Retrial begins for Philly priest in molestation case

 

PHILADELPHIA Catholic priest took advantage of a quiet kid when he allegedly molested a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997, a prosecutor told a Common Pleas jury yesterday.

The Rev. Andrew McCormick, 58, is being retried a year after a jury remained deadlocked after more than four days of deliberations.

McCormick is accused of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault of a child under 13 years of age, among other charges.

In her opening statement yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp said that McCormick had "picked and targeted [the victim] because he wouldn't tell."

The alleged victim, whose name the Daily News is withholding due to the graphic nature of the allegations, is now 28.

The man does not remember the exact date of the alleged incident, but recalls that it was cold outside and that "it was a holy day of obligation," Kemp said in her opening argument.

McCormick allegedly asked the boy, " 'Hey, do you want to see my room upstairs?' " at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg, Kemp said.

Once there, the prosecution alleges, McCormick assaulted the boy.

"In an instant, he was not the Father Andy that [the boy] trusted and loved," Kemp told the jury. "He was on him, kissing him and grabbing his genitals."

Kemp further described the priest trying to push his penis into the boy's mouth. When the boy resisted, McCormick allegedly order him to leave.

Kemp said that the alleged victim did not report the incident at that time, but told his cousin a year later and a group on a high-school religious retreat seven years later. Eventually, she said, he told his dad in a middle-of-the-night text message in 2011.

Kemp read the text to the jury: "Hey Dad, I don't want to wake you, but I woke up out of my sleep. And things have been bothering me. And I'm just going to come out and say it. Father Andy molested me."

The defense contends that the alleged victim was a troubled person who "has battled substance abuse for most of his life," McCormick's lawyer, Trevan Borum, said in his opening statement.

"He's been a priest for 30 years," Borum said. "He's served in four different parishes. During that 30 years, he's come into contact with hundreds, if not thousands, of altar boys. [The alleged victim] is the only person in that 30 years that has ever accused Father McCormick of child molestation."

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia placed McCormick on administrative leave in March 2011 in response to allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.

Borum said that when the alleged victim told people at the high-school retreat about the alleged incident "he doesn't say who molested him, he doesn't say when it happened."

The trial continues at 9:30 a.m. today.

Retrial begins for Philly priest in molestation case

Vatican denounces leaks of documents on finance reforms - Yahoo Finance

 

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican spokesman on Friday condemned as "unworthy and petty" the leaks of documents detailing power struggles inside the Holy See and the expenditures of Pope Francis' new finance czar.

In a cover story Friday, Italy's L'Espresso weekly detailed opposition to Cardinal George Pell's financial reform and revealed that his Secretariat for the Economy had racked up a half million euros (dollars) in expenditures in the last six months. Some of the expenses seemed legitimate, but one was a 2,508-euro ($2,800) bill from Rome's swanky Gamarelli tailor.

The Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, condemned the leaks as illegal and called the attacks on Pell "unworthy and petty." He said Pell's office was moving ahead efficiently with reforms.

Pope Francis tasked Pell last year to put the Vatican's finances in order after years of mismanagement, waste and scandal. Francis gave him broad powers and the Australian has received widespread support from cardinals outside Rome.

But questions have swirled about the scope of his power and resistance has grown from within the entrenched Vatican bureaucracy, especially after Pell boasted that he had "discovered" hundreds of millions of euros "tucked away" in accounts off the Vatican balance sheet.

In fact, the money was well-known and much of it was purposefully set aside as reserves for funding shortfalls.

The leaks to L'Espresso were clearly aimed at discrediting Pell and harked back to the "Vati-leaks" affair that tarnished the final year of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy. In that scandal, Benedict's butler leaked reams of papal documents to an Italian journalist, aiming to discredit the Vatican's No. 2 official.

The documents also laid bare the dysfunctions and political intrigue that afflict the Vatican bureaucracy — problems that were central to Francis' election as pope with a mandate for reform

Vatican denounces leaks of documents on finance reforms - Yahoo Finance

Homeless Catholic Man Buried At Vatican Cemetery In Honor Of Years Of Faith

 

A homeless man who became a regular figure at the Vatican for his years of Catholic devotion was buried in a Vatican City cemetery after his remains were left in a morgue unidentified for nearly two months. Pope Francis personally authorized Willy Herteller to be buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, which was founded around the year 800 as a resting place for knights, fallen Swiss guards and royalty.

Herteller, thought to be around 80 years old, “attended 7 o’clock Mass every day for more than 25 years,” said the Rev. Bruno Silvestrinia, pastor of the Vatican’s Church of St. Anne, according to the National Catholic Reporter. He had become known by the Swiss Guard, church officials and other regulars around the Vatican. He would often hang out near St. Peter’s Square and discuss his faith with tourists and pilgrims who came to Vatican City, surviving on their charity and the help of locals.

Herteller died on Dec. 12, 2014, after collapsing on a cold night outside the Vatican grounds and ….

Click on the following to read more:  Homeless Catholic Man Buried At Vatican Cemetery In Honor Of Years Of Faith

Pope Francis' "Mexicanization" remark gets him into trouble with Mexico - CBS News

Click on the following to read this story:  Pope Francis' "Mexicanization" remark gets him into trouble with Mexico - CBS News

Pope's finance czar under scrutiny over spending expose - Yahoo News

 

Pope Francis' finance czar is coming under intense scrutiny after ruffling feathers at the Vatican as he seeks to impose order on its unruly finances.

Italian weekly L'Espresso reported in its Friday editions that Cardinal George Pell's economy secretariat had run up a half-million euros (dollars) in expenses in the first six months of its existence. The total includes seemingly legitimate expenses, including computers and printers, but also a 2,508 euro bill from the famed Gamarelli clergy tailor.

The expenditures are notable given that Pell has instituted a spending review across the Vatican to ensure any excess money is spent on the poor, L'Espresso noted.

Resistance to the Australian Pell from the largely Italian Vatican bureaucracy has been growing steadily but spiked in December after he boasted that he had "discovered" hundreds of millions of euros that had been "tucked away" in sectional accounts off the Vatican balance sheet.

In fact, the money was well-known and was purposefully kept off the books, much of it set aside for use as reserves for funding shortfalls.

The leak of Pell's receipts to L'Espresso — as well as other documents detailing cardinals' complaints about his efforts — was clearly aimed at discrediting him and harked back to the Vatileaks affair that badly tarnished the final year of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI's papacy.

In that scandal, which some say prompted Benedict's resignation, the pope's butler leaked reams of papal documents to an Italian journalist that were aimed at discrediting Benedict's No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The documents also laid bare the dysfunctions and political intrigue that afflict the Vatican bureaucracy — problems that were central to Francis' election as pope with a mandate for reform.

The Vatican spokesman declined to comment late Thursday.

Pope's finance czar under scrutiny over spending expose - Yahoo News

Training sessions help local Catholics explain the faith to journalists - Catholic Philly

 

When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia this September following the World Meeting of Families, in addition to the huge numbers of the faithful in town hoping to see and hear the Holy Father, it’s a certainty there will be thousands of journalists all trying to get a unique quote, if not from the lips of Francis himself but from people who came to see and hear him.

Since there will be far too many for the Communications staffs of the archdiocese and the World Meeting of Families to serve, an invitation went out for volunteers who are knowledgeable in the faith to attend weekend training sessions so they will be able to articulate the faith in the public square as needed.

In a letter last December, Archbishop Charles Chaput said more than 5,000 reporters are expected to be present in Philadelphia for the families’ congress Sept. 22-25 and the papal visit Sept. 25-27.

“We’re going to need well-informed priests, religious and lay people from across the archdiocese who represent the broad spectrum of our diverse Catholic family to help us speak to the media about Church teaching on a variety of matters,” he said.

