KANSAS
Find A Grave

Birth: Jan. 21, 1917
Kansas, USA
Death: Sep. 18, 1997

Family links:
Parents:
Russell F. Roberts (1882 – 1947)

Burial:
Mount Calvary Cemetery
Saint Marys
Pottawatomie County
Kansas, USA

Created by: Wilton Golson
Record added: Feb 12, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 33771103

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KANSAS
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas – The Leaven
9/11/15 issue

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has recently received credible allegations of abuse of minors against Father Edward Roberts, a priest of the archdiocese who died in 1997. Ordained in 1941, Father Roberts was assigned to the following parishes: the Cathedral of St. Peter, Kansas City, Kansas; St. Teresa, Westphalia; Sacred Heart, Baileyville; St. Gregory, Marysville; St. Joseph, Nortonville; and Holy Name, Topeka.

If you have any information regarding allegations of abuse against Father Roberts, please call the Confidential Report Line at (913) 647-3051; Dr. Dennis Schemmel, victim assistance coordinator, at (913) 909-2740; and/or local law enforcement officials.

The archdiocese asks anyone who has knowledge of inappropriate conduct by any priest, deacon, employee or volunteer to please contact the Confidential Report Line at (913) 647-3051 or civil authorities. The archdiocese respects the sincere concerns of all individuals who bring forth allegations of misconduct and is fully committed to conducting thorough investigations of all such allegations and cooperating with law enforcement officials.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

CHRIS PALMER AND CRAIG R. MCCOY, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
POSTED: Sunday, September 27, 2015

After extensive security precautions on the first day of a papal visit that unfolded without a hitch, there was a problem after Pope Francis arrived at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary on Saturday night.

A small fire broke out in an elevator shaft in the kitchen of the Wynnewood seminary around 10:47 p.m., officials said.

Francis, who was staying there for the night, was not hurt, they said. Nor was anyone else. Nor was there any significant damage.

Foul play was not suspected, they said.

Nicole Mainor, of the official information center set up for the visit, said early Sunday morning that emergency personnel were notified and firefighters from Lower Merion put the fire out by 11:03 p.m.

It was not clear how close the kitchen was to the dormitory area of the seminary in which the pope was staying. He was to spend the night in one of 45 newly renovated rooms.

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CALIFORNIA
Courthouse News Service

By MIKE HEUER

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – The Archdiocese of San Francisco cannot dismiss accusations that it failed to stop students at a boys school from sharing up-skirt photos of a teacher, a federal judge ruled.

A “triable issue exists” on claims the archdiocese contributed to the civil rights violations that caused the teacher’s emotional distress, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick found on Friday.

Orrick did dismiss claims of Federal Employment and Housing Act violations against Junipero High School, but denied the archdiocese’s motion in all other respects.

“The archdiocese’s actions in response to each successive act of harassment fell short in many ways,” Orrick wrote. “The school (and the Archbishop’s office) did not appear to learn from, or respond to, each instance of harassing conduct or to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”

Biology teacher Kimberly Bohnert sued the archdiocese and Junipero Serra High School last year, claiming they did nothing for more than two years as students humiliated her with an online image they shared, sent sexually explicit social media posts, graphic graffiti and other acts.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

“We’ve gone out of our way to explore in the past in response to the grand juries,” he said. “I think the people responsible for the grand jury reports would acknowledge our response as being very positive and thorough. The fact that people want more – what is the more they want that we haven’t done?”

– Archbishop Chaput

Click here to read the entire story: “After pope’s visit, tough talk from abuse survivors – and Chaput,” by Jeremy Roebuck and Julie Terruso, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 28 and updated 29, 2015

What would you like the Archdiocese, Archbishop Chaput and Pope Francis to do?

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 29 September 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

– Bishop Hugo Alberto Torres Marin, auxiliary of Medellin, Colombia, as bishop of Apartado (area 26,000, population 561,000, Catholics 403,000, priests 65, religious 118), Colombia.

– Bishop Joao Evangelista Pimental Lavrador, auxiliary of Oporto, Portugal, as coadjutor of the diocese of Angra (area 2,243, population 246,102, Catholics 224,105, priests 147, permanent deacons 5, religious 129), Portugal.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 29 September 2015 (VIS) – During his return flight to Rome following his apostolic trip to Cuba and the United States, Pope Francis answered a number of questions posed by the journalists who accompanied him on the papal flight.

The Holy Father first commented that he had been surprised in the United States by the warmth and friendliness of the people. He remarked that in Washington D.C. the welcome was very warm but more formal than in New York, where everything was more exuberant, while in Philadelphia it was more expressive. “Three different approaches but the same welcome”.

He also explained the reason for his meeting with the United States episcopate in Washington D.C., where he felt the need to express to the prelates his compassion with regard to cases of sexual abuse. “A horrible thing”, he said, “and many suffer because they did not know about it and are true men of the Church, true pastors. … And I spoke to them using words from the Bible, from the Book of Revelation: you are coming from a great tribulation, because what happened was a ‘great tribulation’. .. I would say almost a sacrilege. … We all know that abuse has occurred in many places: in families, in the neighbourhood, in schools, at gymnasiums … But when a priest commits abuse it is very serious, because the vocation of the priest is to make that boy or girl grow in God’s love, towards emotional maturity. And instead this is crushed, it is damaged. And this must not be concealed: those who have covered up these events are equally guilty. It is dreadful. And the words I spoke were not intended to say, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing”. Instead I wanted to say, “It has been awful and I imagine you have wept a lot”. This was the meaning of what I said, and I spoke firmly”.

He affirmed that he understood those victims of abuse and their families who felt unable to forgive the perpetrators. “Yes, I understand them. I pray for them and I do not judge them. Once, at one of these meetings, a woman said to me, ‘When my mother discovered I had been abused, she blasphemed against God, lost her faith and died an atheist’. And I understand her. And God, Who is better than me, understands her. I am sure that He welcomed her. Because what was abused, destroyed, was her own flesh, the flesh of her daughter”.

With regard to the peace process in Colombia, he expressed his joy at the news that an agreement between the FARC and the government will be signed in March. “When I heard this, I asked the Lord, ‘Let us arrive in March, may we arrive with this good intention’, as some small details remain to be clarified, but the will is present on both sides. Even in the small group; all three are in agreement. We must await March for the definitive accord, which is the point of international justice. I have spoken twice with President Santos on the matter. And the Holy See is very open to assisting as far as possible”.

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MASSACHUSETTS
NECN – Broadside

What Pope Francis didn’t say, but needs to say, to address concerns of victims of sex abuse by priests. GUEST: Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability.org

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
6 ABC

By Vernon Odom
Monday, September 28, 2015

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — On the Monday after the papal visit, Archbishop Charles Chaput discussed the event, touching on security criticisms and the pope’s comments about clergy sex abuse.

Chaput was asked about Pope Francis’ sincerity after he met with five local victims of sex abuse, hearing their stories and apologizing.

He later condemned pedophile priests as he met with hundreds of bishops from around the globe.

“It wasn’t a publicity stunt. There is genuine interest on the part of the Holy Father to represent the whole church in expressing sadness and apology in cases where there’s cases of sexual abuse by members of the church, and he sincerely meant that,” Chaput said.

Chaput said he feels the disappointment of the ticket holders who missed the papal Mass on Sunday because of tight security.

The Archbishop emphasized it was the federal government calling the shots on the metal detectors and searches that prevented thousands of ticket holders from getting to the Mass on time.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEFF GAMMAGE AND JULIA TERRUSO, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Retired schoolteacher Matt Cinelli came to Philadelphia to experience the joy of the papal visit.

He was met, he said, by “the confusion and terror of a police state,” one in which edgy National Guard soldiers barked contradictory orders and seemed prepped for confrontation.

“The security did not make me feel safe,” said Cinelli, 56, who grew up Catholic and lives near Reading. “It made me feel like somebody was going to fight me, that there was a combativeness.”

On Monday, hours after Pope Francis left Philadelphia for Rome, people who attended weekend events shared stories of disconcerting encounters with the massive security apparatus erected in advance of the visit. Center City was transformed into a fortress of steel fences, concrete barriers, and armed law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies.

Special Agent David Beach of the Secret Service, which was in charge of protecting the pope, said the high level of security was “one of those necessary evils” in staging a large event.

“We’re responsible for the pope’s safety but also the safety of all those attendees,” he said. “I think we were successful in that mission.”

Others disagreed with the tactics to accomplish that.

Austen Ivereigh, author of a definitive papal biography, who covers Pope Francis for news organizations like the BBC, said security in Philadelphia was wildly over the top, beyond the strict measures imposed when three million people saw the pope in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

“If that was excessive,” Ivereigh said, “this was pathological.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin 09/24/2015

Further serious concerns are being raised about Cardinal Godfried Danneels, one of the papal delegates chosen to attend the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, after the archbishop emeritus of Brussels confessed this week to being part of a radical “mafia” reformist group opposed to Benedict XVI.

It was also revealed this week that he once wrote a letter to the Belgium government favoring same-sex “marriage” legislation because it ended discrimination against LGBT groups.

The cardinal is already known for having once advised the king of Belgium to sign an abortion law in 1990, for telling a victim of clerical sex abuse to keep quiet, and for refusing to forbid pornographic, “educational” materials being used in Belgian Catholic schools.

He also once said same-sex “marriage” was a “positive development,” although he has sought to distinguish such a union from the Church’s understanding of marriage.

According to a forthcoming authorized biography on the cardinal co-written by Jürgen Mettepenningen, a former spokesman for Cardinal Danneels’ successor, Archbishop Andre Joseph Leonard, and Karim Schelkens, a Church historian and theologian, the cardinal expressed satisfaction over the disappearance of “discrimination” against LGBT couples after legislation was passed approving same-sex “marriage” in 2003.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler Sep 28, 2015

Did a powerful group of cardinals conspire to unseat Pope Benedict XVI and elect Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio—Pope Francis—in his place? That sensational claim has been circulating in conservative Catholic internet sites. But the available facts don’t support the sensational headlines.

Edward Pentin, a respected Vatican journalist, broke the story to the English-speaking world with his report for the National Catholic Register. He reported—accurately—that a new biography of Belgium’s retired Cardinal Godfried Danneels has disclosed that the existence of a group of prelates who were committed to “progressive” causes, and unhappy with the influence exerted in the Vatican by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

The members of the St. Gallen group reportedly included the late Cardinal Carlo Martini of Milan of Milan, the veteran Vatican insider Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, and the German Cardinals Karl Lehmann and Walter Kasper, along with Cardinal Danneels. At the launch of the book, Cardinal Danneels referred to this group—known as the St. Gallen group, after the location where they had met—as a “mafia club.”

Now it may not be edifying to learn that cardinals were plotting to influence Vatican policy, and knowledgeable readers, glancing down that list of names, might well worry about their influence. But it does not rise to the level of conspiracy if a group of prelates meet to discuss Church affairs.

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AUSTRALIA
SNAP Australia

Many survivors around the world feel betrayed, not reassured, by Pope Francis’ words during his US PR exercise.

We feel silenced and excluded when he speaks weasel words about us and how his institution has and will deal with the criminals within that institution who commit, enable or cover up horrific crimes against defenceless children.

We feel overpowered and disheartened that media around the world repeat his meaningless promises without reference to the reality of survivors’ experiences, and honour him on the basis of this misleading façade.

We feel Francis’ church still regards abused children as the wrongdoers, because instead of suffering in silence and neglect we insist on our right to speak about what happened to us, and to demand justice and healing.

We feel Francis’ church still regards institutional officials, institutional bank accounts and institutional reputation as the real victims, and those most deserving of compassion.

We are horrified by Francis lecturing the UN and US congress about human rights, while ignoring the well researched and reasonable recommendations of both the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and UN Committee Against Torture, which defended our human rights against abuse and re-abuse by church officials.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Catholic

By Laura Ieraci Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA — Irish pilgrims in Philadelphia shared their excitement after Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, announced the 2018 World Meeting of Families would be held in Dublin.

Irish pilgrim Mary Fitzgibbon’s reaction was raw when she spoke with Catholic News Service. She had traveled to Philadelphia with her husband, Michael, and five children, ages 2-14, but had missed Archbishop Paglia’s announcement Sept. 27. She heard it first from CNS. …

The church in Ireland, still reeling and healing from a major sex-abuse scandal, has also experienced a decrease in church attendance and vocations to the priesthood and religious life over several years. Ireland established the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in a bid to restore public confidence in the church’s handling of allegations of abuse against priests and religious after a series of judicial reports uncovered serious failings. Four Irish bishops have resigned following severe criticism of their failures in relation to handling allegations of abuse.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Cassie Fambro | cfambro@al.com
on September 28, 2015

Rodderick George Mitchell of Mobile is in jail after an incident at Stone Street Baptist Church on Sunday, according to Mobile Police.

