one of the country’s most popular priests. They say the cardinal, who will vote for the successor to Pope Benedict XVI, declined to carry out a probe and refused to even meet them.

“My clients say it’s incongruent and disrespectful to all the victims, not only Karadima’s but those of other priests who abused minors when he was an archbishop,” Juan Pablo Hermosilla, the victims’ lawyer told The Associated Press.

“It’s evident that he had knowledge of the complaints of abuse, which other priests believed to be true, and he did nothing,” Hermosilla said. “He could have stopped this at the time, but for some reason he didn’t. He looked the other way.”

In Mexico, meanwhile, advocates for victims of the disgraced Rev. Marcial Maciel and other priests said they were presenting a petition demanding that Mexican Cardinal Norberto Rivera stay away from the conclave.

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CANADA
CJAD

Posted By: Shuyee Leeslee@astral.com·3/5/2013

Updated

While the compensation case in the Holy Cross sexual abuse class-action lawsuit continues at the Montreal courthouse, victims are saying the proceedings are going too slowly for them.

The Holy Cross Congregation says it’s settled half of the 223 claims in a class-action lawsuit as part of compensation for sexual abuse, totalling almost $5 million to date. The congregation has said they’ve set up an $18-million fund for the victims.

But victims say that at the rate they’re going, they fear the dwindling fund will mean diminished compensation cheques that will only go out once all the claims are settled. Victims say they find that unacceptable, nearly two years after an out-of-court settlement was reached.

One of the lawyers, Gilles Gareau said the process is making the victims unnecessarily relive their nightmares.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Dr. Jeff Mirus | March 05, 2013

During the period leading up to Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, I would describe my mood as sadness buoyed by a certain excitement and even optimism. I watched the news closely just to chronicle the Pope’s final days in office. But now that Benedict has stepped down, and we are awaiting the election of his successor, my natural excitement is increasingly on hold. I’m relaxing a bit, and I am watching the news primarily for enjoyment.

Granted, there are certain facts that we do want to know, such as when the conclave will actually begin. But as the journalists and the cardinals get together in Rome before the conclave starts, we are bombarded with procedural trivia, bizarre attempts to get in on the ecclesiastical action, and what we might call electoral gamesmanship on the part of the cardinals. The larger truth is that we will not know anything significant until the white smoke rises upon the election of the next pope. Apart from reminding us of our duty to pray, I think Our Lord really does want us to enjoy it all.

Certainly the more bizarre stories are entertaining, such as the poster campaign in favor of the election of Cardinal Turkson (the Ghanaian head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) and also the effort of a fraudulent bishop to get into the preliminary meetings among the cardinals. Based on these two stories we know exactly two things: Imposters are unlikely to infiltrate the process; and Cardinal Turkson, whatever his merits, will never be elected pope.

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FIJI
Fiji Times

Felix Chaudhary
Wednesday, March 06, 2013

A CATHOLIC priest who was charged with one count of rape and three counts of indecent assault last Friday appeared before the Tavua Magistrates Court yesterday to answer to a further seven counts of rape and seven of indecent assault.

Father Nemesio Kolikoli appeared under his common name, Nemani Ravouvou. Magistrate Samuela Qica ordered his transfer to the Natabua remand centre in Lautoka until March 19 when the case will be heard in the High Court in Lautoka.

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UNITED STATES
The Dallas Morning News

By Ralph De La Cruz
rdelacruz@dallasnews.com
4:38 pm on March 5, 2013

Seeing the headline on the story about Cardinals meeting in preparation for electing a new Pope, I felt heartened:

“U.S.Cardinals seek answers on Vatican dysfunction.”

Seek answers…Vatican dysfunction…

YES!

Are church leaders finally confronting the pedophilia ugliness that has eaten away, like termites gnawing at a wooden floor, at the Roman Catholic Church’s moral authority for almost 30 years?

“…They want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is casting a shadow over the conclave…”

Oh. They’re freaked about leaks.

