Showing posts with label Clergy Sex Abuse Cover-Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clergy Sex Abuse Cover-Up. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Coronavirus Outbreak Provides A Hey Day To The Sin Counters


Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke 
Photo courtesy: Public Radio International

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano
Photo courtesy: dailymail.co.uk/

Evangelical pastor Rick Wiles
Photo courtesy: TruNews via nypost.com/ 

COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is providing a centre stage to the sin counters of various religions.  These self-righteous and judging-condemning people see things in black and white -- sinfulness and holiness. There is no grey area in their sight. They have been pontificating that this pestilence outbreak is a chastisement, punishment, or retribution for sins of abortion, fornication, homosexuality, and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) practices.  

This widespread virus attack and death in the world has levelled everything -- casteism, racism, feeling and practice of superiority and inferiority, richness and poverty, educational and intellectual pride and humbleness of illiteracy -- into a single line. 

Yet, we find that some religious leaders are shouting from the rooftops how God's severe punishment is befalling on the sinners of particular infractions. They are, as if, enjoying their hurtful pontification. 

 When people are suffering so badly, when they are in anxiety, and unsure of their future earnings, this type of religious judgment and condemnation is not only pathetic but also shameful. Now is the time when suffering and anxiety-filled populace needs words of comfort, encouragement, and God's love and mercy all the more. 

 It is easy to pontificate being in a comfortable and pompous position, but difficult in being in the real, hard, and suffering world. Religious leaders usually are well-trained and well-read in the teachings and practices of their religions. They easily understand and realize what is right and wrong, what verbalizations and actions go against the teachings of God. How many of the COVID-19 virus sufferers have the capacity for understanding and realizing the rightfulness or wrongfulness of their actions? 

 If God really punished people for their serious sins, he would do it all the time in world history. According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Adam and Eve are the first man and woman created by God the almighty. Through the disobedience of God's command, they committed the first sin of mankind and were banished to the world from the blissful Garden of Eden. Their sin is called the Original Sin or Ancestral Sin, which gave rise to other sins of mankind. 

 If God really took retribution for serious sins through natural disasters (cyclones, hurricanes, volcanoes, thunderstorms, famines, plagues, and pestilences, and man-made disasters like ethnic cleansings, murders, persecutions, revolts, wars, abductions and rapes of women, mafia and gang violence and human traffickings, usurpation of lands and properties, fornications, adulteries, and homosexualities), the world would really be depopulated by this time. The Bible speaks of God's punishment for human sins. According to the Bible description, the creation of the first human beings (Adam and Eve) occurred about five to ten thousand years ago. But in the real world, we find the existence of human beings (through skeletons and other artifacts) in different parts of the world as old as 100,000 to 300,000 years old. So, there were human beings even before Adam and Eve. Why didn't God punish the pre-Adamite peoples for their sins? Were the pre-Adamites sinless peoples?

 Later in history, especially in the Middle Ages, we see how the Catholic Church and a number of its clergy in Europe and some colonies committed persecution of and injustice against apostates and heretics -- including people of other Christian denominations and religions, 'witches,' and others who did not follow Catholic Church teachings. What about the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in Europe, the First World War (1914-1918), and the Second World War (1939-1945)? How cruel and barbarously evil methods were used in persecuting, killing and maiming of thousands and millions of people? People of other religions also had their own types of sins and injustices. Where was God in those evil times? Why didn't God chastise or punish them?

 We see in the first several hundred years of its existence, married clergy were allowed in the Catholic Church. A good number of these priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes had engaged in adulteries, child sex abuses, rapes, illegally giving away church funds and properties to their children and concubines. To redress this situation, the celibate (unmarried) priesthood was introduced for unhindered and fulltime devotion and service to the Lord Jesus and his Church. That change also could not do away the normal human weaknesses and sins of the celibate priests and bishops. This has been well-proven in the last four decades when a good portion of the Catholic clergy (priests, bishops, and cardinals) were engaged in child sex abuses, bisexuality, homosexuality, heterosexuality (sexing with women or nuns, and, in a good number of cases, siring children and secretly paying church funds for their upkeep), misuse or embezzlement of church funds, and so and so forth. The cover-ups of these crimes and sins by their superiors were tantamount to participation in others' sins.  Why didn't God punish these clergy sinners en masse?    

