Monday, October 02, 2006

Mon Oct 2nd

Last night's TV programme (BBC) covering homosexual-abuse by clergy and the way it has been tackled by the Church seems to have used the "tell a half-truth" system that is very tempting for all working in the media, but makes for deeply dishonest reporting.....there was tendentious use of Vatican documents. I want to return to this topic, but meanwhile it is covered well in The "Hermeneutic of Continuity" blog and the RC Bishops of England and Wales have put out a statement on their website.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:40 am

    Hello Joanna, I am a 62 year old woman living in Ontario, Canada, born and raised just outside Liverpool. I have been blessed with 9 children, 8 still living, and 10 grandchildren. Been homeschooling for 20 years and still a few more years to go as my youngest are 14 years and 16 years of age. I love your blog and envy you for being able to cycle everywhere - I have to use the car for everything as we are not within walking distance of very much. I went to the same school as Cherie Blair (but left before she was there) and was very sad to see what had happened to it when I visited about 12 years ago. But then it was reflective of what has happened to the Church in U.K. and to a lesser extent in North America. My once VERY Catholic extended family in U.K. has largely been lost to the Faith and I can still hardly believe it could have happened so quickly. I look forward to reading your blog regularly for a "taste of 'ome", many thanks.

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  2. Anonymous1:47 pm

    Joanna, I ended up here from Amy's blog & was very happy to see there's a believing Catholic left in England. I admit my ignorance of your country but it just seems like all the news there is bad...so I'm glad to know differently! BTW, I've emailed the BBC several times re: their antiCatholic bias & I'm sure they're so concerned that they're meeting even as we speak to rectify the situation...LOL.

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  3. Anonymous10:24 am

    Enjoy your site and your other stuff.

    Good letter in today's Irish Times which I've featured on my blog at http://ocds-belfast.blogspot.com under "Voice of the Faithful"

    And stay awhile and read some more.

    And how do we email our answers to the quiz?

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  4. Anonymous1:51 pm

    Three documents are mentioned. It is highly unlikely that the BBC or any of the media have read any of the documents.

    I obtained the following information from : http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/viewmessaggi.aspx?f=65482&idd=533



    There are two basic documents:
    1. Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter dated April 30, 2001, "by which are promulgated Norms
    concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith",

    http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/churchdocs/SacramentorumAndNormaeEnglish.htm

    and


    2. The letter from the CDF signed by Cardinal Ratzinger and sent May 11,2001 "by mandate of
    the supreme Pontiff to all the bishops of the Catholic Church..." to clarify the procedure
    for dealing with clerical offenses of the type referred to in the Pope's letter, in the hope
    "not only that more grave delicts will be totally avoided, but especially that ordinaries and
    hierarchs have solicitous pastoral care to look after the holiness of the clergy and the
    faithful even through necessary sanctions."

    English Translation from Latin original
    http://opusbonosacerdotii.org/ad_exsequendam_ecclesiasticam_legem.htm



    The following is from Jimmy Akin

    http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2005/04/observe_this.html


    This letter was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001 before the U.S. sex scandal even broke out.
    The document was part of the implementation effort for a set of norms that Pope John Paul II himself had just enacted nineteen days earlier in a letter – see above No.1
    The fact that the Church would conduct her own internal investigation would not prevent victims from contacting the police and reporting what happened to them. Nor were they stopped from obtaining civil legal representation of holding press conferences and explaining what happened.
    Canon law expert pointed out that the "clock" of when the complaint can be filed does not start "ticking" when "the kid turns 18." The "kid" can bring an action against the priest even if he is under 18 years of age. What the norms do is guarantee that he has until he is 28 to bring the action so that he isn't forced to bring the action while he is still a child in order to get it heard.



    And a third – Crimen sollicitationis
    3. http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Criminales.pdfThis document is the 1962 'Crimen sollicitationis' referred to in the BBC documentary.
    …………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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