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HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on March 5, 2013

Active priest, Diocese of Honolulu accused of child sex crimes
Two ex-Damien students expose him in abuse lawsuit
Bishop Silva has known, done little about allegations
Despite ‘zero tolerance,” bishop refuses to remove, punish predator
Bishop Silva must oust priest, warn parishioners, group says
Predator is “ticking time bomb” for abuse, they claim

What:

Holding signs and/or photos of themselves when they were abused, child sex abuse victims and their supporters will announce that a long-time Catholic priest and the Diocese of Honolulu have been named in a sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit. The lawsuit says that Fr. George DeCosta:
•Sexually abused two boys while at Damien Memorial School, and
•Continues to live and act as a priest on the Big Island.

They will also ask Honolulu Bishop Clarence Silva to:
•Explain why DeCosta still lives and acts as a priest,
•Tell why he has covered up accusations against DeCosta,
•Obey directives from US Cardinals demanding “zero tolerance,”
•Immediately remove DeCosta’s priestly faculties, and
•Personally visit every parish, school and facility where he worked and reach out to others he may have hurt.

Where: Outside of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, 1184 Bishop Street in Honolulu

When: Wednesday, March 6 at 11:30 am

Who: Members and supporters of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation’s largest support group for men and women sexually abused as children in religious and institutional organizations, including a California woman who is the group’s Western Regional Director

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ROME
Boston Herald

By
Matt Stout / Boston Herald

Cardinal Sean O’Malley said he has no plans to ditch his brown habit for grand papal robes, largely for one reason: He’s not banking on being pope.

Joined by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston/Houston during a press conference today in Rome, O’Malley chuckled when a reporter said her daughter was wondering if he’d change out of his recognizable Capuchin robe if he indeed emerged from conclave as Pope Benedict’s XVI successor.

“I have worn this uniform for over 40 years and I presume I will wear it until I die — because I don’t expect to be elected pope,” O’Malley said, according to audio of the briefing provided by the Archdiocese of Boston. “I don’t expect to have a change of wardrobe.”.

O’Malley, like a handful of other cardinals at the Vatican, has been the subject of continuing speculation about his possible papal candidacy. But as they await the arrival of a few remaining cardinals — O’Malley said he’s heard there are two yet to arrive — cardinals have spent the last two days meeting in general congregations and coffee-breaks with the church’s most pressing challenges topping most conversations.

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WORCESTER (MA)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 05, 2013

WORCESTER, Massachusetts — The Vatican has defrocked three priests from the Worcester Diocese who were accused of sexual abuse.

David Blizard, Thomas Kane and Robert Shauris can no longer function as priests in any capacity.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/VBgmPC) that the Vatican stripped the men of the priesthood last year, but just announced it after the period for appeals expired.

Shauris was accused of molesting children during the 1980s. He’s been on leave from the diocese since 1991.

Kane was removed from ministry in the 1990s for alleged sexual abuse in the 1970s.

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CANADA
Metro

By Luke Simcoe
Metro Windsor

When the verdict came down in the trial of a former Windsor priest who abused 19 people dating back to the 1950s, Brenda Brunelle could no longer contain her emotion.

“Mercy for an old man?” she shouted at the departing judge. “What about the young children, what about their mercy?”

Rev. William Hodgson Marshall pleaded guilty Monday to abusing two young boys in Saskatchewan in the 1950s and 60s. He is currently on parole after being convicted of sexually abusing children while teaching at schools in Windsor, Toronto and Sudbury.

The latest charges earned the 90-year-old former priest six months of house arrest followed by a lengthy probation.

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VATICAN CITY
Peoria Journal-Star

By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press

Posted Mar 05, 2013

VATICAN CITY —
Attorneys who have tried unsuccessfully for years to sue the Vatican over failures to stop clergy sex abuse are looking into whether former Pope Benedict XVI is more legally vulnerable in retirement, especially if he travels beyond the Vatican walls.

A U.S. lawyer for the Vatican argues that, like any former head of state, Benedict retains legal immunity regardless of whether he is in or out of office. But advocates for victims say immunity in this case should be tested, since modern-day courts have never before dealt with an emeritus pope.

