Year: 2018

Washington D.C., Aug 6, 2018 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- A former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has said that proposals made by Cardinal Donald Wuerl in the wake of the Theodore McCarrick scandal do not go far enough.

Marie Collins, who is herself a survivor of clerical abuse, also said that the actions taken by Church leaders thus far in response to the McCarrick allegations, are not sufficient to resolve the problem.

On August 3, Cardinal Wuerl released a “pastoral reflection” on the McCarrick crisis. In it, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., noted it was “particularly disheartening” that the Church had already been through the pain and trauma of addressing sexual abuse and episcopal failures in 2002, but quoted St. John Paul II, saying “We must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community.” He also pointed out that earlier work by U.S. bishops, including the Dallas Charter, could be revisited and built upon.

In response, Marie Collins told CNA that Cardinal Wuerl “speaks as if the issue had already been addressed when we know this is not the case.”

Cardinal Wuerl’s reflection also praised Pope Francis for his “strong and decisive” response to the McCarrick allegations, calling it an example to follow.

On July 28, the pope accepted McCarrick’s resignation from the college of cardinals and directed him to live in “seclusion, prayer, and penance” pending the outcome of a canonical process. This followed the similar acceptance by the pope of the resignations of five Chilean bishops in the wake of the abuse scandal still unfolding in that country.

Collins, who resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in March 2017, said that episcopal resignations were no substitute for a proper determination of guilt and formal punishment following a canonical trail. She said that allowing bishops to effectively remove themselves following public scandal was not a credible means of resolving the crisis.

“Asking for resignations is not the same thing as having a proper, transparent, penal process,” she said, “no proper structure has been put in place to hold bishops or religious leaders to account.”

Cardinal Wuerl’s reflection noted that, in 2002, U.S. bishops issued a “Statement of Episcopal Commitment” which bound them to self-report allegations made against them to the Apostolic Nuncio, and to similarly report allegations they received against other bishops.

Wuerl said the statement could “serve as the nucleus of a more effective mechanism” for holding bishops accountable. Collins was deeply skeptical of the suggestion.

“It is disturbing that Cardinal Wuerl speaks of revising the very unsatisfactory Statement of Episcopal Committeemen that accompanied the Dallas Charter when what is needed is that the Charter itself should be revised to cover all clerics and religious.”

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., told CNA that the cardinal’s comments were intended as a “contribution to an important and ongoing conversation.”

“Cardinal Wuerl was drawing attention to the Statement of Episcopal Commitment, to highlight what the U.S. bishops can build upon.”

“He feels it is important for the Church, and especially for victims, that time isn’t wasted reinventing the wheel. The Statement and the Charter could be built upon and improved, and might be useful in that way. But if the bishops decide to go in another direction, that’s also an option.”

In a separate media interview, given on August 5, Wuerl suggested that the USCCB could form a committee or panel of bishops with the authority to investigate allegations, and even persistent rumors concerning individual bishops, such as those which were reportedly in wide circulation concerning Archbishop McCarrick.

Collins told CNA that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors had already drawn up a set of safeguarding guidelines, approved by the pope, but that it has been left up to bishops’ conferences to take notice of the Commission’s recommendations.

“The Safeguarding Guidelines template which the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors drew up, and which was approved by the Pope, is on the Commission website” she pointed out, also noting that unlike the Dallas Charter “the Commission’s guideline do not exclude bishops – they refer to ‘clerics and religious’.”

Echoing previous criticisms made about the way the Pontifical Commission’s work had been adopted, Collins said that although the guidelines were meant to be a binding standard, they have not yet become normative.

“The original intention was to disseminate the guidelines to all bishops’ conferences globally as best practice and to hold all local policies to this standard, instead, they are now simply a resource on the website to take or leave.”

When asked what a credible response to the McCarrick scandal might look like, Collins  called for a serious commitment to transparency by the Church, both in Rome and in dioceses.

“There must be transparency around every action that is taken in response to a report of any sort of abuse or exploitation. The use of the ‘pontifical secret’ to restrict the information available to victims in canonical trials should end – this was recommended to the Holy Father by the PCPM last September, but there has been no word as to whether the recommendation has been approved or not.”

Collins said that real reform would need to be dramatic, and could include a national body charged with inspecting dioceses.

“Each diocese should open itself to an annual audit by an independent body, with diocesan bishops making all their files available.  This is done in Ireland by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church and their audits are published.”

