Week commencing 17 April 2017

Welcome to the Truth, Justice and Healing Council eNewsletter April 2017 View in Browser Forward to a Friend Subscribe

New head of the disciplinary section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Pope Francis has appointed Irish priest, Monsignor John Kennedy, as head of the disciplinary section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). The section Kennedy now leads has a number of responsibilities, one of which deals with priests accused of child sexual abuse. Irish priest to head Vatican Congregation disciplinary section Irish Times - April 4, 2017     Frankly speaking... Over the Easter weekend many bishops and priests reflected on the Royal Commission's work and the implications for the Catholic Church. More importantly they acknowledged the on-going damage that has occurred to victims and those who support them. Even the most casual observer realises that the clerical abuse scandal has torn the Catholic Church to its core. Even where abuse cases have been largely recorded in previous decades, their impacts are still very much alive in the daily toils of victims, the strain of carers and the disenchantment of Church followers Latest from the Council Easter messages: Time for true repentance Over the past weeks many of Australia's senior church leaders have released Easter messages to their congregations. Most have referenced the Royal Commission and the child sexual abuse scandal which has been so prominent within both the Catholic and broader community over the past four years. Melbourne's Archbishop's 2017 Easter message Easter Message from Diocese of Maitland Newcastle Easter message from Archbishop of Sydney       This Easter its the Catholic Church that needs redemption Kristina Keneally, former premier of NSW and Sky News commentator, writes in the Guardian about how the child sex abuse scandle has impacted  her faith and a church that makes special claims to grace with the findings of the royal commission into child sexual abuse This Easter its the Catholic Church that needs redemption The Guardian - 11 April 2017 Testing the Vatican's commitment to change Mark Shriver, the nephew of former US President John Kennedy, has written a new book in which he sets out to test the Vatican's commitment to change. He recently spoke to the ABC's Religion and Ethiocs report about his book, Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis. Mark Shriver: testing the Vatican's commitment to change ABC Religion and Ethics Report - Friday 14th April PCPM asks Pope for new office to respond to child sexual abuse letters Jesuit Fr Hans Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, says Vatican officials need training before they can respond to survivors. "Many people in the Vatican do not know how to respond because they lack the psychological, theological and juridical background," said Zollner, who also leads the Pontifical Gregorian University's Center for Child Protection. He says the PCPM has asked the pontiff to create a new Vatican office to train the city-state's personnel in how to respond to letters from abuse survivors. Abuse commission member: We asked pope to create Vatican office to train in responding to survivors National Catholic Reporter - March 28, 2017   Copyright © 2017 Truth, Justice and Healing Council   |   Privacy Policy