Mitchell, not a member of the church, entered the facility and asked a 12-year-old girl for a hug.

Police say that sexual abuse ensued.

Church-members immediately alerted the pastor as well as the victim’s parents and Mitchell was arrested at the church.

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ALABAMA
Lagniappe

By: JASON JOHNSON

Authorities say an unknown man entered a church on Tunstall Street in Mobile on Sunday and attempted to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl.

Police say the the encounter started when the man asked the girl for a hug, but after the contact continued, the pastor of Stone Street Baptist Church and the girl’s parents were alerted.

When authorities arrived on the scene, they arrested 64-year-old Roderick Mitchell and charged him with second-degree sexual abuse and a separate charge listed in jail records only as a “violation.”

Mitchell’s name did not show up in a search of Mobile County’s sex offender database, but he does have multiple previous charges for “public lewdness” or “indecent exposure,” according to Mobile Metro Jail records.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Herald

The Archdiocese of Chicago will host a Mass for Hope and Healing at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Holy Family Church, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago.

The Mass, sponsored by the Archdiocesan Office of Assistance Ministry, is celebrated for the ongoing healing of child and youth sexual abuse survivors, their families and the church. Mike Hoffman and Jim Richter, both victims-survivors, will give witness on behalf of survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Attendees will include clergy, victims-survivors, family members of survivors, Catholic school leadership and many others committed to the protection and safety of children. The Rev. Ronald Hicks, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will be the main celebrant.

The Office for Assistance Ministry works to provide pastoral care, support and resources to victims-survivors of clerical sexual abuse and their loved ones in their efforts to achieve psychological, emotional and spiritual healing. The office was first established by the Archdiocese in 1992 to respond to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Global News

By Michael R. Sisak The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – A former archbishop who retired amid allegations he put church interests ahead of clergy sexual abuse victims returned to the city over the weekend to help Pope Francis celebrate Mass, drawing criticism from advocates who said his visibility “rubs salt into deep wounds.”

The current archbishop, Charles Chaput, defended Cardinal Justin Rigali’s role in the service Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, saying Monday his predecessor did nothing wrong and is “always welcome to be here.”

Rigali, 80, sat to Chaput’s left and stood with the pope as he consecrated the Eucharist. A spokesman said he also participated in several other events with U.S. bishops, including the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families conference that brought the pope to Philadelphia.

Rigali retired to the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2011, months after a grand jury accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of sheltering more than three dozen credibly accused priests and lying about it to victims and others.

Chaput, who attended the pope’s meeting with sex abuse victims on Sunday, has removed several priests from church work since replacing Rigali. He bristled Monday when asked about Rigali at a post-papal visit news conference, asserting the grand jury reports released during the cardinal’s tenure did not accuse him of “doing anything inappropriate or not handling things appropriately.”

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Legal News

The Faculty of Advocates has announced its opposition to plans by the Scottish government to end the three-year time limit on the raising of damages actions by survivors of historical child abuse.

“In our view, any waiver of the limitation regime in relation to such claims ought to be made on a case-by-case basis, as at present,” said the Faculty.

“We do not agree that the current regime invariably leads to a pursuer’s case failing…However, it does permit the fairness to both parties of allowing a case to proceed to be scrutinised and assessed.”

As part of an announcement in May that Susan O’Brien QC, had been appointed to chair a national public inquiry into historical abuse of children in care, the Scottish government said it intended to remove the three-year limitation period from damages actions by survivors for abuse after 26 September, 1964.

Ministers said in a consultation paper that they were of the view that victims of child abuse should not have to demonstrate to the court that they had a right to raise litigation before the case could proceed.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

The body that represents Scotland’s top lawyers has announced its opposition to Scottish government plans to end a time limit for survivors of historical abuse to seek damages in the courts.

The plans were announced in May, in tandem with a public inquiry into historical abuse of children in care.

It intends to end the current three-year time bar for civil action in cases of historical abuse.

But the Faculty of Advocates has warned against the change.

It claims the existing system, where claims dating back more than three years are examined on a case-by-case basis, provides “fairness to both parties”.

The group said: “We do not agree that the current regime invariably leads to a pursuer’s case failing. However, it does permit the fairness to both parties of allowing a case to proceed to be scrutinised and assessed.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

BY DANIEL CRAIG
PhillyVoice Staff

Berks County lawmaker Mark Rozzi, who says he was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest as a child, criticized Pope Francis before his visit to Philadelphia and said the papal weekend brought back painful memories.

In a video from CNN published before the pope’s visit, Democratic Rep. Rozzi calls for Francis to ask Chaput to encourage lawmakers in supporting his bill to change the statute of limitations for cases of sexual abuse.

He says the only way to allow victims to heal is to allow their voices to be heard and criticized a recent comment from the pope in which he said he was sorry how the abuse scandal had weighed upon U.S. bishops. Watch the video here:

Pope Francis did not avoid the issue during his visit to Philadelphia. Speaking before bishops in Wynnewood Sunday, he said “God weeps” for the victims and said he was “deeply sorry” for what had happened, referring to several cases of clergy members sexually abusing young boys.

The pontiff also met with five victims of clergy abuse before giving those remarks.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEREMY ROEBUCKAND JULIA TERRUSO, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
LAST UPDATED: Monday, September 28, 2015

Pope Francis’ speech in Philadelphia harshly rebuking bishops who covered up clergy sex abuse triggered calls Monday for a more forceful response from the city’s own church hierarchy.

From a small rally outside the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s 17th Street offices to legal filings that cited the pontiff’s call for openness, victims and their advocates challenged Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to reevaluate the cases of several accused priests and pledge greater openness in how abuse investigations are handled in the future.

But Chaput, whose archdiocese has been one of the hardest hit in the nation by the scandal, maintained he had already done all he could reasonably be expected to do.

“We deeply regret the past; we commit ourselves to a better future” he said, speaking Monday morning at a post-event World Meeting of Families news conference. Still, he quickly appeared to grow frustrated with reporters’ repeated questions on the subject, adding later:

“In some ways, we should get over this wanting to go back and blame, blame, blame. The church is happy to accept its responsibility, but I’m really quite tired of people making unjust accusations against people who are not to be blamed – and that happens sometimes.”

It was a familiar response, said victims’ groups, from an archdiocese still reckoning with years of fallout from two scathing grand-jury investigations that found many accused priests still serving in ministry, and the first-in-the-nation conviction in 2012 of a high-ranking church official for covering up abuse.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Lisa Kaczke and Brady Slater, News Tribune

As longtime secretary to Bishop Raphael Fliss, Pat Wildenberg came to revere him — no matter how complicated his legacy grew.

“He dealt with difficult situations and I never saw him get outwardly upset with people,” she said. “He was very patient about dealing with every situation that he came across.”

Bishop Fliss, the longest-serving bishop of the Diocese of Superior, died Sept. 21 in a Duluth hospital at age 84.

Fliss guided the diocese for 28 years, the first six as coadjutor bishop alongside Bishop George Albert Hammes. During Fliss’ tenure the diocese went through parish closings and consolidations, and had to adapt to changing needs of the communities it served. He also helped organize the diocese’s 75th and 100th anniversary celebrations. …

In the final years of his tenure, Fliss was involved in controversy over several allegations of sex abuse by priests in the Superior Diocese. Abuse survivors called for Fliss to be investigated after it was revealed that a former Superior Diocese priest sexually assaulted two boys in the early 1980s and the church settled with the victims for nearly $3 million.

Fliss also was alleged to have been involved in the concealment of a priest who assaulted as many as 200 deaf boys in a Milwaukee boarding school before being transferred to the Superior Diocese, where he allegedly abused other boys.

And Fliss apologized in 2006 for poor oversight of a priest in the Diocese who faced allegations of sexual abuse; a judge found probable cause that the priest killed two people in Hudson, Wis., in 2002. The priest later took his own life.

Wildenberg recalled that Fliss would alert people around him to troubling news. He took it to heart, she said.

“He could handle a lot of things and took his time to make the right decision — something some people might fault him with,” she said. “But that patience always impressed me.”

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CANADA
Mennonite World Review

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada announced an allegation of sexual and ethical misconduct by a pastor who died 21 years ago.

On Aug. 30, three Ontario congregations formerly served by Vernon Leis, the pastor named in the allegation, heard the announcement in person from MCEC representatives, said David Martin, the conference’s executive minister.

Leis died in a car accident on Feb. 26, 1994, near Baden, Ont., at the age of 60. He had pastored Elmira Mennonite Church, Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener and East Zorra Mennonite Church in Tavistock. He was the first moderator of MCEC, an area conference of Mennonite Church Canada.

An MCEC news release described him as a “much loved and respected pastor.”
Martin said that the allegation against Leis came from one person and that he could not give details about what Leis is alleged to have done.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

READING, Pa. – Pope Francis drew lots of cheers in the United States, but now he’s coming under fire from a Berks County lawmaker and victims of sexual abuse.

Pennsylvania Representative Mark Rozzi first turned down VIP tickets to the papal events in Philadelphia, and now he’s slamming Pope Francis for comments he made surrounding sexual abuse.

“It has brought back my nightmares and some mental pain that I just can’t put myself through,” said Rozzi. “This has been a very difficult week.”

On Sunday, the Vatican said Pope Francis met with five abuse victims in private in Philadelphia. After the meeting, the pope spoke before bishops and clergy members at St. Charles Borremeo Seminary.

He said God weeps at the sexual abuse of children and vowed careful oversight to ensure the youth are protected. He also said those responsible for abuse would be held accountable.

Two times during his visit to the U.S., Pope Francis praised American bishops for how they handled the sex abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain. “It was very disappointing hearing those comments, and in fact, I was outraged, and that’s why I slammed him,” Rozzi said.

“We heard these words before, but victims need action!” Rozzi, who represents the 126th District in Berks County, said he was sexually abused by a priest at age 13.

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Vatican Insider

Answering journalists’ questions during the in-flight interview from Philadelphia to Rome, he said: some bishops “did cover up abuse. I can understand those families who are unable to forgive the abuse of a son or daughter.” The reform on marital nullity does not mean we are introducing “Catholic divorce”. “Conscientious objection is a right even for government officials.” “I love the Chinese people and I would like to visit China.” “Me, a star? I am the servant of the servants of God.” On the bombings in Syria, he said: “I am not up to speed with the current situation but when I hear about bombings I say: this is not right.” About the mayor of Rome turning up in the US to see the Pope, Francis said: “I didn’t invite Marino to Philadelphia”

ANDREA TORNIELLI
ON THE FLIGHT FROM PHILADELPHIA TO ROME

The barbed wire fences, the walls to stop migrants “fall down sooner or later, all of them fall down, they are not the solution” and they exacerbate hatred. Pope Francis said this during the interview with journalists on board the American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Rome. The Pope talked about clerical sex abuse against minors, saying he understands those families that cannot forgive; he spoke about the issue of communion for remarried divorcees and the recent reform on marital nullity, explaining that it does not equate to “Catholic divorce”. He said he loves the Chinese people and that he would like to visit China. Regarding the US government official who refused to sign the document legalising a same-sex union, Francis recalled that conscientious objections is a human right. He also denied point blank that he had anything to do with the presence of Rome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino, at one of the events in the US: “I did not invite Marino to Philadelphia, is that clear?”

What surprised you about the US and what was different to how you had imagined it? What challenges does the Church in the US face?

It was my first time there, I had never been before. I was surprised by the people’s warmth – they were so friendly, it was beautiful – and also by the differences between Washington where I received a warm but slightly more formal welcome, New York which was overflowing and Philadelphia where people were very expressive. Three different types of welcome. I was very much struck by the goodness and hospitality show to me and by the piety of the religious celebrations – you could see people praying. Thanks to God it all went well, there were no provocations, no insults, nothing unpleasant happened. The challenge is this: we have to continue working with these faithful as we have been doing so far, in times of joy and difficulty, when there is no work, when there is sickness. The challenge of today’s Church is one it has always faced: being close to the people of the US. Not removed from them, but close to them. And this is a challenge that the Church in the US is well aware of.

Philadelphia has been through some very difficult times what with the sex abuse scandal. Many found it surprising that in your speech to bishops in Washington you offered words of consolation to the Church. Why did you feel the need to show compassion to the bishops?