“So much of this is unprecedented,” said Pamela Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which is pressing the International Criminal Court to investigate the Vatican’s response to abusive priests as a crime against humanity. “There’s nothing set in stone about it.”

Benedict stepped down last week, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. Before he became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, he spent more than two decades in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that over the years gained authority to oversee abuse claims against clergy worldwide.

Still, his record on trying to end abuse stands above that of many other church officials.

Benedict spoke openly of ridding the church of “filth” and was the first pontiff to meet directly with victims, during a 2008 visit to the U.S.

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WORCESTER (MA)
The Catholic Free Press

Three men whose faculties to serve as priests had already been removed by Bishops Harrington and Reilly have been laicized, according to a statement from Bishop McManus.

Bishop McManus announced that David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert Shauris are no longer in the clerical state.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted the voluntary laicizations of Thomas Kane and Robert Shauris prior to resigning.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the decision in the case of David Blizard.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com

WORCESTER — The Vatican has “laicized,” or defrocked, three Central Massachusetts Roman Catholic priests, who had been accused of sexual improprieties.

Bishop Robert J. McManus said that, as a result of the Vatican’s actions, David Blizard, Thomas Kane, and Robert A. Shauris “are no longer in the clerical state.”

According to chancery officials, the Vatican’s Congregation of the Faith decided to oust Mr. Blizard from the priesthood. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI, before stepping down as pontiff last Thursday, accepted the “voluntary laicizations” of Mr. Kane and Mr. Shauris.

Chancery officials said that the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.

The Vatican made the decision to strip the three men of the priesthood late last year but held off announcing anything until the period allowing for any appeals expired.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on March 05, 2013

The top Catholic prelates of Boston and Chicago apparently disagree on whether or not “zero tolerance” for predators is or is not the world-wide policy of the church.

Cardinal Francis George claims it is. Yesterday, he told reporters in Rome that zero tolerance is now “the universal law of the church.”

But hours later, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston told The Wall Street Journal that “making sure that measures aimed at combating sexual abuse by clerics get enforced across Catholicism’s global sprawl will be a “monumental task” for the next pope.

“The Holy See is going to have to mandate these into polices, “ O’Malley said, and “would be reviewing the thicket of guidelines developed by national bishops conferences around the world.”

The Journal also noted that “In recent years, these conferences have scrambled to get guidelines in place. Bishops in Italy and Germany created their own policies only after hundreds of people had come already forward across Europe to report allegations of sex abuse.”

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on March 05, 2013 ·

We are disappointed that Cardinal Angelo Sodano is leading prayer todmorrow. Given how integral he has been to the cover-up of crimes against children, especially those of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, we feel that he should step aside and let another prelate take his place.

Sodano’s horrific record on child abuse is a stain on the church, and such a public role for him only reminds us – and Catholics across the globe – how clergy sex crimes have been woefully mishandled clergy sex crimes by church officials at all levels.

Imagine the hope many Catholics would feel if other church officials found the strength to challenge Sodano and persuaded him to step aside. We hope at least a handful of prelates will make an effort to do this.

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OSTERREICH
Humanist News

Ein Gastartikel von Christian Fiala

Eigentlich sollte die “Klasnic Kommission” ja die Missbräuche durch die Kirche aufklären. De facto war die Kommission aber ausschließlich mit der Analyse der Betroffenen beschäftigt. Über die Hintergründe der Taten, insbesondere strukturelle Bedingungen der kath. Kirche gab es fast gar nichts. Bei der Tagung hat ein Redner ganz vorsichtig ein paar Vorschläge gemacht. Das wars. Also da passiert ein systematischer Missbrauch in der kath. Kirche unvorstellbaren Ausmasses und die Kommission, die das untersucht hat zwar jede Menge gute Ratschläge für die Betroffenen parat, macht aber nur ein paar vorsichtige Bemerkungen über strukturelle Probleme der Kirche.

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OSTERREICH
Stift Kremsmunster

Missbrauch: Rückschau und Ausblick
Kategorie: stift

Eine Zwischenbilanz zur Aufarbeitung der Fälle des sexuellen Missbrauchs in unserem Konvikt. Stellungnahme von Abt Ambros vom 11. Februar 2013.

