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.
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
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.
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
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment