Category: Priests In Trouble

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Boston Globe Spotlight Team Uncovers Secret Children Of Catholic Priests

One of the Boston Globe reporters made famous in the movie “Spotlight” has a new bombshell story on the Catholic Church – thousands of people claim they were fathered by priests.

Globe Spotlight reporter Michael Rezendes appeared on CBS This Morning Wednesday to discuss the first part of his report, “Children of Catholic Priests Live with Secrets and Sorrow.”

Michael Rezendes.

“We know there are many more than people assume, probably in the thousands. Just recently, about two years ago, a son of a priest in Ireland set up a website called Coping International and he’s heard from scores of people from all over the world who are the sons and daughters of Catholic priests,” Rezendes said.

Rezenedes first heard from a man named Jim Graham, who’s profiled in the Globe story.

“Jim spent many years tracking down evidence that a priest was his father. I was impressed with what he suffered, the pain he endured, and I was impressed with his detective work, but still it was just one person and it wasn’t until Vincent Doyle called me and gave me the information he collected through his website that I realized this was a systemic situation and deserved my full attention,” Rezendes said.

“I think it’s very similar to the situation with clergy sex abuse, whenever there was a scandal, the church treated the situation as if it was exceptional, when in fact it was systemic. And I think we’re looking at the same thing here.”

Many of these children of priests struggle in silence and secrecy as they grow up.

“I think they suffer emotionally, I think they suffer financially, I think they suffer spiritually by not having a loving father and very often by not having a father who provides adequate child support,” Rezendes told CBS.

“These people are coming together, it’s remarkable to see this community being formed right now as we speak and they would like the church, the Vatican to put some policies in place to end the secrecy and also just give some bishops a little bit of guidance on what to do when they learn one of their priests has fathered a child, because right now they have no guidance.”

The Vatican declined to comment on the Boston Globe story.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

“If a priest fathers a child, he has a moral obligation to step aside from ministry and provide for the care and needs of the mother and child. In such a moment, their welfare is the highest priority,” Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley said in a statement to CBS News.

“I think Cardinal O’Malley’s statement is important because I think more often than not the first reaction of a priest is to cover up the fact that he has become a parent. And what Cardinal O’Malley is saying, and I think this is in line with some of the things Pope Francis has said is, ‘No, if you’re a priest and you father a child, your first responsibility is no longer to the church, it’s to your child,” Rezendes said.

Part two of the Spotlight report can be found in the Boston Globe Sunday.

Complete Article HERE!

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Another child sex abuse scandal uncovers crisis of celibacy in Catholic Church

Instead of considering the damage caused by enforced abstinence, the Church’s requirement for clergy to be celibate has made child sexual abuse all the more likely


Cardinal George Pell is the highest ranking Vatican official to face sexual assault charges.

by

One of the most senior Roman Catholic clergy in the world, a champion to conservative Catholics, has been charged with multiple sexual offences. 

Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, was charged last month. He is the highest-ranking Vatican official to face sexual offences.

Australians are still in shock after an inquiry revealed that 7 per cent of the country’s Roman Catholic clergy abused children between 1950 and 2010, and in one religious order more than 40 per cent of the members were involved. More than 4,400 people claim to be abuse victims of the Catholic Church in Australia, according to The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

None of this should surprise Canadians. 

There is hardly any part of Catholic Canada that has not been tarnished by child abuse cases. The same can be said for the United States, Britain, Ireland and elsewhere. 

At the infamous Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland, for example, 300 children were abused by the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious order. In 2009 Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish announced that his diocese had reached a $15 million settlement with abuse victims. Shortly afterwards Lahey himself was found to have child pornography. He pled guilty to charges in 2011. More troubling is that fact Lahey was observed by the Church to be in possession of child pornography as early the mid-1980s but was still made a bishop. 

Sexual abuse is in no way confined to any one institution. It happens in families, sports clubs, schools and in religious institutions of all types. 

But within the Roman Catholic Church it is made all the more likely for a number of reasons.

First, celibacy 

There is no Christian requirement for clergy to be celibate. Even the Roman Catholic Church has wavered on the teaching over the centuries. 

Some religious people are called to the priesthood and it deepens their faith and vocation. 

But it’s also true that the culture of secrecy and lies in the Church when it comes to historical cases of sexual abuse, has been exploited by pedophile priests.

The image of the child-like cleric who has no sexual desire is a dangerous fantasy. In the Boston abuse crisis, in particular, many of the younger priests were some of the most horrendous abusers.

It’s also no secret that there are an enormous number of gay men in the Catholic Church. Many are, in fact, in consensual and loving same-sex relationships. 

But instead of considering the damage caused by enforced celibacy, systemic homophobia and manic secrecy in the Church, the Vatican has made it impossible for any man who has had even a shadow of same-sex attraction to enter the seminary. 

This stridently anti-gay policy has become even worse under the allegedly more liberal Pope Francis. 

