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[webfact]

Pope calls meeting of key bishops on sexual abuse - Vatican

 

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis meets Italian youths at the ancient Circo Massimo in Rome, Italy August 11, 2018. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has summoned senior Catholic bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors, in his latest attempt to come to grips with a spreading sexual abuse crisis.

 

The heads of the national Catholic bishops' conferences will meet with Francis from Feb. 21-24, a Vatican spokeswoman said.

The announcement came at the end of a three-day meeting of the "C-9", a group of nine cardinals from around the world who members meet about four times a year to advise the pope.

 

The spokeswoman said the sexual abuse crisis was a main topic at the meeting, which six of the members attended.

 

The Catholic Church is facing sexual abuse scandals in the United States, Chile, Australia and Germany, among others.

 

Der Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday that a study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference had revealed that 1,670 clerics and priests had sexually abused 3,677 minors, mostly males, in Germany over a 70-year period.

 

In the United States, a Grand Jury has found that 301 priests in the state of Pennsylvania sexually abused minors over a similar period.

 

Francis meets on Thursday with U.S. Church leaders to discuss that report as well as a scandal involving a former American cardinal and demands from an Italian archbishop, Carlo Maria Viganò, that the pontiff step down over that case.

 

CARDINAL'S MISCONDUCT

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, asked for the meeting after Viganò last month accused the pope of knowing for years about sexual misconduct by former U.S. cardinal Theodore McCarrick and doing nothing about it.

 

Viganò said he had told Francis soon after the pontiff's election in 2013 that McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington D.C., had engaged in sexual misconduct with adult male seminarians.

 

McCarrick resigned in July over separate allegations - which U.S. Church officials said were "credible and substantiated" - that he had abused a 16-year-old boy almost 50 years ago.

 

McCarrick, whom the pope ordered to live a life of seclusion and penitence, has said he has "absolutely no recollection" of such an incident. He has not commented on the allegations of misconduct with the adult seminarians.

 

Hours after Viganò's statement was published, Francis told reporters that he would "not say a word" about it because it "speaks for itself". However, the Vatican is now preparing a response.

 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who succeeded McCarrick as archbishop of Washington D.C., told priests on Tuesday that he would travel to Rome to discuss his future with the pope.

 

Wuerl, 77, who was bishop of Pittsburgh between 1988 and 2006, has been under scrutiny over his handling of sexual abuse cases during the period addressed by the Pennsylvania Grand Jury.

 

Wuerl has defended his overall record in Pittsburgh, but has also been accused of knowing about sexual misconduct by McCarrick, which he denies.

 

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-13

[Samui Bodoh]

"... Pope Francis has summoned senior Catholic bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors, in his latest attempt to come to grips with a spreading sexual abuse crisis..."

 

This summons to a meeting several months from now is simply not sufficient.

 

If a private company like Microsoft or IBM or Carrefour or Samsung or BAE or Panasonic or Alibaba had thousands of its employees charged with horrific sexual crimes, the company would be disbanded and its executives arrested and charged.

 

If the United Nations or the Elk Lodge or the Thai Football Association or CARE International or the IMF or the IOC had thousands of its employees charged with horrific sexual crimes, the organization would be disbanded and its executives arrested and charged.

 

Why is the Catholic Church being treated differently?

 

This has gone on waaaaaaay too long and has occurred in waaaaaay too many countries.

 

The time has come where there needs to be an international body investigating the Catholic Church; I would recommend the International Criminal Court.

 

PS I have many friends who are Catholics and VERY good people. I would note that while there is justifiable anger directed towards the Catholic Church as an institution, it behooves us to remember that there are actually many decent people among its millions strong membership.

 

That said, I would expect that every catholic in the world should be screaming "reform!" at the tops of their lungs, and I don't hear them yet. Where are you, Catholics? Silence in no longer an option...

 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2018 by Samui Bodoh
Lack of coffee

[Darcula]

Don't need a meeting. Just stop shagging little kids.

[colinneil]

Pope calls for meeting of key Bishops.

First question, own up how many of you pervs have been at it?

Good lord !! that many, ohh no problem, just throw a few million out of the coffers at it, and hopefully it will go away.

[Credo]

The problem is a structural one that faces the Church.   The clergy is a prime place and occupation for those attracted to children.   The Church is also shrouded in secrecy, which doesn't help.

 

He'd probably get a better turn out if he had the Vienna Boy's Choir do the entertainment.   

 

[Chang_paarp]

So will the Australian cardinal in the middle of court action about his actions be there?

[owl sees all]

18 minutes ago, Credo said:

The problem is a structural one that faces the Church.   The clergy is a prime place and occupation for those attracted to children.   The Church is also shrouded in secrecy, which doesn't help.

 

He'd probably get a better turn out if he had the Vienna Boy's Choir do the entertainment.   

 

If the Catholic Church encouraged marriage within its ranks it might start attracting normal people instead of creepy perverts.

Edited September 13, 2018 by owl sees all

[Lupatria]

Where do they meet? In the hot tub or darkroom of an all male sauna club?

And will Franzi distribute the usual welcome gift for all attendees so they don't feel solitary away from their loved ones:

[Chassa]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

PS I have many friends who are Catholics and VERY good people. I would note that while there is justifiable anger directed towards the Catholic Church as an institution, it behooves us to remember that there are actually many decent people among its millions strong membership.

 

That said, I would expect that every catholic in the world should be screaming "reform!" at the tops of their lungs, and I don't hear them yet. Where are you, Catholics? Silence in no longer an option...

For Catholic read Moslem - Damn Religions!

[animalmagic]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Der Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday that a study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference had revealed that 1,670 clerics and priests had sexually abused 3,677 minors, mostly males, in Germany over a 70-year period.

So, if my maths are correct, that is one new child terrorised and sexually molested every week for 70 years.  No information was quoted on how long that went on for or what happened to these victims in later life.  Extrapolate those figures to the rest of the world and the scale of the abuse is simply horrifying. 

For how long can the good members of this church continue to bury their heads in the sand and ignore what has being going on around them?  It is no longer isolated cases but proven rape and abuse of minors on such a scale in USA, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Chile and that makes it very difficult to believe that the hierarchy knew nothing of what was going on.

The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is that good people do nothing!

Edited September 13, 2018 by animalmagic
addition

[Vacuum]

Ban religion!

[Esso49]

So the biggest bunch of religious shirt lifters and kiddy fiddlers are having a communal get together at the Vatican.   All I can say is  get the young boys  and girls of the streets of Rome pretty damn quick out of harms way before these perverts arrive.

[KKr]

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

If the Catholic Church encouraged marriage within its ranks it might start attracting normal people instead of creepy perverts.

I like the "within its ranks"  ?

 

[oldrunner]

Pope advised Bishops NOT to bring their BOYS with them on trip to Rome.

[zydeco]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, asked for the meeting after Viganò last month accused the pope of knowing for years about sexual misconduct by former U.S. cardinal Theodore McCarrick and doing nothing about it.

The US Attorney for DC should indict McCarrick. He should also indict the Pope as an accomplice after the fact.And the Catholic Church should be RICOed and all its asset forfeited unless it can show that it was not a criminal organization.

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

Ban religion!

Ban church attendance for anyone under the age of 21.

By that age they won't have been brainwashed by and been fiddled with by bent twisted people using medieval beliefs as a cover.