The Hermeneutic of Continuity

A Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13 year old girl at a colleague's house was originally charged in the late 1970s with six offences including rape and sodomy, but negotiated a plea bargain. He served 42 days in a US secure psychiatric unit. He has always maintained he was promised a short sentence, but he fled the US after hearing rumours that the judge was about to re-sentence him for a much longer term. Recently, he has spent some time under house arrest in Switzerland, electronically tagged, and anxiously awaiting the outcome of his extradition trial. He has now been set free after the Swiss government rejected the request from the Los Angeles District Attorney for his return to the US. The French Culture Minister said that the time for calm had come and that the Catholic priest's rich personality, and his universally admired works should all regain their standing. The philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy said: "Switzerland has found the path...

An article in the New York Times today reports a proposal in New York to raise the statute of limitations for crimes of child abuse so that there is a 40 year limit starting from the age of 18. The NYTasks: Should it be possible to sue the city of New York for sexual abuse by public school teachers that happened decades ago? How about doctors or hospital attendants? Police officers? Welfare workers? Playground attendants? Well yes. That's how it works. Have a chat with your local Bishop for the details. The proposal was originally an effort to expand accountability for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy but has quite rightly extended to cover abuse by people in other walks of life. In this context, the NYT story is no longer one of cover-up and denial of responsibility but of "a collision of powerful civic values". The excuses are all now tumbling out. The New York City Mayor is concerned about the potential impact for taxpayers. Welcome to the real world, Mayor. Catho...

In August 2007, Bishop Edward James Slattery visited Merton College Oxford, to attend the training conference and to celebrate Pontifical High Mass at the close of the proceedings, having humbly accepted some tuition himself. I had the privilege of meeting him at the conference. Last year, he announced that he had returned to the practice of celebrating Mass in his Cathedral in Tulsa, Oklahoma, facing towards the East. In 2004, Eastern Oklahoma Catholic gave a summary of all that Bishop Slattery had done to combat and prevent the scourge of child abuse, leading to praise from the Child Abuse Network in particular for his co-operation with the civil authorities. In addition to these various actions, Bishop Slattery ordered a Holy Hour of Reparation to be held at the same time in all the Churches of his diocese. He was therefore an ideal choice for celebrant of the Solemn High Mass at the National Shrine at Washington DC last Saturday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the elec...

The website of the Holy See now has a page of links to pontifical and other documents related to the abuse of minors. An interesting inclusion is a pdf of a lengthy article by Mgr Beal in Studia Canonica of 2007 concerning the document Crimen Sollicitationis . H/T Luke Coppen

Brendan O'Neill, the atheistic libertarian, attacks the ludicrous campaign to have the Pope arrested in his article " The Secular Inquisition " in Spiked, of which he is the editor. It is a fun piece in which he talks a lot of sense. [...] despite the lack of any obvious, sensible reason why they break out in boils at the mention of the words ‘Benedict’, ‘priest’ or ‘Catholic’, the pope-hunters’ campaign has acquired a powerfully pathological, obsessive and deafeningly shrill character.

"Innocent in hands and clean of heart" (Ps 23.4) A short essay, but a little longer than my usual posts, in which I reflect on the story broken yesterday by Jason Berry in the National Catholic Reporter. A “story of Vatican skulduggery to make you gasp” (to use the expression of Damian Thompson ) was published in the National Catholic Reporter yesterday. Fr Marcel Maciel, founder and head of the Legionaries of Christ, whose crimes and sins against the sixth commandment are now well known, accumulated a vast fortune for the Legionaries which he felt able to disburse as and when it suited him. He particularly saw fit to give large cash sums to various senior figures in the Vatican, for which he was protected from investigation, allowed to get impose a ridiculous vow of silence on his subordinates, and given access to the “private” papal Masses of Pope John Paul II. I remember those private Masses. The day after the Diaconate Ordinations at Pallazzola, (the Summer House of ...

For a Catholic involved in any kind of public defence of the Church, the past couple of weeks have been like piloting a spacecraft through an asteroid field. Genuine concerns have been mixed in with deception, sensationalism, malevolent attacks and spiteful cartoons. For the average "blogger in pyjamas" trying to do something good at the end of a day's work, it has been difficult to keep up and to offer a balanced assessment in the face of opportunistic anti-Catholic propaganda whilst at the same time recognising the real evil perpetrated by child abusers and those who genuinely failed in their duty to stop them. Responding to the attempts to smear the Holy Father and, through him, the whole Catholic Church, the Catholic Herald website has published The Pope and the abuse scandal: a guide for perplexed Catholics . This is a great example of co-operation between professional journalists and the informal blogger-twitter-facebook flotilla of little ships.

