Bishop in Missouri waits months before turning over suspected abuser
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/us/
15bishop.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper
John Allen talks about the make up of World Youth Day—some interesting information—particularly about not pushing “youth” into “choices” on left vs. right:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/big-picture-world-youth-day-it%E2%80%99s-evangelicals-stupid
Bishops' staffer on doctrine rips theologians as 'curse'
Capuchin Fr. Thomas Weinandy, executive director of the Secretariat for Doctrine at the U.S. bishops’ conference, has warned of a “crisis” in Catholic theology, caused by theologians who “often appear to possess little reverence for the mysteries of the faith as traditionally understood and presently professed within the church.” http://ncronline.org/news/people/bishops-staffer-doctrine-rips-theologians-curse
FutureChurch has a link to video from the ACC:
http://www.futurechurch.org/newsletter/
summer11/americancatholiccouncilasuccess.htm
Vatican publishes internal files on alleged abuser in response to criticism over handling of Irish abusers—and in response to a court order:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/vatican-publishes-internal-files-on-alleged-abuser-rare-move-comes-amid-ireland-criticism/2011/08/17/
gIQAKoU8KJ_story.html?wprss=rss_on-faith
And more from the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424053111904070604576514653744331210.
html#printMode
Irish Independent reveals details of hundreds of children abused by 20 priests:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/
hundreds-of-children-abused-by-20-priests-2845362.html
Belleville diocese pays $6 million to abused boy
http://www.bnd.com/2011/08/10/v-print/
1817088/belleville-diocese-pays-633-million.html
The Archdiocese of Boston has finally made good on a years-old promise to publish a list of all the archdiocese’s clerics who have been accused of sexually abusing children. Both The Boston Globe and National Catholic Reporter noted the long-awaited publication. Here’s the link to that long-awaited roster and the two early stories:
Boston clerics list
http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/bostons-decision-publish-names-priests-accused-child-sex-abuse
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/08/church-airs-list-priests-accused-sexual-abuse/3GspOTdeHCh7962Cx2uxSO/index.html
Kenya: 40 Catholic Priests Quit Over Church Celibacy Rule
More than 40 priests have in the last two years defected from the Catholic Church in Kenya seeking freedom from celibacy. The priests have joined the Ecumenical Catholic Church headed by Bishop Geoffrey Shiundu who also quit the Catholic church after he married against rules of priesthood:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201108251341.html
Girls no longer will be allowed as altar servers during Mass at the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, SS. Simon and Jude. The Rev. John Lankeit, rector of the cathedral, said he made the decision in hopes of promoting the priesthood for males and other religious vocations, such as becoming a nun, for females:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/
articles/2011/08/21/20110821phoenix-catholic-diocese-girl-servers.html
A lawyer representing a victim of priest abuse in a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church said on Monday Vatican documents show the church hierarchy and the pope were ultimately responsible. A lawyer for the church disagreed, saying the newly released documents show the Holy See was not involved in the offending priest’s transfer from Ireland to Chicago and then to Portland, Oregon, where the victim was a minor in the 1960s:
http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/08/23/documents-show-hierarchy-pope-covered-for-abusive-priest-lawyer-alleges/
Rome responsible for clerical abuse procedures, say lawyers
Lawyers for a man abused as a child by Fr Andrew Ronan have said internal Vatican documents show “policy and protocol” surrounding clerical abuse in the Catholic church ultimately rests with the Holy See
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/
ireland/2011/0823/1224302863174.html
Case against priest Shawn Ratigan gets grand jury scrutiny
A local grand jury is poised to explore the case of a Roman Catholic priest who already is facing child pornography charges in state and federal courts
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/24/3096974/church-abuse-case-gets-grand-jury.html
Federal prosecutors want life sentence for priest in child pornography case
A Catholic priest accused of producing child pornography should receive life in prison if convicted, federal prosecutors declared Thursday:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/18/3085410/federal-prosecutors-want-life.html
Changes to Roman Catholic Mass Will Surprise Majority in the Pews, Survey Says
