Fr. James Martin to give keynote at World Meeting of Families

Vatican City, Feb 21, 2019 / 11:56 am (CNA).- Pope Francis on Thursday gave participants in a Vatican summit on protection of minors in the Church a list of nearly two dozen discussion points for actions Catholic Church leaders could potentially take in the follow-up to the meeting.

The pope said during opening remarks Feb. 21 that the criteria were formulated by various bishops’ conferences and organized by him into the list, stating they are “guidelines to assist in our reflection” and “a simple point of departure.”

The 21 points include suggestions to have periodic reviews of protocols on safeguarding, handbooks of steps authorities should take in abuse cases, provisions for facilitating the participation of lay experts in investigations, and the direction to inform civil authorities and higher Church authorities in compliance with civil and canonical norms.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, responding to questions from journalists in the afternoon on Thursday said the points are complete, and a “roadmap” for the bishops’ discussions this week.

He also said that were they to be made into concrete proposals, they would need “substantial revision.”

In regard to one point, that broaches the idea of amending the Code of Canon Law to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 14 to 16, Scicluna clarified that bishops’ conferences already have the power to create their own legislation in regard to the minimum marriageable age, and that many had already raised the age to 16 for both men and women.

“The pope is suggesting making that universal law,” Scicluna said.
 
Other points the pope raised in the list were to “accompany, protect and treat victims, offering them all the necessary support for a complete recovery” and to establish easily-accessible groups made up of experts, including both clerics and laypeople, to which victims can report crimes.

Several of the suggestions are on the theme of seminary formation of priests and the proper penalties for priests or religious who commit abuse.

One suggests initial and ongoing formation for seminarians and candidates for religious life, to help them “develop their human, spiritual and psychosexual maturity, as well as their interpersonal relationships and behavior.”

Another recommends observing “the traditional principle of proportionality of punishment with respect to the crime committed” and another recalls the right to defense and the importance of the presumption of innocence.

“Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the lists of the accused being published, even by the dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and the definitive condemnation,” it states.

Scicluna, a canon lawyer and adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, agreed. In reference to a question about releasing names of accused clergy, Scicluna said, “for simple allegations, it is my opinion it is premature.”

“You need a credible allegation as the lowest threshold,” he said, in order to not cause undue harm to someone’s good name. “We’re for disclosure, but in the right way. It’s legitimate to declare there are credible allegations.”

Peter Isley, victim of clergy sexual abuse and a spokesperson for “End Clergy Abuse” responded to the 21 reflection points, calling them “not very concrete points.”

“I’ll tell you what the roadmap in here is, it’s a circle,” he told journalists Feb. 21.

Isley was vocal in his opinion that the ideas presented in the list of reflection points do not go far enough in implementing “zero tolerance” against priests who have abused minors or bishops who have covered it up. “There is nothing there that wasn’t there yesterday,” he stated.

Referencing a point in the list, he said, “They put together a handbook [when] this is about the rape and sexual abuse of children!”

Isley added that he believes a priest who has abused a minor “has betrayed the priesthood,” and should not only be removed from ministry, but should have the “honor” of priesthood taken away through laicization.

If you are a bishop, “you make very, very sure, that if your priest has assaulted a child, and you know he has, that he’s not going to harm a child in the Catholic Church ever, ever, ever again,” he said.

“You take that man out of ministry, that’s the first thing, because he could harm a child. What kind of pastor wouldn’t do that?”

Scicluna said in the press conference that “punishment needs to take care of the common good, so they [clerics found guilty of sexual abuse of minors] cannot be in active ministry,” echoing a reflection point that says: “Decide that priests and bishops guilty of sexual abuse of minors leave public ministry.”

He added that in his opinion, however, the decision to dismiss a priest from the clerical state, also called laicization, should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

At the presser, Scicluna also noted that while there is currently no compiled statistics on abuse cases being handled in the CDF, the material exists. He said that he recently spoke with Cardinal Luis Ladaria, CDF prefect, and he said the possibility exists for those statistics to be compiled, contextualized, and published “in the near future.”

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Synod on Synodality delegates in small groups listen to Pope Francis’ guidance for the upcoming weeks on Oct. 4, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2023 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis in his opening remarks for the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday offered guidance to participants on how the monthlong assembly will proceed.

Pointing synod delegates to texts by St. Basil on the Holy Spirit, the pope emphasized the importance of listening over speaking.

He said the Church is “paused” just like the apostles were when together in the upper room before Pentecost, except they were hiding in fear and “we are not.”

“It’s a pause of the listening Church. And that’s the most important message,” he said Oct. 4 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

The opening session of the Synod on Synodality took place on Wednesday afternoon. Unlike past synods, which took place in an auditorium-style room called the “new synod hall,” in the 2023 synod, participants are sitting at round tables in the large hall where Pope Francis often holds audiences with members of the public.

The Oct. 4–29 synodal assembly is also utilizing new technology, including tablets for participants. Video cameras and microphones at every table allow speakers’ contributions to be shared on screens at the tables of other members. Simultaneous translations are also available in the principal languages.

The 364 delegates are seated at tables of about 12 people, divided by language: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or French.

In the first general congregation, or meeting of all the participants, Pope Francis said a synod on the topic of synodality “is not easy but it is beautiful.”

He said after the Amazon synod in 2019, a survey was sent to the world’s bishops to get their opinions on important topics to discuss as a Church. Synodality, Francis said, was the first most popular answer, followed by the priesthood, and an unspecified social issue.

“Most of the bishops of the world saw the need to reflect on synodality,” he stressed.

Repeating his frequent appeals that the synod is not a parliament or a Church meeting on pastoral care, Pope Francis underlined the priority of listening to the Holy Spirit over speaking.

He said “empty words” are one of the things that sadden the Holy Spirit the most, and that gossip is one of the most common sins in the Church.

“I insist on this: do not sadden the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.

Francis also told participants there should be “a certain fasting from the public word” during the synod.

Addressing the media, he recalled “pressure” at the 2019 Amazon Synod for the ordination of married men to the priesthood, so-called “viri probati,” and the “public opinion” at the two synods on the family about allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive holy Communion.

“Now, there are hypotheses about this synod,” he added. “What will they do … women priests. These are things they say outside.”

The session opened with the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours, which included a reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew for the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi.

Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak, one of 10 delegate presidents, gave the first speech of the day. Pope Francis’ remarks were followed by speeches from synod Secretary General Cardinal Mario Grech and synod Relator General Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich.

In the morning, Pope Francis celebrated the opening Mass of the synod in St. Peter’s Square.

On Oct. 5, the synod will proceed with small-group discussions, called “conversation in the Spirit.”

Reading a quote from St. Basil included in a collection of patristic texts he chose to share with synod participants, the pope recalled the importance of harmony.

The great work of the Holy Spirit is harmony, he said, adding that “if there’s no harmony, there’s no Holy Spirit.”

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Pope Francis delivers the Angelus address on Jan. 8, 2023. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 8, 2023 / 04:55 am (CNA).
In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis said that God’s justice is often misunderstood as mere punishment when in real… […]