Voice of the Faithful Focus, Mar. 21, 2013

Highlighting issues we face working together
to Keep the Faith, Change the Church

TOP STORIES

Catholic Church Inaugurates Pope Francis in Huge, Open Air Mass
The Catholic Church officially inaugurated Pope Francis as its first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff on Tuesday morning. More than 150,000 faithful, , joined by leaders from much of the secular and spiritual world, watched as the humble and hopeful Argentine was vested with the trappings of authority at an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
— Pope Francis: Homily for Inaugural Mass of Petrine Ministry

VOTF Comments in the Media on Papal Election
— Pope Francis Makes Good First Impression on U.S. Catholics
— Voice of the Faithful Reacts to Election of New Pope
— Voice of the Faithful Representative Discusses Pope Selection
— New Pope Must Deal with Divided Church in United States
— In New York, Hope Pope Francis is ‘Modern’
— New Pope ‘A Fresh Start,’ But Old Problems Are Waiting
— Pope Francis
— “Jesus did not don gold cloaks”: The Future of the Papacy
— Clergy Sex Abuse Victims Say O’Malley Should Be Next Pope
— Past Popes & a Modern Precedent
— May a New Pope Throw Open Wide the Windows of the Catholic Church
— Pope O’Malley?
— Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Short List of Pope Candidates

“Jesus did not don gold cloaks”: the Future of the Papacy
Clericalism and its companion sins, insularity and arrogance, have long plagued the Catholic Church. Its most grievous manifestation in our time is the clergy sex abuse scandal and its decades-long cover-up by bishops, chancery officials, and the Vatican. To that toll can be added financial malfeasance, insistence on the second-class status of women in the Church, attempted silencing of legitimate theological expressions, indifference to the rights of lay people, and more.

Pope Francis Supports Zero Tolerance of Child Abuse
Pope Francis is on record as supporting zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of minors by priests. In a 2012 interview, then-Cardinal Bergoglio said that a bishop called him for advice on how to deal with it, and “I told him to take away the priests’ licenses, not to allow them to exercise the priesthood any more, and to begin a canonical trial in that diocese’s court.”

Pope Francis Vows to Serve ‘Poorest, Weakest’ and Urges Leaders to Offer Hope
Striking a tone of radical humility that has already become his trademark, Pope Francis offered a passionate pledge in his installation Mass on Mar. 19 to serve “the poorest, the weakest, the least important.”

Victims of Argentina’s Pedophile Priests Say Pope Was Little Help
A Roman Catholic activist group said Mar. 19 that Pope Francis was slow as head of the Argentine church to act against sexual abuse by clergy and urged him to apologize for what it called church protection for two priests later convicted of sexually assaulting children.

Vatican’s Bureaucracy Tests Even the Infallible
In the final years of the papacy of Benedict XVI, a cardinal was desperate to warn the pope his top administrator was undermining his papacy, and two church benefactors sounded an alarm that the Vatican’s governing hierarchy, known as the Roman Curia, was riddled with intrigue.

L. A.’s Catholic Archdiocese To Pay $10 Million To Settle Abuse Claims
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who allege they were molested by a pedophile priest in what Cardinal Roger Mahony has called the most troubling case of his tenure.

