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To: Dr. Eckleburg
Here's is the letter Ratzinger sent out in 2001 where he affirmed

Hey, you've made progress from your original statement where you claimed Cardinal Ratzinger actually wrote Crimen Sollicitationis. Remember when you said this?

In 2001, in his role as chief Inquisitor, Ratzinger authored the letter “Crimen Sollicitationis”

I'm happy to have offered you the information to correct that misperception.

Now, let's move on to the next correction you've been offered several times. I've gathered them here for your convenience. You repeat:

Here's is the letter Ratzinger sent out in 2001 where he affirmed CRIMEN SOLLICITATIONIS (pay special attention to paragraphs 11,13 and 42a) all of which is still in effect, still threatening excommunication for anyone who takes these accusations of priest sexual abuse outside the church.

Again I will respond to you with my three previous posts:

1.

The secrecy was required of the members of the tribunal, not the victims.

"The document dealt exclusively with the procedure to be followed in connection with a denunciation to the ecclesiastical authority of a priest guilty of solicitation in Confession or of similar acts. It imposed secrecy about the conduct of the ecclesiastical trial, not allowing, for instance, statements made during the trial by witnesses or by the accused to be published. But it did not in any way impose silence on those who were victims of the priest's conduct or who had learned of it in ways unconnected with the ecclesiastical trial. "These matters are confidential only to the procedures within the Church, but do not preclude in any way for these matters to be brought to civil authorities for proper legal adjudication. The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People of June, 2002, approved by the Vatican, requires that credible allegations of sexual abuse of children be reported to legal authorities."[6]

Some interpret the secrecy about the procedure as a cover-up of scandalous conduct. This view was presented in a BBC documentary film Sex Crimes and the Vatican.[7] of 1 October 2006.

Others see it as aimed rather at the protection of all involved, the accused, the victim/denouncer and the witnesses, before the verdict was passed: "It allows witnesses to speak freely, accused priests to protect their good name until guilt is established, and victims to come forward who don’t want publicity. Such secrecy is also not unique to sex abuse. It applies, for example, to the appointment of bishops."[8]

And 2:

3. Crimen Sollicitationis remained in effect until 2001 when the Vatican published a new set of procedures for prosecuting especially grave canonical crimes, including certain sexual crimes committed by the clergy. Two official documents were issued. The first was an apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, known by its Latin title Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, by which the actual norms were promulgated. This letter, dated April 30, 2001, was followed on May 18, 2001 by an official document that set forth the norms. This latter document was signed by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Both documents refer to certain serious canonical crimes and among those is sexual abuse by clerics. These documents represent revised procedures to be used by Bishops and major religious superiors in response to allegations of clergy sexual abuse.

And 3:

De delictis gravioribus

At approximately the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, through an ad hoc commission established, devoted itself to a diligent study of the canons on delicts both of the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in order to determine "more grave delicts both against morals and in the celebration of the sacraments" and in order to make special procedural norms "to declare or impose canonical sanctions," because the instruction Crimen Sollicitationis, issued by the supreme sacred Congregation of the Holy Office on March 16, 1962,(3) in force until now, was to be reviewed when the new canonical codes were promulgated.


131 posted on 03/28/2010 5:20:04 AM PDT by Lorica
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To: Lorica; Gamecock; the_conscience; 1000 silverlings; Poe White Trash; Quix; RnMomof7; HarleyD; ...
Show me where Crimen Sollicitationis has been nullified or rescinded. It has not. The two-word out clause, "until now" does not mean the document was nullified or rescinded. Any further instructions simply augment Crimen Sollicitationis because it is still in effect.

That was the point of Ratzinger's letter to the bishops -- to remind them of the secrecy that was to continue to surround any sexual abuse accusations; to remind them that the victim and every one involved with any sexual abuse claim was sworn to keep their mouth shut until 10 years after the victime reached the age of 18.

It's pretty astounding Roman Catholic apologists apparently miss what actually transpired. The RCC was about to be prosecuted as an entity and the pope in particular as obstructing justice. They are not stupid. The words of Crimen Sollicitationis are damning. Any private corporation putting out that document would be behind bars for decades. So what does Rome do? Rome issues a few bulletins and has RC apologists mouth a few platitudes saying that "of course we didn't mean to obstruct justice; of course children should go to the police with their accusations of sexual assault by priests...of course we want to get to the bottom of these terrible crimes...yadayadayada."

And nothing changes.

Because if that were true, the pope would have sent out a letter, not like the one he did where he reaffirmed Crimen Sollicitationis, but instead a letter which clearly and unambiguously rescinded, nullified and erased for all time the pitiful and illegal restrictions put upon the victims in Crimen Sollicitationis.

Keep defending the indefensible. It shows where the heart of the RCC resides.

133 posted on 03/28/2010 10:19:23 AM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg ("I don't think they want my respect; I think they want my submission." - Flemming Rose)
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