Looks pretty strong to me.
On the contrary, this is very strong. Do you suspect that the Pope is expecting the full meeting of the American bishops to take these proposoals seriously?
The language seems weak, but the message is loud and clear.
SD
Alan Keyes has been hitting this subject very forcefully of late. I wonder what he'll have to say about this.
From our standpoint, yes. In the opinion of those more knowledgeable of such things than me, this is an uncharacteristically strong statement, apparently, and is expected to elicit some real changes -- although, as I said in a previous post, I am skeptical that the more liberal dioceses (say, Mahoney's for example) will see much change except the most egregious offenders that can't stay below the radar any longer.
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.