Vor beinahe drei Jahren sah sich das Stift Kremsmünster mit zahlreichen Missbrauchsvorwürfen konfrontiert. Es wurden unverzüglich Konsequenzen gezogen, vorbehaltlos mit kirchlichen und staatlichen Stellen zusammengearbeitet und zahlreiche Maßnahmen gesetzt. In zwei Pressekonferenzen (März 2010 und März 2011) und weiteren öffentlichen Erklärungen hat das Stift Kremsmünster Stellung genommen und über den aktuellen Stand informiert. In dieser Pressekonferenz möchte das Stift über Maßnahmen, bisher geleistete Entschädigungszahlungen sowie über die in Auftrag gegebene wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung informieren.

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OSTERRIECH
Stift Kremsmunster

Wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung
Kategorie: stift

durch das Institut für Praxisforschung und Projektberatung München zum Thema “Sexueller Missbrauch, psychische und körperliche Gewalt im Internat des Stifts Kremsmünster. Individuelle Folgen und organisatorisch-strukturelle Hintergründe.”

1. Ausgangspunkt
Im Jahr 2010 wurden auch[1]in Bezug auf die Benediktinerabtei Kremsmünster Missbrauchsvorwürfe erhoben. Diese Vorwürfe beziehen sich auf sexuellen Missbrauch, psychische wie körperliche Gewalt und betreffen die Zeit nach 1945. Der Großteil der bislang bekannt gewordenen Fälle betrifft die Zeit zwischen 1970 bis 1990. Mittlerweile haben sich ca. 50 Opfer gemeldet, deren Vorwürfe sich gegen bislang 13 Personen aus dem Kloster richten. Im Mittelpunkt steht vor allem ein Pater, dem massive Misshandlungen vorgeworfen werden.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

JUDY ROBERTS

VATICAN CITY — In a media narrative that was largely predictable, news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was quickly followed by a flood of headlines linking him to the clergy sexual-abuse scandal.

“Legacy Marred by Sex-Abuse Scandal,” read a headline on the ABC News website. “Complicit in Child Sex-Abuse Scandals,” said another from The Guardian, which quoted victims’ groups.

Amid the fray, however, other voices have taken a singularly opposite view, instead crediting the Holy Father with aggressively and decisively addressing a problem that came to light well before he was elected to the papacy.

In part because of high-profile cases like those in Ireland and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the United States, and the one involving Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, Benedict’s pontificate could not escape association with the stigma of clergy sexual abuse. However, his supporters insist that the way in which he dealt with the crisis was both exemplary and exceptional and that history will be much kinder to him than his critics have been.

Those who defend Pope Benedict’s treatment of the Church’s sexual-abuse scandal cite his multiple meetings with victims, the first by a pope; his strongly worded statements and apologies, in particular his eight-page “Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland” in which he criticized not just the perpetrators, but bishops who had mishandled the situation; his work as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and, later, as pope in improving the way sexual-abuse cases were handled by the Vatican and his swift, direct action in the case of Father Maciel.

“Pope Benedict XVI will certainly be remembered for his extraordinary reply and response to the very sad phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy,” auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, former promoter of justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told Vatican Radio Feb. 18.

The promoter of justice is responsible for investigating more serious crimes, including claims of clergy sexual abuse of minors. After Bishop Scicluna was elevated last year to the episcopate and returned to his native Malta, he was succeeded as promoter of justice by Father Robert Oliver, a canon-law expert from the Archdiocese of Boston.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

An American priest and Catholic Church historian said Tuesday the 115 cardinals tasked with picking the next pope want a man who has both keen evangelical and managerial skills. In short, Father Thomas Reese said, they need “Jesus Christ with an MBA.”

Reese managed in those five words to sum up the challenge facing the so-called princes of the Catholic Church, the cardinals, who have already begun wrestling with the various, and widely disparate, qualifications required in a pontiff to replace Pope Benedict XVI.