 Jesus Christ, who is believed by Christians, to be the second person of the blessed Trinity of God, himself said that sickness is not a punishment from God. We read in the Gospel of John 9:1-3: Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him."

Please read the following for details on the recent COVID-19 outbreak:

Coronavirus Is a Chastisement For Sins
Coronavirus Is Not Punishment For Sins


Should People Attend Church Services En Masse?

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Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Pope Francis Defrocks Argentine Priest, Father Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, For Sexual Misconduct


'Miles Christi' founder Father Roberto
Juan Yannuzzi of Argentina
Photo courtesy: catholicnewsworld.com/

Pope Francis defrocked Father Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, an Argentine priest and founder of Miles Christi (soldier of Christ) Institute, after finding him guilty of committing sexual misconduct with members of his own institute.

 Miles Christi is comprised of priests, coadjutor brothers, consecrated women, and lay associates. This religious order works in Argentina, Mexico, Italy, and the USA.

Father Yannuzzi, being the founder of this institute, found himself quite comfortable in violating Church teachings on celibacy, sexual chastity, and self-sacrifice of Catholic priests. 
He "has been found guilty of crimes against the sixth commandment with adults, the absolution of the accomplice, and the abuse of authority," reports the Catholic News Agency.

 For more, please read the following:

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Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Pope Francis Abolishes 'Pontifical Secrecy' Rules For Clergy's Child Sex Abuse Cases


Pope Francis
Photo courtesy: www.biography.com/

Pope Francis, on December 17, eliminated the existing 'pontifical secret' provision of the Catholic clergy sex abuse cases for greater transparency and cooperation with civil authorities. He also raised the age of a minor or child to 18 (previously it was 14 years). Any priest or bishop having sexual relations with a person under the age of 18 will be considered child sex abuse. A priest or bishop's possession of pornographic images of a person under the age of 18 will be considered a crime, too.   

The new Church laws allow qualified laypersons to represent and defend persons in Church tribunals in cases of sexual misconduct without having to ask permission. Previously, only the clergy was allowed to do it. 

For details, please read the following:


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Sunday, June 9, 2019

The Quotation of the Week (June 9 - 15, 2019)


A quotation of A. W. Richard Sipe
on 'Catholic clergy sexual abuse,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Design © Jerome D'Costa (2019)

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Friday, May 10, 2019

Pope Francis Mandates Reporting of Clergy Sex Abuse, Empowers Archbishops Worldwide to Investigate


Pope Francis
Photo courtesy: Conde Nast Traveller

Pope Francis, on May 9, in his Motu Proprio -- termed Vox estis lux mundi [You are the light of the world] -- issued a landmark new decree making it mandatory for priests and Religious (Brothers and nuns) to report incidents of sex abuse or cover-ups to Bishops and superiors, saying, "The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful." This decree comes into effect on June 1 and will initially continue to be effective on an experimental basis for the next three years. 

 The decree is divided into 19 articles enumerating the do's and don'ts. 

 Each of the Catholic dioceses of the world is to set up clear, accessible, and confidential reporting systems by June 2020.

 Priests and superiors of Religious communities are to report all suspicion of abuse by clerics at any level.

 Bishops will be directly accountable for sexual abuse and any cover-ups. 

 Any sexual abuse or cover-up admitted during the sacrament of confession, will, however, remain exempt from the new law.

 From now on, accusers and whistleblowers, for the first time, will receive Church protection. 

