1. Vatican’s McCarrick report forces debate on power and abuse, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, November 12, 2020, 3:06 AM
The Vatican’s report into ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has raised uncomfortable questions the Holy See will have to confront going forward, chief among them what it’s going to do about current and future clergy who abuse their power to sexually abuse adults.
Priests, lay experts and canon lawyers alike say the Vatican needs to revisit how the church protects its seminarians, nuns and even rank-and-file parishioners from problem bishops and cardinals, who for centuries have wielded power and authority with few — if any — checks or accountability.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/vaticans-mccarrick-report-forces-debate-on-power-and-abuse/2020/11/12/0701d71e-24be-11eb-9c4a-0dc6242c4814_story.html
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2. Report on Mccarrick may complicate John Paul’s legacy, New Vatican revelations trigger questions about canonization of late pope, By Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Washington Post, November 12, 2020, Pg. A18
A new Vatican report’s revelations that Pope John Paul II disregarded reports about ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct had Catholics on Wednesday debating the legacy of one of the modern church’s towering figures. The report triggered questions about whether John Paul was rushed through the saint-making process, and whether the author of contemporary Catholic teaching on human sexuality didn’t understand the complex nature of the topic.
The 450-page report released Tuesday is an unprecedented effort by the church at full transparency, a rare window on internal Vatican decision-making that showed that not only John Paul but also popes Benedict and Francis knew McCarrick had faced multiple accusations. Each pontiff was aware of different aspects of the accusations against McCarrick, but the initial years of the case came under John Paul’s 27-year reign.
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“John Paul II was the victim of a deception: a man in whom he had reposed trust, Theodore McCarrick, lied to him about his true character. Saints are human beings, and saints, in their humanity, can be deceived. But let the focus of wickedness in this tawdry affair be identified accurately as Theodore McCarrick, not John Paul II,” George Weigel, one of the pope’s biographers, wrote Tuesday in First Things.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/11/11/pope-john-paul-saint-mccarrick-report-legacy-francis/
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3. Religious persecution increasing, Pew Research report finds, By Christopher Vondracek, The Washington Times, November 12, 2020, Pg. A7
Governments have been cracking down on religious expression more than any other time in recent memory, says a new report on global religious persecution.
The Pew Research Center’s tracking of government restrictions on religion noted a 50% increase in 2018 since the survey’s inauguration in 2007, according to the report published Tuesday.
From outright bans on public worship by Christians and Jews in Qatar to an Australian judge’s refusal to allow a Muslim defendant’s wife to wear a veil in court, the survey documents a year of growing aggression among the world’s governments in disrupting citizens’ religious practices.
The survey singles out countries in the Asia-Pacific and North Africa/Middle East, where several nations receive “high” or “very high” persecution ratings.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/nov/11/religious-persecution-increasing-pew-research-cent/
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4. History-making report sets a precedent the Vatican can’t walk back, By John L. Allen Jr., Crux, November 12, 2020, Opinion
The point arises with respect to Tuesday’s release of the Vatican’s long-awaited report on the case of ex-cardinal and ex-priest Theodore McCarrick. While the focus, understandably, has been on the content of what the report contains, the crucial historical point may be the fact it happened at all.
It’s so breathtaking, in fact, that one wonders if anyone in the Vatican actually understands the magnitude of the precedent they just set.
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Since 1870, when the Vatican lost its temporal authority and was compelled to become an exclusively spiritual power, operationally it’s had two core principles: Secrecy and sovereignty. Secrecy meant we don’t air our dirty laundry in public in order to avoid scandal, and sovereignty meant we don’t owe an explanation of our actions to anyone.
This report doesn’t just break with those principles, it shatters them forever.
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More basically, think about the precedent this report sets. From now until the end of time, regarding any scandal past or present, if the Vatican refuses to conduct a similar investigation and make the results public, the question always will be: Why not? What are they trying to hide?
https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/11/history-making-report-sets-a-precedent-the-vatican-cant-walk-back/
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5. Cardinal Dziwisz defends himself in wake of McCarrick report, By Paulina Guzik, Crux, November 11, 2020
While the world is still digesting the McCarrick report, released by the Vatican on Tuesday, the blame game has begun in Poland, St. John Paul II’s homeland. One of the report’s few living protagonists is Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, who was mentioned 45 times in the document.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/11/cardinal-dziwisz-defends-himself-in-wake-of-mccarrick-report/
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6. Turkey offended by Pompeo’s plan to discuss religious issues, By Associated Press, November 11, 2020, 11:03 AM
Turkey took offense at a U.S. statement that said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would promote religious freedom during an upcoming visit to Istanbul and called Wednesday on Washington to focus on racism and hate crimes in the United States instead.
The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that Pompeo would travel to Istanbul to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Greek Orthodox Christians. The top U.S. diplomat plans to discuss religious issues in Turkey and to promote “our strong stance on religious freedom around the world,” the statement read.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/turkey-offended-by-pompeos-plan-to-discuss-religious-issues/2020/11/11/7769a3c4-2437-11eb-9c4a-0dc6242c4814_story.html
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7. ‘It’s crushing’: Survivors react to McCarrick abuse report, By Sarah Rankin, Associated Press, November 11, 2020, 11:43 AM
Men who have come forward with allegations of abuse by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick expressed disgust, frustration and outrage after an internal Vatican report outlined what was known about the clergyman’s behavior — and what was ignored.
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In interviews with The Associated Press, Bellocchio and others demanded that the Vatican institute changes to ensure nothing like what was described in Tuesday’s extraordinary report can happen again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/its-crushing-survivors-react-to-mccarrick-abuse-report/2020/11/11/10d14b70-243d-11eb-9c4a-0dc6242c4814_story.html
___________________________________________________________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. |