In spite of the Church’s best efforts to move past the child sex abuse scandal, victims of that abuse are still demanding justice. The next pope will need to be someone who can shift the presiding narrative of the Church away from apologies (without appearing insensitive to the victims) and back to the preferred topic and goal of growing congregations.

“What we really need is somebody who can communicate the gospel in a way that is understandable and attractive to people in the 21st century,” said Reese. “That is what we are supposed to be about, the message of Jesus and that is an attractive message but it can get all buried in our churchiness.”

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UNITED STATES
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

March 4 Catholic Patriarchy: What the Papal Transition Means and What Feminists Can Do About It by Mary E. Hunt

The obvious question is why any self-respecting feminist would worry about the Pope, the Roman Catholic Church, and its machinations. My simple answer is POWER. Religion is one of the many sources that shape how power is shared (or not) in this world. Feminists need to pay attention to the sharing of power if we think we are going to reshape the world in a more just and egalitarian way. As someone who speaks “Catholic,” indeed as a theologian rooted in the tradition, I think there is a lot of power in the balance at the moment, and I want to see it shared.

The papal transition underway in Rome is a classic example of patriarchy prancing for the world to see live and in color. It is without a doubt the biggest religious news story thus far in the 21st century, and there is not a woman in sight. Think about that in light of the media coverage. Apart from the many women reporters now in Rome, the players in this story are all men, all the time.

Of course women are seen in the vast crowds that flock to St. Peter’s Square or greeting the helicopter bearing the out-going pope at his new digs at Castel Gandolfo. But there are virtually no women in the big news of the papal transfer save the nuns who were relocated from their convent so that the Pope Emeritus will have a new place to live in his old neighborhood. They are symbolic of the problem I am underscoring, as I doubt they were consulted. Even the Virgin Mary was consulted!

Likewise, the story of the implosion of the patriarchal church (what Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza has better called “kyriarchy”[1]) is utterly devoid of women. Whether the Vatican banking scandal, sexual abuse, or episcopal cover-up, this has been a men’s show from the beginning, and they have done a royal job of making a mess.

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ROME
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, March 5 – Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said in Rome Tuesday he expected that some portions from the Vatican leaks dossier would be shared with cardinals before electing a new pope. “I assume that important information will be shared that will help us make our decisions,” said the Boston archbishop speaking at the Pontifical North American College outside the Vatican. O’Malley, who some have tipped as a candidate for pope, is in Rome ahead of the upcoming conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who stepped down on February 28. Some have speculated that one of Benedict’s motives for abdicating may have been the so-called Vatileaks scandal that erupted last year when his butler was arrested then eventually pardoned for leaking secret Church documents that spoke of corruption and intrigue within the Holy See. The documents included letters to the pope and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone from the Holy See’s ambassador in Washington, Carlo Maria Vigano’, who was the deputy governor of Vatican City when they were written. In one instance, the letters accused members of the Vatican’s Finance and Management Committee of improperly processing $2.5 million. E-mails and other documents from Vatican officials followed, including a report accusing the Church of not cooperating with investigators in the 1982 fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano.

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VATICAN CITY
Inquirer (Philippines)

By Ella Ide

Agence France-Presse Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

VATICAN CITY—The next pope’s ideal profile began to take shape on Tuesday as cardinals held a second day of pre-conclave talks—a man with pastoral experience, missionary energy and few ties to the Vatican’s unruly government.

Cardinals waved cheerfully to journalists at the gates of the Vatican but declined to divulge details of the closed-door debate on who among them could be the best candidate for the papacy following Benedict XVI’s sudden resignation.

Vatican experts say one of the hot-button issues now uniting many of the cardinals is the need to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics capable of putting his stamp on the Roman Curia, the central government of the Church.

“There is definitely a lot of reflection going on in the Catholic world on the governance of the Catholic Church and how to improve it,” said US Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

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VATICAN CITY
Independent Catholic News (UK)

The date for the Conclave to elect the new Pope has still not been set. In his daily press conference this morning, (Tuesday) Vatican press chief Fr Lombardi explained is was not possible to fix a date until all voting cardinals have arrived in Rome. He said the cardinals were in “no rush”.