 A boy or girl will be considered a minor if he or she is under the age of 18. This new age of minority has been raised from 16 to 18 years. The term 'child sex abuse' in the Catholic Church, from now on, will mean the sexual abuse of a boy or girl who is under the age of 18.  

 It is also mentioned that victims reporting abuse must be welcomed, listened to and supported by the hierarchy, and necessary spiritual, medical, and psychological assistance be given to them.

 The law can be applied retroactively so that priests and nuns can report sexual abuse or cover-up incidents that happened years ago. This will no doubt increase the number of cases dramatically in coming future.

 In his reaction, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, said: "We have said for years that priests should follow certain strict rules, so why should bishops and other members of the church hierarchy be exempt?" -- reports the Guardian.

 Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Vatican's top sex crimes investigator, said: "Pople must know that bishops are at the service of the people. They are not above the law, and if they do wrong, they must be reported."

 Cardinal DiNardo, the head of the U.S. Bishops' Conference welcomed the new decree and said that the edict was a "blessing that will empower the church everywhere to bring predators to justice no matter what rank they hold in the church."

 For further details, kindly read the following:


 It is noteworthy that Pope Francis, in April this year, issued his first Motu Proprio decree for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults in the Vatican City State and its embassies abroad.  
(Updated on May 13, 2019)

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Thursday, April 18, 2019

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Points To Sexual Revolution Of The 1960s For Church Sex Abuses


Pope Benedict XVI 
Photo courtesy: catholicnewsorgcouk/CNA

Some call it 'essay,' others 'letter.' Whatever it is, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in his recent writing on the sex abuse crisis in the German magazine Klerusblatt (clergy monthly), claimed that the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the post-Vatican II (1962-1965) liberalization of the Catholic Church's moral teachings, increasing absence of God among many, morally lax teaching and practice in seminaries and practice of homosexuality led to this widespread child sex abuse in the Church. 

Some progressive priests, bishops, and theologians criticized this view of Pope Benedict on the sex abuse in the Church, some conservative elements, on the other hand, are supporting him. 

 If one uses his or her common sense, it becomes clear that even though Pope Benedict, at the time of his retirement, said that he would spend the rest of his life in 'prayer and silence,' he failed to remain true to it. Why? Some of the conservative elements in the Catholic Church think that Pope Francis has been leading the Church to 'heresy' through his words and actions. Their constant goading, coaxing, and pleading with the 'prayerful and silent' Pope Benedict made him add his voice publicly in the fray.  

 Where there is a sex organ, there is sexuality. Some use this sexuality for a good purpose, others for an evil purpose (sex abuse). Clergy sex abuse is nothing new in the Catholic Church. Since the founding of the Church, it, in different forms -- heterosexuality (concubinage), bisexuality, homosexuality, pedophilia, ephebophilia -- continues till today. Why does it continue till today? Remember the 'one-in-twelve syndrome?' Jesus Christ himself showed by example that one in twelve fails to remain true to his vocation. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, in spite of hands-on training by Jesus, ultimately failed in his task. What do we learn from this? We learn that a few in a group will always commit sin, commit a crime. Members of the laity and the hierarchy (priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes) of the Catholic Church are not immune from this one-in-twelve syndrome. 

 As usual, Pope Benedict, as a member of the hierarchy, failed again to take any responsibility for the abuses that took place during his governance of the Church as a cardinal and as the pope. Pope John Paul II, too, failed in this respect. During their time, a deep and long silence on the worldwide clergy sex abuses was the norm, with only a few exceptions. This type of cover-up of the clergy sex abuse is tantamount to 'participating in the sins of others.'  When teaching about the participation in the sins of others, the Church always directs its fingers towards the laymen and laywomen, not at all towards the members of the hierarchy! This very holier than thou attitude, self-righteousness, and a sense of immunity from the sinfulness of the members of the Catholic hierarchy are called clericalism. Now is the right time for them to rethink and act on this extremely serious matter.  