From they are sad, pitiful losers, the furthest of outcasts from our society. [...] they can undergo counselling that reduces their chances of reoffending substantially. To I'm not really inclined to spend my time engaging with paedophile-defenders like - as you put it - "His Holiness." [...] I hope one day you have an awareness of the despicable and evil crime you are defending How times change! See posts at Dolphinarium: Paedophiles are Human Too and Johann Hari's rude and bigoted reply to a reader who corrected his factual inaccuracies Let me be clear: the Pope is not a paedophile-defender, far from it. That slur was in response to a reader who dared to correct Jonathan Hari's outrageous misrepresentation of Crimen Sollicitationis and Pope Benedict. For a sympathetic approach to offenders (particularly if they are pop stars) cf. Johann Hari's earlier article Paedophiles are People Too .

Damian Thompson today has an important article: The Pope, the judge, the paedophile priest and The New York Times . This includes the full article by Fr Brundage, the priest who was presiding judge at the tribunal which proceeded against Fr Murphy. The original is at Catholic Anchor, the website of the Diocese of Anchorage: Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy . When I clicked it a few minutes ago, there was a server error. Another try and it was OK but I guess that the server is being hit quite heavily just now so you can take the text from Damian Thompson or check the original. (The kind of procedure the NYT seems to have neglected.) Fr Brundage sets out to do the following: To tell the back-story of what actually happened in the Father Murphy case on the local level; To outline the sloppy and inaccurate reporting on the Father Murphy case by the New York Times and other media outlets; To assert that Pope Benedict XVI has don...

1. Love the Tradition - Loathe the Traddies (can we call it "Tradwatch" for short?) is written by "The Raven" who is a Catholic priest. The strapline is: A blog where we are fairly sure that good taste is not always nearest to godliness and that the cut of your maniple has little bearing on your orthodoxy. A good post " Throwing Blame " looks at Gerald Warner's recent article It's the Pope's turn to retaliate in Catholic civil war . I agree with The Raven that the problem of child abuse does not relate only to the last 40 years but goes longer and deeper into our history. The best book I have read on this is After Asceticism which I reviewed for Faith Magazine a couple of years ago. 2. Laodicea "a filthy puddle of popery" is a Scottish Catholic blog. Yesterday's post was an important one: Peter Tatchell and Child Abuse , giving the link to Peter Tatchell's call for lowering the age of consent to 14. Berenike comments...

Many thanks to a correspondent who sent me the link to an article in which Brendan O'Neill, atheist editor of Spiked , steps aside from the mainstream commentary to say: The reaction to the paedophile priest scandal is as guilty of scaremongering, illiberalism and elitism as the Catholic Church has ever been. I don't agree with everything in the article but he makes some good points about the effects of the "new atheism". See: Why humanists shouldn’t join in this Catholic-bashing

Susanna Maiolo was more honest. An article in the Irish Independent today makes a characteristically snide attack on Pope Benedict: Sources said that Pope Benedict was considering diverting attacks on his handling of paedophile cases in Germany and France by taking strong action in Ireland. The sources added that the Pope was considering the option of seeking Cardinal Brady's resignation to prove to his critics that he was now fully determined to tackle the worldwide abuse crisis. In other words, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. If the Holy Father does ask Cardinal Brady to resign, it will now be construed as diverting attacks on himself. There is also a sly insinuation in the "now" of the second sentence quoted. Pope Benedict has long been known as tough on the "filth" of clergy sexual abuse and, as Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith, introduced procedures to ensure that offenders were dismissed from the clerical state. Authors of the ar...

I wrote this in my parish newsletter this weekend (I have put in hyperlinks for your convenience): Pope’s letter to Irish Catholics There will be much comment in the media this weekend concerning the Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict to the Catholics of Ireland . The Holy Father apologises to victims of abuse who have suffered the “grave betrayal” of these “egregious crimes”. Pope Benedict also refers to “grave errors of judgement and failure of leadership” on the part of some Bishops. May I encourage you to read the letter itself: the text is available at the Vatican website. If you have difficulty finding it, there is a direct link in the “Rosary News” blog which can be found at the parish website . There is also a shorter official summary of the letter . Please remember in your prayers all those who have been victims of abuse. The Holy Father encourages the Irish Catholics to offer up their Friday penances for the coming year to Easter 2011 to beg for God’s me...

Papermint is a new online game for children which creates a cute virtual world in which children are encouraged to form "relationships", get pregnant and have a "paper baby". There is no lower age limit and no "date of birth" verification. Children playing in this virtual world are invited to set up a personal avatar and indicate whether or not they enjoy having sex. Peter Bradley, deputy director of Kidscape is rightly concerned, and has done well to get several good points across in the Sun: What on earth are they thinking? This website is irresponsible and of significant concern. Even if this site were to be aimed at adults I would have concerns. But to think this can be accessed by any child - no matter what their age - is an outrage. To encourage children to enable their avatar to have sex, become pregnant and then to talk about it to others is totally irresponsible. This is not based on educational messages. It just encourages young people ...