The cardinals yet to arrive at that time, were Cardinals Naguib, Pham, Nycz, Lehmann and Tong. Fr Lombardi said that tomorrow, (Wednesday) at 5pm Rome time, the Universal Church will be called to prayer for the cardinal electors as they approach this monumental task.

Fr Lombardi said interventions made by 33 cardinals so far focused on Holy See activities, different dicasteries and their relations with local bishops around the world, the renewal of the Church in light of Vatican II, the New Evangelization, the Church and new cultures.

Fr. Lombardi noted that another issue under discussion was the Constitution governing the Vacant See and papal transition and how it was modified by the Motu Proprio. Fr Lombardi said note no 37 was discussed and the issue of bringing forward the date of the start of Conclave remains ‘open’, no proposal has been made.

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SCOTLAND
STV

By Gary Cruden
5 March 2013

A letter to police from controversial lawyer Nick Freeman regarding cardinal Keith O’Brien is not being treated as a formal complain.

It has been reported that Mr Freeman had written to Lothian and Borders Police making a formal complaint.

The contents of the letter do not however allege any criminal activity and Mr Freeman does not state he has been the victim of a crime, STV understands.

A spokesman for the force said it had not received a “formal complaint”.

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ITALY
International Business Times

By Umberto Bacchi
March 5, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of inaction over allegations of child sex abuse against an Italian priest.

Former priest Nello Giraudo, allegedly committed numerous sexual abuses on minors in the diocese of Savona, near Genoa, from 1980 to 2005, of which then-cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was made aware of in 2003 but failed to take action.

Former Savona bishop Domenico Calcagno, who was reportedly told of the abuses by his predecessors and by at least one of the victims, sent a letter to Ratzinger asking how to deal with Giraudo.

“I ask your advice on how to deal [with Giraudo], as the priest intends to continue in his pastoral duties,” Calcagno wrote to Ratzinger.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

One of Scotland’s leading scholars and ethicists has said she feels “compassion” for Cardinal Keith O’Brien following his resignation.

At the launch of Catholic Scholars Declaration on Authority in the Church, Baroness Helena Kennedy said she felt “sad for him and for his victims”.

The group is lobbying for more openness in the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal O’Brien resigned as an archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh amid claims of inappropriate conduct.

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MEXICO
Independent European Daily Express

Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Inter Press Service

MEXICO CITY, Mar 05 (IPS) – As the Roman Catholic Church gets ready for the conclave that will select a new pope, activists and victims worldwide are stepping up their efforts to keep cardinals directly or indirectly involved in cases of paedophilia from participating in the papal election process.

Pressure has been brought to bear on at least five cardinals who protected priests accused of sexual abuse, including Norberto Rivera of Mexico, one of the 117 cardinals under the age of 80 set to choose the successor to Benedict XVI, who stepped down on Feb. 28.

“In order for the Church to recover its moral stature and to go back to what it was before, the next pope must be chosen by people who are moral,” Mexican activist Joaquín Aguilar told IPS.

“In order for the Church to pull out of the terrible crisis into which it has fallen because of the concealment of sexual abuse, those who have been accused must withdraw from the conclave,” said Aguilar, Mexico director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

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VATICAN CITY
CBS News

(CBS News) By late Tuesday all but one of the 115 voting cardinals are expected to be in Vatican City, but there are already signs that the process of electing a new pope may take longer than it has in the recent past.

The cardinals have taken an oath of secrecy, but CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports that sex abuse, claims of corruption, and the future of the Church are high on the agenda. Job number one, however, is electing a new leader.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet says the search for a new pontiff has already widened.

“There was a focus on Europe obviously for centuries and centuries, and that someday, I think, someday it is to be expected that a pope would come from Asia, would come from Africa, would come from America,” he said. “It wouldn’t be a surprise. Nowadays it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

The Sistine Chapel was formally closed to tourists Tuesday to prepare it for the secret vote. Special urns for the electoral cardinals’ ballots were put on display.

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