Archbishop Gomez: ‘Crisis of Personal Fidelity’ at the Heart of Church Scandals

The National Catholic Register ^ | 2/26/19 | CNA

[marshmallow]

Los Angeles archbishop released a statement following the conclusion of the Vatican abuse summit.

LOS ANGELES — Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles responded to the Vatican’s summit on abuse by stressing the need for a renewal of fidelity within the entire Catholic Church.

“This crisis in the Church is an issue of accountability and transparency. But, most importantly, at its heart, this is a crisis of personal fidelity,” he said in a Feb. 24 statement. “It is a crisis of not following Jesus Christ and not living the way he teaches us to live.”

The archbishop, who serves as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, released his statement following the conclusion of a four-day Vatican summit that brought together heads of bishops’ conferences from countries around the world to discuss sexual abuse and child protection.

The summit discussed responsibility, transparency and accountability, with video testimonies from sex-abuse victims, working-group discussions, a penitential liturgy and a closing Mass with final remarks from Pope Francis.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, said in a statement that concrete follow-up measures in the United States will include an intensification of the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Young People — known as the Dallas Charter — which currently governs how U.S. dioceses are to handle sexual-abuse allegations against priests.

Archbishop Gomez, who heads the largest archdiocese in the United States, said that he closely followed the Vatican summit and was “inspired by Pope Francis’ commitment to eliminate the evil of child abuse from the global Church and the wider global society.”

He pledged that he and his fellow bishops will be working in the coming months on the important task of “improving how we handle allegations against bishops and continuing to ensure that children are protected........

[CdMGuy]

Two words for LA Archbishop Jose Gomez: Roger Mahony.

[marajade]

Don’t priests marry themselves to God? If so, wouldn’t committing sexual misconduct be adultery?

[SuziQ]

The problem is fidelity to Church teaching on the part of the Bishops! The acceptance of homosexuals in the priesthood, and refusing to do anything to politicians who not only publicly reject Church teachings, but actively work against them is a scandal to the faithful, and to other Christians.

The Bishops don't seem to have the courage to stand against popular culture, thus not living up to their roles as shepherds putting their lives on the line to keep the wolves away from their flocks.

I believe that liberals and leftists started many years ago muddying the waters, watering down catechesis so that they could make changes without resistance, since people wouldn't know the difference. Thankfully, folks have been teaching themselves, and young people choosing to come in to the Church are stronger in their Faith.