He invited local Catholics to attend training sessions offered by Catholic Voices USA in conjunction with the Communications Office of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and communications personnel with the World Meeting of Families.

Founded in 2012, Catholic Voices USA is one of a dozen similar groups around the world patterned after Catholic Voices UK, which was founded in 2010. Catholic Voices has done similar training in a number of dioceses.

The purpose is not to tell people what they should say but rather how they should express it, and the techniques are effective no matter what the topic. By coincidence when Catholic Voices UK was founded, the first issue they dealt with was a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to England.

The initial training sessions were held at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in January and most recently on Friday evening, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21. Fifteen people had signed up to come to last week’s sessions, according to Lizanne Magarity-Pando, director of communications and marketing for the World Meeting of Families.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Training sessions help local Catholics explain the faith to journalists - Catholic Philly

Two years on: forgotten pope sees out days in the shadows - Yahoo News

 

A year ago he was quoted as saying that his decision to step down had been the product of a mystical experience and that Francis's confident leadership had helped him understand why God had willed him to step aside.

He wrote to Italian newspaper La Stampa to dismiss a claim that he had been forced out against his will: which, were it true, would invalidate Francis's status as the leader of the Church.

There has also been much speculation that Benedict quit because he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, unable to cope with the pressure of the top job in an institution beset by a series of problems ranging from paedophile clerics to financial scandals surrounding the Vatican bank.

The leaking of his personal correspondence by his butler Paolo Gabriele was said to have left Benedict deeply dismayed, the resulting court case having lifted the lid on a Vatican hierarchy beset by corruption, nepotism and fierce internal rivalries.

On all those questions however, the now Emeritus Pope has maintained a discreet silence, as he promised he would at the time of his departure.

Whether he genuinely approves of Francis in terms of style and/or substance remains unknown.

But what does seem clear is that the 87-year-old seems to be in better health now than he was when he made his shock announcement to cardinals that he no longer had the strength of mind or body to carry on.

His private secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, recently revealed that Benedict regularly plays Mozart on the piano from memory.

 

He is a little unsteady on his legs at times but not alarmingly so for a man approaching his 88th birthday.

And intellectually, according to Ganswein, he is as sharp as ever, having recently produced a theological text on questions of truth for the benefit of Vatican scholars.

Francis has insisted there is no friction between the two popes.

"The last time there were two or three popes, they didn't talk among themselves and they fought over who was the true pope," he joked in July 2013.

And there was a flash of affection when the new pope said of the unusual situation of having two popes living so close to each other: "It is like having a grandfather – a wise grandfather – living at home."

But Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli says no one should be in any doubt as to who is the boss. "Benedict is very discreet. If he appears in public it is at Francis's request."

Two years on: forgotten pope sees out days in the shadows - Yahoo News

Weekly Contributions for the week of February 21, 2015

 

Second week which has no update.

Previous bulletin.

European Royalty Appeals to Pope Francis on Church Teaching - Breitbart

 

A coalition of royals, prelates, and Catholic activists have sent a “filial appeal” to Pope Francis asking him to hold the line on Church teaching regarding the family.

The letter focuses on the Synod of Bishops to take place this October in the Vatican and expresses the signers’ “fears and hopes regarding the future of the family.”

Signers include a raft of dignitaries, many with titles most Americans would not know existed any longer. They include princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses, barons and baronesses, descendants of storied European royal families, and one exiled African king.

Kigeli V, exiled King of Rawanda, is a signer, along with the heads of the Imperial House of Portugal and Brazil, Prince Armand de Merode of Belgium, Duke and Duchess Antonello Del Balzo di Presenzano of Italy, Princess Monika of Lowenstein-Werthheim-Rosenberg, Baron Rudolf Pfyffer von Altishofen of France, and many others.

The letter says, “Our fears arise from witnessing a decades-long sexual revolution promoted by an alliance of powerful organizations, political forces and the mass media that consistently work against the very existence of the family as the basic unit of society.”

The signers trace the ongoing sexual revolution to the May 1968 “Sorbonne Revolution” in France and “morality opposed to both Divine and natural law.”

The letter “notes with anguish that, for millions of faithful Catholics, the beacon seems to have dimmed in the face of the onslaught of lifestyles spread by anti-Christian lobbies.”

Specifically, the signers believe “a breach has been opened within the Church that would accept adultery–by permitting divorced and then civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion–and would virtually accept even homosexual unions.”

The signers ask the Pope to clarify Church teaching ahead of the fall meeting.

One of them, his Imperial Highness Herzog Paul von Oldenburg, otherwise known as Duke Paul, is descended from the royal households of both Russia and Germany, as well as other royal households of Europe. Duke Paul runs a pro-life and pro-family non-governmental organization at the European Parliament.

A number of cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church also signed the letter, including Cardinal Raymond Burke, who recently stepped down as head of the Vatican Supreme Court.

The letter grew out of their concern with the last raucous meeting of Catholic bishops last October that seemed to question longstanding Church teaching. The document produced at that meeting is the draft document to be debated by a larger group of bishops this fall.

There is even a website where “commoners” may sign the document; so far, more than 100,000 have done so.

Above is from:  European Royalty Appeals to Pope Francis on Church Teaching - Breitbart

Activity Picks Up in Clergy Sex-Abuse Suits | The Legal Intelligencer

 

The plaintiff in a priest sex-abuse case is appealing a Philadelphia judge’s ruling that the statute of limitations barred his claims. Meanwhile, the case that will be the second priest sex-abuse lawsuit to go to trial in Philadelphia is set to head to the courtroom in early March.

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Jacqueline F. Allen said the statute of limitations ran on plaintiff Philip Gaughan’s claims against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2000, two years after he turned 18. Gaughan claimed he suffered psychological trauma from being sexually abused by a priest from 1994 to 1997.

According to Allen’s memorandum, Gaughan alleged that he didn’t realize the abuse had caused a psychological injury until 2010. Gaughan’s lawsuit was filed in 2011.

Malvern-based attorney Daniel Monahan, who handles the bulk of the clergy abuse cases in Philadelphia, represents Gaughan.

In arguing that the statute of limitations be tolled, Monahan said, “We’re trying to convince the appellate courts that the sex-abuse cases are like any type of latent disease case where people don’t know about it until very late in life.”

The developments in the Gaughan case come just over a month after the first clergy-abuse case settlement in Philadelphia, according to Monahan. The details of the settlement are confidential and Monahan said his client wishes to remain anonymous.

Nicholas Centrella of Conrad O’Brien represents the archdiocese and did not return calls seeking comment.

The next clergy case headed to trial is John Doe 187 v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, scheduled for early March.

A fuller version of this article will be posted later when the article is completed.

Activity Picks Up in Clergy Sex-Abuse Suits | The Legal Intelligencer

Pope Francis declares Armenian saint Doctor of the Church Vatican Radio

 

St. Gregory received his education under the guidance of his father, Bishop Khosrov, author of the earliest commentary on the Divine Liturgy, and from Anania Vartabed, abbess of Narek Monastery. He and his two brothers entered monastic life at an early age, and St. Gregory soon began to excel in music, astronomy, geometry, mathematics, literature, and theology.

He became a priest at the age of 25 and dedicated himself to God. He lived most of his life in the monastery of Narek, where he taught at the monastic school. St. Gregory began his writings with a commentary on the “Song of Songs,” which was commissioned by an Armenian prince. Despite his reservations that he was too young for the task, the commentary became famous for its clarity of thought and language and its excellence of theological presentation.

He also wrote a number of famous letters, sharagans, treasures, odes, melodies, and discourses. Many of his prayers are included in the Divine Liturgy celebrated each Sunday in Armenian Churches around the world.

St. Gregory’s masterpiece is considered to be his Book of Lamentations. Also known as Narek, it is comprised of 95 prayers, each of which is titled “Conversation with God from the depth of the heart.” A central theme is man’s separation from God, and his quest to reunite with Him. St. Gregory described the work this way: “Its letters like my body, its message like my soul.” He called his book an “encyclopedia of prayer for all nations.” It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer for people all over the world. After the advent of movable type, the book was published in Marseille in 1673, and has been translated into at least 30 languages.

St. Gregory of Narek is remembered by the Armenian Church in October of each year.

Pope Francis declares Armenian saint Doctor of the Church Vatican Radio

Pope gets away from Vatican to work on correcting 'defects' - Yahoo News

 

he and top aides will begin a spiritual renewal retreat Sunday. Until Friday morning, they will spend time listening to reflections, meditating and praying in Ariccia, a Rome suburb.

The pope said that amid "the noise, the confusion," one hears "only superficial voices." During the retreat "we can listen to the voice of Jesus and also correct so many defects we all have," he said.

Inviting prayers, Francis said the time away from the Vatican will also help participants "face the temptations that attack us every day."

He didn't list the "defects" he says needs fixing. But in the nearly two years since becoming pontiff, Francis has put prelates on guard against careerism, arrogance, hypocrisy, corruption and being too judgmental instead of merciful.

Francis said "spiritual conversion and growth starts from the heart. It's there that the match of daily choices between good and evil, worldliness and Gospel, indifference and sharing gets played."

The Catholic church encourages spiritual renewal in Lent, when faithful prepare for Easter, which this year falls on April 5.

The retreat means Francis won't hold his traditional weekly public audience on Wednesday.

Pope gets away from Vatican to work on correcting 'defects' - Yahoo News

German Chancellor Merkel meets with Pope Francis | News | DW.DE | 21.02.2015

 

Pope Francis has received German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a private audience at the Vatican. The talks focused on the fight against poverty and international crises, including the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The German chancellor had a 40-minute private meeting with the head of the Catholic Church on Saturday, after which she told reporters, "I was very happy to meet with the pope."

Angela Merkel described the talks as "enriching" and wide-ranging, covering the alleviation of poverty, the role of women in developing countries, equality, and Germany's agenda for the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in the southern German state of Bavaria in June.

Germany currently chairs the G7 group of major industrialized states, consisting of Germany, the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Britain. Russia had been a part of what was formerly known as the G8, before it was excluded over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine was also discussed at the meeting with the pontiff, Merkel said, adding that "he gave me a lot of encouragement" to proceed "decidedly and determinedly" to find a solution. Fighting is continuing in the region, despite a ceasefire deal, brokered by Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, that went into force last Sunday.

Pope Francis presented Merkel with a medallion depicting St. Martin giving his coat to the needy, saying it aimed to remind world leaders their job is "to protect their poor." Merkel responded: "We try to do our best." Merkel gave the pope a Johann Sebastian Bach CD and a donation to help children affected by conflicts in the Middle East.

Following her audience with the pope - the second since he was appointed - Merkel met Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and German ambassador to the Holy See, Annette Schavan. Schavan, a former German education minister, was considered one of Merkel's close confidantes before she resigned from her post amid a plagiarism scandal in 2013.

German Chancellor Merkel meets with Pope Francis | News | DW.DE | 21.02.2015

Archdiocese Of Philadelphia Says $30M Raised So Far For World Meeting Of Families « CBS Philly

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – With about seven months to go before Pope Francis arrives in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, the Archdiocese confirmed its fundraising is on track to its $45 million goal.

They say that to date, $30 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations have been pledged in anticipation of the Papal visit in late September.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia says the current pledges put the fundraising effort at 67 percent toward the estimated budget and fundraising goal.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says, “Wonderful generosity and great enthusiasm for the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis have defined our initial fundraising efforts. From those supporting this event, we have often heard about the fundamental importance of the family in strengthening our communities at-large, and regardless of faith, all have expressed a desire to support the institution of the family, which is the cornerstone of our society. There is also great excitement about the visit by Pope Francis and how his presence in Philadelphia next September will bring people of all faiths together in conversation, service and ultimately, love.”

At this time, no additional details about the World Meeting of Families have been shared.

Archdiocese Of Philadelphia Says $30M Raised So Far For World Meeting Of Families « CBS Philly

CatholicHerald.co.uk » Ukrainian bishops to tell Pope Francis ‘the truth’ about Russian invasion

 

Ukrainian Catholic bishops have come to Rome to tell Pope Francis “the truth” about the war in their country after complaints by some Ukranians that the Holy See was being influenced by Russian propaganda.

The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said the country was not in a civil war but facing “the direct aggression of our neighbour”.

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of Kiev-Halych, said: “We are here to convey the truth to the Holy Father about the situation of Ukraine. This is our whole proposal of the visit. And the truth is that we, the Ukrainian people, are the victims.”

The Ukrainian Catholic bishops were expected to meet the Pope in a private audience today, as part of their six-day ad limina visit to report on the status of their dioceses.

“Our duty is to convey the truth, not to force somebody to change their mind,” the archbishop said about the upcoming audience with the Pope.

The archbishop was responding to questions put to him by Catholic News Service regarding Pope Francis’s comments on Ukraine at his February 4 general audience.

Critics said the Pope’s choice of words suggested the Holy See views the crisis in eastern Ukraine as a civil war. They also accused the Holy See of using rhetoric in line with the Russian position on the conflict for the sake of keeping positive ecumenical relations with the Orthodox Church.

Noting “the differing interpretations of the Pope’s words”, the Vatican press office issued a statement saying that the Pope was “following attentively” the situation in Ukraine and had always addressed “all interested parties” when speaking about the conflict.

However, after a liturgy yesterday to pray for peace in Ukraine, Archbishop Shevchuk spoke plainly with journalists at the Basilica of St Mary Major, saying the situation in his country can be described “in one word: a war.”

“But we have to say that we do not have a civil war in Ukraine,” he continued. “We have an aggression of a foreign country against the Ukrainian citizens and the Ukrainian state.”

With the violence ongoing, despite the peace agreement signed last year in Minsk, Belarus, “the whole world stopped to talk about the civil war in Ukraine, and now everybody knows that we are under the direct aggression of our neighbor country,” the archbishop said.

In addition to the fighting, he said the country’s pastors are concerned about the more than 2 million refugees, among them 140,000 children. He said more than 6,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed to date.

“We are witnessing the biggest humanitarian catastrophe in Eastern Europe, after the end of the Second World War,” he said.

Ukrainians have responded generously to the crisis; about 80 per cent of the population is involved in a parish-based volunteer movement, he reported.

Still, there is the need for assistance, he said, launching an appeal to the international community for “help to stop the aggression” and to organize humanitarian aid.

“The truth is that we, the Ukrainian people, are the victims and, according to the Holy Scripture, God is always with those who suffer unjustly,” he said. “God is always with the victims. He himself became a victim with the offering on the cross.”

And for this reason, he continued, the expectation is that the Christian community worldwide “will be united in this solidarity with Ukraine, especially in this difficult period of our history”.

Hundreds of Ukrainian nationals, living in Rome, packed St Mary Major for yesterday’s liturgy to pray for peace in Ukraine, with dozens lining the aisles or sitting on the steps of the side chapels. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, was also in attendance.

CatholicHerald.co.uk » Ukrainian bishops to tell Pope Francis ‘the truth’ about Russian invasion

Priests ask bishops: Make Sacrament of Penance more accessible

 

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a traditional time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for many Christians. Lent is also a time when the Catholic Church emphasizes the need for repentance, conversion and penance. A group of Catholic priests in the United States has chosen Lent as the time to seek expansion of the opportunities for confession and sacramental reconciliation.