Militant gay rights activist, Patrick Harvie is gently criticised ("poor judgement") for accepting an award in honour of a gay rights activist who fought to legalise paedophilia. Is there any soul-searching among Scots gays about a commitment to protect children? The ex-boss of LGBT Youth, Scotland has been given a life sentence for molesting a baby boy for four years, starting when he was three months old (along with many other offences). The Times Online report mentions his high-profile gay activism that earned him invitations to Downing Street and to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party. Is anyone asking any questions at all about LGBT Youth Scotland in the wake of this unspeakably horrific case? Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn have been allowed by the courts to settle child abuse cases "internally" and call on prosecutors to respect their religious sensitivities. May we now expect international outrage at this failure to employ the rule of law? 200 celebrities come...

When I posted on the taxpayer-funded sex-ed filth from NHS Sheffield, I highlighted the problem of sexual bullying in schools. The other day, the Christian Institute had news of a programme made by BBC Scotland called The Dark Side of Teenage Sex . Fiona Walker found that over the past five years, over 500 charges of rape have been brought by Scottish Police against children and teenagers. There is talk of disclosure of sex offences, and the provision of treatment places for young sex offenders. What is missing is any appraisal of the part played by explicit sex education in schools, and the failure to promote chastity. The BBC programme focusses on the more extreme case of rape but for each of these cases, there are likely to be many more instances of unwanted touching and coercion. Children and teenagers need to know that some things are just "off limits"; but the message about sexual activity is a non-directive "only do it when you want to", "be safe"...

The other day I asked whether Kidscape might have a view on the dreadful leaflet "Pleasure" produced by NHS Sheffield. (See: More taxpayer-funded sex-ed filth ) Peter Bradley, the Deputy Director of Kidscape , has written as follows: Kidscape certainly have a view on the "Pleasure" leaflet produced in Sheffield. Michele Elliott has already spoken out about this on Radio Sheffield - she made Kidscape's view loud and clear. In summary - parts of the leaflet provide young people with ridiculous, irresponsible advice that may lead young people on a potential sexual path of misery and harm. This is a frequent message adults tell us about on reflection in later, more mature years. How about a leaflet exploring the necessary skills for teenagers to say to say "No". Would the NHS fund this? With high rates of teenage pregnancy, Chlamydia and other S.T.I.'s it is incredible the same old messages are recycled, sexed up and promoted. If the professional mes...

Various people have noticed that sexual assaults at school are on the increase. See this article on a feminist blog about Sexual bullying in the playground . The author asks "Why is it getting worse?" I am sure that she is right that factors include the promotion of the idea that "little girls are little dolls", to be dressed in mini-skirts etc., the objectification of women and normalisation of violence through, for example, computer games. Nevertheless, woudl be interested to know what the feminists think of explicit sex education provided in mixed groups at school. In January, Panorama ran a programme called "Kids behaving badly" on the subject of sexual assaults at school. In a Daily Mail report on the programme , Michelle Elliott of the charity Kidscape is quoted as saying: Sexual bullying has become much more prevalent. On the Kidscape helpline we used to get maybe one or two calls a year. Now we are getting two or three a week. It’s probably the tip...

Fr Flanagan of Boys Town: Speaking to a large audience at a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema he said, "You are the people who permit your children and the children of your communities to go into these institutions of punishment. You can do something about it." He called Ireland’s penal institutions "a disgrace to the nation," and later said "I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character." However, his words fell on stony ground. He wasn't simply ignored. He was taken to pieces by the Irish establishment. The then-Minister for Justice Gerald Boland said in the Dáil that he was “not disposed to take any notice of what ........... said while he was in this country, because his statements were so exaggerated that I did not think people would attach any importance to them.” (H/T Fr Ray Blake ) In relation to the Christian Brothers, this is relevant: Indeed no one mentions, as D...

The report of the Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has dominated religious reporting in England over the past few days. Here are the key documents: Executive Summary Full Report They make sickening and heartbreaking reading. I don't intend to try and say anything clever or original in the face of this evil. Have a look at the above pious representation of Our Lord's love for children. Or this one: Our Lord said what needs to be said in the case of one who commits scandal against children, let alone sodomy: It were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matt 18.6) I am reminded of the heartfelt words of Pope Benedict at his Homily at the Mass for bishops, Seminarians and Novices during his visit to Australia last year: Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country. Indee...