In Washington I addressed all bishops of the US. I felt the need to express my compassion to them because a terrible thing happened and many of them have suffered because they did not know and when it all came out they suffered a great deal: they are men of the Church, men of prayer, true pastors. Using a word from the Revelation, I said to them: I know you have come forth from the great tribulation. What happened was a great tribulation. Then there were the words I addressed to those who suffered the abuse: it was almost a sacrilege! Abuse is witnessed everywhere: in the family, in the local neighbourhood, in schools, in gyms. But when a priest commits an act of abuse it is very serious indeed because a priest’s vocation is to raise that boy or girl to love God, so that they grow up to be good people. Instead, he crushed this with evil and betrayed his vocation, the Lord’s calling. Those in the Church who covered up the abuse are also guilty and that includes bishops. It is a terrible thing and the message I meant to get across through the words of comfort I offered bishops was not: don’t worry, it’s nothing. But: this was a terrible thing, I imagine you must have wept a great deal.

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UNITED STATES
The Trentonian

By L.A. Parker, The Trentonian
POSTED: 09/28/15

Pope Francis finally departed the United States after a whirlwind visit that attracted ginormous crowds in Washington, New York City and finally Philadelphia but his visit clouded a priest sex abuse scandal.

The Pontiff first praised American bishops for their “generous commitment” to aid and support abuse victims, even went as far a saying that Catholic church leaders handled the crisis “without fear or self-criticism and the cost of mortification and great sacrifice.”

“I realize how much the pain of recent years has weighed upon you, and I have supported your generous commitment to bring healing to victims — in the knowledge that in healing we, too, are healed — and to work to ensure that such crimes will never be repeated.”

The Washington Cathedral resounded with applause from bishops in attendance for the Pope Francis address to church leaders.

The initial assessment caused such retribution, particularly from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), that Pope Francis offered a more subdued response by the time his entourage reached Philadelphia where he met with five sexual abuse victims harmed by either family members or Catholic priests.

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) – The Diocese of Gallup has walked away with less than $161,000 after selling nearly three dozen properties at auctions in Albuquerque and Phoenix.

The Gallup Independent reports that documents submitted by diocesan attorneys to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court say the sales total for both auctions was about $225,000. The two businesses hired by the diocese to promote and conduct the auctions earned about $65,500.

Most of the properties were sold for far less than their actual or assessed values. The highest sales price at the Phoenix auction was $26,000, and the remaining properties sold for between $110 and $7,700. Four properties at the Albuquerque auction sold for five-figure prices, and the others ranged from $121 to $4,400.

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UNITED STATES
Truthout

By Armando Carmona, Truthout | News Analysis

Pope Francis has radically changed the image of the Catholic Church. He has been called a progressive, the “people’s pope” and even a radical pope who is attempting to shift the global image of Catholic conservatism. It is impossible to deny the importance of the pope’s current discourse as he pushes global political leaders to address climate change and economic inequality, inviting them to refocus their energy toward a “revolution of tenderness.”

How should we situate the current pope in the context of a historically conservative institution and an evolving narrative about social change? While some attempt to categorize him as a progressive or even a feminist due to his discourse on women and the poor, others understand him to be a political actor who represents a highly hierarchical and patriarchal organization that affects nearly 1.2 billion people. Regardless of our personal feelings toward the pope, we must analyze his actions in the context of his position and the institution he represents.

An Apology to Native Peoples

During his tour of South America, his first foreign trip after unveiling his encyclical – a document produced to urge climate action worldwide – Pope Francis spoke at the World Meeting of Popular Movements. The meeting was hosted in Bolivia and organized by the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace,” the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and movement leaders from around the world. This was the second of a series of encounters organized to discuss global issues such as climate change and economic inequality. It was in this meeting that the pope apologized to indigenous peoples for the role of the Church in facilitating the genocide and conquest of native peoples. “Many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God,” Pope Francis said. “Like Saint John Paul II, I ask that the Church ‘kneel before God and implore forgiveness for the past and present sins of her sons and daughters.'” He also reminded the crowd that many priests have also defended indigenous people, “often standing alongside the native peoples or accompanying their popular movements even to the point of martyrdom.”

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UNITED STATES
Esquire

BY CHARLES P. PIERCE

On Sunday, as it turns out, the rubber of Papa Francesco’s visit to the United States finally met the road of the crimes committed by the individuals and the institution of the Roman Catholic Church here in America, and around the world. On his last day in Philadelphia, the pope met with people who had been sexually abused by members of the clergy belonging to the church over which, if you believe the tradition, the Holy Spirit chose this pope to preside. All during the trip, the scandal was the bustling in the hedgerow. The pope’s remarks to the bishops in Washington in he praised them for their “courage” in soldiering on in the face of their own crimes were greeted with outrage by survivors and their families, who correctly pointed out that Bernard Cardinal Law, one of the most egregious conspirators, is still soldiering on in his comfy billet at the Basilica Of Our Lady Of The Clean Getaway in Rome. In Philadelphia, by all accounts, the pope was gentle and understanding, but he also apparently remains stuck in an unhelpful and truthless paradigm regarding the offenses against God and man that were committed within the Church.​​

“Is a child anywhere on Earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” SNAP Director David Clohessy said in a statement. The pope said he promised to “zealously” protect young people and that “all those responsible are held accountable…” When he talked to the abuse victims, who weren’t identified, the pope said: “I am deeply sorry for the time when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you. I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children.”
​Sorry, Papa Francesco. Not nearly enough.—​

In a few weeks, a movie called Spotlight will be released. It concerns the courageous efforts of reporters at The Boston Globe to blow the lid off the scandal in the Boston Archdiocese. (It also has various actors and actresses playing friends of mine, which is very weird, although, if the trailer is any indication, Mark Ruffalo nails Mike Rezendes, my pal of nearly 40 years.) The reason that the Globe was able to do this—​and to touch off the explosion of similar revelations in dioceses around the world—is because a brave editor named Marty Baron saw something that the pope still does not. What occurred in all those rectories and choir lofts was not a series of unpardoned sins. It was an index of unpunished crimes. What occurred in the chanceries of the diocese was not a widespread institutional failure, it was an ongoing conspiracy to obstruct justice. The appropriate punishment for these crimes was not the loss of your rank and position within a religious institution. It was the loss of your freedom. There are people within the church who belong in jail. Period. My god, Dorothy Day would have burned their basilicas down—​rhetorically, of course.​

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UNITED STATES
Think Progress

BY CASEY QUINLAN SEP 27, 2015

Pope Francis met with survivors of clerical sexual abuse early Sunday morning at Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. In his unprepared remarks to bishops following the meeting with survivors, he promised to “zealously” protect young people against sexual predators in the Catholic Church.

I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorry of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart. I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry. God weeps. For the sexual abuse of children, this cannot be maintained in secret and I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable …

Those who have survived have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly we owe each of them our gratitude for their courage. And they have had to suffer terrible abuse, sexual abuse of minors. I say this I would like to express my gratitude to the archbishop and I felt it very important that I share this message with you today.

To survivors of sexual abuse, Francis said:

For those who were abused my a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you … Within our family of faith and our human families, the sins and crimes of sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret and in shame. As we anticipate the Jubilee Year of Mercy, your presence, so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced, reveals the merciful heart of Christ.

The seminary’s local archdiocese has been the subject of scrutiny after two grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011 that showed the church had not taken proper action to prevent and the rape and molestation of children by church leaders.

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ROME
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

On his way back to Rome, Pope Francis clarified his views, and intensified his criticism of predator priests and those who protected them.

ROME — The “Vat pack” of chosen journalists aboard the papal plane from Philadelphia to Rome was treated to a 47-minute in-flight press conference with Pope Francis that ran the gamut from his amazement at the love fest poured out for him to some pretty tough love for his Church.

Vatican Radio provides a complete transcript of the inflight presser and Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa’s Vatican Insider provides a succinct analysis. “The Pope talked about clerical sex abuse against minors, saying he understands those families that cannot forgive,” Tornielli writes. “He spoke about the issue of communion for remarried divorcees and the recent reform on marital nullity, explaining that it does not equate to ‘Catholic divorce.’”

The pontiff even touched on religious freedom regarding a question that alluded to, but did not specifically name Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis’s conscientious objection and refusal to sign same sex marriage licenses. “It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right,” Francis said, according to the Vatican Radio transcript. “It is a human right.”

On the subject of clerical sex abuse, which Pope Francis addressed at length during a mass with American bishops in Philadelphia, the pope told reporters aboard the plane, “I wouldn’t say an apotheosis but almost a sacrilege. We know abuses are everywhere: in families, in neighborhoods, in schools, in gyms. But when a priest abuses it is very serious because the vocation of the priest is to make that boy, that girl, grow towards the love of God, toward maturity, and towards good,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

This is what I mean when I keep saying repeatedly that new media made possible by online technology, as well as the tools of social networking, are changing the game for the centrists who have long sought to control public political and religious discourse in the U.S.: Ezra Klein explains what, in his view, is going on with the rapidly shifting terrain of American politics:

[Th]e tools that party insiders use to decide both electoral and legislative outcomes are being weakened by new technologies and changing media norms. And so models of American politics that assume the effectiveness of those tools — models which weight elite opinion heavily, and give outsiders and insurgents little chance — have been thrown off.

Two points to note here: first, new technologies are weakening traditional media. They are changing the media game. They give more of us access to the role of “mediating” news stories to the world at large. And second, note the corelative statement with which Coates follows this observation: the centrist job is to “weight elite opinion heavily” while keeping dissenting voices firmly outside the conversation, firmly shoved to the margins, and pretending that they do not deserve a hearing, because they are not “objective” and “balanced” in the way centrist commentary is objective and balanced. …

The kind of citizen journalism being done by “ordinary” citizens who snap photos of, say, police brutality against peacefully assembled citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, and immediately send those photos around the world changes the game of traditional media in a radical way. It upends the centrist gatekeepers and explodes their control games.

To relate these ideas to the Catholic context, where the challenge of overcoming the dead hand of control of the centrist gatekeepers of the Catholic media remains acute and imperative, given the continued dominance of a mostly heterosexual, mostly white old boys’ network that is shamelessly unapologetic about its unearned privilege in the Catholic media: as Sister Teresa Forcades has repeatedly reminded us, effective change of the Catholic institution will not come via a “Pope Messiah” over whom the centrist old boys (of both genders) fawn and for whom they cheerlead, while they keep the voices of other Catholics, “real” Catholics — especially those on the margins of church and society — decisively locked out of their conversations. It will come from the bottom of the church, as “ordinary” Catholics raise their voices and assert their right to a role in the conversation that makes church.

Think about this for a moment: a pope has resigned. In our own lifetimes. And though the reasons for Benedict’s resignation remain murky and will not ever be fully disclosed to us, it is beyond doubt that the assiduous, unrelenting pressure of some long-despised members of the Catholic church played a key role in that resignation. I’m speaking specifically about survivors of childhood clerical abuse.

Who have refused to shut up. Who keep speaking out and telling their stories, organizing despite fierce opposition on the part of the institutional church and, for a very long time, from the media and the legal and criminal justice communities.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 28

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP president (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org)

After 30 years of public scandal in the US over predator priests and complicit bishops, finally a Catholic official is admitting that “princes of the church” covered up heinous crimes. But he fell short of admitting something even worse: that these cover ups continue even now.

[New York Times]

And we must stress that words – be they tougher, clearer, kinder or more frequent – are still just words. In a rigid, ancient, secretive, all-male monarchy, words are weak weapons in the battle against a massive, intractable crisis. Only actions can really make a difference. Those actions still are not happening.

We’re glad that Pope Francis admitted that church officials have concealed abuse. For decades, prelates have insisted these cover ups were “mistakes,” “oversights” and “errors in judgment” when, in fact, they are deliberate, daily decisions to put bishops’ reputations ahead of children’s safety.

Now, of course, Pope Francis must publicly and promptly punish bishops who are protecting predators now. And he must order bishops to do the same with their own staff and clerics who are protecting predators now.

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UNITED STATES
Nonprofit Quarterly

By RICK COHEN

In the wake of the controversy regarding his comments to the U.S. bishops earlier last week, Pope Francis met and prayed with five adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy during his visit to Philadelphia. (Their abusers, according to Vatican press spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi, had been clergy or family members or teachers.)

The unscheduled meeting with the survivors, attended also by Boston’s Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, who chairs a church commission on the protection of minors, Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, and Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald, head of the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s office for the protection of minors, lasted a half hour, according to the Guardian.