Catholics of a certain age “went to Confession” on a regular basis, privately telling a priest the list of mortal and venial sins he or she had committed since the last confession. After making an Act of Contrition and a firm commitment to sin no more, the penitent received a penance – usually a set of prayers to be said – and finally, individual absolution.

Most Catholics today however have little or no such experience – and that is a reality that concerns the members of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. Their concern first surfaced at the 2013 Assembly in Seattle, and now the AUSCP, with over a thousand members, hopes to convince the bishops of the United States to do what they can to expand possibilities for Catholics to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

What the priests are asking is defined in carefully chosen canonical terms, and requested within a well-reasoned theological framework. No special terminology is needed to describe the reality: 45 percent of U.S. Catholics never celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation; another 30 percent “go to Confession” less than once a year.
— Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, 2008.

The priests have asked their bishops to seek full Catholic Church approval for the full restoration and implementation of the Rite of Penance that was approved following the Second Vatican Council.

• Rite 1 includes private confession and absolution.

• Rite 2 includes a common liturgical service followed by individual confession and absolution – a practice that is often truncated as large numbers of penitents meet a small number of priests with limited time available.

• Rite 3 envisions a communal celebration with communal absolution, with a requirement that a penitent follow up at a later time with a private confession if grave sins are involved.

The priests, who as a group have literally hundreds of thousands of hours of experience in the confessional, believe that Rite 1 private confession should be available every week. They believe that Rite 2 does not offer adequate pastoral care for penitents, but that Rite 3, with a communal liturgical service and communal absolution, would best allow the parish community to “commit anew to conversion, experience the merciful love of God, and work with the Lord in his ministry of reconciliation.”
— AUSCP Background Document

Technically, the AUSCP is asking the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to request an indult from the Holy See to allow celebration of the Rite 3 of Penance in parishes in the United States.

Celebrating the sacrament in this fashion, they believe, may actually bring more Catholics back to personal, private confessions – the practice that has been all but abandoned by 75 percent of Catholics in the United States. Rite 3 would “move hearts in the future toward the value of periodic personal confession with its availability of pastoral counseling and spiritual direction.”

A letter from the AUSCP, dated February 10, 2015, was sent to Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, president of the USCCB, to members of the conference’s Committee for Divine Worship, and to all bishop members of the conference.

The full text of the letter to Archbishop Kurtz, and to the U.S. bishops follows this release.

The AUSCP 14-page background document regarding full restoration and implementation of the Rite of Penance will be posted Wednesday, February 18, at http://www.uscatholicpriests.org/our-work/

Father Bernard “Bob” Bonnot, a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, chairs the leadership team of the AUSCP and is available to speak for the association.

Priests ask bishops: Make Sacrament of Penance more accessible

Pope Francis: Jesus Is Not Afraid of This Kind of Scandal

 

….Francis told hundreds of cardinals and bishops arrayed before him in St. Peter's Basilica at a Mass centered on the story of Jesus healing a leper rather than rejecting him.

"Even today it can happen that we stand at the crossroads of these two ways of thinking," the pope said as he outlined the current debate in the church between those seen as doctrinal legalists and those, like Francis, who want a more pastoral approach.

"Jesus responds immediately to the leper's plea, without waiting to study the situation and all its possible consequences," Francis declared. "For Jesus, what matters above all is reaching out to save those far off, healing the wounds of the sick, restoring everyone to God's family. And this is scandalous to some people!"

"Jesus is not afraid of this kind of scandal," the pontiff continued. "He does not think of the close-minded who are scandalized even by a work of healing, scandalized before any kind of openness, by any action outside of their mental and spiritual boxes, by any caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit into their usual thinking and their ritual purity."

Since his election almost two years ago, Francis has pushed the church to focus less on denouncing the sins of others — especially on issues of sexual morality — and to instead to reach out more to the poor and social outcasts.

He also wants the church, especially the leadership, to reform itself, and he has convened a series of high-level summits at the Vatican to discuss overhauling the Vatican bureaucracy and changing church practices to, for example, enable divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

But there was a sense at meetings in the Vatican over the past week that the momentum for change may be slowing — in part due to resistance from doctrinal conservatives and the Vatican's old guard — and could use a jump-start.

Francis seemed to provide such a jolt on Sunday in remarks that were "truly foundational," in the words of the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit who is close to the pope.

The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Canadian priest who works with the Vatican communications office,tweeted that "more than anything I've heard from (the pope) today's homily is his mission statement."

Throughout his 15-minute homily, Francis repeatedly slammed the "narrow and prejudiced mentality" of believers who cling to religious laws out of fear. They wind up rejecting the very people they should be ministering to, he said, which means anyone on the margins of society "who encounters discrimination."

"Total openness to serving others is our hallmark, it alone is our title of honor!" Francis said at the Mass to mark his appointment of 20 new cardinals on Saturday.

"We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalized!" he concluded. "Truly the Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is at stake, where it is found, and where it is revealed."

The new cardinals had joined Francis and more than 150 other members of the College of Cardinals for talks over the past week on restructuring the dysfunctional papal bureaucracy known as the Roman Curia.

But the background noise to those meetings, and in other, smaller meetings among the pope's top advisers, was the ongoing and increasingly pointed arguments between those who want to slow or halt Francis' drive for change and those who think the 78-year-old pontiff needs to act more decisively, and soon.

Francis himself seemed to acknowledge the opposition, citing New Testament passages in which St. Peter (considered by Catholic tradition to be the first pope – was rebuked by other early church leaders for entering the house of a pagan, and when St. Paul faced criticism for not requiring Christian converts to observe all aspects of Jewish law.

"Charity is creative in finding the right words to speak to all those considered incurable and hence untouchable," Francis said. "Contact is the true language of communication."

Francis said this mission applied to anyone in today's world who is pushed aside "for whatever reason."

But he also listed specific examples, saying the cardinals should see "the crucified Lord" in the hungry and the unemployed, those who are in prison and "even in those who have lost their faith, or declared themselves to be atheists, or turned away from the practice of the faith."

Read more:  Pope Francis: Jesus Is Not Afraid of This Kind of Scandal

Weekly Collection for weekend of February 14, 2015

 

NYC St. Patrick’s Parade rejects pro-life group as gay activists prepare to march | News | LifeSite

 

As if it wasn’t controversial enough that a homosexual activist group will be marching under its own banner in the New York St. Patrick’s Day parade led by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the parade has refused a pro-life group’s request to participate.

When Cardinal Dolan was appointed Grand Marshal of the parade, he excused the decision to allow Out@NBCUniversal to march under their banner by saying they were merely Catholics who were homosexually inclined, rather than advocates for sinful behaviour.  The group, however, is an overt promoter of same-sex ‘marriage.’

The controversy heightened January 22, though, when the parade officially rejected a pro-life adoption advocacy group’s application to march this year.

“It’s absolutely been a double-cross,” Dr. Elizabeth Rex, president of the Children First Foundation (CFF), told LifeSiteNews. Not only was the group refused, they had to get a lawyer to pursue the parade committee to find out the result of their application. And even then the parade committee waited until the very last day before the launch of legal action to respond.

When the parade committee announced in September that the homosexual group could march in the 2015 parade, it came with a policy change allowing groups to march under their own banner, which organizers called a “gesture of goodwill” toward the LGBT community.

But the change in policy was supposed to also mean a pro-life group could march, and after many months, and this year’s parade looming, one has yet to be announced.

Rex’s pro-life group first applied to march in the 2015 parade last September, just after the policy change was made known.

