Celibacy is not a direct cause of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The comments come from Hans Zollner SJ, a distinguished psychologist with a doctorate in theology. He made the comments in an interview with Infovaticana. “Celibacy is not a direct cause of abuse; what can become a risk factor is a ministry poorly Read more
A new report, based on interviews with some 300 Catholic priests, nuns and laypeople concludes that clergy aren’t adequately prepared to wield the power they exercise and need more education on questions of sex and gender. The report, “Beyond Bad Apples: Understanding Clericalism as a Structural Problem & Cultivating Strategies for Change,” released Monday (Aug. Read more
It’s an interesting experience being a churchgoer these days. We’ve been nudged to the periphery of society and lost out in numbers and influence. Countless revelations about sexual misconduct by clergy have shaken public confidence. The accumulation of negative publicity in very recent times has been remarkable: Dilworth School, Gloriavale, Destiny Church’s antics, Arise Church’s Read more
Governments get their legitimacy from service to the people says Cardinal Charles Bo. “Real power, as Pope Francis often cited, comes from service. Not imposing power on the innocents,” the Myanmar cardinal said recently in a homily. “For any government, in any just country, the government is not above the people. “The government is one Read more
Pope Francis’ push for synodality inside the Church coincides chronologically with the rise of populist leaders and the crisis of democracy on the outside. Synodality, therefore, has an ad extra dimension. It is an ecclesial response to populist leaders who “hijack” religion by sowing division and exploiting the anger of those who feel excluded, as Read more
The military coup in Myanmar has been difficult for many Westerners to comprehend. Why did the generals act when they had effectively been in control of the country since allowing elections in 2011? Why move against civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, when she had gone along with so much of their program, even defending Read more
The Vatican’s report into ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has raised uncomfortable questions the Holy See will have to confront going forward, chief among them what it’s going to do about current and future clergy who abuse their power to sexually abuse adults. Priests, lay experts and canon lawyers alike say the Vatican needs to revisit how Read more
News of George Pell’s conviction was a fitting end to a papal summit on child abuse which achieved nothing and began with other cardinals attributing the problem to homosexuals in the priesthood. The reality is that priests abuse small boys not because they are gay but because they have the opportunity. Most are not even Read more
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd took the occasion of his triumphant visits to Cuba and the United States to refer to His Holiness as “the perfect 19th-century pope”, largely because he seems disinterested in creating female priests. In her piece, Dowd’s assertions often lack context and the column itself is not particularly interesting, but it was Read more
Priests and chiefs in early Pacific cultures, including New Zealand, used ritual human sacrifices to reinforce their power, a study has found. Research involving two New Zealand universities has discovered such acts were used by social elites to maintain their power, the Stuff.co.nz website reported. The study came from researchers from the University of Auckland, Victoria University Read more