Clerical abuse!

[orangeman]

Same "old vague pledges" or more than this ?


Pope Francis calls for action on clerical sex abuse The remarks were made in the new Pope's first public statement on the clerical sex abuse issue Continue reading the main story


Pope Francis has called for "decisive action" in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests.

He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith - the Vatican watchdog that deals with sex abuse cases - to ensure perpetrators were punished.

It was the Argentine Pope's first public statement on clerical sex abuse.

A leading sex abuse survivors' group has responded with scepticism, saying "actions speak louder than words".

The new Pope was elected last month, replacing Pope Emeritus Benedict, who became the first pope in 600 years to resign.

When first elected, Benedict XVI promised to rid his Church of the "filth" of clerical sex abuse, but critics accused him of covering up abuse in the past and failing to protect children from paedophile priests.

Victims of sex abuse by clergy had called for a strong response from the new pontiff to the crisis that has rocked the Church.

'Old vague pledges'

In his remarks on Friday, Pope Francis said combating the crisis, which has mired the Church in scandal from the US, Ireland and Europe to Australia, was important for the credibility of the Church.

A Vatican statement said the Pope had urged Bishop Mueller to "act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty".

In 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith called on bishops' conferences around the world to submit guidelines for helping victims; protecting children; selecting and training priests and religious; dealing with accused priests; and collaborating with local authorities.

Three-quarters of the 112 bishops' conferences have sent in such guidelines, with most of those yet to respond coming from Africa, the Vatican says.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) responded to the statement by calling for actions rather than words.

"We can't confuse words with actions," SNAP Outreach Director Barbara Dorris told the BBC. "When we do, we hurt kids.

"We must insist on new tangible action that helps vulnerable children protect their bodies, not old vague pledges that help a widely-discredited institution protect its reputation."

[All of a Sludden]

Priest in 'indecent images' row in Pomeroy exonerated

It is understood a meeting in Pomeroy to discuss the investigation of a parish priest has been told he has been exonerated.

Father Martin McVeigh has been under investigation after indecent images were shown to a public meeting in a primary school three weeks ago.

Parents from the school met representatives from the Archdiocese of Armagh on Friday evening.

Fr McVeigh remains parish priest but is taking a temporary leave of absence.

It is understood that parents and parishioners were told during the meeting that Fr McVeigh had been found guilty of no crime following a church investigation.

They also heard that the PSNI had found no crime had been committed and that social services said there were no child protection issues.

Those present were told Fr McVeigh will continue as parish priest.

The Catholic Church said a further meeting would be held.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Armagh said Fr McVeigh, at his own request, has asked for temporary leave and Cardinal Sean Brady had agreed to his request without prejudice to any of the parties involved.

An investigation was launched after the indecent pictures were "inadvertently" shown during the meeting for parents in preparation for First Holy Communion at St Mary's School on 26 March.

One child was also present.

The parents claimed the images were projected onto the screen from a memory stick the parish priest had inserted into a computer before the presentation.

The parents said Fr McVeigh quickly removed the memory stick.

The priest said he had no knowledge of the offending imagery.

Following the incident Cardinal Sean Brady said the PSNI had indicated that no crime had been committed.

Parishioners had wanted Fr McVeigh to attend Friday's meeting.

The Catholic Church described the meeting as inconclusive and said a further meeting would be held.

Is Clogherhead like it used to be?



A priest who flashed gay porn images onto a screen at a First Communion meeting has been appointed to a new parish in County Louth.

Fr Martin McVeigh shocked parents when the images appeared at the meeting of primary school parents in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, last year.

Now parishioners in Clogherhead in County Louth have been told that Fr McVeigh is their new parish priest – and some aren't happy with the appointment.

The Irish Sun newspaper reports that several parishioners have raised concerns over Fr McVeigh's new job just a year after his controversial faux pas.

The cleric took a sabbatical after insisted the photos, contained on a memory stick, were not his.

One County Louth parishioner told the Irish Sun: "He wants us to give him a chance and he seems to be sincere but we are still very angry at the way this happened."

Cardinal Sean Brady has told the parishioners of his decision to appoint Fr McVeigh to the role which he will take up later this month.

The report adds that Church spokesman Martin Long declined to say whether the appointment to Clogherhead would continue if the parishioners were unhappy.

