1. Church convicts Catholic ex-priest of abusing boy for years, By Associated Press, June 7, 2022, 8:36 AM A Catholic diocese in Germany said Tuesday that a former priest has been convicted in a church trial of sexually abusing a minor over several years almost three decades ago. The man, who wasn’t identified, was ordered to pay 10% of his income to a charitable organization that helps victims of abuse, the diocese of Limburg said. While financial payouts have been included in confidential settlements between the church and victims of abuse, the announcement of a financial penalty against a priest as a result of a canonical investigation is unusual. … After receiving a dossier from the diocese, the Vatican asked it to open criminal proceedings. … The diocese said that the church now considers the man to be a convicted sex offender. It said the man would have been defrocked as part of his conviction, but he left the priesthood during the trial. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/church-convicts-catholic-ex-priest-of-abusing-boy-for-years/2022/06/07/6f42b83c-e64d-11ec-a422-11bbb91db30b_story.html ___________________________________________________________ 2. Cardinal Farrell to lead Vatican investment oversight committee, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, June 7, 2022, 5:49 AM Cardinal Kevin Farrell will chair a new committee to oversee investments, the Vatican said on Tuesday. The 74-year-old Irish-American cardinal will lead a committee of four finance professionals. Since 2020, Farrell has also led a committee to monitor internal Vatican financial decisions that fall outside other accountability norms. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251471/cardinal-farrell-to-lead-vatican-investment-oversight-committee __________________________________________________________ 3. New HR office could be real revolution at heart of Pope’s reform, By John L. Allen Jr., Catholic News Agency, June 7, 2022, Opinion In March 2020, the Vatican chose a Friday to announce the creation of a new “General Directorate for Personnel,” essentially an HR office, within the Secretariat of State, which was touted as “a step of great importance in the path of reform initiated by Pope Francis.” … As part of a general reform of the Roman Curia decreed by Francis in his recent apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, which took effect on Sunday, personnel management in the Vatican was transferred from the Secretariat of State to the Secretariat for the Economy under the leadership of the pope’s fellow Jesuit, Spanish Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves. … From the outside, it’s easy to think that whatever personnel problems the Vatican has are either because of politics – e.g., conservatives hobbling the progressive agenda of Pope Francis – or due to the intrigues of a royal court, with Princes of the Church jockeying to expand their power or defeat their enemies. Anyone who’s actually worked in the place, however, generally will tell you that the real problems are more prosaic. … It’s also puzzling why it took more than two years to arrive at the realization of the need for such an effort, when it was crystal-clear back in March 2020, and, frankly, well before that. However, at least now the real problems appear to have been identified, and a structure has been created to address them under new management at the Secretariat for the Economy. It remains to be seen if it will work – but, if it does, this could be the real revolution at the heart of the Francis reform. https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2022/06/new-hr-office-could-be-real-revolution-at-heart-of-popes-reform __________________________________________________________ 4. Broker blames ‘irrational’ Vatican choices for London losses, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, June 6, 2022, 4:15 PM One of the principal figures in the Vatican’s bungled London real estate venture testified Monday that the Holy See would have turned a profit on its valuable investment if it hadn’t pulled its money out of a fund prematurely. Raffaele Mincione, a London-based fund manager, said it was an “irrational” decision by a client that should have known better. Mincione broke two years of silence in testifying before the Vatican’s criminal court, where he and nine other people are accused of a host of financial crimes related to the Vatican’s 350 million euro project to develop a former Harrod’s warehouse into luxury apartments. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/broker-blames-irrational-vatican-choices-for-london-losses/2022/06/06/60826d1a-e5d5-11ec-a422-11bbb91db30b_story.html ___________________________________________________________ 5. Health care must be accessible to all, not select few, pope says, By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service, June 6, 2022 Health care is a fundamental right for all and not a privilege for the rich while the poor and disadvantaged are left to the wayside, Pope Francis said. “When a country loses this wealth that is public health care, it begins to make distinctions within the population between those who have access, who can have paid health care, and those who are left without health care services,” the pope said June 4 to representatives of the Italian health care association, Federsanità. https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2022/06/health-care-must-be-accessible-to-all-not-select-few-pope-says ___________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |