[Just Posted] Holy See: Full text of final communique of US cardinals

The Holy See - www.Vatican.va ^ | 4-25-2002 | Vatican

[Torie]

I am out of my depth here, but here is the first inadequate cut from a near Atheist of what I as Pope would have requested that the Cardinals sign onto as MY dictat:

1. We acknowledge that we have failed all to often to adhere to the morality of the Church's teaching and to civil law in dealing with sexual misconduct of those who have taken the vows of our Church to serve Christ in the priesthood. We acknowledge that we must make whole all who have been victims of our failure as good shephards of the flock. We know that it is painful, but it is the Lord's will.

2. We will be far more vigilent in screening applicants to the priesthood, and will vigorously inquire whether by deed they have hewed to their vows, and that they have a sufficient emotional maturity to withstand the demands which we place upon them. We acknowledge that this may well exacerbate a shortage of priests, but we not not let that deflect us.

3. We will ponder and honestly in an open debate discuss the fitness of those with a homosexual orientation to be priests, with a view to minimizing the risk of trangressions which place the Church in both moral and legal danger.

4. We will endeavor to involve the laity in our deliberations, and vow that such delibertions will be open and candid, and open for public inspection. We denounce any actions which suggest any secretive or a defensive attitude on our part.

5. We are committed to personal accountability, and expect those in authority to prayfully ponder their culpability for the straits in which the Church finds itself, and will respect and honor those that chose to voluntarily resign their offices to the extent that in all candor they find themselves wanting. And we expect candor and honestly from those in whom we have placed such authority. To the extent we find them wanting in this regard, we will not shy from taking such actions as may be warranted.

6. We welcome constructive criticism, and will respond to it in good spirit, promptly and with candor, with the view that our foremost task is to regain the trust of those whose trust we have abused and violated due to our own moral inadequacies. We are but human, but as humans we are capable of redemption, and will endeavor to achieve it, with vigor, persistance, and humility, in hopes that the Lord will be generous and forgiving of our sins.

I know the cadences from a theological standpoint suck. I simply lack the skill here to manipulate the verbiage to my satisfaction.

[Notwithstanding]

The reply was not really to "you" - I just hit reply on the last post - which happened to be yours. Sorry.

[Notwithstanding]

I find it amazing that so many who would criticize the Church - the pope - for being autocratic and heavy handed (which has not been the case) would now use this opportunity to skewer the Church - the pope - for not autocratically imposing a solution to the problem from on high.

You would think that the liberal press (and othes who are not so liberal but think the Church is so heavy handed) would enjoy the deference the pope still gives to the local bishops and the national bishop's conference. After all, that is their beloved "collegiality" (codeword for liberals for democracy in the church) at play.

[fatima]

I vote for you to go in-secret agent Dave ,secret agent Dave,they have given you a # and taken way your name.

[Romulus]

My interpretation from the statement by the Americans is that they, poor boobies, continue to understand the crisis and its solution as procedural.

The mortal danger is that once the idea is established that sexual abuse is a problem to be "managed", it becomes a regrettable but unavoidable cost of doing business -- like paying for fire insurance or pest control. This is the way -- not that the cardinals want it that way, but because they don't understand the dynamic at work -- that pederasty becomes normalised. The fatal mistake is to treat the symptom only, without addressing the disease. Deviant priests do not appear out of thin air. They come from corrupt seminaries, and ultimately from an ignorant, uncatechised laity that's been on its own, wandering in the desert for 40 years. The problem of sexual deviancy and blackmail are just one aspect of this systemic problem. The cardinals seem to think they're fighting a trash fire, completely clueless that behind their back the entire forest is ablaze.

I thought the American statement was, to use the English slang, "wet." Very wet.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Jesus threw the money changers out of the Temple.

Or even more to the point "if anyone causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to sin, I tell you truly that it would be better for him if he had a millstone tied about his neck and hurled into the sea."

I'm a diehard Calvinist, but I don't think it takes Christian rocket science to see that this passage certainly applies to the children who are destined to be saved... God sends angels to help those who will inherit salvation. There will be one hell of a payback (literally) to some of these molesters. "Whatever you do unto them, you do unto Me." I'd think that the Pope would not have just been within his rights, but absolutely obligated by Scripture, to equal any Southern Baptist preacher's fire and brimstone in this matter.

[Maelstrom]

The Catholic Church died last night.

[SoothingDave]

I've not seen that. Especially since many protestants participate in fasting and prayer and know it is for sanctification.

