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Palm Sunday Prayer Vigil
News/Talking
Points
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In
Chicago this month, it was revealed that a priest
known to some archdiocesan officials as a potential
abuser since his seminary days was allowed to remain
in parish service for four months after new allegations
of abuse were brought against him in the late summer
of 2005. This happened under the watch of Chicago’s
Cardinal Francis George, who is also vice president
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
and one of the architects of the Charter designed
to clean up the Catholic Church after the clergy
sexual abuse scandal in 2002. As the National
Catholic Reporter notes, a report commissioned by the archdiocese “paints
a Keystone Cops picture” of the procedures
currently used to oversee accused priests in Chicago. “The
archdiocese’s five official “minders” have
little or no experience (or training) in overseeing
sexual abusers, who live under minimal or nonexistent
supervision, free to come and go as they please with
access to vulnerable populations.” Another
victim has now come forward alleging abuse by this
same priest during that 4 month period, a time when
that priest should have already been removed, when
the opportunity for further abuse should not have
existed.
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This week the United State Catholic Conference of Bishops
(USCCB) released their audit results on the dioceses’ compliance
with the Charter to Protect Children and Young People.
Chicago (see above) passed the audit and 23 diocese
failed. The bishops own process of protecting children
is clearly broken.
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In New York City this week the Archdiocese announced
the closing of 31 parishes.
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In Boston Mass attendance is up slightly from a year
ago when the Archdiocese was in the midst of its own
massive Church closings. But, as the Boston
Globe reports,
only 17 percent of Catholics in Boston attend Mass
regularly – half the national average of 34 percent.
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Bishops around the country are spending untold amounts
on lawyers and lobbyists to fight reform of the sexual
abuse laws, denying survivors their day in court and
keeping credibly accused abusive priests’ names
from the public increasing the chances of further abuse.
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This month officials of the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman
Catholic Diocese in Canada asked
for the diocese to be absolved from being required
to follow any recommendations
that may come out of an inquiry
established by the Ontario government to investigate
child sexual abuse
in that area of the world.
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In Ireland, an investigation of clergy sexual abuse
in the Dublin archdiocese is now beginning. More
than 100 priests are suspected of abuse in this
one diocese alone.
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