The absence of women in positions of power

All-male societies lack balance and tend to accentuate the worst of male sexual dysfunctions. One of the gruesome findings of various inquiries into sexual abuse in the church is how few priests came forward to report their concerns about what their colleagues might have been doing. Would women have been similarly silent? 

The cult of clericalism and secrecy 

There is a hierarchy in many institutions, but it’s especially pronounced when religion is involved. 

In Roman Catholicism, the priest is the man who offers the body and blood of Jesus to the congregation during mass. He hears their confessions and gives absolution as the representative of God on Earth. He is often considered above and beyond criticism. The clerical class is to be obeyed and respected – and they in turn keep their authority to themselves. 

In more conservative circles, they are especially insular. It is not for the congregation to know or to be consulted. 

That has changed to a certain degree in the past 30 years but is still the overwhelming reality of Catholic life. The general response to criticism of the Church is to accuse critics of anti-Catholicism, even when that condemnation comes from within the church itself. 

But with the latest revelations around Pell that card has been played too often and the assumptions of reverence and silence within Catholic culture are fading fast. 

Put simply, abusive priests simply can’t get away with it the way they did for so long, so often. Alas, it’s still too late for many of the victims.

Complete Article HERE!

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Spike in suicides among Irish Catholic priests reported amid low morale over decline and abuse scandals

By James Macintyre

At least eight priests in Ireland have committed suicide in the past 10 years, according to recent reports given at meetings of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP).

The alarming figure comes as the Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports on a severe dip in morale and a mental health crisis among Irish clergy, caused by abuse allegations and declining numbers being ordained as well as other factors.

This has sparked calls for a confidential helpline to be set up for priests needing support.

At a recent ACP meeting, an attendee said: ‘Our morale is affected because we are on a sinking ship. When will the “counter-reformation” take place? We’re like an All-Ireland team without a goalie. We need a national confidential priests’ helpline. We’re slow to look for help.’

According to the CNA, concerns over a severe dip in the morale and well-being of priests in the country have been raised by the 1,000-member ACP in at least three different meetings in recent months.

Roy Donovan, a spokesperson for the ACP, said in May that as well as the priests who are speaking up, he believes many more elderly churchmen are suffering in silence, and have no outlet for help.

Ireland is facing a serious vocations crisis: In 2004, the country had more than 3,100 priests, but by 2014, the last year from which figures are available, the number had declined by more than 500 to 2,627. The number of active priests is likely closer to just 1,900, according to CNA.

The shortage has led to a phenomenon called ‘clustering’, where several parishes are combined into one because of lack of leadership, increasing priests’ workload and subsequent stress, and forcing many to work well beyond retirement years because of the lack of new vocations.

‘These men lived through a time when there were plenty of vocations and their churches were full at Mass, so there’s a loss of esteem. Also, in the past they would have had live-in housekeepers. Now most don’t and are on their own and so feeling a lot more isolated and lonely, as well as feeling nervous and more vulnerable,’ Brendan Hoban, one of the founders of ACP, said during a meeting in November 2016.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Ireland has, like elsewhere around the world, been rocked by a sex abuse scandal that began in the 1990s and resulted in a massive decline in both vocations and in the faith of the laypeople.

The CNA reported minutes from the ACP meetings showing that priests reported being disheartened by the declining faith in the people they serve, ‘who have so little contact with the church from First Communions to funerals’.

The minutes added that priests’ confidence ‘has been eroded when we see so many people going through the motions of faith’.

More recently, the Church in Ireland has also been hit by negative headlines rsurrounding the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. The priests noted that the sisters there ‘did a disservice by not clarifying exactly what happened. They need to do so immediately. It makes our job impossible, especially as we face a storm on abortion next year’.

The country is also facing an ongoing, heated debate about whether or not to legalise abortion.

The priests agreed that they need to be better about asking for help when they need it.

‘We need to unmask and say ‘I need help!’ There is a great sense of ‘being alone,’ making our own way in the diocese,’ the priests said. ‘There is a lack of dialogue among priests in the diocese. Yet, people are fantastic and generous in parishes, if given half-a-chance.’

Complete Article HERE!

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Cardinal George Pell charged with historical sex offences

Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest ranking Catholic, has been charged with historical sex offences.

By Nino Bucci, Tom Cowie, Nick Miller

Victoria Police has confirmed Cardinal Pell has been charged on summons over multiple allegations and is due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18 for a filing hearing.

A statement from the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said Cardinal Pell had been informed of Victoria Police’s “decision and action”.

“Cardinal Pell will return to Australia, as soon as possible, to clear his name following advice and approval by his doctors who will also advise on his travel arrangements.

“He said he is looking forward to his day in court and will defend the charges vigorously.

“He has again strenuously denied all allegations.”

Cardinal Pell is the third most senior Catholic at the Vatican, where he is responsible for the church’s finances.