My apologies, I painted with rather a broad brush. I was thinking of the more "fundamentalist" type of Protestant and not of the more "mainstream" type. Sorry.

SD

[SoothingDave]

My interpretation from the statement by the Americans is that they, poor boobies, continue to understand the crisis and its solution as procedural.

I understand your point, but are not the catechising of the laity and the preperation of seminary students "procedures"?

SD

[anniegetyourgun]

Actually, the prayer and fasting types are mostly found in those churches that still adhere to the "fundamentals of the Christian faith" rather than the mainlines which have lost their first love.

[BlackElk]

Actually, what we need is a new orthodox lay ministry within our Church. It can start with a pastoral letter in reverse from the pews to the likes of Bishop Pilla, Archbishop Pilarczyk, Archbishop Weakland, Roger Cardinal Mahoney, Bernard Cardinal Law, Bishop Daily of Brooklyn, etc., called : Always our Bishops: At Least So Far.

Let Rome appoint the laity to the ministry and solicit its ongoing advice on matters AmChurch and act on that advice.

[ex-snook]

To Anyone with a clue:

The meeting with JP II seems to indicate that there is an AMERICAN CHURCH that should have its own procedures on the priesthood. Why aren't there universal Vatican standards that the Pope could have spelled out for compliance?

This tacit admission by Rome that the American Church should be different continues to leave the door open for the "Am-Church", or any other XX-Church to go its own way whenever.

Is this ONE CHURCH or what?

[Robert Drobot]

Your analysis captured the conclusion of the 'summit' - feeble, gratuitously arrogant and obtuse.

Evil will continue - will not be eliminated - unless it has been proven to be notorious [intentionally ambiguous - rape at high-noon in a downtown intersection] serial [twice, three times, ten times - who picks the threshold], predatory, sexual abuse of minors [looks like young men and women, seminarians or novices are still open season].

Business as usual, until the lawsuits dry up the wealth of the Church. I was wrong. I thought the loss of wealth would be THE motivator to burn out the nest of evil in our Church.

And parishioners should do penance for the sins of their priests? To think I had it backasswards all this time. I always thought it was the priests who had a vocation to do penance for the sins of their parishioners. Can't do one while enjoying the other.

Finally, my take on the "....reprimand individuals who spread dissent and groups which advance ambiguous approaches to pastoral care..." conclusion is to establish an offensive to gag public outrage at the evil in the Church, and a campaign to eliminate religious practices attempting to protect and continue pre-Second Vatican Council traditions.

[Mike Fieschko]

And parishioners should do penance for the sins of their priests?

Vicarious atonement (doing penance for another's sins) goes back in the New Testament, to St Paul. Colossians 1:24; II Corinthians 12:15; II Timothy 4:6

In the Old, we find it in Exodus 32:31-32 and Job 1:5.

[AniGrrl]

Here's a fair question. Why the Vaticanese at all? This is one of those instances where a clear, direct voice is needed and the whole world is watching.

What is is the point of having a Pope and his concommitant authority if there ISN'T a time to lay down the law and force changes to implemented? Who cares if the American bishops don't meet until June? Obviously, if they were handling the problem, there wouldn't be a problem!

These issues don't require subtle analysis, they require moral courage and action. I think just about anybody could figure out "the right thing to do." What am I missing?

[SoothingDave]

Here's a fair question. Why the Vaticanese at all? This is one of those instances where a clear, direct voice is needed and the whole world is watching.

Because the type of language sacrifices clarity for exactitude. It is a level above simple statements, which can be ambiguous. Rather than saying "you've got a problem with homosexuals" it instead says "people must know that priests are committed to the full truth of catholic sexual morality." That says things about homosexuality, and more.

What is is the point of having a Pope and his concommitant authority if there ISN'T a time to lay down the law and force changes to implemented?

He just did.

SD

[Notwithstanding]

CLICK FOR DIRECT LINK TO DESCRIPTION WITH VIDEO FEED LINK

CRISIS IN THE CHURCH (60:00) Join Raymond Arroyo and guests Colin Donovan, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, and Michael Novak for a spiritual analysis of the genesis as well as the  outlook for resolution of Catholicism's current crisis. The round-table discussion  will include your live call-in questions and comments on the response of U.S. cardinals to their recent meeting with the Holy Father in Rome, and what impact the resulting papal directives may have on the Catholic Church in America.   Monday April 29- 8:00 pm ET LIVE  Tuesday April 30 1:00 pm ET  Encore