An influential canon lawyer at the Vatican has written an article to be published today in a Vatican-approved Jesuit journal saying that Roman Catholic bishops should not turn over allegations or records of sexual abuse by priests to the civil authorities.
In the article, Father Ghirlanda also wrote that a priest who is reassigned to a new parish after being treated because of a history of sexual abuse should not have his “good reputation” ruined by having his background revealed to the new parish.
Archbishop Herranz, who is the president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, said that the American church’s large financial settlements with sexual abuse victims were “unwarranted.” He criticized American news media outlets as seeking to “sully the image of the church and the Catholic priesthood.” Echoing other Vatican officials who have linked sexual abuse with homosexuality, Archbishop Herranz referred to pedophilia as a “concrete form of homosexuality.”
Ah, nothing like a fresh hot cup of religious self-rightous arrogance with a light and frothy bit of whipped hypocrisy on top first thing in the morning. How any Catholic can stand to look themselves in the mirror after such morally suspect declarations from their leaders in Rome is beyond me.
Posted on 05/21/2002 at 12:34 AM 
Posted on 11/29/2005 at 12:30 PM 
This is exactly what is driving Catholics away from the church. The hierarchy is troubling in the Catholic church and has always been a problem (for centuries now!) The sad thing is that the hierarchy is not the religion, no matter how much they would like to be, and most Catholics are outraged by the stance the church has taken on this. Of course, rather than questioning the problem of patriarchal heirarchy (I know, redundant), the church would rather take the “blame the victim” and “scapegoat homosexuality” route. The church has a long history of doing whatever it can to preserve its hierarchy, usually at the expense of its parishoners (sp?) Personally, I don’t think that the church should have an option about handing over pedophiles. I think as soon as ANYONE puts their hands on a child in a sexual manner, the state should step in.
Of course, it is important to separate people who are Catholic from the voice of the heirarchy. They are truly two separate entities (as the church likes it.) Faith is a very strong thing, and it is sometimes the only thing that keeps some folks going. I think it would be a disservice to everyone if we “threw the baby out with the bathwater,” so to speak. The question is, how can we, as a community, preserve some of the beauty of Catholicism while fighting to end some of its ugliness?