The Winds Of Change Are Stirring More Strongly

 

The effects of clerical sexual abuse on the Church have been this bad.  "Francis, repair My Church" is more relevant than ever.

The following is the Change.org petition begun by Australian Bishops Geoffry Robinson and William Morrison.  For me this is another indication that the election of Pope Francis has freed some of our bishops and cardinals to speak that which could not previously be spoken.  If there was one area, among many, that sorely disappointed me about the previous two papacies it was their inability to really grasp the causes and damage clerical sexual abuse has done to the Church.  Even to this very day there are bishops like Meyers and Finn who still think they are above both church and secular law, that from their positions as bishops their judgment is above accountability.  Lay Catholics have for too long sat back and let the hierarchy dictate the response and solutions, which have included neither valid responses nor any real solutions.  Here are two bishops who are willing to bring the laity into the discussion.  I encourage readers to read Bishop Robinson's post, the letter being sent to Pope Francis, and please sign the petition.  We can not let a third papacy continue to failed policies of the last two.

Pope Francis, The Vatican: For Christ's Sake Stop Sexual Abuse.... for good!

Sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has been nothing short of an epidemic of catastrophic proportions. The devastation of victims, the ruination of priests and religious, the damage to a major world religion and its faithful are horrendous and incalculable.

Australian Bishops - Geoffrey Robinson and Bill Morris call on the new Pope to seize the opportunity of his appointment to not only sweep the Church clean but to put His /God’s house in order for all time.
ROYAL COMMISSION WILL NOT PREVENT SEXUAL ABUSE FROM HAPPENING – FOR GOOD.
Bishop Robinson identifies three major tasks to be performed in eradicating sexual abuse from the Church: identifying and removing all offenders; reaching out to, and assisting, all victims and survivors; and identifying and overcoming the causes of both abuse and the poor response to abuse by the Church’s hierarchy. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating the first two of these tasks however it does not have the scope or power to make the changes necessary to ensure that systemic sexual abuse NEVER happens again in the Catholic Church.
Bishop Robinson has considerable expertise, having been involved in these first two fields for eighteen years. He and Bishop Morris firmly believe there is a desperate need to address the third element: preventing abuse from happening in the first place . . . for good! He is calling for nothing less than a Council of the whole Church, inclusive of the laity, to confront the issues that contribute to the causes of systemic sexual abuse.
MANY CATHOLIC GROUPS CALL FOR CHANGE.
There are many people and many groups around the world seeking change in the Catholic Church. Though they may have slightly different emphases, there are a number of changes, common to all groups. These groups are calling out for:-
1) Greater Inclusiveness – a Church that is as much for women as for men, for laypeople as for clergy, for the marginalised as for those in the mainstream.
2) Greater Openness – if there are scandals, it is better to bring them into the light and confront them rather than seek to conceal them.
3) Greater Participation – not taking away the power of the Pope, but asking for greater participation and consultation, so that the whole Church may have a more active role in the mission of the Church.
4) Greater Sense of Mission – a greater concentration on the person and mission of Jesus Christ rather than on authority, laws, obedience and theological conformity.
Bishops Robinson and Morris believe it’s time to unite as one voice that the Vatican can no longer ignore.
IT’S TIME FOR ACTION
This global petition will give Catholics a collective voice. It will let the new Pope know the intensity and solidarity we feel in relation to the sexual abuse issue. It will show him that the whole Church wants to help him, to work with him on this issue of paramount importance. We want the new Pope to lead the Church into a future he and all Catholics yearn for -  and the world needs.
FOR CHRIST’S SAKE - FIND YOUR VOICE AND GIVE YOUR SUPPORT
By signing this petition you are assisting every Catholic group calling for change. You are helping to create something very special: - the voice of the faithful. You will be helping to create a church for the future, free of sexual abuse, full of participation and inclusiveness–, a Church where loving God, through Jesus Christ makes us proud and full of the Holy Spirit. This is the voice we want the Vatican to hear. .
So if you are Catholic and believe that it’s time for the Church to listen to its people; if you’re a Catholic who wants to stamp out sexual abuse from ever occurring again please sign this petition.

For Christ’s and our Church’s sake encourage your family, friends and fellow parishioners to do the same. Together, as Catholics we can make a change.
For more details on Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s action plan to end sexual abuse¬- for good, read his latest book, For Christ Sake: End Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church…for good.

To:
Pope Francis, The Vatican

We, the undersigned members of the Catholic Church, have been sickened by the continuing stories of sexual abuse within our Church, and we are appalled by the accounts of an unchristian response to those who have suffered.

When so many people either offend or respond poorly, we cannot limit ourselves to blaming individuals, but must also look at systemic causes. The situation is so grave that we call for an Ecumenical Council to respond to the one question of doing everything possible to uproot such abuse from the Church and produce a better response to victims. An essential part of this call is that the laity of the whole world should have a major voice in the Council (for it is our children who have been abused or put at risk), and that the following subjects be included:

1. The continuing influence of the idea of an angry God
2. The immaturity that arises from passive obedience in adults
3. The teaching of the Church on sexual morality
4. The part played in abuse by celibacy, especially obligatory celibacy
5. The lack of a strong feminine influence in every aspect of the Church
6. The idea that through ordination the priest is taken above other people (clericalism)
7. The lack of professionalism in the life of priests and religious
8. The unhealthy situations in which many priests and religious are required to live
9. The constant placing of right beliefs before right actions
10. The passion for secrecy and the hiding of faults within the Church, especially in the Vatican
11. The ways in which the protection of papal authority has been put before the eradication of sexual abuse
12. The provision of structures to make a reality of the ‘sense of faith’ (sensus fidei) of all Catholic people
13. The need for each Conference of Bishops to have the authority to compel individual bishops to follow common decisions in this matter.

Sincerely,

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And again, here is the link to the petition:   http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/pope-francis-the-vatican-for-christ-s-sake-stop-sexual-abuse-for-good

Although I am aware that previously the Vatican has blown off all such efforts, seemingly to prefer single anonymous letters from right wing traditionalists, I have a feeling under Pope Francis this time things might be different.  He said over this weekend that sexual abuse of children has to stop.  I can only hope he understands fully that sexual abuse of children will not stop on any level if real change is not implemented in ALL the areas which contribute to clerical and Catholic family sexual abuse.  If he does nothing else during his papacy, really attempting to solve this issue would precipitate serious reform.  For Christ's sake, Amen.

Update:  This link is to a story coming out of Africa that I have been following, but not writing about because it was hard to substantiate in the American mainstream press.  Now however, the LA Times has written about this very courageous priest.  Should anyone think Africa will not be the next pressure cooker to blow over clerical abuse of children, they need to read this article.  Clerical abuse is global, systemic, and the hierarchy responds the same everywhere.  It has to stop. 

If you have the time, check out some of Fr Musaala's Utube videos.  He has a real gift.