Posted on 08/07/2003 9:54:10 AM PDT by polemikos
Boston, Aug. 07 (CWNews.com) - A CBS network news report, claiming that the Holy See orchestrated a cover-up of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, is based on a gross misinterpretation of a 1962 Vatican document.
In a sensationalist report aired on August 6, CBS Evening News claimed to have discovered a secret document proving that the Vatican had approved-- and even demanded-- a longstanding policy of covering up clerics' sexual misdeeds.
The document cited by CBS does nothing of the sort.
In fact the network's story misrepresented the Vatican document so thoroughly that it is difficult to attribute the inaccuracy to honest error.
The CBS story is based on a secret Instruction issued to bishops in March 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, then the prefect of the Holy Office (now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). That document sets forth the canonical procedures to be followed when a priest is charged with the ecclesiastical crime of "solicitation"-- that is, using the confessional to tempt penitents to engage in sexual activity.
[The Vatican document, in an awkward English translation, can be downloaded from the CBS News site. CBS also offers the Latin original.]
The Vatican document deals exclusively with solicitation: an offense which, by definition, occurs within the context of the Sacrament of Penance. And since that sacrament is protected by a shroud of absolute secrecy, the procedures for dealing with this ecclesiastical crime also invoke secrecy.
In short, by demanding secrecy in the treatment of these crimes, the Vatican was protecting the secrecy of the confessional. The policy outlined in that 1962 document is clearly not intended to protect predatory priests; on the contrary, the Vatican makes it clear that guilty priests should be severely punished and promptly removed from ministry.
It is important to keep in mind that the 1962 Vatican Instruction dealt exclusively with "solicitation" as that term is understood in ecclesiastical usage, under the terms of the Code of Canon Law. The policies set forth by Cardinal Ottaviani do not pertain to the sexual misdeeds of clerics, but to the efforts by priest to obtain sexual favors though the misuse of their confessional role.
It is also important to note that because solicitation takes place inside the confessional, only the accused priest and the penitent could possibly have direct evidence as to whether or not the crime took place. If the solicitation led to actual sexual activity, that misconduct could be the subject of an entirely separate investigation, not bound by the same rules of secrecy.
The crime of "solicitation" has always been viewed by the Catholic Church as an extremely serious offense, calling for the strongest available penalties. Cardinal Ottaviani stresses that any confessor who solicits sexual favors from his penitents should be suspended from ministry and stripped of all priestly privileges. These penalties apply to all cases of solicitation, whether they involve minor children or adults of either sex. The 1962 document is not concerned with all instances of solicitation; it does not concentrate on the solicitation of children.
The CBS report claimed:
The confidential Vatican document, obtained by CBS News, lays out a church policy that calls for absolute secrecy when it comes to sexual abuse by priests-- anyone who speaks out could be thrown out of the church.That is inaccurate.
Believe it or not, Rome does not micromanage the affairs of each diocese. The bishops operate with a great degree of autonomy and the Vatican has had a hard enough time getting renegade bishops to do all manner of things.
It's not quite the absolute dictatorship many may imagine. The Pope's powers are mostly of persuasion. The Pope can plea for his bishops to do something, but many ignore him. He can remove them, but that is something like using a nuclear weapon.
They knew things were rotten but did nothing!
I don't think this has been demonstrated.
SD
Your comment is intertesting, in that it seems the RCC is now the full JUDGE and JURY in these cases. And if a perv priest gets a slap, or even a pass...it's OK, "Everybody Does It"!!!
Nice defense...think it'll hold up on Judgement Day?!?!
Tell me just where the VICTIMS get relief for their petition...or recompense for their suffering...or JUSTICE in keeping another Perv in a Cassoc from doing it all over again to another kid?!?!
This little factor keeps getting LOST in all this debate!
Doesn't ROME have to OK the expenditure of funds for things like payoffs to the families, relocating an accused perv, and all the legal bills?!?! Doesn't the dioscese have accountants, or is all the $$$ fungible?
The bishops operate with a great degree of autonomy and the Vatican has had a hard enough time getting renegade bishops to do all manner of things.
Yeah, like "Don't touch the KIDS"!!! That one seems to be tough to follow!
I don't know, why do you?
If a priest become a public problem, his bishop would be expected to deal with him. There are many priests and religious out there espousing all kinds of heretical ideas and very few of them ever get any kind of action. The current cause celebre of the "progressives" involves two (a priest and a nun) who after repeated warnings about teaching falsely were ordered to stop "ministering" to the "homosexual community."