In many ways, Nicky Gautier is a model Roman Catholic. The Charlottesville, Va., resident attends Mass every Sunday, has enrolled her daughter in Catholic school, is active in her parish’s social life and considers herself to be “very religious.” Yet, despite her strong church connections, Gautier, 36, was surprised when she recently learned that a significantly altered Roman Missal, the “call and response” guide to the words said by priests and congregants during Mass, would go into effect this fall.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/roman-catholic-mass-changes_n_931908.html
Cloyne’s Monsignor O’Callaghan ‘should have resigned’, says Archbishop
The archbishop who took over the administration of Cloyne two years ago says that he believes the diocese’s former delegate for safeguarding children should have resigned from his role:
http://www.thejournal.ie/cloynes-monsignor-ocallaghan-should-have-resigned-says-archbishop-209355-Aug2011/
German Catholics are 'weary,' says Jesuit
In January 2010, Jesuit Fr. Klaus Mertes, headmaster of the prestigious Jesuit-run Canisius College in Berlin, sent a letter to former students of the school informing them that two former priests had been accused of sexual misconduct with students. In the letter, he wrote that he was deeply shaken and ashamed because he had learned that “systematic abuse had taken place at the school over the years
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/german-catholics-are-weary-says-jesuit
Closed Catholic parishes find a fighter in Charlestown’s Peter Borré
Peter Borré, an old Navy man, rises at 5:30 a.m. By 6, he is on the phone to Rome from his Charlestown home, to collect updates from his canon lawyers and court sources at the Vatican:
http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-20/news/29909808_1_
church-closings-church-leaders-parishes
More than $400m of compensation to American victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests was paid with loans and guarantees from Allied Irish Bank, it has been revealed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028424/Catholic-church-used-400m-Irish-bank-loans-pay-U-S-sexual-abuse-victims.html
Philly priests form association amid abuse crisis
Roman Catholic priests in the conservative Philadelphia archdiocese have formed an independent association amid “a vacuum of information” about the latest clergy-abuse scandal, the Rev. Christopher Walsh confirmed Friday
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/
state/pennsylvania/20110819_ap_phillypriests
formassociationamidabusecrisis.html
Priest admitted sexual addiction prior to abuse allegations, records show
A Roman Catholic priest charged with sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s told the Archdiocese of Louisville in 1985 that he was a sexual addict, but church officials put him in treatment instead of removing him because they believed he was involved with men, not boys, according to court records released Tuesday:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110823/NEWS01/
308230085/1001/Priest-admitted-sexual-addiction-prior-abuse-allegations-records-show?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s
Books, Books, Books
Money in the Kingdom of God has just been published by The Word Among Us Press. It's a Bible study on a Christian's attitude toward and use of money and
possessions, written by VOTF member Susan Vogt. It’s available on Amazon—to benefit VOTF with your purchase, please go to http://votf.org/page/books-we-are-reading/70 and link to Amazon; VOTF will get a portion of the proceeds (and the book is the same price!)
Book Review
The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved
By Matthew Fox
Sterling Thos, $22.95
Reviewed by Norbert Krapf
If you have wondered why the institutional Church places more emphasis on dogma than on the teachings of Jesus, this book will be enlightening. If you wonder why the principles of Vatican II seem to have been forsaken, Matthew Fox will explain why. If you have been unnerved and unsettled by conservative groups like Opus Dei, The Legion of Christ, and Communion and Liberation, the author will make the hair on your arms stand on end in his account of how they function and receive inside support.
If you wonder how a man who rediscovered and brought to our attention the luminous and uplifting work of the great medieval mystics Hildegard Von Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Meister Eckhart, and Julian of Norwich, only to be silenced by Cardinal Ratzinger, now the Pope, hounded out of his beloved order The Dominicans, and yet refused to give up on his sacred mission of embodying and promoting the mission of Jesus Christ, this book is a must read.
If you have wondered why the Church can refuse to return to its early history of giving women an important role in its operations and ministry, this book will give you strength.
Above all, if you are among those who have been sexually abused by the clergy, this book will give you courage and hope that one who has served from within understands, is outraged, and is forever on your side.
Continued: http://votf.org/Aug26_2011/book.html