Rex, an adjunct bioethics professor for Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT, founded CFF in 2001. The group promotes and supports adoption, and sponsored “Choose Life” license plates in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.  

The controversy with the parade committee’s allowance of the homosexual group to march in the parade was compounded last fall when New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan deviated from his predecessors, who had stood firm in regard to Church teaching as it relates to the Irish Catholic-themed parade, by saying he had no problem with the decision, and in fact, calling it a wise one.

Cardinal Dolan was shortly thereafter named the 2015 grand marshal, causing considerable disappointment among many Catholics.

The Catholic Church teaches that people with same-sex attractions must be treated with respect and dignity as children of God. However the Church also teaches that homosexual activity is intrinsically disordered and gravely immoral, and just as all children of God, those suffering with same-sex attractions are called to live chaste lives.

Catholics worry that the media will use the approval of the homosexual activist group by Dolan and the parade organizers to undermine Church teaching on marriage, especially by playing up Dolan’s participation in the parade.

At least one Catholic leader initially gave parade organizers a pass on the decision allowing the homosexual group in the parade.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue had said he was consulted by the parade committee prior to its announcement that the homosexual activist group could march with its banner in the 2015 parade, and he told them he could only support the decision if there were an official revision in the parade's rules on marching units.

NYC St. Patrick’s Parade rejects pro-life group as gay activists prepare to march | News | LifeSite

Spain drops sex abuse charges against nine Catholic priests

 

MADRID - A Spanish court has dropped charges against nine out of ten Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing an altar boy, court papers showed Monday, in a case in which Pope Francis intervened.

The nine priests, along with two laymen, had been charged with "sexual abuse without penetration, exhibitionism, and concealment of evidence" involving an underage boy between 2004 and 2007.

But the court in the southern city of Granada, where the alleged abuse took place, ruled their accuser, now aged 25, should have brought a case within three years of turning 18.

One priest, however, is still charged with "continued sexual abuse, with the introduction of a bodily member anally and attempt to introduce the penis", according to the ruling dated January 26.

The statute of limitations does not yet apply to his alleged crimes, which are deemed more serious.

If convicted, the clergyman faces up to 10 years behind bars.

He and his 11 initial co-accused were charged last month with sexual abuse or complicity in abuse. The boy was 14 when the alleged abuse began.

The pedophilia scandal is the biggest yet involving the Catholic Church in Spain, involving a record number of suspects.

The alleged victim says he was raped and made to perform sex acts with one of the priests at a villa with a swimming pool. Others allegedly also took part or turned a blind eye to the acts.

The alleged leader of the group told the teen he had a promising career as a priest ahead of him and chided him for resisting his advances, the charge sheet said.

Case caused pope 'great pain'

Pope Francis said he had ordered a church investigation into the case after the complainant -- who has not been identified -- wrote to him, telling him he had been molested as an altar boy.

The Argentine pontiff, who has taken a zero-tolerance approach to clerical sex abuse, told reporters on November 25 that he heard of the case "with great pain, very great pain, but the truth is the truth and we should not hide it".

A second man aged 44 has also accused one of the priests of abuse in the early 1990s.

Spanish children's rights association Prodeni, which is a civil plaintiff in the case, said it would appeal the court's decision to drop the charges.

"The public must know that we are going to use every appeal possible," the group's president, Juan Pedro Oliver Gimenez, told AFP.

He said the priests should have been charged with "sexual aggression" instead of "sexual abuse", which would haven fallen within the statute of limitations.

'Heartbreaking' ruling

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a US-based victims' group which has repeatedly called on the Vatican to discipline bishops suspected of covering up abuse, said the court's decision was "heartbreaking".

"We strongly suspect that these defendants successfully exploited legal technicalities like the statute of limitations to evade justice. If so, they should be ashamed of themselves," it said in a statement.

After the scandal broke, the Archbishop of Granada, Francisco Javier Martinez, removed some priests linked to the case from their duties.

During a mass in November he threw himself on the cathedral floor, in front of the altar, in a gesture of apology to abuse victims.

The scandal has prompted other victims of clerical sexual abuse to come forward with complaints.

At the end of November, a 45-year-old man alleged he was abused in 1982 at a seminary in Tarragona in northeastern Spain when he was 11 years old.

Spain drops sex abuse charges against nine Catholic priests

Pedophile priest victims urge action from pope - Yahoo News

 

…At the press conference in Mexico City, some of the victims questioned the pope's commitment to fighting pedophilia in the Church.

"We demand that the pope, at the very least, live up to his word because we can all make headlines. Enough with the headlines," said Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean victim who said he feld "deeply betrayed" by the pontiff.

Julieta Anazco of Argentina said that when Francis was known as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, he "never received anybody," despite requests by victims to meet him.

"We are all very sad and losing hope. We have asked for something effective to be done. We want (abusive priests) to be removed and tried" in criminal court, said Anazco, who was abused by a priest at a Church-sponsored summer camp in the 1980s.

The network of victims from the Americas said that the pope's predecessor, Benedict XVI, secretly suspended 400 priests for abusing children, and that they faced Vatican justice without the testimony or knowledge of the victims and their lawyers.

Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said via video conference from the United States that Pope Francis should follow the recommendations of the United Nations, which said last year that the Church violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Pedophile priest victims urge action from pope - Yahoo News

Gay Catholics find a new tone under Pope Francis, and from their own bishops - The Washington Post

 

By David Gibson | Religion News Service February 16 at 5:21 PM

ROME — On its 15 previous pilgrimages, the Catholic gay rights group New Ways Ministry drew maybe two-dozen people to visit holy sites in places like Assisi and Rome.

This year, the number of pilgrims unexpectedly doubled to 50.

Chalk it up to the so-called Francis Effect, where the pope’s open-arms acceptance is giving new hope to gay and lesbian Catholics who have felt alienated from their church for decades.

What’s been even more surprising is that both New Ways and a similar Catholic LGBT organization in Britain are finding support from the Catholic hierarchy in their efforts to meet the pontiff when they both visit the Vatican on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18), the start of Lent, the period of penance and fasting preceding Easter.

For example, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, head of the papal household and the top aide to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, responded to New Ways’ request for a papal meet-and-greet by reserving tickets for the group at Francis’ weekly public audience in St. Peter’s Square. It’s not a private meeting — which is tough for anyone to get — but it’s not nothing.

The pope’s ambassador to Washington forwarded a similar request to Rome. Even San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone — point man for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ battle against gay marriage — had written a letter to the Vatican on their behalf.

Last December, Cordileone had a constructive meeting with Frank DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways, and Sister Jeannine Gramick, a co-founder of New Ways and a longtime advocate for LGBT inclusion in the church. But they were still surprised by the archbishop’s willingness to write a letter for them.

Moreover, British Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster sent a warm blessing to a group of LGBT Catholics from London who are joining up with New Ways in Rome. “Be assured of my prayers for each and every one of you,” Nichols wrote. “Have a wonderful pilgrimage. God bless you all.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Gay Catholics find a new tone under Pope Francis, and from their own bishops - The Washington Post

Pope's man in Ireland oversees a quiet revolution

 

A quiet revolution has been taking place in the leadership of the Catholic Church in Ireland since Archbishop Charles Brown became papal nuncio three years ago. He has overseen the appointment of 10 new bishops to Ireland’s 26 dioceses, with potentially five more to come this year.

Included in the appointments made are two of the church’s four archbishops, one of them the new Catholic primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, who at 53 is also one the youngest bishops on the island. The youngest is the new Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin Denis Nulty (51).

No papal nuncio before has overseen the appointment of so many bishops in such a short time. This has been down to retirements, resignations, and ill-health. But it is likely to have a major influence on the Irish church in the years to come.