Following the meeting, the Pope reiterated his determination to hold clergy sexual abusers accountable for their actions. He made the following statements in that regard:

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorry of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart…I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry. God weeps…The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.”

As NPQ reported last week, advocacy groups for victims of Catholic clergy sexual abuse were unhappy with the Pope’s statements in Washington, D.C. and New York City, which focused on the burden that fell upon the bishops who, as the Pope said in New York, were forced to “bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed and scandalized the church.” To the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the Pope’s statements in Washington and New York were insufficient, suggesting that the Pope “talks and acts like the church hierarchy is the real victim in this crisis.”

Will his meeting with the group of victims in Philadelphia mollify groups like SNAP that see the Pope’s words and deeds as inadequate on this score? The Vatican issued a statement following the Pope’s meeting explaining that the Pope “renewed the commitment of the Church to the effort that all victims are heard and treated with justice, that the guilty be punished and that the crimes of abuse be combated with an effective prevention activity in the Church and in society.” According to the Associated Press, the Pope has also given the go-ahead to a new Vatican tribunal that will prosecute bishops who have “covered up abuse and shielded pedophile priests instead of turning them over to police.”

The Pope’s words of contrition will be seen as more meaningful to victims groups if they are accompanied by changes in the official church response to ongoing and prospective charges of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic Church leaders. Among the cases and controversies that have arisen recently are these:

* New charges against a former priest named Donald Grecco allege he abused 10- and 14-year-old boys between 1977 and 1982 in the Niagara region of upstate New York.

* Charges against a former priest, John C. Holdren, allege he abused a child in a church in Aurora, Illinois, between 1972 and 1973.

* A priest from Pennsylvania, Joseph Maurizio, has been accused of molesting young boys between 2004 and 2009 during missionary trips he took to Honduras.

* A church volunteer in an Orange County, California church has been accused of molesting a 10-year-old girl while he was assigned to supervise a children’s group.

* A 2011 court deposition of Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse in a case involving a man’s charges of clergy sexual abuse revealed that Cunningham testified that the man, at the time of his alleged victimization, a boy, had been “culpable” and called victims of clergy sexual abuse “accomplices.”

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

By Jason Berry

WASHINGTON — Before Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis praised Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement “for her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed,” likening her faith to “the example of the saints.”

Inspired by Day, Barbara Blaine in the mid 1980s moved into a Catholic Worker House on the South Side of Chicago where women fleeing domestic abuse found safe harbor with their kids. The cavernous floors, long emptied of nuns, housed other young radicals who lived out Day’s witness, working with broken lives, people on the ragged edge, the victims of what Pope Francis calls “the throwaway culture.”

After the man she loved died in an automobile accident, Blaine began dealing with the traumatic aftershocks of being sexually abused at her Toledo high school by Father Chet Warren. Years later she went after him, won a legal settlement and finally got him defrocked.

The road toward those encounters began when Blaine founded Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) while living in the Catholic Worker House in 1988. SNAP has waged a long battle in helping victims seek legal redress against bishops who concealed sexual predators — and pushing for structural changes to remove negligent bishops.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Sep 28, 2015

On his first trip to the United States, Pope Francis communicated a vision of politics and pluralism that is rapidly becoming the signature social philosophy of his papacy.

In his address to Congress, Francis emphasized the importance of politics as a countervailing force to economic power (just as he had in his encyclical Laudato Si’):

If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance. Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this effort.

Similarly, at the United Nations, he stressed that in a world “marked by our technical ability to overcome distances and frontiers and, apparently, to overcome all natural limits to the exercise of power,” the juridical and political capacity of the U.N. is “an essential response, inasmuch as technological power, in the hands of nationalistic or falsely universalist ideologies, is capable of perpetrating tremendous atrocities.”

Francis’ valorization of politics doubtless derives from his experience living under a repressive military regime in a continent where all too often repressive military regimes have exploited the populace for the benefit of domestic elites and foreign economic interests. It is important to recognize that his concern is not about the relative power of government vis-a-vis the private sector so much as about how humanity makes decisions.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY September 28, 2015

Pope Francis said there are bishops who covered up child sex abuse and who will be held accountable. His remarks were to reporters on his flight home after leaving the United States Sunday.

Moving to erase any doubt about the how serious he views crimes against children in the church, the pontiff said he wanted to make clear that his words of consolation toward bishops made earlier Sunday after he visited with five sexual assault victims not be taken out of context.

“I felt the need to express compassion because something really terrible happened,” Francis said of those earlier comments on child abuse, “and many of them (bishops) suffered who did not know of this.”

But those bishops who were aware and who did not report them will be held accountable, he said. “Those who have covered up these things are guilty,” the pope said, according to a Newsday report. “And some bishops covered this up, and it is a very ugly thing.”

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UNITED STATES
NBC News

timeline grpahic

By Asher Klein, Jessica Glazer and Vince Lattanzio

Pope Francis made a surprise announcement on the last day of his U.S. visit, revealing that he’d met with people who have been sexually abused by clergymen. The move brought renewed focus on the issue, which has rocked the Roman Catholic church for more than a decade.

Francis isn’t the first pope to apologize to victims of abuse, nor is he the first to meet with them – that would be Benedict XVI, seven years ago.

What makes Francis’ remarks especially notable is where he made them – in Philadelphia, where the first U.S. clergyman was convicted for not acting to stop abuse in the city’s archdiocese. Click through the timeline to see more events from the 30 year history of public abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Fox News Latino

By Johnny Vega
Published September 28, 2015
Fox News Latino

When I heard that the pope was coming to the United States, and specifically, to the New York area, I felt anxious. I am a survivor of clergy abuse. A priest and deacon at our neighborhood church abused me and other youths when I was just 9 years old — until I was 16.

I felt confused about my mixed feelings about Pope Francis.

I liked his humble ways, I felt his sincerity toward those who were abused by clergy, but I still couldn’t trust completely. Is he true to his heart and words? Is he a man of God who really cares about children abused by priests, and does he really want to put a stop to it?

I think, I hope, yes.

I feel confident and trusting about Pope Francis because never once did he ignore this issue of sexual abuse by priests in parishes around the world.

Some of his statements, to be sure, fall a little short of the truth when he speaks of bishops having “courage” for confronting this issue and selling church property to settle lawsuits to bring closure to victims — that is so far from the truth.

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ROME
The Guardian

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Monday 28 September 2015

Pope Francis has said he understands why some victims of clerical sex abuse and their families could not forgive the church for the suffering they faced, saying such abuse was “almost a sacrilege”.

In remarks during a 47-minute press conference on his flight back to Rome after a tour of the US, the pope also sought to clarify controversial remarks he made to American bishops, when he congratulated them on their “courageous” handling of the sex abuse crisis.

He said he wanted to “express my compassion to them because a terrible thing happened and many of them have suffered because they did not know and when it came out they suffered a great deal.

“It’s a terrible thing and the words of comfort were not to say: ‘Don’t worry that was nothing’ … no, no, no. But it was so bad that I imagine that you cried hard … that was the sense of what I meant,” he said, according to a transcript.

The pope also suggested a Kentucky clerk’s recent refusal on religious grounds to issue marriage licences to gay couples was a question of religious freedom, saying conscientious objection was a “human right”. Kim Davis’s act of defiance became national news, with some conservatives comparing her act to civil disobedience endorsed by Martin Luther King in the civil rights era.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Brian Murphy September 28

Pope Francis broadened his warnings over the church’s sex abuse scandals Monday, saying that clergy and others who helped cover up wrongdoing are also guilty in the eyes of the Vatican.

The pope also indirectly added his voice to U.S. religious showdowns — only hours after wrapping up his three-city visit — by expressing strong backing for those who take a stand for their spiritual views.

The pope made no specific references, but it is certain to be perceived as a reference to current battles over refusals to obey laws permitting same-sex marriage.

In wide-ranging comments by the pontiff during his flight back to Rome, Francis shifted from the serious to the sublime: shrugging off his celebrity, raising interest in a possible groundbreaking trip to China and reflecting on the huge outpouring during his first visit to the United States.

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VATICAN CITY
Headlines from the Catholic World

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2015 / 05:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his wide-ranging press briefing en route from the United States to Rome, Pope Francis spoke on the difficult subject of forgiving priests who have molested minors, saying that the strength to forgive, and to be forgiven, can only come from God.

Francis also told journalists that while he is willing to forgive clergy who have abused children and young people, he understands why there are some who find this difficult.

“We must forgive, because we were all forgiven,” the Pope said. However, “it is another thing to receive that forgiveness.”

Pope Francis told journalists on board the papal plane he is not judgmental of victims or the families of molested children who struggle to forgive the abuser.

He illustrated this point by recalling a meeting he once had with a victim of molestation, who told him that her mother had “lost her faith and died an atheist” on account of the abuse.

“I understand that woman,” the Pope said, “and God who is even better than me understands her.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) – Following Holy Mass at Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Pope travelled by car to the airport in Philadelphia where he embarked on his return flight to Rome. He was welcomed at the airport by five hundred people, mostly members of the Organising Committee and volunteers and benefactors of the World Meeting of Families, as well as the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. The Holy Father expressed his gratitude to them and to the families who had shared their witness during the Meeting.

“It is not so easy to speak openly of one’s life journey! But their honesty and humility before the Lord and each of us showed the beauty of family life in all its richness and diversity. I pray that our days of prayer and reflection on the importance of the family for a healthy society will inspire families to continue to strive for holiness and to see the Church as their constant companion, whatever the challenges they may face”.

The Pope thanked all those who had prepared for his stay in the archdioceses of Washington, New York and Philadelphia. “It was particularly moving for me to canonise St. Junipero Serra, who reminds us all of our call to be missionary disciples, and I was also very moved to stand with my brothers and sisters of other religions at Ground Zero, that place which speaks so powerfully of the mystery of evil. Yet we know with certainty that evil never has the last word, and that, in God’s merciful plan, love and peace triumph over all”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) – Hundreds of thousands of people attended the concluding Mass of the Eighth World Meeting of Families celebrated by Pope Francis in Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway yesterday at 4 p.m. local time (10 p.m. in Rome). During the event, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, announced that the next Meeting will be held in Dublin, Ireland in 2018.

In his homily, Pope Francis commented on the two readings of the day’s liturgy, which present the scandal of the people before the miracles and the unexpected prophecies. In the first reading, Joshua tells Moses that two members of the people are prophesying, speaking God’s word, without a mandate. In the Gospel, John tells Jesus that the disciples had stopped someone from casting out evil spirits in the name of Jesus. “Here is the surprise”, remarked the Pope. “Moses and Jesus both rebuke those closest to them for being so narrow! Would that all could be prophets of God’s word! Would that everyone could work miracles in the Lord’s name!”

Jesus encountered “hostility from people who did not accept what He said and did. For them, His openness to the honest and sincere faith of many men and women who were not part of God’s chosen people seemed intolerable. The disciples, for their part, acted in good faith. But the temptation to be scandalised by the freedom of God, Who sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike, bypassing bureaucracy, officialdom and inner circles, threatens the authenticity of faith. Hence it must be vigorously rejected. Once we realise this, we can understand why Jesus’ words about causing ‘scandal’ are so harsh. For Jesus, the truly ‘intolerable’ scandal consists in everything that breaks down and destroys our trust in the working of the Spirit”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) – Shortly after his meeting with a group of victims, the Holy Father returned to the issue of sexual abuse at the beginning of his address to the three hundred bishops attending the World Meeting of Families, held in the great Chapel of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

“I am deeply pained by the stories, the sufferings and the pain of minors who were sexually abused by priests. I continue to be ashamed that persons charged with the tender care of those little ones abused them and caused them grave harm. I deeply regret this. God weeps. The crimes and sins of sexual abuse of minors may no longer be kept secret; I commit myself to ensuring that the Church makes every effort to protect minors and I promise that those responsible will be held to account. Survivors of abuse have become true heralds of hope and ministers of mercy; humbly we owe our gratitude to each of them and to their families for their great courage in shedding the light of Christ on the evil sexual abuse of minors. I say this because I have just met with a group of persons abused as children, who are helped and accompanied here in Philadelphia with particular care by Archbishop Chaput, and we felt that I should communicate this to you”.