He is likely to step aside from his Vatican post while he fights the charges.

Victoria’s Deputy Police Commissioner, Shane Patton, confirmed in a brief press conference on Thursday morning that Cardinal Pell had been issued with multiple charges relating to historical sexual abuse allegations.

The charges were served on Cardinal Pell’s legal representatives in Melbourne on Thursday, Mr Patton said.

“There are multiple complainants relating to those charges,” he said.

Mr Patton said there had been a lot of speculation about the process that has been involved in the investigation of Cardinal Pell.

“The process and procedures that are being followed in the charging of Cardinal Pell have been the same that have been applied in a whole range of historical sex offences, whenever we investigate them,” he said.

“Cardinal Pell has been treated the same as anyone else in this investigation.”

Police did not take any questions during the press conference and did not detail what the allegations were.

Mr Patton said it was important that due process was followed.

“Preserving the integrity of that process is essential to us all and so for Victoria Police, it is important that it is allowed to go through unhindered and allowed to see natural justice is afforded to all the parties involved, including Cardinal Pell and the complainants in this matter,” he said.

All was quiet at Cardinal Pell’s Roman residence as the news broke.

He lives in a block of apartments on a square just outside the Vatican walls, metres from St Peter’s Square, and a minute’s walk from the doors to the Basilica.

Security is tight in this part of Rome – an army jeep with two alert, armed soldiers sits on the corner of the square, another on the other side of the wall – and the police presence in this part of the city is constant.

But there were no lights on in the building and the city was quiet in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Thursday is a public holiday in Rome – the fiesta of St Peter and St Paul. It’s a day when many natives traditionally head to the beach.

But despite the apparent peace in Rome, the announcement is set to send shockwaves through the Catholic Church in Australia and around the world.

Cardinal Pell has retained leading Victorian criminal barrister, Robert Richter QC, and it is likely some of the argument that Mr Richter will make in court will concern the question of whether Cardinal Pell can receive a fair trial given the large amount of pre-trial publicity.

As Australia has no extradition treaty with the Vatican, Cardinal Pell may avoid prosecution should he choose not to return to Victoria, but he is expected to come back to fight the charges.

Three detectives from Victoria Police’s Sano Taskforce travelled to Rome to interview Cardinal Pell about the allegations last year after he was declared unfit to travel to Australia.

He has repeatedly and emphatically denied all allegations, but said he would continue to co-operate with the police investigation.

Cardinal Pell was a priest in Ballarat before becoming Archbishop of Melbourne and then being appointed as a Cardinal.

The Catholic Archdiocese in Melbourne has been contacted for comment.

When it comes to historical sex abuse prosecutions, the charge an alleged offender faces, and the applicable maximum penalty, is determined by when the alleged offence occurred. There have been several overhauls of sexual offence laws since the 1980s.

Complete Article HERE!

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Crisis in Irish Catholic priesthood revealed at meetings of clergy

Meeting in Limerick hears call for confidential helpline for priests

Priests heard there were “too many Masses in near-empty churches”.

By Patsy McGarry

Eight priests have taken their own lives in the past 10 to 15 years in Ireland, a meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Cavan has been told.

At another such meeting in Co Limerick, there was a call for the setting up of a national confidential priests’ helpline

Minutes of the latter meeting in Caherconlish quote one attendee as saying: “Our morale is affected because we are on a sinking ship. When will the ‘counter-reformation’ take place? We’re like an All-Ireland team without a goalie. We need a national confidential priests’ helpline. We’re slow to look for help.”

Reports from both meetings appear on the ACP website.

Among reasons given at the Cavan town meeting for the crisis in the Irish Catholic priesthood were living alone, retirement, health issues, sexual abuse accusations, as well as “workload; being gay; clustering; priests rights; bullying; etc.”

There were also very poor welfare supports when a priest gets ill. “We are reluctant to talk and say we are tired, struggling, lonely or depressed. This can be very disheartening,” the meeting was told.

The Cavan meeting was attended by priests from the Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Clogher, Kilmore, and Meath dioceses.

Motions of faith

As disheartening was that so much work by priests was “for people who have so little contact with the church from First Communions to funerals”, the meeting heard. Priests’ confidence “has been eroded when we see so many people going through the motions of faith”.

The Limerick meeting of priests from the Archdiocese of Cashel as well as Killaloe and Limerick dioceses was told there were “too many Masses in near-empty churches. The church has survived in other parts of the world without all the Masses.”

It was claimed priests were “in denial about vocations – not facing reality – we are part of a dying system,” and that “we need to unmask and say ‘I need help.’ There is a great sense of ‘being alone’.”

It was said the Bon Secours Sisters, who managed the controversial Tuam Mother and Baby Home, “did a disservice by not clarifying exactly what happened. They need to do so immediately. It makes our job impossible, especially as we face a storm on abortion next year.”

There was also criticism of how bishops dealt with media at both meetings.

Complete Article HERE!