The notoriety of this pair points out exactly how rare such action is. You have to really, really go out of your way to get disciplined. The priest up in Canada may have acheived this level.
Another famous case is the awful Father Drinan. He was a pro-abortion member of Congress and a priest. The Vatican, after a fashion decreed that no priest could be a congressman.
SD
I thought I said that the bishops run their own churches autonomously? Every time the diocese writes a check they don't need to get approval from the Vatican. The Vatican, by and large, assesses individual dioceses so much per year for support of the Vatican. But individual items in the budget are not generally open for review.
Yeah, like "Don't touch the KIDS"!!! That one seems to be tough to follow!
That isn't necessary. Don't be an ass.
SD
Perhaps you missed where I explained earlier that this has to do with Church proceedings in church law. Civil, secular law is a completely different thing.
Yes, the Church is the judge and jury in its own ecclesial proceedings. Duh. Do you want the state deciding how to run your church.
You'd think people would read and think about the things you tell them, but they just don't.
SD
The reason the document surfaced in the first place is that it is being used in one of the Boston sex abuse of minors cases by catholic lawyers against the church and may well hold up in court if those victims were solicited in the confessional and the perpetrator(s) were not reported to civil authorities, which evidently they were not.
I do agree otherwise with other posters who correctly point out that the seal of confession must be upheld and thus the reason for secret proceedings.
This is coming down to a p****** contest between our legal system and church law. In the case of criminal offenses, I hope our legal system wins out.
Back in the sixties & seventies, quite a few of the liberal priests we won't be missing were doing just that.
A friend of mine's brother was told, when waiting for an annulment, to just go on and get a civil wedding & square it up with the Church later. I can visualize the steam coming out of Father Scalia's ears at that!
And as long as the Church was handling things properly, there was no problem. As has been pointed out, to no comment, the awareness of such abuse is great today versus what it was in the recent past. People did indeed keep such things "in the family" rather than involve the gov't authorities and the Church was no different.
It is, as I've said numerous times, the failure of the Church to handle this properly that is the main problem. If the offenders were dealt with in a way that removed them from any chance of repeating, there would be no scandal to speak of. Even though there was no secular charge, trial, or punishment. The Church failed to do its end of the deal in disciplining tis own priests.
SD
Not sure I understand the question. My point was that the Church used to take care of its own, in all kinds of situations. One who entered into the priesthood for the most part removed himself from the purview of the state. The Church would educate, clothe, feed, etc. you and you would obey and serve. And if there was misconduct, the Church had ways of handling that as well.
Obviously, the Church failed to live up to its side of this unwritten contract.
SD
Supposedly in 1963 Dan Rather was (mysteriously) positioned closest to the "grassy knoll" spot where JFK was assassinated. After seeing film of the assassination, he is reported to have described (inaccurately) Kennedy's head going forward as if shot from behind when his head clearly jerks backwards. Dan Rather is also reported to be a member of organizations which promote global population control. CBS has never covered stories on such organizations which expose their manipulation of the political process.
Has CBS ever aired stories exposing NAMBLA or secular university professors or APA members who promote pedophilia and sodomy with minors? Has CBS ever reported in depth on the anti-Catholic agenda documented in Michael Rose's book?
Cardinal Ottaviani opposed the liberalization and modernization of "the spirit of Vatican II" which was spearheaded by the notorious liturgist and anti-Catholic secret society member (Bugnini). It should come as no surprise that Bugnini's frat brothers at CBS would leap at the chance to include Cardinal Ottaviani in their orchestrated campaign to set up the Church to take the rap for a sodomy conspiracy promoted by their organizations and clandestine societies, a sodomy conspiracy, mind you, that is so important to them they refuse to subject NAMBLA to the same investigations as those directed at the Church. CBS is so concerned about protecting children that they will expose efforts by sodomites to adopt young boys, right? When was the last time CBS ran a story on the use of teenage male prostitutes by members of the fashion industry?
CBS is essentially (by design) a front organization for the anti-Catholic secret societies which manipulate the political process in America for their own peculiar agenda. It is a propaganda corporation exposed in print by one of its own former employees. It is the American equivalent of PRAVDA and specializes in disinformation. One would doubt that CBS employs any real Catholics and , after all, why would any true Catholic want to assist such a nefarious corporation so in bed with the culture of death.
CBS has participated in public lies about the JFK assassination, about Vietnam, about the Clinton scandals, about AIDS, abortion, and organized religion. The third-rate propaganda of this cheesy tabloid outfit reflects its source of origin. The Church, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ will long outlive this pseudo-journalistic den of perverts, liars, and anti-Christian secret society propagandists.
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