February has seen the appointment of a new bishop and the installation of another one. Fr Alphonsus Cullinan (55), a priest of Limerick diocese, was appointed to succeed Bishop Emeritus of Waterford & Lismore William Lee, who retired on grounds of ill-health.

The new Archbishop of Cashel & Emly, Kieran O’Reilly(62), was installed in the post after moving from Killaloe diocese where he was bishop since August 2010.

 

Neither was a priest of the diocese to which he has been appointed, representing a departure from the practice where a bishop generally came from among priests in the diocese.

There appears to be less emphasis nowadays on academic qualifications, as opposed to pastoral experience, in the selection of candidates.

Within two years of his arrival in January 2012, Archbishop Brown had appointed six new bishops, some to particularly sensitive postings following publication of the Murphy report in 2009 into sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese and the Cloyne report in 2011 into sexual abuse in that diocese.

In January 2013 he ordained Fr William Crean (63), parish priest of Cahirciveen, Co Kerry, as Bishop of Cloyne, succeeding Bishop John Magee, who resigned followed publication of the Cloyne report.

Msgr Brendan Leahy (54), a priest of the Dublin archdiocese, was ordained Bishop of Limerick in April 2013, succeeding Bishop Donal Murray, who resigned following the Murphy report.

In April 2013 Msgr Eamon Martin was ordained Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh. He succeeded Cardinal Sean Brady, who retired on age grounds, as Primate of All Ireland in September 2014.

In July 2013 Fr Raymond Browne (57), a priest of Elphin diocese, was ordained Bishop of Kerry, succeeding Bishop William Murphy, who retired on age grounds.

In August 2013 Bishop Denis Nulty, a parish priest in Dundalk, was ordained Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, succeeding Bishop Jim Moriarty, who resigned following the Murphy report.

In October 2013 a priest of Kilmore diocese, Fr Francis Duffy (56), was ordained Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnois, succeeding Bishop Colm O’Reilly, who retired on age grounds.

Since 2013 four more episcopal appointments included Down & Connor Auxiliary Bishop Donal McKeown (65) as Bishop of Derry in April 2014; Dublin parish priest Fr Kevin Doran (61) as Bishop of Elphin in July 2014; Bishop O’Reilly as Archbishop of Cashel & Emly; and Fr Cullinan as Bishop of Waterford & Lismore.

Five other appointments may potentially take place in 2015 in Killaloe, Clonfert, Raphoe, Meath, and Cork & Ross dioceses.The appointment to Killaloe will fill the vacancy created by the “translation” of Bishop O’Reilly to Cashel & Emly.

Before the end of June four bishops will have reached the age of 75 when every bishop must offer a letter of resignation to Rome. It is at the pope’s discretion when it is accepted.

The Bishop of Clonfert, John Kirby, was 75 in October 2013. Bishop of Cork & Ross John Buckley was 75 in November 2014, while the Bishop of Raphoe, Philip Boyce, was 75 on January 25th, 2015. Ireland’s longest serving bishop, Bishop of Meath Michael Smith, was ordained Coadjutor bishop of the diocese in 1988 and is 75 in June 2015.

Auxiliary bishops

One of the three remaining auxiliary bishops in Ireland, Bishop Anthony Farguhar of Down & Connor diocese, is 75 in September 2015. Should his resignation be accepted it will mean there will be just two auxiliary bishops remaining in Ireland.

Bishop Ray Field was 70 last May, and Bishop Eamonn Walsh was 70 last September.

No new auxiliary bishop has been appointed in Ireland since April 2001, when Bishop Donal McKeown became auxiliary bishop in Down & Connor.

Assuming all potential vacancies arising this year are filled, it is the first time in Ireland for 15 bishops to be appointed so quickly after a papal nuncio’s arrival.

The influence of Archbishop Brown on these appointments has been central. Considering his background at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, where he worked for 17 years before coming to Ireland, and that some new bishops are of a traditional hue, the emphasis on pastoral experience in selecting bishops has come as something of a welcome surprise. Clearly valuable lessons have been learned.

Archbishop Charles Brown: profile of a New Yorker who became papal nuncio to Ireland

Archbishop Charles Brown (55) is a native New Yorker, born in Manhattan’s predominantly Jewish East Village area. The family moved upstate when he was five. He is the eldest of six, born to a lawyer father with German lineage and an Irish American mother Patricia Murphy.

He has said: “Of my eight great-grandparents, five were Irish and the others were German... My Irish ancestors came to America during and after the Famine. They left because they were poor.”

Ordained for New York in 1989, he served in a Bronx parish for two years before going to Rome for studies. In 1994 he joined the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in Rome which needed an English speaker.

Working alongside the future Pope Benedict XVI there for 10 years, he remained at the CDF until November 2011, when it was announced he had been appointed papal nuncio to Ireland. This was at the direct request of Pope Benedict and a surprise as Archbishop Brown had not been a member of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.

Since his arrival in Ireland he has not been without critics. At the World Day of Peace Mass on New Year’s Day 2013 in the Church of St Thérèse in Dublin, he spoke forcefully on the “need to work vigorously and courageously to protect and nurture human life from conception to natural death”.

This was in advance of the debate on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill and a week before the Oireachtas health committee began its hearings on the Bill. His congregation included President Michael D Higgins, the Taoiseach’s aide-de-camp Cmmdt Michael Treacy, representatives of the political parties and members of the judiciary and the diplomatic corps. While no one was surprised to hear a Catholic bishop speak in such terms on the issue, it was felt by many present that the occasion was inappropriate.

In September 2013, co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests Fr Brendan Hoban queried whether the new nuncio was “the right man to appoint, effectively on his own, a whole phalanx of new bishops”.

Archbishop Brown, he said, had “spent very little time in parish work and he has no formal training as a papal nuncio, in that he was catapulted out of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith into the diplomatic service by Pope Benedict as Rome’s answer to the dysfunctional Irish Catholic Church”.

Archbishop Brown has been very active meeting and greeting. He has made a positive impression overall which, it is believed, helped towards Ireland’s Embassy to the Holy See being reopened last year.

Pope's man in Ireland oversees a quiet revolution

ex-priest William I. Joffe pleaded guilty to embezzling -- accused of sexual abuse he was removed from the priesthood

 

 

Sex Accuser ID'd in 2004 Diocese Suit
By Edith C. Webster
Rockford Register Star
February 10, 2006
Http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20060210/news0107/102100033/1004/news
A man who previously made allegations of sexual misconduct against a priest filed a lawsuit this week against him and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
Andrew Howell, address unknown, filed a suit in Cook County against the diocese and William Joffe, who previously served as a priest in the diocese.
"We have referred the matter to our legal counsel, but there is nothing new here, other than the complainant's name," Owen Phelps, spokesman for the diocese, said in a written statement. "This case has been a matter of public record since June 2004."
Joffe served a year in prison in 1992 for embezzling more than $265,000 from a parish in Harvard. He was dismissed from priestly duties in 1993 by then-Bishop Arthur J. O'Neill.
In June 2004, the diocese announced that two adult males had made separate allegations against Joffe in March 2004. The incidents of sexual misconduct allegedly happened in 1979 and 1983, while Joffe was pastor at St. Mary Parish in Woodstock.
The diocese also received allegations about the priest in 1993 and 2002, for incidents going back as far as 1965. No criminal charges have been filed.
Joffe was 73 years old and living out of state when abuse allegations were originally made public. His current residence could not be confirmed.

Above is from:  http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/01_02/2006_02_10_Webster_SexAccuser.htm

Status of Msgr. Brodeski

For more details go to:  http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2015/01/masturbating-priest-pleads-guilty-to.html

Phila. Archdiocese puts priest on administrative leave

 

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has placed a Bucks County priest on administrative leave while it reviews allegations against him.