When the gay porn incident came to light, Fr McVeigh said he had failed to check the computer in advance of his presentation.

He said: "In my shock and to ensure that the images would never be shown again, I destroyed the memory stick that evening."

Fr McVeigh has already attended a meeting with locals in the seaside Louth village where he maintained his innocence and again insisted that he had no idea where the gay porn images had come from.

The paper says it understood that Fr Paul Clayton-Lea, who had been the parish priest in Clogherhead and who is extremely popular, will officiate at the forthcoming First Holy Communion and Confirmation days.

[Maguire01]

Don't think that belongs in this thread.

[Main Street]

Of course it does,
think of the parents!

[Eamonnca1]

So now the god squad is reduced to splitting hairs over the meaning of the word "hypocrite." I think we've won.

[johnneycool]

He said: "In my shock and to ensure that the images would never be shown again, I destroyed the memory stick that evening."

Aye right, ten Hail Marys and 5 Our fathers for that porkie.

[Denn Forever]

Documentery on TV3.  Always the same.

[Main Street]

Documentery on TV3.  Always the same.

Mea Maxima Culpa,  I think it was nominated for an Oscar.

[muppet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XHYFiAH4hY&feature=player_embedded

The Vatican has thankfully denied reports that the above was an 'Exorcism'.

But what was it then?

[The Iceman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XHYFiAH4hY&feature=player_embedded

The Vatican has thankfully denied reports that the above was an 'Exorcism'.

But what was it then?

Looks like he prayed over the fella and the lad's reaction was based on some kind of experience. Who knows what he felt or why he expressed it that way. He did appear to have some ailments and illnesses.....

[give her dixie]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/27/cardinal-george-pell-abuse-cover-up_n_3341302.html

Cardinal George Pell Admits Abuse Cover-Up To Protect Australian Catholic Church


Fear of scandal prompted the cover-up of child sex abuse allegations within the Catholic Church, Australia's top-ranking Cardinal George Pell admitted Monday.

Pell, speaking at an inquiry by Victoria's parliament into child sex abuse in the state, denied being personally involved in the cover-up of paedophile priests, but said it was clear it happened.

"The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church," he told the inquiry into the abuse of children by religious and non-government bodies.

"There was a fear of scandal."

Pell, one of eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to advise him on reforming the Catholic Church's opaque administration, was speaking on the final day of the probe.

It has already heard that about 620 children were criminally abused by Catholic clergy from the 1930s onwards.

Victims, including children as young as seven or eight who were raped by priests, have told of their experiences at the hearing, which comes ahead of a national royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse.


"I am fully apologetic and absolutely sorry," Pell, who is Archbishop of Sydney and formerly archbishop of Melbourne, said at the start of his evidence.

"That is the basis for everything which I'll say now."

Last week Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart told the inquiry the church had been slow to act against paedophile priests and Pell admitted it had dealt with child sex abuse "very imperfectly".

"I would agree that we've been slow to address the anguish of the victims and dealt with it very imperfectly," he said.

The Catholic Church in Australia, as in other parts of the world, has endured a long-running controversy over its response to past abuses by priests.

Pell said the church had been aware of the emerging issue of sex abuse from the late 1980s, but had failed to comprehend the scale of the problem.

"If we'd been gossips, which we weren't... we would have realised earlier just how widespread this business was," he said.

"I don't think many, if any, persons in the leadership of the Catholic Church knew what a horrendous widespread mess we were sitting on."

Pell said the fact that paedophile priests had been moved to other parishes had had disastrous consequences.

"There's no doubt about it that lives have been blighted," he said. "There's no doubt about it that these crimes have contributed to too many suicides."

As well as the Victoria and national investigations, there is also a special commission of inquiry in New South Wales into similar allegations of abuse in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

[give her dixie]

Cardinal Dolan admits his archdiocese pays up for contraception and abortion insurance

The archdiocese of New York has been paying for the supply of contraception and abortion services to thousands of its unionized employees for over a decade according to a new report.

Some 3,000 full-time workers at ArchCare, also known as the Catholic Health Care System, receive coverage for contraception and voluntary pregnancy termination through their membership in 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a powerful health care workers union.

The New York Times has reported that the diocese headed by America's leading cleric Cardinal Timothy M.Dolan has been reluctantly funding contraception and abortion coverage for years.

