Lay Group Calls on UN to Sanction Vatican Over Sex Abuse

CNSNews.com ^ | 5/31/02 | Lawrence Morahan

[Antoninus]

Lay Group Calls on UN to Sanction Vatican Over Sex Abuse

By Lawrence Morahan
CNS Senior Staff Writer

www.CNSNews.com - A Catholic activist group is calling on the United Nations to invoke the Convention on the Rights of the Child to denounce sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) announced it is launching a petition drive calling on Jacob Egbert Doek, chairman of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, to "immediately demand a report from the Holy See on both the magnitude of the problem and its plans to end pedophilia and ephebophilia in the church."

The CFFC said neither the United Nations nor its member states could ignore what it calls the systematic abuse of children or violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Vatican, which has permanent observer status at the United Nations.

"The Holy See - the government of both Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church - has an obligation to the world community to address this problem publicly and to take steps to ensure the safety of children in its care," the CFFC stated.

Frances Kissling, CFFC president, said the Vatican for years turned a blind eye to high-ranking officials who covered up the abuse. She described efforts underway by American cardinals and Pope John Paul II to find solutions to the problem as "a bit like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop."

Kissling called for the resignations of church officials who have covered up for offenders, including Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston and Cardinal Edward Egan of New York. [But not Mahony of LA or George in Chicago? Hmmmm.....]

"The Holy See must demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy. Sexual abusers must be dismissed and defrocked promptly. High-ranking officials who have covered up abuse or impeded civil and criminal proceedings must resign or be dismissed," Kissling stated in a press release.

The CFFC said the church should "apologize to the world for the tragic child sexual abuse by its priests and its lack of action to end this abuse." It also called on the Vatican to reinstate its contribution to the United Nations Children's Fund.

Traditional Catholic groups quickly denounced the petition drive and accused the CFFC of using the scandal to harm the church.

"They will take any stick to beat the Catholic Church and they are riding on the suffering of adolescent boys in order to give a black eye to the church. It is a despicable effort," said Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute in New York.

"This is aimed less at the member states of the U.N. than at raising money for CFFC," he said. Patrick Scully, a spokesman for the New York-based Catholic League, called the CFFC's petition drive a "most transparent attack on the Catholic Church" by "a group that has been twice denounced by the bishops as being fraudulent. They're not Catholic," he said.

The CFFC is a group without legal standing that has spent the last two years trying to get the Vatican kicked out of the United Nations, or at least have its status lessened, Scully said.

"Now they ask the U.N. to intervene in an internal church matter. This group is so transparent, it's sad," he said.

Both Scully and Ruse said Kissling was on record as saying she wants to overthrow the church. "Their concern is not with the church," Ruse said. "Their concern is with overthrowing the church." A spokeswoman for CFFC said Frances Kissling was unavailable for comment.

[Antoninus]

As long as we're on the subject...

How Dissident "Catholic" Groups are Trying to Make Gains from the Scandal

[Antoninus]

Oh keeper of the bump list, could you do the honors?

For those of you who want to let Ms. Quisling hear from you...

Catholics for a Free Choice

Website: http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/indexengflash.htm

Email address: cffc@catholicsforchoice.org

Physical Address:

Catholics for a Free Choice
1436 U Street NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20009-3997 USA
Office: +1 (202) 986-6093
Fax: +1 (202) 332-7995

[Thorondir]

Catholics for a free choice are NOT CATHOLIC!!!!!!!

Not at all.

Not in any way, whatsoever.

Not even close.

Not by ANY definition!!!!

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

What does the UN have to do with all of this?

These people sound more removed every time they open their mouhts.

[Antoninus]

And notice that Ms. Quisling doesn't say word one about the fact that 90% of these abuse cases are HOMOSEXUAL. Wonder why?

[Slyfox]

The CFFC said neither the United Nations nor its member states could ignore what it calls the systematic abuse of children...

Interesting, a pro-abortion group headed by a person who used to run an abortion clinic which means she oversaw the KILLING OF INNOCENT CHILDREN, calling for and end to "systematic abuse of children"?

[Antoninus]

Catholics for a free choice are NOT CATHOLIC!!!!!!!

Please feel free to communicate that sentiment to them directly...

[Antoninus]

Interesting, a pro-abortion group headed by a person who used to run an abortion clinic which means she oversaw the KILLING OF INNOCENT CHILDREN, calling for and end to "systematic abuse of children"?

Hey, that's one of the benefits of being a gutless, slimy Marxist agitator - you need not worry about hypocrisy.

