Word: papal
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...object to your use of the phrase "the Church's penance still lies ahead” in the Crimson Staff editorial “Papal Penance” that was published on Apr. 8, 2010. Although doubtless you intended it to refer to the small proportion of clergy and laity complicit in acts both sinful and criminal, the Church is comprised of all baptized Catholics worldwide, and by implying that all these people have yet to receive penance for sexual abuse, you (however accidentally) slander the names of more than a billion people. Furthermore, your "specific reforms" which should...
...telling was criticism from within the church. U.S.-based Jesuit writer Father James Martin publicly took on Bertone, disputing the research behind the theory and pointing out that the Pope himself declined to cite a correlation between homosexuality and sex abuse of minors when asked by reporters on the papal plane in 2008. Finally, after the French embassy to the Holy See issued a rare statement on Wednesday condemning the "unacceptable" remark, the Vatican press office was forced to issue an official clarification of Bertone's remarks, saying he was referring to homosexual priests rather than the general public...
...March 24, four days after the Vatican released a papal letter concerning the problem of sexual abuse in the Irish Church, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop John Magee. The 73-year-old clergyman, who became head of the diocese of Cloyne in 1987 and previously served as personal secretary to three Popes in the 1970s and '80s, had been under pressure for some time to step down because of his mishandling of abuse complaints that date back to the 1990s...
Whether or not the Vatican's version of the facts is entirely convincing, papal "plausible deniability" - as communicated by aides - is not the kind of leadership this crisis requires. What happened in Munich, with or without Ratzinger's direct knowledge, is exactly the sort of inbred administrative failing that propelled a similar scandal in Boston nine years ago, which the Pope himself referred to in his recent letter to the Irish faithful...
Some have incorrectly worried that personally confessing such shortcomings could undermine papal infallibility. But that doctrine refers only to the dogma of divine revelation. Others wonder if Church officials are worried about the effect of such a statement in opening up the Vatican to potential lawsuits. Well, if the lawyers are calling the shots on this, the Pope is in even worse shape than we thought...