Cardinal Dolan has spearheaded the fight against a provision of the new healthcare law that requires employers, including some that are religiously affiliated, to cover birth control in employee health plans.

He insists that requiring some religiously affiliated employers to pay for contraception and abortion services would be an unprecedented, and intolerable, government intrusion on religious liberty.

But his own diocese has been paying for such coverage for thousands of its unionized employees for over a decade.

The report adds that Archdiocese of New York has previously acknowledged that some local Catholic institutions offer health insurance plans that include contraceptive drugs to comply with state law; now, it is also acknowledging that the archdiocese's own money is used to pay for a union health plan that covers contraception and even abortion for workers at its affiliated nursing homes and clinics.

Spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York Joseph Zwilling said: "We provide the services under protest."

The confirmation comes as Cardinal Dolan consistently rejects compromises offered by the Obama administration to exempt many religious institutions from the provision.

Last February, the American bishops opposed a proposal that would have allowed employees of those non-exempt religious institutions to receive contraceptive coverage through policies paid for directly by insurance companies.

The report adds that New York Archdiocese is also suing the federal government to stop the mandate.
Cardinal Dolan said then: "There remains the possibility that ministries may yet be forced to fund and facilitate such morally illicit activities." said at the time.

The current process whereby the archdiocese covers its own health workers came into effect long before Cardinal Dolan became Archbishop of New York.

ArchCare operates seven nursing homes and a variety of other health facilities and gives its 1199 union employees the same coverage they would get at over 100 other non-profit hospitals or nursing homes in the New York area.

That's ArchCare voluntarily belongs to the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, a multi-employer organization that negotiates with the union every few years for a joint labor contract.



http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Cardinal-Dolan-admits--his-archdiocese--pays-up-for-contraception-and-abortion-insurance-209144371.html#ixzz2UaPQ2aMH

[muppet]

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/senior-cleric-urges-irish-society-to-rethink-proposed-abortion-laws-1.1412421

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused to comment on the call by a senior Vatican official for Oireachtas members who are Catholics to resign rather than support abortion legislation. Msgr Jacques Suaudeau, scientific director of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, said if Catholic TDs "are faithful to your conviction, then you have to get out.

"If a politician is being forced to be a formal co-operator with abortion, you leave the party, you get out," he told the Irish Catholic. Politicians could not just claim they were doing their jobs when voting for abortion, in a similar way to how Nazi officers said they were just following orders.

Act is evil

"If an act is evil and you receive an order to do it then you cannot do it," he said. "Sometimes people forget Nuremberg. You cannot cover yourself with the cover of party discipline."

Now Sean Brady supporters, tell us that it was ok to follow Canon Law (party discipline) and swear abused children to an oath of silence regarding Brendan Smyth's abuse.

[The Iceman]

I don't think anyone was really supporting him. Support isn't a fair enough assessment of people comments. Just because we agree with the message he is passing on about abortion doesn't mean we support him. More twisting from you muppet.
Great comments in the above message. If Enda is Catholic then be Catholic. At least have the balls to say you're not and vote whatever way you want. No spines.

[johnneycool]

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/senior-cleric-urges-irish-society-to-rethink-proposed-abortion-laws-1.1412421

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused to comment on the call by a senior Vatican official for Oireachtas members who are Catholics to resign rather than support abortion legislation. Msgr Jacques Suaudeau, scientific director of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, said if Catholic TDs "are faithful to your conviction, then you have to get out.

"If a politician is being forced to be a formal co-operator with abortion, you leave the party, you get out," he told the Irish Catholic. Politicians could not just claim they were doing their jobs when voting for abortion, in a similar way to how Nazi officers said they were just following orders.

Act is evil

"If an act is evil and you receive an order to do it then you cannot do it," he said. "Sometimes people forget Nuremberg. You cannot cover yourself with the cover of party discipline."

Now Sean Brady supporters, tell us that it was ok to follow Canon Law (party discipline) and swear abused children to an oath of silence regarding Brendan Smyth's abuse.

Ah muppet,
     you're forgetting one thing, When Sean Brady made those young lads sign vows of silence under fear of excommunication he was doing Gods work, this isn't just any ordinary organisation and hence the Nuremberg defence isn't relevant as the Holy Catholic Church is above the law.