POPE

The Vatican issued more than 5,000 press credentials to journalists covering the election of Pope Francis. Understandably, this attention produced a plethora of news coverage. Here are a few interesting stories covering the conclave, election, inauguration and prognostications:
— A Pope from Latin America
— Pope Begins Ministry with Biblical Symbols, Signs of Universal Ministry
— Pope Francis Signals New Course for the Papacy
— Pope Francis Challenges Affluent Catholic Church to Live Modestly
— Pope Francis Faces Key Decision on Vatican Secretary of State
— After the Scandals, Cardinals Look to Reform Roman Curia
— A Pope for a Global Church
— Garry Wills: Papacy ‘Irrelevant to a lot of People’
— New Pope Begins to Outline Vision for Catholic Church
— The Story from the Sistine Chapel on Pope Francis’ Election
— Pope Francis’s Book Reveals a Radical Progressive in the Making
— Pope Francis: The Journey Begins
— Former San Francisco Archbishop Calls for Papal Reforms ahead of Conclave
— Pondering a Pope and the Gender Divide
— Pope Wanted. Must Possess Magnetic Charm and Grit.
— Sex Abuse Victims List ‘Dirty Dozen’ Papal Candidates
— A Brief “Prague Spring” at the North American College
— Secrecy Vow and Leaks Complicate Interaction of Cardinals and News Media
— College of Cardinals Imposes Media Blackout
— US Cardinals Told Not to Talk to Media
— Tension at Conclave: US Cardinals Told to Stop Meeting Press
— Cardinals Close Off Interviews as Confidential Talks Continue
— In Benedict’s Shadow, Cardinals Discuss Next Pope
— A Strict Adherence to Ritual and Secrecy in Election of Pope
— In Vatican Conclave, Progressive Voices Will Be Faint

VATICAN BANK

Power Struggle on Reforming Vatican Bank
During luncheon negotiations over the Vatican’s adherence to international banking standards, discussion turned to the need for more openness from an institution steeped in centuries of secrecy. A Vatican representative at the meal, annoyed by the requests for more information, shouted, “How can you ask us such questions?”

THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Women in the Catholic Church
Although Catholic women have long kept up the church’s hospitals, schools and parishes, they have never been allowed to be ordained, say Mass, or vote for a Pope like the newly installed Pope Francis.

New Pope: What’s Next for the Catholic Church
Nightline’s Terry Moran and ABC-TV News’ Cokie Roberts discuss the future of the Catholic Church.

Catholics to Begin Reconsidering Priest Celibacy?
The Roman Catholic Church may be open to discussing its long held requirement for priests to lead a celibate life as it prepares for a new chapter with a new pope.

Cleveland Priest Excommunicated for Role in Breakaway Worship Community
Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon has issued a decree formally excommunicating Fr. Robert Marrone, the pastor who followed his parishioners from St. Peter Church to the independent worship community that formed in the wake of their parish’s closing.

CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

Pope Francis Was Often Quiet on Argentine Sex Abuse Cases As Archbishop
While archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, declined to meet with the victims of clergy sexual abuse or offer personal apologies or financial restitution, even in cases in which the crimes were denounced by other members of the church and the offending priests were sent to jail.

Green Bay Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit for $700,000
The Diocese of Green Bay has agreed to pay $700,000 to two brothers sexually assaulted by a now-defrocked priest, Father John Patrick Feeney, in the 1970s, the first lawsuit of its kind to go to trial in Wisconsin since such cases were blocked by a state Supreme Court ruling in 1995.

Church Documents Name 15 Priests in Abuse Probe
An Illinois court has ordered the release of church documents related to sexual abuse investigations. The name of 15 more priests, who worked in the Joliet Diocese from the 1930s through 2006 were released today. All of them, according to church documents, had credible accusations of abuse throughout their career. Many of them continued in their pastoral duties after allegations came to light, sometimes being transferred from church to church through the Joliet Diocese.

The Church Must Not Kid Itself that the Abuse Crisis is Over
While critics of the Vatican’s handling of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal have breathed a sigh of relief at the news of Pope Benedict’s resignation and many hope that a changing of the guard will mean a change in the handling of current and past sex crimes, we must stop to consider who exactly will be selecting the next pope.

Sex Abuse: The Scandal the Catholic Church Cannot Shake
The scandal has haunted the Church for a decade in the United States and several European countries, and ranks as a top concern for cardinals preparing to elect a new pope. Monsignor Charles Scicluna, until last October the Vatican’s chief prosecutor of these cases, said abuse harmed not only the body “but the soul and the faith of believers.

Lawsuit Filed over Sexual Assault of Girl on Church Property
A lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Detroit, a Mt. Clemens church, its pastor and a parishioner who was convicted of a sex crime involving a 14-year-old girl on church property.