Moving on to the issue of the family, he pronounced a discourse, at times improvised, in which he focused on the characteristics of families in today’s society and the mission of bishops, reiterating that as pastors they must not be afraid to stay in the midst of families, with all their problems and their capacities, as “ A Christianity which does little in practice, while incessantly explaining its teachings, is dangerously unbalanced”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) – The final day of the Pope’s apostolic trip began yesterday with his meeting at the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary with victims of sexual abuse perpetrated when they were minors by members of the clergy, or members of their families or teachers. The group was composed of five adults – 3 women and 2 men – accompanied by Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston and president of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, instituted by the Pope, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, and Bishop Michael Joseph Fitzgerald, head of the diocesan office for the protection of minors in the same diocese.

During the meeting, which lasted half an hour, Francis listened to their accounts of their experiences, addressed them as a group and then greeted each one individually. He prayed with them and manifested his participation in their suffering, his pain and his shame for the harm caused by members of the clergy or ecclesiastical collaborators.

“Thank you for corning here today”, he said. “Words cannot fully express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered. You are precious children of God who should always expect our protection, our care and our love. I am profoundly sorry that your innocence was violated by those who you trusted. In some cases the trust was betrayed by members of your own family, in other cases by priests who carry a sacred responsibility for the care of soul. In all circumstances, the betrayal was a terrible violation of human dignity.

“For those who were abused by a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you. I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children. It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops even were abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.

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Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 28, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis started his final day in the United States on Sunday by meeting sexual abuse victims and ended it by acknowledging that the problem is not just that Catholic priests have committed abuse, but that bishops have covered it up.

“Also those who have covered up these things are guilty,” he said, referring to the sexual exploitation of children.

“Some bishops covered this up, which is a very ugly thing,” the pope said.

During a 45-minute session with the media aboard the American Airlines flight that carried Francis back to Rome after his nine-day visit to Cuba and the United States, the pontiff also indirectly lent his support to US Christians who are refusing to provide services to same-sex couples.

The most celebrated case is that of a Kentucky county clerk who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Conscientious objection, the pope said, is a “human right,” including for government officials.

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UNITED STATES
Canonical Consultation

09/27/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

As you have likely heard by now, this morning Pope Francis met with five survivors of sexual abuse. As the New York Times has reported, not all five were victims of sexual abuse by clergy, supposedly to demonstrate that the church is taking a broader view of the problem of sexual abuse.

The meeting, while not unexpected, will likely do little to calm those upset by Pope Francis’s praise for American bishops’ handling of the sexual abuse crisis, which he articulated at his prayer service with them in Washington DC. Ironically, our own Emeritus Archbishop, John Nienstedt, was present to hear the praise, but apparently not Pope Francis’s statement that he ‘deeply regret[s] that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children’.

You can find the full text of the Pope’s remarks to victims here.

While I feel a certain skepticism about the meeting, I wholeheartedly concur with the Holy Father’s final plea: ‘ I humbly beg you and all survivors of abuse to stay with us, to stay with the Church, and that together, as pilgrims on the journey of faith, we might find our way to the Father.’

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

A key network for people brought up in orphanages and other institutions has called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to establish as a “matter of urgency” a national redress scheme for abuse survivors.

The new prime minister is a parliamentary patron of Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN), which wants the federal government to back the $4.37 billion scheme recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The recommendations were published on September 14.

CLAN executive officer Leonie Sheedy says Mr Turnbull now has the opportunity to deliver fair and equitable compensation for the many thousands of people who were abused in Australia’s orphanages, children’s homes, foster care and mental institutions.

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AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

NICOLE MILLS GEELONG ADVERTISER SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

A GEELONG woman leading the fight for compensation for those who were neglected and abused in orphanages, children’s homes, foster care and mental institutions has called on new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to take action.

Leonie Sheedy, who heads the Care Leavers Australia Network, has called on Mr Turnbull to deliver a national compensation scheme for the many thousands of people who suffered all forms of abuse ­during their childhood in care.

She said Mr Turnbull, a parliamentary patron of CLAN, now had the opportunity to ­expand a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to provide compensation to victims of other types of abuse.

“The royal commission has recommended a national ­redress scheme for victims of child sexual abuse be established by the Federal Government and largely funded by the institutions in which the abuse occurred,” Ms Sheedy said.

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ROME
Chiesa

The last exchange of fire before the opening of the work. The uncertainty about the procedure. The appeals to the pope. Why in the end it will be he alone who will draw the conclusions

by Sandro Magister

ROME, September 28, 2015 – Back in Rome after his journey to Cuba and the United States, culminating with the world meeting of families in Philadelphia, Pope Francis is now facing the much more exacting challenge of the synod that will open on October 4, the Sunday of the liturgical year on which – as if by a jest of providence – Catholic churches all around the world will resound with these words of Jesus: “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

The synod will last for three weeks, and the procedures that will be adopted have not yet been made known, despite having a big influence on the outcome of the work.

What is certain is that there will not be a final message, no commission having been set up to write one.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Blade

PHILADELPHIA — A Vatican spokesperson on Sunday declined to comment on the controversy surrounding the two Chilean cardinals who conspired to block a gay man’s nomination to a sex abuse commission that Pope Francis created.

“I have no intention to enter the discussion that has taken place in Chile,” Rev. Federico Lombardi told the Washington Blade during his daily press briefing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

El Mostrador, a Chilean newspaper, on Sept. 9 published a series of private emails between Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, the archbishop of Santiago, and his predecessor, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, in which they discussed Juan Carlos Cruz’s nomination to the commission and their efforts to block it.

The emails indicate the cardinals, among other things, described Cruz as a “serpent.” Ezzati and Errázuriz, one of eight cardinals who advises Francis on reforming the Curia that oversees the church, also sought to prevent Cruz from speaking about sex abuse to a group of English-speaking bishops in Rome.

Cruz is among the hundreds of people who Rev. Fernando Karadima sexually abused in his parish in the Chilean capital over more than three decades.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Pope’s promise to “end secrecy” means prelates must act, group says
SNAP: Pontiff’s ‘accountability’ pledge means “enablers” must be punished
Self help organization wants two —three recent local abuse cases to be “re-examined”

What:
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims will urge all US Catholic bishops – including DC’s archbishop – to honor and act on the promises Pope Francis made yesterday. Specifically, the victims will urge America’s bishops and DC Archbishop Donald Wuerl to

— disclose names of church staff who CONCEALED child sex crimes,
— disclose (and post on church websites) names of clerics who COMMITTED child sex crimes, and
— publicly “defrock, demote or at least discipline” the “enablers.’

They will also prod Wuerl to disclose more about and “re-visit” three recent clergy sex abuse cases.

When:
Monday, Sept. 28 at 1:00 p.m.

Where:
Outside the US Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters, 3211 4th Street NE, Washington DC

Who:
Three-four members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

Why:
On Sunday, Pope Francis made strong promises, including that “abuse cannot be kept secret any longer,” “all responsible will be held accountable,” and that church officials will provide “careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

In light of these pledges and others, SNAP is challenging US and DC church officials and members to “take tangible steps” to act on these “noble sentiments”.

Regarding secrecy, the group wants All US bishops and DC Archbishop Donald Wuerl to “disclose the names of clerics who concealed – not just those who committed – clergy sex crimes.”

Regarding accountability, the group wants US bishops and Wuerl to “reveal and punish priests who protected accused predator priests, to deter such future wrongdoing.”

“With almost 6,500 child molesting clerics (and almost 30 publicly accused in the District), bishops (including Wuerl) know which church staff have hidden or ignored clergy sex crimes, but they won’t punish them,” said SNAP’s Becky Ianni of Burke VA. “He’s breaking the pope’s repeated accountability promises. So Wuerl should publicly demote at least one church staffer now.”

Francis said “never again” should clergy sex crimes happen. Toward this end, SNAP is urging all US bishops to post on church websites the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of “proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests in their dioceses.” Under pressure, about 15% of US bishops have done this. It’s “the absolute bare minimum” church officials can do “to protect the vulnerable and warn unsuspecting families about child molesters quietly living in their midst,” SNAP says.

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USA
kath.net

«Die Verbrechen, die Sünden des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Minderjährigen dürfen nicht länger geheimgehalten werden.» Er bleibe «überwältigt von Scham» über solche Fälle, sagte der Papst bei einem Treffen mit 300 Bischöfen. «Gott weint!»

Philadelphia/Vatikanstadt (kath.net/KNA) Papst Franziskus hat so deutlich wie nie zuvor öffentlich eingestanden, dass auch Bischöfe Minderjährige sexuell missbraucht oder derartige Fälle vertuscht haben. «Ich beklage zutiefst, dass einige Bischöfe nicht ihrer Verantwortung nachkamen, Minderjährige zu schützen», sagte er am Sonntag bei einem Treffen mit fünf Missbrauchsopfern in Philadelphia.

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USA
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Papst Franziskus hat so deutlich wie nie zuvor öffentlich eingestanden, dass auch Bischöfe Minderjährige sexuell missbraucht oder derartige Fälle vertuscht haben. „Ich beklage zutiefst, dass einige Bischöfe nicht ihrer Verantwortung nachkamen, Minderjährige zu schützen“, sagte er am Sonntag bei einem Treffen mit fünf Missbrauchsopfern in Philadelphia. Es sei „sehr beunruhigend zu wissen, dass in einigen Fällen auch Bischöfe selbst Missbrauchstäter“ gewesen seien, erklärte der Papst laut einer vom Vatikan veröffentlichten Mitteilung.

Zugleich versprach Franziskus, dass Priester und Bischöfe für diese Taten zur Rechenschaft gezogen würden. Bei einem Treffen mit 300 Bischöfen aus aller Welt sagte Franziskus anschließend: „Die Verbrechen, die Sünden des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Minderjährigen dürfen nicht länger geheim gehalten werden.“ Er bleibe „überwältigt von Scham“ über solche Fälle, so der Papst und erklärte: „Gott weint!“

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Radio Vaticana

[Father Lombardi: The church has at heart the protection of children in the world.]

La sollecitudine della Chiesa per tutti i bambini del mondo e per la loro protezione nell’incontro del Papa con le vittime di abusi non solo ad opera di membri della Chiesa, ma di famigliari e persone loro vicine. A sottolineare questo aspetto è il direttore della Sala Stampa vaticana padre Federico Lombardi commentando il fuori programma di ieri a Philadelphia. E poi l’attenzione dei detenuti e la centralità del tema della famiglia, lungo l’intero viaggio del Papa negli Stati Uniti. Ma sentiamo padre Lombardi al microfono di Massimiliano Menichetti:

R. – Quello che è stato caratteristico dell’incontro di questa mattina è che non è stato solo con vittime di violenze compiute dal clero o in istituzioni cattoliche, ma più ampiamente. Noi sappiamo che la massima parte degli abusi sessuali, o degli abusi nei confronti dei minori, non avviene da parte di preti né in istituzioni cattoliche, ma in altri luoghi. Allora, il Papa ha allargato la prospettiva: le persone che ha incontrato quest’oggi rappresentavano in qualche modo anche le altre situazioni.

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USA
Domradio

Am letzten Tag seiner USA-Reise ist Papst Franziskus mit Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs zusammengetroffen. Zudem besuchte er ein Gefängnis und kritisierte den Strafvollzug. Den Abschluss der Reise bildet ein großer Familien-Gottesdienst.

Nach der Begegnung mit drei Männern und zwei Frauen, die als Minderjährige von katholischen Geistlichen missbraucht worden waren, zeigte sich das Kirchenoberhaupt betroffen. “Gott weint”, sagte Franziskus am Sonntag. Als Papst trage er Sorge, dass die Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschaft gezogen und junge Menschen künftig geschützt werden.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – Now that Pope Francis has confirmed that he met with victims of sexual abuse Sunday morning, the question will be asked: Do these sessions make a difference?

This is the seventh time a pope has met victims. Pope Benedict XVI held five such sessions, with the first coming during his own 2008 visit to the United States. Pope Francis held his first meeting with victims in July 2014 in Rome, and he has appointed two victims to his own Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

As a matter of practice, the Vatican does not release much information beyond confirming that the meeting happened. There’s no video or still photos, because organizers don’t want it to look like a publicity stunt. They insist that these are private, pastoral meetings, while leaving the victims free to make their own decisions about what they choose to reveal.

Each time these encounters happen, victims usually come away grateful that they’ve been heard. They often talk about how visibly moved the pope seemed as they told their stories, and they express hope that the Church will take their suffering to heart as it attempts to learn the lessons of the abuse scandals.

Over time, however, opinions about what these meetings accomplish often differ.

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UNITED STATES
Reuters

By Philip Pullella September 28, 2015

Pope Francis dove into some of the United States’ thorniest political debates during his historic visit by urging the world’s wealthiest nation to welcome immigrants, to end homelessness and do more to address climate change.