The archdiocese said Sunday it had placed the Rev. Louis J. Kolenkiewicz, 47, on leave, "in an abundance of caution."

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput took the action in response to new information stemming from allegations that were investigated twice before, in 2005 and 2011.

The archdiocese did not disclose details of the allegations but said Kolenkiewicz was alleged to have violated ministry standards regarding the boundaries of appropriate behavior for interacting with children and young people.

The allegations did not involve illegal or inappropriate contact with a minor, the archdiocese said in a statement.

Kolenkiewicz was on administrative leave from 2011 to 2014 while the earlier allegations were reviewed.

He could not be reached for comment Sunday.

David Clohessy, director of SNAP, a national advocacy group for victims of clergy sex abuse, says it can take numerous people to provide information before meaningful change occurs.

"Oftentimes, the priests who are reinstated tend to be very politically connected both inside and outside the church," he said in an interview Sunday.

"It's crucial that every single person with information or suspicions come forward, "he said. "Only vigilance protects kids."

Kolenkiewicz was most recently assigned to St. Bede the Venerable Parish in Holland, Bucks County. The archdiocese said the allegations were unrelated to that assignment, but counselors there were made available.

In 2011, a Philadelphia grand jury found that 37 active priests in the archdiocese were accused or suspected of inappropriate behavior with children.

The report led to a review of personnel files by the archdiocese. One month after the report, 21 priests were put on administrative leave. In September of that year, Kolenkiewicz was also placed on administrative leave.

No criminal charges were brought against Kolenkiewicz after reviews of the allegations by law enforcement in 2005 and 2011. He was reinstated to ministry in June 2014 based on a recommendation by an archdiocesan advisory committee on child sexual abuse.

Since being ordained in 1993, Kolenkiewicz has served in six parishes, including

Phila. Archdiocese puts priest on administrative leave

Reader's View: Association of Catholic women priests is not a lie | Duluth News Tribune

Duluth woman expresses her opinion regarding “woman ordained a priest” in an unsanctioned service.

I disagreed emphatically with the Feb. 10 letter, “‘Delusional’ woman is not a Catholic priest.” It is sad to see our church be a part of hateful discrimination against women in a time when women are attacked and killed merely for going to school. Whenever I ask priests about this they trot out the same tired excuse that Jesus’ apostles were all male.

News flash: There is a growing consensus among theologians that Mary Magdalene was an apostle. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is not a lie. It is a group of brave Catholic women pushing back against the hierarchy in our church that seems unwilling to recognize the authentic calling to priesthood of many women who have a voice to share. They are denied not because of lack of training or expertise but by the simple fact they are female.

If I don’t go to medical school, I cannot be a doctor, but if I do as a woman I would expect to be called doctor upon receipt of my degree. The women who complete seminary training deserve the same respect. In my eyes, they are priests!

Edna Ciurleo

Duluth

Above is from:  Reader's View: Association of Catholic women priests is not a lie | Duluth News Tribune

Pope Francis diversifies his cardinals. But will they have clout where it counts? - Religion News Service

 

But will diversifying the College of Cardinals make it look more like the church’s global flock of 1.2 billion members? Or will it leave the electors so fragmented by geography, language and viewpoints that they won’t be able to serve as a counterweight to career churchmen in Rome?

“Prelates who have no Vatican experience, who don’t speak Italian, and who don’t themselves have the experience of running a large and complex ecclesiastical operation, may feel a natural tendency to defer to the old hands” who have been blamed for Rome’s troubles, veteran Vatican expert John Allen wrote on the Catholic news site Crux.

“The bottom line is that Francis may run the risk of bolstering the old guard rather than cutting it down to size,” he said.

Certainly the breadth and depth of the transformation in the College of Cardinals is remarkable.

In the 2013 papal conclave that elected Francis — an Argentine and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere — Europeans made up 52 percent of the electors; today they account for just over 45 percent, the lowest level ever. The new cardinals bring the total voting-age membership of the College of Cardinals to 125.

Pope Francis diversifies his cardinals. But will they have clout where it counts? - Religion News Service

Pope Francis to visit Philadelphia, New York, D.C.: Schedule so far | PennLive.com

 

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who serves on the committee arranging the visit to the U.S., recently revealed details of the proposed schedule. Here are a few things to know about the pope's visit:

• Pope Francis is set to arrive in Washington, D.C., on the evening of Sept. 22. He will visit the White House the following morning, celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass will be primarily for bishops, consecrated and religious men and women, seminarians and representatives from humanitarian and Catholic charitable organizations. Francis will then address a joint meeting of Congress.

• Francis arrives in New York on Sept. 24. He will address the U.N. general assembly. According to Auza, Francis is scheduled to attend an "interethnic meeting" with a diverse representation of New York residents. He is also expected to visit Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York.

• Francis arrives in Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 26, for the Festival of Families. According to Catholic News Agency, it's likely the pope will visit a children's hospital or juvenile prison. He will  celebrate papal mass on Sunday on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway outside the Philadelphia Art Museum. Some 2 million people are expected to attend. It has not been announced if a ticketing system or reserved seating will be in place for the mass.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Pope Francis to visit Philadelphia, New York, D.C.: Schedule so far | PennLive.com

New York Archdiocese Parishioners See System of Secrets as They Fight Church Closings - NYTimes.com

 

For aggrieved parishioners at churches ordered closed or merged by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan last November, it seemed like a simple task: Get a copy of the formal decree of his decision on their parishes, so they could properly appeal to the Vatican.

So across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, they began calling and writing letters to Cardinal Dolan and his senior aides, asking for the decrees. Some seven weeks later, a definitive answer came back: No, they could not have copies.

But archdiocesan officials said they would allow parishioners to view the documents — under certain conditions.

There could be no photographs and no transcriptions. Notes could be taken, but sometimes only after the document was out of sight. Viewings were by appointment, monitored by archdiocesan officials, parishioners who saw their decrees said.

The rules bewildered parishioners, who feared they might be stymied in filing their appeals. And several leading canon lawyers interviewed this week said they represented a highly unusual departure from church norms.

The following is from:  New York Archdiocese Parishioners See System of Secrets as They Fight Church Closings - NYTimes.com

Tuscon Bishop Expects Pope Francis to 'Prod' Congress on Amnesty Bill - Breitbart

 

The former vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops believes that Pope Francis will try to “prod” lawmakers to pass comprehensive amnesty legislation when he address Congress in September.

Tuscon Bishop Gerald Kicanas told the House Judiciary Subcommittee Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security on Wednesday that immigration is an issue that is “dear to his heart” and mentioned that Pope Francis has already criticized the European Union for not being as welcoming to North African and Middle Eastern immigrants. He noted that Pope Francis’s first pastoral visit was to a Mediterranean island to pray for migrants who have drowned while trying to get to Europe.

When Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) asked Kicanas what he thought Pope Francis will say on immigration when he addresses Congress in September, Kicanas said he did not know for certain. But Kicanas said he believes Pope Francis “will prod the Congress to move forward with courage and conviction” with a “comprehensive” amnesty bill that includes a “pathway to citizenship,” border security, “more legal ways for people to come here,” provisions for “reuniting families” and “helping these sending countries” so migrants who do not want to leave their home country can remain.

Though Pope Francis will not have time to visit Mexico this year, he has said that, “to enter the United States from the border with Mexico would be a beautiful gesture of brotherhood and support for immigrants.”

Read the entire article:  Tuscon Bishop Expects Pope Francis to 'Prod' Congress on Amnesty Bill - Breitbart

Pope Francis is poised to change Catholicism forever | Crux

 

Because he’s such a beguiling media personality, Pope Francis says and does lots of things that get spun as revolutionary but really aren’t. Saying Catholics don’t have to breed “like rabbits,” for instance, is irresistible as a sound-bite, but remarkably old-hat as official teaching.

