Pope Asks For Forgiveness, But Still Shelters Abusers
Much has been made today of the Pope's announcement to his congregation that he begs forgiveness from those who had been abused and from God for what he called the sins of the Church. However, lost within all of the begging is action.
It was revealed in my local paper last week that a former priest was due to be sentenced after several men came forward as being abused as children. Interestingly, shortly before this announcement and local Bishop simply vanished almost overnight without telling anyone under his authority with special permission from the Pope. I have no idea if there is a connection, but considering the wall of secrecy the Catholic Church has erected around those priests who are known to have either hidden abusers, or the actual abusers themselves, it's almost impossible to determine. Although, it might help if the Vatican would release the reportedly 4,000 pages of documents it has on offending priests as a step in the right direction towards a regaining of trust. Especially if that meant the removal and prosecution of abusers still opperating withing the church.
The Vatican believes, and perhaps rightly so, that if it keeps asking for forgiveness then the scandal will eventually fade from the forefront of peoples minds. It would be a successful defence of the idea that confession and penance are enough of a protection against abuse for priests, while the rest of society relies on our justice system. It's almost ludicrous to think that any sane person would defer to an unaccountable organization like the Catholic Church on issues with such incredible consequences, but it has been shown from the scandals in Ireland, Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Canada, that regular people turned a blind eye to abuse from police, to politicians, to parishioners.
Oddly enough, I think I can understand why the Vatican needs to defend its authority when it comes to confession and the belief that prayer and penance is sufficient for abusing priests. It would be a major blow to the belief structure of the Church and probably more importantly its authority. I think it's as simple as that. But from my point of view, If you want people to trust you, you have to give them a reason to. That means action.
It was revealed in my local paper last week that a former priest was due to be sentenced after several men came forward as being abused as children. Interestingly, shortly before this announcement and local Bishop simply vanished almost overnight without telling anyone under his authority with special permission from the Pope. I have no idea if there is a connection, but considering the wall of secrecy the Catholic Church has erected around those priests who are known to have either hidden abusers, or the actual abusers themselves, it's almost impossible to determine. Although, it might help if the Vatican would release the reportedly 4,000 pages of documents it has on offending priests as a step in the right direction towards a regaining of trust. Especially if that meant the removal and prosecution of abusers still opperating withing the church.
The Vatican believes, and perhaps rightly so, that if it keeps asking for forgiveness then the scandal will eventually fade from the forefront of peoples minds. It would be a successful defence of the idea that confession and penance are enough of a protection against abuse for priests, while the rest of society relies on our justice system. It's almost ludicrous to think that any sane person would defer to an unaccountable organization like the Catholic Church on issues with such incredible consequences, but it has been shown from the scandals in Ireland, Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Canada, that regular people turned a blind eye to abuse from police, to politicians, to parishioners.
Oddly enough, I think I can understand why the Vatican needs to defend its authority when it comes to confession and the belief that prayer and penance is sufficient for abusing priests. It would be a major blow to the belief structure of the Church and probably more importantly its authority. I think it's as simple as that. But from my point of view, If you want people to trust you, you have to give them a reason to. That means action.
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