Leonardo"s Notebook by Mattheus Mei

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

A different kind of '40 acres and a mule'

The Vatican proposes 'reparations' to those abused sexually by clergy. But this is not the '40 acres and a mule' as sloganized by former American Slaves and their descendants. From CNS:

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, said the initiative would involve dioceses, parishes, monasteries, convents and seminaries in a prayer movement to support priestly holiness. In a particular way, the initiative will ask reparation "for the victims of grave situations of moral and sexual conduct of a very small percentage of clergy,"..."We are asking everyone to participate in eucharistic adoration to repair before God the damage that was done and to uphold once again the dignity of the victims," the cardinal said. "Yes, we wanted to think of the victims so that they feel that we are close to them. We are concerned above all with them, and it's important to say so..."

This is a far cry from the Vatican accepting any kind of responsibility for poor or inadequate formation by individual dioceses that allowed so many (but statistically who represent so few) to enter into Holy Orders and take advantage of the most vulnerable of us all - the kids.

Many dioceses - especially in America and Ireland are reeling from the scandals and the 'reparations' that they've made, in the form of punitive and civil damages through the judicial systems, have been in the millions of dollars.

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