Saturday, however, shapes up as the real deal, perhaps the most revolutionary day so far in Francis’ two-year run.

By creating 20 new cardinals from all around the world on that day, this first pope from the developing world is poised to change Catholicism forever — not in terms of the ideology of left v. right, perhaps, but definitely in terms of the geography of north v. south.

 

Equally consequential, this is the second consistory of Francis’ reign, meaning the ceremony in which new cardinals are inducted, and it cements impressions that Francis has overhauled the criteria for making these all-important picks.

It used to be that one rose through the clerical ranks and won a job that automatically came with a cardinal’s red hat, such as becoming the archbishop of Venice or Paris or Chicago. Today, however, Francis is skipping over those traditionally entitled venues to lift up eminences from smaller dioceses and essentially random places, literally all over the map.

The consequences of that shift are essentially unknowable, but seem destined to be profound. There’s almost nothing any pope ever does that’s as consequential to shaping culture in the Church as naming its senior leadership, and cardinals are the most important papal selections of all.

Pope Francis is poised to change Catholicism forever | Crux

Weekly Collections for the weekend of February 7, 2015

Six additional pledges;  $1,805 additional pledged.

What mediation means for the archdiocese, insurers and victims | Minnesota Public Radio News

 

The mediation process is private and confidential, unlike a case that goes before a judge.

That promise of privacy invites candor — and encourages the parties involved to consider making concessions they might not otherwise make in open court.

"In mediation, the parties themselves get to say how much they're willing to give up — how much they're willing take, if you would, on either side of the table — and come to some resolution," said Christine Kubes, a construction attorney and mediator.

What about compensating victims?

Generally in a bankruptcy, there's not much dispute about individual abuse claims.

After it's determined how much money is available to compensate victims, a court-appointed adjudicator will decide how that money should be allocated to individual victims, based on the severity of abuse suffered. Settlements also typically include an apology to victims.

Insurers and parishes where sex abuse occurred will likely try to make sure that any settlement with victims doesn't leave the door open to abuse lawsuits against individual parishes.

Insurers and parishes may be on the same page in seeking, through the bankruptcy court, some sort of legal protection against future abuse claims

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  What mediation means for the archdiocese, insurers and victims | Minnesota Public Radio News

Pope Benedict, not Francis, unblocked Romero sainthood case - WTOP

 

The monsignor who spearheaded the saint-making process for El Salvador’s slain Archbishop Oscar Romero said Wednesday it was Pope Benedict XVI — and not Pope Francis — who removed the final hurdle in the tortured, 35-year process.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia told reporters Benedict “gave the green light.” Speaking a day after Francis declared that Romero died as a martyr for the faith, Paglia said Romero’s beatification would likely be within a few months in San Salvador.

Paglia says Benedict told him on Dec. 20, 2012, the case had passed from the Vatican’s doctrine office, where it had been held up for years over concerns about Romero’s orthodoxy, to the saint-making office. From there it proceeded quickly, taking a mere two years for theologians, and then a committee of cardinals and bishops, to agree unanimously that Romero died as a martyr out of hatred for the faith.

Romero was gunned down on March 24, 1980, as he celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel in San Salvador. He had spoken out against repression by the army at the beginning of El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war between the right-wing government and leftistn rebels, a conflict that killed nearly 75,000 people.

Paglia acknowledged some deep opposition to Romero’s cause from within the church, both in Latin America and in the Vatican.

Romero’s primary opponent was the late Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, a senior Vatican official famous for staunchly conservative views on abortion and sex. Lopez Trujillo, who died in 2008, led the Latin American churchmen who feared that beatifying Romero would be akin to beatifying liberation theology, the Catholic movement that holds that Jesus’ teachings require followers to fight for social and economic justice. The conservative right in Latin America was deeply opposed to the movement.

“It’s clear that the figure of Romero required time, because for he who wasn’t in favor or who had robust prejudices against it had to be helped to understand that he was wrong,” Paglia said. “But, as we can see today, the truth has had its victory.”

Pope Benedict, not Francis, unblocked Romero sainthood case - WTOP

Weekly Contributions for the weekend of February 1, 2015

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Shocking attack on churches and Christians cause of concern: Catholic Bishops’ conference | TwoCircles.net

 

New Delhi: Special Consultation held by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi has expressed concern over recent controversies in the name of religious reconversions and ‘shocking’ incidents of attacks on minorities, particularly churches and Christians.

CBCI said that the “untoward incidents” that happened in the past few months in various parts of our country have “wounded the sentiments” of the minority community especially the Christian community and has shaken the faith in the secular fabric of our Nation.

“The shocking incidents that have taken place against Churches, clergy and laity in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have caused great concern for the Christian community,” a press note released recently from the office of the CBCI said, adding, “The recent controversies in the name of religious reconversions portray a negative image of India. Communal polarization and the bid to homogenize India are posing threat to all minorities - women, dalits, and all linguistic, cultural and religious minorities.”

The CBCI was attended by the four Cardinals of India, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Cardinal George Alencherry, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, and CBCI President Cardinal Baselios Cleemis and other Office-Bearers, representatives of the Catholic Council of India (CCD), the Conference of Religious India (CRI), A11 India Catholic Union (AICU), Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM), Legal Experts, Human Rights and Social activists. This was followed by a Meeting with the leaders of other Christian Churches (I{CCI & EFI), based in Delhi.

Criticising the recent so called Ghar Wapsi incidents, the CBCI further said in its press note, “The Ghar Wapsi programmes, the 'saffronisation" of education and culture, and the demands for a Hindu Rashtra are again posing challenges to the secular ethos of our beloved country. "Saffronisation" is an intellectual threat to the coming generation.”

The Christians of this country need an assurance from the Government that we are protected and secure and safe in our motherland, the CBCI demanded.

Read the entire story:  Shocking attack on churches and Christians cause of concern: Catholic Bishops’ conference | TwoCircles.net

Pope Francis to offer haircuts to Rome's homeless | Fox News

 

In November the Holy See said he would install three showers for homeless men and women in the public restrooms off Bernini's Colonnade in St. Peter's Square. The shower facility is set to open Feb. 16 which marks the date the barber shop will open. The barber shop will operate one day a week, on Mondays. Professional barbers, who have agreed to volunteer their time to the Vatican, traditionally don’t have to work on Mondays.

Reuters reported Thursday that the head of the Vatican’s charity office proposed the homeless shower project last year. Bishop Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s alms-giver, then suggested expanding it to include a barber shop. The pontiff supported the initial plan and the expansion.

The Zenit News Agency in Rome reported Friday that Krajewski came up with the idea for the showers after having dinner with a homeless man celebrating his birthday. During the meal, the man explained that homeless individuals in Rome could always find a charity offering food. What the homeless really needed, he said, was a place where they could get a shower.

“Our primary concern is to give people their dignity,” Mgr. Krajewski told ANSA news agency, according to LaStampa’s Vatican Insider. “When a person has no means of washing themselves, they are rejected by society and we all know a homeless person cannot enter a public establishment such as a bar or a restaurant and ask to use the bathroom because they are told to go away.”

“But of course,” he added, “showering and washing one’s underwear is not enough. A person needs to keep their hair and facial hair tidy, also in order to prevent diseases. This is another service that homeless people do not have easy access to. It is not easy for them to enter a normal shop because there may be a fear of customers catching something, like scabies for example.”

The homeless population in Rome numbers about 3,700, according to a census conducted by a Rome foundation and university.

Pope Francis to offer haircuts to Rome's homeless | Fox News