“The NBSCCI are not completely independent but they are a central office not connected to any one diocese.”

In his Pastoral Reflection, Cardinal Wuerl has said that any review of policy must be more than just canonical and procedural. The cardinal said any revised version must include “an expansive theological and moral perspective” and recognize the need for “fraternal correction” among bishops.

[…]

Lincoln, Neb., Aug 6, 2018 / 11:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop James Conley of Lincoln said he is working to ensure that correct processes are established and followed when allegations of boundary violations arise against priests in the diocese.

In an… […]

Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug 6, 2018 / 11:30 am (CNA).- The Bishop of Pittsburgh has pledged to release the names of all priests of the diocese accused of abuse against a minor. He made the announcement Sunday, August 5, in a letter read at every Mass in the d… […]

Washington D.C., Aug 4, 2018 / 06:41 pm (CNA).- A survey of both male and female religious superiors in the U.S. found that most believe that the Church can and should ordain women as deacons.

Almost three-quarters of responding superiors said they think it is possible to sacramentally ordain women deacons, and that the Church should do so. Only 45 percent, however, believe the Church will do so.

The survey, released this week by The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University (CARA), reached out to all 777 U.S. religious institutes and societies of apostolic life. These included members of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), as well as 137 contemplative women’s groups.

Only men may be ordained priests under Catholic teaching. Pope Francis has reiterated on numerous occasions that this doctrine is definitive and cannot be changed. However, non-ordained female deacons were part of the early Church, although it is not entirely clear what their role was.

The question of female deacons has recently resurfaced amid Pope Francis appointing a commission to look into the historical role of female deacons in the ancient Church.

Of religious superiors surveyed, 76 percent had known about the commission. Most – 84 percent – believed that ordaining women as deacons would create at least some greater call for women priests.

Among respondents, 78 percent of superiors said sacramental ordination of women deacons would be somewhat or very important for the Church, but only 45 percent said it would be somewhat or very important for their religious communities. Sixty-one percent said they did not think the ordination of women as deacons would increase candidates seeking to join their communities.

Nearly 60 percent of major superiors of women who provided a response said they would consider allowing members to be ordained if the diaconate were opened to women as an ordained ministry. Half said they do not think any of their current members are interested in becoming a deacon.

In addition, open-ended questions were presented to female superiors about benefits and challenges of ordaining women to the diaconate.

“The most common benefits cited include a greater capacity to perform liturgical and sacramental duties, a greater acceptance of women and their gifts in the Church, and the continuation of current ministries but with a higher status,” CARA said.

“Challenges and concerns frequently noted include confusion over who the deacon would be accountable to, the acceptance of female deacons by clergy and other religious, concerns that it would create a two-tiered membership within religious communities, the issue of balance between community life and a deacon’s ministry to the external community, and that this step would reinforce the hierarchal structure of the Catholic Church.”

In August 2016, Pope Francis instituted a commission for the study of women deacons, after the topic was raised at a papal audience with a group of religious sisters in May.

At the audience, one sister asked why the Church does not include women in the permanent diaconate and suggested that a commission be established to study the possibility.

Pope Francis expressed his openness to establishing such a commission. Several weeks later, he told a group of journalists that he was upset by media reports suggesting that he had endorsed the idea of female deacons.  

“They said: ‘The Church opens the door to deaconesses.’ Really? I am a bit angry because this is not telling the truth of things,” the pope said.

“We had heard that in the first centuries there were deaconesses,” he continued. “One could study this and one could make a commission. Nothing more has been requested.”

Francis acknowledged that the subject of women deacons has already been studied by the Church, including a 2002 document from the International Theological Commission, and advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The document, which gave a thorough historical context of the role of the deaconess in the ancient Church, overwhelmingly concluded that female deacons in the early Church had not been equivalent to male deacons, and had neither a liturgical nor a sacramental function.

Heading Francis’ commission on the study of women deacons is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Luis Ladaria.

In June 2018, Ladaria clarified that “the Holy Father did not ask us to study whether or not women can be deaconesses…but rather, [he asked us] to try to say in a clear way what the problems are and what the situation was in the ancient Church on this point of the women’s diaconate.”

“We know that in the ancient Church there were so-called deaconesses: what does this mean? Was it the same as deacons, or was it something different? Was it a large, or rather local reality?

[…]