[Thorondir]

I just did. But they know it and are only there to disrupt, defame and dishonor the Church. Scumbags. They are already defacto excomunicated and will get a big unpleasant surprise in the end.

[Antoninus]

Here's a news story from July 2000 you might enjoy that I posted to another thread:

Pro-Abortion "Catholic" Dares Bishops To Excommunicate Her

NEW YORK (CWNews.com/LSN.ca) - Frances Kissling, head of the pro-abortion group Catholics for a Free Choice, has written a column daring bishops or the Pope to excommunicate her.

In her article she says that "since no bishop or pope--and I am reasonably sure that these authorities know who I am and what I believe--has chosen either to pronounce me excommunicated or declare that I have automatically excommunicated myself, I am confident that I remain in good standing with the Church."

Pretending to answer those who argue that she has excommunicated herself, Kissling claims erroneously that only those who procure abortions directly are excommunicated automatically. She eggs on the debate by claiming that her advocacy of abortion does not qualify her for excommunication, but nor does "directing an abortion clinic, as I did some 20 years ago." She mentions also that she slips into "churches around the world, receiving Communion, and saying, Yes, I am Catholic."

Despite her claim that bishops and the Pope probably know who she is, it is not likely that they share her view of her own importance. Furthermore, many Catholics do not consider her or her anti-Catholic group to be Catholic in the first place.

------------------------------------

I wish the Vatican would just call her bluff. I think it's about time we took out the BIG STICK on these people...

[ThomasMore]

"immediately demand a report from the Holy See on both the magnitude of the problem and its plans to end pedophilia and ephebophilia in the church."

What the Holy See should do, IMHO, is excommunicate everyone of the Catholics for a Free Choice; and then can all the homos in the episcopate, priesthood and seminary. That ought to narrow the field considerably.

[Antoninus]

But they know it and are only there to disrupt, defame and dishonor the Church.

Excellent. We need to disrupt, defame, and dishonor them in turn. A few hundred emails from irate true Catholics ought to do the job, I think!

[Bohemund]

Hurl alert.

From the CFFC website: Will I be excommunicated if I have an abortion?

The official Canon Law of the church at the present time states that anyone who commits the sin of abortion automatically excommunicates herself from the church. To commit the sin of abortion, you have to think that an abortion in your case, with all the circumstances of your life and your pregnancy, is a sin against God. You then have to decide that you are going to do it anyway, thus going against your conscience.

The Catholic church officially teaches that the conscience of an individual is supreme. If you carefully examine your conscience and then decide that an abortion is the most moral act you can do at this time, you are not committing a sin. Therefore, you are not excommunicated. Nor need you tell it in confession since, in your case, abortion is not a sin.

The "Liturgy for Seeking Wisdom" on the same page may be the most ludicrous thing I've ever seen.

[tdadams]

"The CFFC will take any stick to beat the Catholic Church and they are riding on the suffering of adolescent boys in order to give a black eye to the church."

I have no doubt the CFFC is trying to exploit this scandal in a very slimey way. But the Catholic Church gave itself a black eye. They are negligent to say the least and have facilitated hundreds of incidents of child sexual abuse. There is no excuse.

[Thorondir]

The Catholic church officially teaches that the conscience of an individual is supreme.

This is not true. It is not even anywhere close to the mark. The conscience must be ordered according to the teaching of the Church and if it stands in opposition to the Church, it is simply wrong and cannot be used to negate sin. Abortion, theft, lies, adultery and such things are intrinsic evils and canot be made good by ANY means, sophistry, machination or lame excuse.

[ThomasMore]

In her article she says that "since no bishop or pope--and I am reasonably sure that these authorities know who I am and what I believe--has chosen either to pronounce me excommunicated or declare that I have automatically excommunicated myself, I am confident that I remain in good standing with the Church."

She's not the only one that needs to be excommunicated. We have gutless bishops. The only one worthy is Bruskewitz.

There's a story going around that a father and son went to a bishops consecration. And when the time came, and he was surrounded by all the other bishops and cardinals, the son asked, "Dad, what are they doing?" The father answered, "Oh, they're removing his spine and guts and will finish the process by castration".

[Thorondir]

The only one worthy is Bruskewitz.

You got that right, my friend.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Old news. No need to give the heretics, particularly Frank Kissling, more attention.

Lay Group Calls on UN to Sanction Vatican Over Sex Abuse

[Free the USA]

Index

[ThomasMore]

My bishop was approached about a highly visible and public figure who was an abortion provider and claimed to be Catholic. We asked why he wasn't excommunicated because of his position on abortion. The bishop replied, "they'll be no excommunications on my watch!" Can you believe it!