Sometimes his political messages were blunt, like when he pleaded before the U.S. Congress for Americans to end “hostility” toward immigrants. Other times, they were more subtle, like the climate-conscious pope’s decision to ride around in a tiny Fiat rather than a gas-guzzling SUV.

While Vatican officials said the pope was only re-stating Church social teachings and not making political statements in his first U.S. visit ever, many in the public and across the political landscape saw it differently.

Among them, 42-year-old Gabriela Muñoz of Brooklyn, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, who said the pope’s comments on immigration had given her “a lot of hope and faith.

“Even if it’s a small thing, it has to have touched the heart of congressmen,” she said.

But in an acutely polarized Congress, it was unclear if lawmakers’ minds were changed by Francis’ words in Washington or at the United Nations, where he condemned the “boundless thirst” for wealth and power.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
News 12

PHILADELPHIA – While many appreciated the pope’s recognition of clergy abuse Sunday, victims say that the pontiff’s words were not enough.

Pope Francis met with clergy sex abuse victims in Philadelphia on Sunday, and promised to hold those responsible accountable.

Robert Hoatson, former priest with the Archdiocese of Newark who now counsels victims of abuse, says victims want the pope to hold bishops accountable for allowing priests who have abused to stay in ministry.

“Are you going to fire them because you haven’t fired anybody yet?” Hoatson said. “Are you going to tell the bishops to stop blocking legislation in the United States that will give victim survivors their day in court?”

In June, Pope Francis set up a tribunal to examine bishops of wrongdoing.

Hoatson’s group offered the names Archbishop John Meyers of Newark, former Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, and Cardinal Raymond Burke.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

by Kristine Ward, September 28, 2015

So far, it is a thin tissue that Pope Francis and the Roman Catholic Church have handed to God as a comfort to weeping over the sexual abuse victims.

Pope Francis said on Sunday morning in his unscripted remarks to bishops and seminarians at the Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia following his meeting with five victims of sexual abuse that “God weeps” because of the sexual abuse.

Even to get the tissue, the Church had to be driven to the store by massive media reporting, grand jury investigations by civil authorities and lawsuits brought by survivors.

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UNITED STATES
Portland Press Herald

BY MARC FISHER
THE WASHINGTON POST

With a generous spirit and palpable affection for American values, Pope Francis won the nation’s heart during his six-day visit that ended Sunday. With his commitment to unchanging church doctrine, he disappointed some who yearn for reform.

His message was pastoral, a series of dramatic reminders of man’s obligations toward the needy, the stranger, the other. His gestures were powerful – his tiny Fiat that knocked the papacy down to a human level, his loving embrace of a disabled child, his decision to dine with the homeless directly after addressing Congress.

But as he delivered moving messages of humanity, the Argentine prelate, making his first trip to the United States at age 78, avoided engaging in America’s polarizing culture wars.

The result for many Catholics, liberal and conservative, was a sense of possibility and renewal, tempered by questions about whether welcoming rhetoric is enough to bridge serious divisions as a traditional church struggles to find its place in a fast-paced, disillusioned society.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis pledged to sexual-abuse survivors Sunday that bishops who fail to protect children from abusive priests, and not just the abusers themselves, “will be held accountable.”

The pontiff did not say what that accountability would entail in his prepared remarks for the private, long-anticipated meeting with five survivors of sexual abuse by priests or family members. He listened to the victims’ stories, prayed with them and pledged “we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead.”

His spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said those details are being worked out but noted that the pope did form a commission to address such cases.

The meeting took place with three women and two men Sunday morning at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011 contained explosive revelations of systematic cover-ups of abusive priests by past archbishops and their staffs. A former archdiocesan official is currently incarcerated for his role in the cover-up.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

A FORMER priest accused of molesting a string of young children is facing fresh allegations after two new victims recently made complaints to police.

Robert Claffey is due to stand trial on 14 counts of indecent assault, one count of committing an indecent act on a child under the age of 16, and one count of buggery on a girl.

But the County Court heard today Mr Claffey would face more charges after two new victims had made statements to police.

He is accused of molesting children while stationed in parishes in the Ballarat Diocese in the 1980s.

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Time

Elizabeth Dias / Papal Plane @elizabethjdias

The Pontiff touched on sexual abuse, women priests and peace in Colombia

Pope Francis offered his first review of the U.S. at 39,000 feet late Sunday night. Less than an hour after departing Philadelphia, he concluded his nine-day trip to Cuba and the U.S. with a wide-ranging, in-flight press conference that touched on everything from religious liberty debates in the U.S. to the popularity of the American nuns to his own increasing stardom. He addressed journalists for nearly 60 minutes in Italian and Spanish.

Each U.S. city was different, the pontiff said, but the warmth of the country made an impression during his first-ever visit. Washington was very welcoming, but “more formal.” New York, was “stralimitate,” an Italian-Spanish mash-up that evokes overwhelming, exuberant, beyond the limits. Philadelphia was “very demonstrative.” Overall, Pope Francis said he was struck by the piety of the American people. “The church’s challenge is staying close to the people … not being a detached church,” he said. “This is something that the church in America has understood and understood well.”

Pope Francis also underscored that conscientious objection is a human right. He was asked if he supported individuals — including government officials — who say they cannot in good conscience abide by some laws or discharge their duties, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. “I can’t have in mind all cases that can exist about conscience objection but yes, I can say [that] conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right,” he said. “If a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right. … Conscientious objection must enter into every judicial structure … Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.’”

One of the most poignant moments came when Pope Francis spoke about a mother who cannot forgive her daughter’s sexual abuser. The Lord still welcomes her, Francis said, even if she cannot forgive. “I understand that woman,” he said. “And God who is even better than me understands her. And I’m sure that that woman has been received by God. … I don’t judge someone who can’t forgive.”

He also directly acknowledged that the ugliness of the priestly cover-up of sexual abuse, in addition to the ugliness of the abuse itself. “Those who covered this up are guilty. Even some bishops who covered this up,” he said. “It is a terrible thing.”

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Huffington Post

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Monday government officials have a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty, such as issuing marriage licenses to homosexuals, if they feel it violates their conscience.

Speaking to reporters as he returned home from a 10-day trip to the United States and Cuba, Francis also repeated his condemnation of priests who had sexually abused children, saying the victims had been “crushed by evil.”

Although the Argentine-born pontiff delved into some of the United States’ thorniest political debates during his visit, he never specifically referred to a controversy over same-sex marriages, which the Church firmly opposes.

On the flight back to Rome, he was asked if he supported individuals, including government officials, who refuse to abide by some laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to gays.

“Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right,” Francis said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
GlobalPost

By Scott Malone and Philip Pullella

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pope Francis confronted the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy on the final day of his first U.S. visit on Sunday, meeting with five adults abused as children and vowing to hold accountable those involved in the crimes and cover-ups.

The pope left the United States on Sunday night, departing from Philadelphia International Airport on an American Airlines flight to Rome. He was seen off by a number of dignitaries, including Vice President Joe Biden.

Wrapping up the six-day U.S. trip, the 78-year-old Argentine pope celebrated Mass outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a neoclassical edifice astride a rocky hill overlooking the Schuylkill River, before the largest crowd of his visit. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said the crowd numbered more than a million.

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The New York Times

By JIM YARDLEY
SEPT. 28, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRPLANE — Hours after meeting with sexual abuse victims in Philadelphia, Pope Francis on Sunday night again strongly condemned priests who molested children as “sacrilegious” and publicly acknowledged that bishops had covered up abuse cases.

“When a priest abuses, it is very grave because the vocation of the priest is to make that boy, that girl grow toward the love of God,” Francis said. “For this reason, the church is strong on this and one must not cover these things up. Those who covered this up are guilty. Even some bishops who covered this up.”

Francis spoke during a wide-ranging news conference aboard the papal airliner after his trip to Cuba and the United States. He remarked on a variety of topics, including the issue of conscientious objection, the peace talks in Colombia, the so-called Roman Catholic divorce, the construction of border walls to block migrants in Europe — and he also tossed in a grinning endorsement of New York.

After a trip in which huge crowds turned out to see him, Francis on Sunday tried to salve the one major contentious point that erupted during his time in the United States: his comments on sexual abuse. Many victims were infuriated after Francis praised and comforted American bishops in Washington for their handling of the crisis before he met with any victims.

The controversy stewed until Sunday morning in Philadelphia, when Francis met with a group of abuse victims and their family members. Later that morning, Francis condemned the sexual abuse crisis during a meeting with global bishops. On the plane, Francis was asked why he had felt the need to offer bishops comfort and consolation even as feelings about the crisis remained raw in cities like Philadelphia.

“I felt the need to express compassion because something really terrible happened,” the pope replied. “And many of them suffered who did not know of this.”

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National Catholic Reporter

Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service | Sep. 28, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM PHILADELPHIA
As the American Airlines plane taking him to Rome from Philadelphia took off, Pope Francis said he pictured the faces of all the people he met, and he prayed for them.

At the end of his first-ever visit to the United States, the pope told reporters he “was surprised by the warmth of the people” and how they were “so loving. It was beautiful.”

Spending close to 50 minutes with members of the media flying back to Rome with him Sept. 27, the pope said he also was struck by the sincere piety of people at his Masses and prayer services.

Shortly after takeoff, Pope Francis responded to a dozen questions, including why he spoke with such compassion to U.S. bishops in Washington about what they went through in the aftermath of the clerical sex abuse crisis.

“I felt a need to express compassion because what happened was horrible, and many of them suffered a lot,” the pope said. For “men of prayer, good pastors” the crisis was truly a “tribulation.”

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Athen Banner-Herald

By NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS – published Monday, September 28, 20150

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE | Pope Francis has defended his words of consolation to U.S. bishops over the priest sex abuse scandal but says — for the first time — that those who covered up for abusers are guilty of wrongdoing.

In a wide-ranging press conference en route to Rome from his first-ever visit to the United States, Francis also declared conscience objection a “human right,” explained his love affair with American nuns and discussed his own star-power, which was fully on display during his six-day, three-city tour.

He also invented a new Italian word to describe the exuberant reception he received in New York City: “stralimitata” — roughly, “beyond all limits.”

On his last day in the U.S., Francis on Sunday met with five survivors of sexual abuse and issued a warning to bishops that they would be held accountable if they failed to protect their flocks.

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AUSTRALIA
MuMBRELLA

An editorial published in the Hamilton Spectator suggesting the sentencing of an octogenarian paedophile priest “seemed pointless” has been ruled by the Australian Press Council to be offensive.

The editorial fin the weekly ‘The Spec ‘Blog’ section commented on the case of a former priest who had lost an appeal against a prison sentence for the indecent assault of a nine year old girl and case involving a former Hamilton teacher who was sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months.

The piece, which was published on April 25, opined that the suspended sentence for an 83 year old infirm priest living in a nursing home “seemed pointless” and that he was “obviously not going to re-offend”. The former teacher was said to have “got 18 months gaol for merely touching an U16 girl’s breast and genitals”.

At the time the editorial attracted national criticism, with ABC Media Watch questioning the views expressed by the newspaper’s owner Richard Beks.

In its defence after a complaint to the press council the local South West Victoria paper argued the editorial’s intention was to consider the wide range of impacts that such abuse can have, adding the editorial repeated what a judge had said and it had done all it could to rectify any misunderstandings.

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UNITED STATES
Rome Reports

READ FULL SPEECH:

Mr. Vice-President,
Distinguished Authorities,
My Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends,

My days with you have been brief. But they have been days of great grace for me and, I pray, for you too. Please know that as I prepare to leave, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and hope.

I am grateful to all of you and to the many others who worked so hard to make my visit possible and to prepare for the World Meeting of Families. In a particular way I thank Archbishop Chaput and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the civil authorities, the organizers, and all the many volunteers and benefactors who assisted in ways large and small.

I also thank the families who shared their witness during the Meeting. It is not so easy to speak openly of one’s life journey! But their honesty and humility before the Lord and each of us showed the beauty of family life in all its richness and diversity. I pray that our days of prayer and reflection on the importance of the family for a healthy society will inspire families to continue to strive for holiness and to see the Church as their constant companion, whatever the challenges they may face.

At the end of my visit, I would also like to thank all those who prepared for my stay in the Archdioceses of Washington and New York. It was particularly moving for me to canonize Saint Junípero Serra, who reminds us all of our call to be missionary disciples, and I was also very moved to stand with my brothers and sisters of other religions at Ground Zero, that place which speaks so powerfully of the mystery of evil. Yet we know with certainty that evil never has the last word, and that, in God’s merciful plan, love and peace triumph over all.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Dallas Morning News

PHILADELPHIA — At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised U.S. bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain — leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish.

