From Loyola Press, a Jesuit Ministry Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us recognize those times when we have not been as forgiving as God calls us to be. Scripture “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:12 Reflection A priest once told this story about his family. Two of his uncles…
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Sex abuse will plague the Vatican until priests are free to marry
By Sarah Baxter in The Sunday Times, 3 March 2019: My cousin Bernard was a priest. He was close to my father and one of my nephews is named after him. He was charming and urbane, and I have no reason to suppose that he was either a closet homosexual or secret paedophile. Would…
Why I Left the Church…and Returned
Rediscovering Christ and His Church at the Margins By Kathleen Hill in Commonweal, 25 February 2019 In December Commonweal published a collection of personal essays under the heading “Why We Came, Why We Left, Why We Stay.” The response was favorable: readers asked for more such essays; writers offered to write them. The following essay…
Review: In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy by Frédéric Martel trans Shaun Whiteside — a shocking investigation
By A N Wilson in The Sunday Times, 24 February 2019 Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French psychiatrist-priest, was close to Cardinal Ratzinger even before he became Pope Benedict XVI. In 2005, Ratzinger asked the increasingly anti-gay Anatrella how to eliminate homosexuality from the seminaries. Anatrella’s draconian advice was to ban not merely practising gays from…
Child sex abuse: Christ-centred values are the key to rehabilitating offenders
By Chris Gelder in THE TABLET, 23 February 2019 rom the age of seven I faced a number of incidents of abuse. They have stayed with me all my life. I remember a nun once encouraged me to expose myself in front of her and cough, while other children looked in through the window and…
Nigerian sister urges bishops to face up to abuse
By Christopher Lamb in THE TABLET, 23 February 2019 Sister Veronica Openibo today spelled out in public what has so far only been discussed in private at the Vatican’s child protection summit, or just hinted at: that serious sexual abuse is happening in the developing world and some bishops are in denial about it. The Nigerian…
Cardinal Pell guilty: A Jesuit priest comments
By Frank Brenna S. J. in THE TABLET, 26 February 2019 The suppression order in relation to Cardinal George Pell has been lifted. In December, a jury of 12 of his fellow citizens found him guilty of five offences of child sexual abuse. No other charges are to proceed. Cardinal Pell has appealed the convictions.…
Clericalism at heart of sex abuse crisis, says cardinal
By Junno Arocho Esteves, CNS in THE TABLET, 22 February 2019: The abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is a call for bishops to unmask the deep-seated clericalism that placed protection of the institution of the church above the sufferings of victims, said the head of the council of Latin American bishops. Addressing Pope Francis…
Polish nun ‘silenced’ for speaking out on abuse
From The Tablet, 19 February 2018: Poland's most senior nun has been banned from further media contact after condemning the sexual abuse of religious sisters by Catholic priests in her country, and welcoming the Pope's recent highlighting of the issue. A church source told The Tablet "urgent internal enquiries" were underway to establish how the…
How Gay is the Vatican?
By Timothy Radcliffe OP in THE TABLET, 14 February 2019: An explosive book will be published next week claiming to expose the double lives of priests and cardinals and the deceit of the Church’s condemnations of homosexuality. A former Master of the Dominicans wonders if this crisis could be experienced as a moment of grace.…
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