 Pope Francis, in spite of his weaknesses, is the first pope to allow widespread and public conversation on the clergy sex abuse, especially clergy child sex abuse. The public conversation ultimately brings out the truth, brings about the healing. 

 For more, please read the following:

 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's Message on Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis


 Critique of Pope Benedict's Message

Support to Pope Benedict's Message

(Updated on May 6, 2019)


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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Pope Francis Issues A Decree For Protection Of Minors And Vulnerable Adults In The Vatican City State


Pope Francis in the Vatican
Photo courtesy: AP via www.npr.org/

Pope Francis recently issued a new decree or edict, called Motu Proprio (meaning "on his own impulse" -- an action taken by the pope on his own initiative), which will go into effect on June 1, 2019, making it mandatory for the Vatican City State officials or staff and Vatican diplomats in different countries to immediately report to Vatican authorities any allegation of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults (who are "in an infirm state, or physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal freedom, that in fact, even occasionally, limits their capacity to intend or to want or in any way to resist the offense") by any one of their own. If anyone fails to report such an allegation will face monetary fines or jail time. 

This decree, however, will not affect non-Vatican jurisdictions (that is, local Catholic dioceses, the orders of priests-Brothers-Sisters, or their institutions). 

 This is one concrete step taken after the February Vatican Summit of world Catholic bishops on the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.

For more on this subject, kindly read the following:




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Thursday, February 28, 2019

The Vatican Summit On Protection of Minors Ends, Abuse Victims Disappointed

Pope Francis delivers his closing address to the Vatican Summit
for Protection of Children on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019
Photo courtesy: Giuseppe Lami via cruxnow.com/

The Vatican summit on the protection of minors, from February 21 to 24, ended with the promise of 'decisively confront' the abuse, but actual clergy sex abuse victims expressed their frustrations and were doubtful about the Church's future actions. 

 Pope Francis, in his final address to the participants of the summit, vowed to confront abusers with "the wrath of God' felt by the faithful, end the cover-ups by their superiors and prioritize the victims of this "brazen, aggressive and destructive evil," report the AP. 

 The Pope said the sexual abuse of children happens in the family, but it becomes even more scandalous when it occurs in the Catholic Church, "for it is utterly incompatible with her moral authority and ethical credibility." 

For more on the summit, please read the following:


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Friday, February 22, 2019

Four-Day Vatican Summit On The Protection Of Minors Opens In The Vatican


Pope Francis speaks to the participants at the Vatican summit
on the 'protection of minors' at the Synod Hall on Feb. 21
Photo courtesy: Vatican Media, via CNA

Pope Francis, on February 21, opened the Vatican summit on the 'protection of minors' from Catholic clergy sex abuse, with more than 200 world bishops, cardinals, Vatican officials, priests, experts, and clergy sex abuse victims in attendance. Abuse victims came from the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. 

 In his opening remarks, the pope gave a list of "21 talking points" for the participants that include "suggestions to have periodic reviews of protocols on safeguarding, handbooks of steps authorities should take in abuse cases, provisions for facilitating the participation of lay experts in investigations, and the direction to inform civil authorities and higher Church authorities in compliance with civil and canonical norms," reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

 The summit will also deal with raising the minimum age of marriage for women from 14 to 16 years and make it universal in the Church, psychological evaluations of the seminarians for the priesthood, and proper penalties for priests or Religious who commit the abuse.

 Some observers feel that the Vatican now is dealing with only one type of problem (clergy sex abuse of minors -- also known as pedophilia), but, in reality,  there are priests all over the world with other types of sex abuse problems, for example, bi-sexual priests (going after both men and women), heterosexual priests (going after women and nuns -- some priests even having illegal abortions done on their lovers, and others having secret children of their own), homosexual priests (going after men), and so on. These priests need to be dealt with, too, to have greater accountability and "sexual chastity" in the Church. Who, then, will bell the cat in the future? 

 For more on the ongoing Vatican summit, you may read the following:

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