On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern here before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that “all responsible will be held accountable.”

“God weeps” at the sexual abuse of children, he said in an early translation from Spanish of his remarks added to the start of a scripted address in the chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary here on Sunday. “I commit to the careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

His remarks and the meeting, anticipated for weeks and carefully choreographed, were greeted with varying degrees of skepticism by abuse victims who have now seen two popes on U.S. trips meet with victims and make sweeping promises to protect children. They would like to believe that Francis’ words are sincere and pledges are real, but they continue to have serious doubts, in part because of his comments earlier this week, and because of how Sunday’s gathering came together.

Some of the victims who met with the pope had been abused by relatives or educators — not all by Catholic clergy.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said this was done intentionally to show that the church is taking a “larger perspective” on the problem of sexual abuse. He added that the pope waited to make these remarks until Sunday, when he was scheduled to address an international group of bishops because, “we know the problem is a universal problem, in the universal church, and also in society.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

Nancy Harty

(CBS) — Pope Francis’ pledge to protect children from sexual abuse by priests and to hold accountable those responsible did not win over the head of a local survivors group.

The pope talking with sex abuse victims is nothing new, Barbara Blaine says.

The president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says the pontiff has held such meetings seven or eight times before and other than providing comfort to those in attendance, it doesn’t do much.

Blaine called the meeting a “photo op” and referred to his comments to U.S. bishops as “timid.”
The pontiff said he commits to careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and all those responsible will be held accountable.

Blaine says “lofty words” from Pope Francis won’t protect children and he should stop acting like the abuse is over and take steps to prevent it.

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NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

Neal E. Gumpel is a clergy sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased former professor at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, and Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, sexually abused Neal Gumpel when he was a minor child

Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who staff Fordham University and were responsible for Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, for decades until his death, refuse to acknowledge and bear responsibility for the allegations of sexual abuse against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, in Maine and give any assistance to Neal E. Gumpel, settle and validate his claim, and help him heal

What
A press conference and leafleting alerting the media, Fordham University students and community, and the general public that the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Fordham University refuse to assist a clergy sexual abuse victim of one of its priests, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ

When
Monday, September 28, 2015 from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Where
Outside the gates of Fordham University on Southern Boulevard near the Bronx Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY

Who

Neal E. Gumpel; his wife, Helen; survivor and advocate Kevin Waldrip; and Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey; other supporters

Why
Neal E. Gumpel is a sexual abuse survivor of Jesuit priest Rev. Roy Alan Drake, SJ when he was a teenager. The sexual abuse occurred at Maine Maritime Academy, in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ was teaching and acting as a priest at all times. Fordham University and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) have refused to validate Neal E. Gumpel’s allegation, despite the fact that other allegations against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ have been found credible and settled. Demonstrators will call on Fordham University and the Society of Jesus to do the right thing, validate and settle the claim of Neal E. Gumpel, and help him heal.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Pope’s promise to “end secrecy” means Chaput must act, group says
SNAP: Pontiff’s ‘accountability’ pledge means “enablers” must be punished
Self-help organization wants three recent local abuse cases to be “re-examined”

What:
Holding signs and childhood photos, after Pope Francis has ended his historic US visit, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Philly area Catholics and their church officials to honor and act on the promises he made. Specifically, the victims will urge Archbishop Charles Chaput to
— discipline even a few priests who hid or ignored child sex crimes, and
— disclose more about and “re-visit” three recent clergy sex abuse cases.

When:
Monday, Sept. 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Where:
Outside the Philadelphia Catholic archdiocesan headquarters, 222 North 17th Street (corner of Race) in Philadelphia, PA

Who:
Three-four members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

Why:
On Sunday, Pope Francis made strong promises, including that “abuse cannot be kept secret any longer,” “all responsible will be held accountable,” and that church officials will provide “careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

In light of these pledges and others, SNAP is challenging Philly church officials and members to “take tangible steps” to act on these “noble sentiments”.

Regarding secrecy, the group wants Archbishop Charles Chaput to “disclose more about those who concealed – not just those who committed – clergy sex crimes.”

Regarding accountability, the group wants Chaput to “punish priests who protected Philly’s 136 publicly accused predator priests.”

“With almost 140 child molesting clerics, and three detailed grand jury reports, Chaput knows which church staff have hidden or ignored clergy sex crimes, but he won’t punish them,” said SNAP’s Karen Polesir of Ambler.

“He’s breaking the pope’s repeated accountability promises. So Chaput should publicly demote at least one church staffer now.”

SNAP also wants Chaput to revisit and reveal more about three recent “troubling” local abuse cases.

–A year ago, with little explanation, Chaput put Msgr. Joseph Logrip back on the job in a parish. Catholic officials admit he faced allegations of sexually violating “minors.” (Notice the plural.) He is also accused, according to the Philly Inquirer, of knowing of an “attack” on a child by a priest but doing “nothing.”

[BishopAccountability.org]

(Regarding the abuse charges, Chaput only says they are “unsubstantiated.”)

–Last year, Chaput also kept secret for months about child sex abuse reports involving Fr. John P. Paul. Fr. Paul resigned claiming he was “considering a serious road trip for ‘renewal’ purposes.” Chaput let this lie go unchallenged. When Chaput finally did announce that abuse complaints led to Fr. Paul’s suspension, he notified only one parish. (Eventually, Philly church officials told the public and the rest of their flock.)

–In 2012, Chaput “recklessly” put Fr. Joseph DiGregorio back on the job even though the priest “violated behavioral standards.” Chaput justified his decision by claiming that a “clinical evaluation” supposedly says the priest is no threat to children and because “no other complaints were reported.” The church’s 2002 national abuse policy, however, says nothing about a priest being kept in a parish if a therapist says he’s no threat. (Before 2002, dozens of bishops used this same rationale when, with disastrous results, they put hundreds of accused predators back around kids.)

Given Francis’ professed commitment to end secrecy and “always be vigilant to protect children,” SNAP wants Chaput and his abuse review board to “look again at these cases, be more forthcoming and err on the side of caution.

“At best, Chaput does the absolute bare minimum required of him under the church’s vague, weak, decade-old abuse policy. Surely, he’ll do more in light of Francis’ latest promises,” said David Clohessy, director of SNAP. “At worst, Chaput violates that policy by putting accused predators back on the job, by letting suspended predators live unsupervised, and by being secretive in ways that continue to put kids at risk. That too, we’d expect to change, given the pontiff’s clear pledges.”

Contact:
Barbara Dorris (314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org), David Clohessy (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Becky Ianni (703 801 6044,SNAPvirginia@cox.net

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

By Terence McKiernan
President
BishopAccountability.org
September 27, 2015

After the Pope’s remarks regarding bishops and priests, and his meeting with clergy abuse survivors and other abuse survivors together, it’s sadly no surprise that Pope Francis somehow preached on the Gospel passage most relevant to clergy abuse without confronting that issue.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

The Gospel reading on the millstone has been embraced by survivors of clergy abuse. Pope Francis could have acknowledged those survivors by preaching at the closing of the World Meeting of Families on that crucial aspect of today’s Gospel, and by confronting the issue of clergy abuse squarely in his homily. This would have salvaged a visit otherwise tone-deaf on this terrible problem, and would also have corrected the failure of the World Meeting of Families to include clergy abuse on its agenda.

How the Pope might have addressed this difficult Gospel today may be seen in the “shadow homily” that I posted a week ago.

Pope Francis also referred several times in his homily to scandal, a concept with an egregious history in clergy abuse and its discourse. He used the word because in the Gospel passage, the English “causes … to sin” renders the Greek verb skandalizein, which literally means “to cause to trip or err.” Again, Pope Francis failed to confront a crucial aspect of the Gospel reading.

The Pope missed an important opportunity to address clergy abuse at the closing of the World Meeting of Families, and failed to acknowledge obvious links between today’s Gospel and the plight of clergy abuse survivors in the United States and around the world.

Terence McKiernan
President
BishopAccountability.org
508-479-9304 :: cell
@TerryMcKiernan1 :: twitter
Introduction to the Archives

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MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

BOSTON —Some victims of clergy sex abuse feel the Pope’s word fell short.

Pope Francis met with survivors and members related to survivors of clerical sex abuse and has promised to hold accountable those responsible.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi says the three women and two men met with the pope for a half hour at the St. Charles Borromeo seminary Sunday. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, accompanied the group.

Lombardi says the pope prayed with the survivors, listened to their stories and expressed his closeness in their suffering and his “pain and shame” in the case of those abused by priests.

But some survivors believe the Pope is not fully addressing the issue.

“When a child is abused by a priest, it ruins their spirituality,” said Phil Saviano, a victim’s advocate of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Saviano was abused by a priest when he was 12 years old.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

Alan Rappeport

Pope Francis met in private on Sunday morning with a group of victims of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church.

But while he expressed sorrow for the incidents and promised more oversight, for some it was not enough.

“I truly hope that those victims find healing from meeting with him, but what about the rest of the victims?” said Becky Ianni, an abuse victim and spokeswoman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Speaking to CNN, Ms. Ianni said that the pope’s remarks were expected, but that he has the power to take additional steps to hold bishops accountable for their actions and to create transparency within the church.

“What we really need is for him to do something to protect children,” she said after Francis’ remarks.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

Vivian Yee

The five victims of child sexual abuse who met with Pope Francis on Sunday morning included some who had been abused by relatives or educators, not Roman Catholic clergy — a deliberate decision made to show that the church is taking a “larger perspective” on the problem of sexual abuse, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

Victims of clergy sex abuse and their advocates saw something less benign at work: a subtle but unmistakable effort by the Vatican to shift the terms of the debate, to show “that it’s not always the church’s fault,” as Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University who has represented hundreds of victims of clerical sexual abuse, put it.

Church officials have argued that sexual abuse of children is not confined to the Catholic Church, pointing out that it infects other institutions and other religions as well. The pope may not have explicitly said the same, the advocates said, but the meeting’s inclusion of people abused by teachers and relatives as well as priests spoke volumes.

“He almost seems to be trying to deflect attention somewhere else,” said Barbara Blaine, the president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, the country’s most prominent support and advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse. “Of course those who are sexually violated suffer horribly, regardless of who the perpetrator is. But the problem that we see is that we think Pope Francis has both the authority and the responsibility to stop the sexual violence in the church, and he’s failing to do that.”

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

My last night in China, I stayed up well past bedtime to watch Pope Francis address the U.S. Congress. I noted both what he said and what he didn’t say. He explicitly called for a global end to the death penalty and arms sales. He explicitly called for welcoming immigrants, tending the environment and caring for the poor. He explicitly spoke of the perils of child abuse. He never uttered the words, “abortion,” “birth control,” “Obamacare,” “Planned Parenthood,” or “gay marriage.”

I had to settle for reading the transcript of his homily to U.S. bishops in D.C. in which he congratulated and thanked the bishops for their actions around the clergy sex abuse scandals without offering any encouragement to abuse survivors. Yet, most abuse survivors and many lay people find the bishops’ individual and collective actions on this topic to span between cowardly and dastardly…not even close to the “courageous” description ascribed by Francis.

It seemed the connection between Francis’ child abuse comments to Congress and the lifelong wounds arising from clergy-inflicted child sexual abuse eluded Francis. In declaring the bishops’ response “courageous” and speaking of the issue as though concluded while so many abuse survivors still constantly battle abuse ramifications, Francis displayed appalling insensitivity. He evaded institutional responsibility to walk in healing restitution with survivors every day, every step of their lives.

While reading that homily I was also struck by Francis’ seeming assumption that the bishops and clergy are penultimate experts on and purveyors of gospel messages – and that they just tirelessly need to be gentle until the (clueless, sad, miserable) sheep finally catch on to their wonderful messages. This, would bring about healing in the church, he seemed to say. That and the clergy abuse comments made me wonder about Francis’ institutional self-awareness.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC 27

The following transcript is from Pope Francis’s meeting with sex abuse victims at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, as provided by the Vatican:

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, I am grateful for this opportunity to meet you, I am blessed by your presence. Thank you for coming here today.

Words cannot fully express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered. You are precious children of God who should always expect our protection, our care and our love. I am profoundly sorry that your innocence was violated by those who you trusted. In some cases the trust was betrayed by members of your own family, in other cases by priests who carry a sacred responsibility for the care of soul. In all circumstances, the betrayal was a terrible violation of human dignity.

For those who were abused by a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you. I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children. It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops even were abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.

We are gathered here in Philadelphia to celebrate God’s gift of family life. Within our family of faith and our human families, the sins and crimes of sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret and in shame. As we anticipate the Jubilee Year of Mercy, your presence, so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced, reveals the merciful heart of Christ. Your stories of survival, each unique and compelling, are powerful signs of the hope that comes from the Lord’s promise to be with us always.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
USA Today

[with video]

John Bacon and Aamer Madhani September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — A much-anticipated pronouncement from Pope Francis on Sunday that clergy responsible for sex abuse will be “held accountable” drew disdain from victims advocacy groups but positive reviews from Vatican experts.

At a meeting with about 300 international bishops, Francis said he met privately Sunday with five adults who experienced sexual abuse by clergy, family members or teachers when they were minors. The pontiff promised “zealous vigilance” in protecting young people in the future.

“I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm,” he added. “I am profoundly sorry. God weeps.”

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that years ago the church pretended that abuse and coverups were not happening. The church narrative now, he said, is to express regret for past behavior and pretend abuse is not still happening.

“Is a child anywhere on Earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” Clohessy said after Francis remarks Sunday. “A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more.” …

John Thavis, a former Catholic News Service reporter and author of The Vatican Diaries, also said he was encouraged by the pope’s statement.

“The pope promises accountability, which has been the missing element in the Vatican’s approach to sexual abuse,” Thavis said. “He is delivering on this issue, too, having announced the establishment of a tribunal at the Vatican that will judge bishops who have failed to protect children.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

KATHERINE TOWERS
THE AUSTRALIAN
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Members of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School board face a possible criminal investigation for helping secrete former headmistress and serial sex offender Malka Leifer out of Australia to avoid detection, after a major backflip by Victoria Police.

The Australian revealed last week that board members had potentially breached Victoria’s Crimes Act by arranging for Leifer to flee Australia in the dead of the night in 2008 when they were aware she was facing allegations of sexually abusing more than eight girls.

Despite last Thursday emphatically ruling out a criminal investigation into the actions of individual board members, Victoria Police yesterday changed their stand and revealed it was now under consideration.

“Police will be looking at this as a broader part of the investi­gation to determine whether an offence has been committed,’’ a police spokeswoman said.

Leifer is under house arrest in Israel facing extradition to Australia on dozens of child abuse charges relating to her time at the strictly devout Adass Israel School.

In awarding a former student and abuse victim of Leifer more than $1.2 million compensation earlier this month, Supreme Court judge Jack Rush was scathing of the behaviour of board members in helping the mother of eight flee Australia’s criminal jurisdiction by arranging for her to fly out after she had been sacked.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Sojourners

By David Gibson, Religion News Service 09-27-2015

Pope Francis began the final day of his U.S. visit by meeting privately with five adults abused as children by clergy, teachers, or family members, telling them they should expect the church to look after them and vowing “the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all,” including bishops.

“For those who were abused by a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears and believes you,” he told the three women and two men — who he called “survivors” — at the private meeting at a seminary here on Sept. 27.

A leading victims’ advocacy group in the U.S. quickly dismissed the meeting as another “feel good, do nothing” papal meeting with survivors. This is the second time Francis has met with victims; the first was in the Vatican in July last year.

According to the Vatican’s account of the meeting, Francis expressed “deep regret” that some bishops shielded abusive priests, and added: “I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”

The pope praised the witness of the victims, who were not identified, and said their presence was “so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced.”

In later remarks to a group of bishops, he called the victims “heralds of hope and ministers of mercy” — mercy being a key theme of Francis’ efforts to make the church more open and inclusive. …

David Clohessy, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, had been critical of the proposed meeting and what he heard of Sunday morning’s encounter did not change his mind.

“Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” Clohessy said in a statement.

“A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Record

BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

Minutes after apologizing to survivors of priest sexual abuse survivors on Sunday morning, Pope Francis veered off script and promised a crowd of Catholic bishops and seminarians that he would hold accountable clergy members who sexually abuse children.

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorrow of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart,” the pontiff said in Spanish to an audience of bishops, seminarians and seminary staff in St. Martin’s Chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary outside Philadelphia.

“The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret,” the pope said. “I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.”

The pope’s words about the sex-abuse scandal that continues to haunt the Church on the last day of his first visit to the United States, where he has spoken about global inequality, immigration and the importance of family to Congress, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people at masses and gatherings in New York, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. After his remarks at the seminary, he was headed for Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility to meet with inmates, their families and staff and later the capstone of his visit, an outdoor mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi SJ said that for an hour Sunday morning, Pope Francis met with five adults — three women, two men — who were sexually abused as children by members of clergy, family members or teachers.

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UNITED STATES
New York Times

Vivian Yee

Before Pope Francis touched down in the United States, Kenneth M. O’Renick, 72, who was six when he was abused by a priest at his parish school in Kansas City, was brimming with optimism about the pope. Then he heard what Francis had said to American bishops in Washington about their courage and generosity in the face of the sexual abuse crisis.

“It just turned us off,” he said on Sunday, after the pope announced that he had met with a group of abuse victims in Philadelphia. “As much good as this pope has done, what he said, we were very disappointed, very disappointed in that. That was a big step back. That was something that hit us right between the eyes.”

His praise for the bishops, Mr. O’Renick said, made his promises to protect youth and hold abusers accountable on Sunday “ring hollow, very hollow, to me.”

Before Francis’ arrival, Mr. O’Renick took the removal of Bishop Robert W. Finn as head of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as proof that Francis was taking decisive steps toward accountability. By Sunday, he had lost his certainty: “He has not even come close to what needs to be done, in my opinion,” he said. “I hope that it gets better, but I’m certainly not as hopeful as I was in anticipation of him coming.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Abby Ohlheiser and Terrence McCoy

PHILADELPHIA – Pope Francis told U.S. bishops and seminarians on Sunday that he had met with sex abuse survivors. “God weeps,” he said in remarks ahead of a prepared speech on the family.

Five adults who were abused as minors – three women and two men – were at the meeting along with their families, according to the Vatican’s press office. The survivors were abused by clergy, family members, or their teachers. …

“As with all things related to the Catholic Church, you have to listen to the words and then you have to watch what they do,” said John Salveson, a clergy sex abuse survivor, prominent activist and president of The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse.

Salveson said the Vatican has been aware of possible solutions “for years, if not decades.” They include releasing the identity of priests who have been defrocked for abusing children; involving civil authorities when there is abuse, particularly in other countries, and extending the statute of limitations on clergy sex abuse, he said.

“The reason this all continued is that these priests don’t get prosecuted and the bishops who hide them don’t get prosecuted because they are protected by the statute of limitations,” he said.

The pope’s outreach is useful to the extent it eases victims’ suffering, said Marie Collins, a member of an advisory commission the pope set up to help him improve the church’s response to abuse.

“If it’s going to help their healing, then it’s a positive experience for them. It’s a very positive experience for them,” said Collins, a clergy abuse survivor from Ireland. But, Collins added, the meeting “really is not connected [to the] work for the future of child protection.”

Instead, she said, the pope’s decision to set up a papal commission advising him on how to handle the issue going forward was “the most positive change to happen” so far.

Robert Hoatson, who held signs in support of victims of abuse in front of Philadelphia’s basilica over the weekend, said on Sunday that he felt the pope’s comments brushed too quickly over the serious issue. “This is getting more bizarre,” said Hoatson, who works with victims. ” It’s going to cause more distress, more traumatization, re-abuse,” he said, “because it seemed like a side note.”

“It was as if he added this to his talk without telling the bishops what he is going to do, including removing some of [the bishops],” Hoatson said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Katholisch

Papst Franziskus ist in den USA mit Missbrauchsopfern zusammengetroffen. Das teilte er bei einer Begegnung mit rund 300 Bischöfen in Philadelphia am Sonntag mit.

Dabei kündigte er auch an, dafür zu sorgen, dass “alle Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden”. Im Juni hatte Franziskus ein eigenes vatikanisches Gericht für Bischöfe eingerichtet, die sexuellen Missbrauch von Mitarbeitern vertuschen.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Die Presse

Papst Franziskus hat während seiner USA-Reise in Philadelphia Missbrauchsopfer getroffen und eine harte Strafe für die Schuldigen angekündigt. “Ich verspreche, dass alle Verantwortlichen für sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern bestraft werden”, sagte der Pontifex am Sonntag bei einem Treffen mit Bischöfen zum Abschluss seiner USA-Reise.

Zuvor hatte Franziskus fünf Missbrauchsopfer empfangen, drei Frauen und zwei Männer, wie der Vatikan mitteilte. Die Opfer berichteten in dem etwa 30 Minuten langen Treffen von ihren Erfahrungen, Franziskus richtete einige Worte an sie, begrüßte dann jeden einzeln und betete mit ihnen. Der Papst sagte anschließend vor den Bischöfen aus aller Welt, er empfinde “tiefe Scham”, dass den Kindern Gewalt angetan worden sei und schwere Leiden verursacht worden seien. “Diese Verbrechen können nicht länger geheim gehalten werden”, sagte er. “Gott weint” angesichts dieser Taten.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Zeit

Philadelphia (AFP) Papst Franziskus ist bei seinem Besuch in den USA mit Opfern von Kindesmissbrauch durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche zusammengetroffen. “Gott weint über diejenigen, die angegriffen wurden”, sagte er am Sonntag, als er vor Bischöfen in Philadelphia von seinen Begegnungen berichtete. Die Leidtragenden seien “wirkliche Helden der Barmherzigkeit”, fügte er hinzu. Die Täter würden zur Rechenschaft gezogen.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
kath.ch

Philadelphia, 27.9.15 (kath.ch) Papst Franziskus ist bei seiner USA-Reise mit Missbrauchsopfern zusammengetroffen. Nach Angaben von Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi sprach und betete der Papst bei dem ausserplanmässigen Treffen am Sonntag, 27. September, in Philadelphia mit drei Frauen und zwei Männern, die als Minderjährige von Geistlichen und Kirchenmitarbeitern missbraucht worden waren.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Radio Vatican

Papst Franziskus hat in Philadelphia Überlebende von sexuellem Missbrauch getroffen. Er trage die Lebensgeschichten und das Leiden dieser Minderjährigen im Herzen, sagte der Papst zum Beginn seiner Begegnung mit Bischöfen, die am Weltfamilientreffen teilnehmen. Er empfinde „tiefe Scham, dass Personen, denen diese Kleinen anvertraut waren, ihnen Gewalt antaten“ und schweres Leid verursachten. „Gott weint“ angesichts dieser Verbrechen, sagte Franziskus den Bischöfen aus aller Welt und schärfte ihnen ein: „Die Verbrechen des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Minderjährigen dürfen nicht länger geheim gehalten werden. Ich verspreche, dass alle Verantwortlichen dafür Rechenschaft ablegen werden.“

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – Now that Pope Francis has confirmed that he met with victims of sexual abuse Sunday morning, the question will be asked: Do these sessions make a difference?

This is the seventh time a pope has met victims. Pope Benedict XVI held five such sessions, with the first coming during his own 2008 visit to the United States. Pope Francis held his first meeting with victims in July 2014 in Rome, and he has appointed two victims to his own Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

As a matter of practice, the Vatican does not release much information beyond confirming that the meeting happened. There’s no video or still photos, because organizers don’t want it to look like a publicity stunt. They insist that these are private, pastoral meetings, while leaving the victims free to make their own decisions about what they choose to reveal.

Each time these encounters happen, victims usually come away grateful that they’ve been heard. They often talk about how visibly moved the pope seemed as they told their stories, and they express hope that the Church will take their suffering to heart as it attempts to learn the lessons of the abuse scandals.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC News

[with video]

by HASANI GITTENS

Once again, not enough!

That’s the message from the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, following Pope Francis’ message Sunday morning that he had met with some victims of clergy sex abuse.

“Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” said SNAP Director David Clohessy, in a statement.

The comments came after Francis in Philadelphia Sunday morning said he had met with survivors of clerical sex abuse.

The pope said he promised to “zealously” protect young people and that “all those responsible are held accountable.”

But SNAP just dismissed the meeting as a “smart public relations move.”

“To give some perspective, let’s assume that roughly the same percentage of priests molest the same percentage of kids across the globe. In the U.S., in 2012, two church experts estimate 100,000 kids in the U.S.” wrote Clohessy. “The US is about 6 percent of the world’s population. If you do the math, that means there are more than 1.5 million men and women on this planet who have been raped, sodomized or molested by Catholic priests.”

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