News
Vatican tries to reboot priesthood
Amid crisis over abuses
ROME -- The Vatican opened a three-day conference (Source: St. Benedict's Media)
Pope Francis
(Source: Saint Benedict's Media )
(Source: Saint Benedict's Media )
The conference's organizer, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, said the symposium's aim is to break down a “clericalized” concept of the priesthood that is at the root of the scandal. He denounced that priests had assumed a perverted place of power over their flock, when the church is really the “People of God.”
Pope Francis opened the conference repeating his call for priests to be close to God, their bishops, other priests and the People of God.
According to Vatican statistics released this month, there were 410,219 Catholic priests in the world in 2020, down 4,117 from the previous year, the last available data. The steep drops in North America and Europe were offset by increases of new priests in Africa and Asia.
Such a distortion has created a crisis in which “sex abuses are just the visible and perverse tip of the iceberg,” Ouellet said. He cited abuses of power, conscience and spiritual abuse, as other “depraved” behaviors by priests.
He said he hoped the conference would help chart “a new equilibrium” in which women, in particular, play a greater role in the Catholic Church.
Francis didn’t mention the abuse scandals, but he, too, blamed “clericalism” for
Francis didn’t mention the abuse scandals, but he, too, blamed “clericalism” for distorting the true meaning of the priesthood, which he said is a vocation of service, not power.
“Clericalism is a distortion because it is based not on closeness (to others) but distance,” he said.
Officially, the conference isn’t about the sex abuse scandal. But Ouellet’s opening speech made clear the issue was an unavoidable backdrop to the discussions.
Another issue informing the conference is the crisis in priestly vocations.
He said he hoped the conference would help chart “a new equilibrium” in which women, in particular, play a greater role in the Catholic Church.
Francis didn’t mention the abuse scandals, but he, too, blamed “clericalism” for
Francis didn’t mention the abuse scandals, but he, too, blamed “clericalism” for distorting the true meaning of the priesthood, which he said is a vocation of service, not power.
“Clericalism is a distortion because it is based not on closeness (to others) but distance,” he said.
Officially, the conference isn’t about the sex abuse scandal. But Ouellet’s opening speech made clear the issue was an unavoidable backdrop to the discussions.
Another issue informing the conference is the crisis in priestly vocations.
Fr.Dennis Ward of the society of Saint John Paul II attended the conference in Rome for 2 days said that Pope Francis missed a very important opportunity not only by recognising the victims of clergy abuse by not even mentioning the crisis Father Ward went on to say clericalism is a problem when it has to do with loading it over others in a on just way so using power either as a priest or a bishop not to serve the people but either to fleece them or to make use of them, for his own personal power,let me be blunt the sex abuse crisis in the clergy has two aspects one is criminal priests who harm people they need to be removed from the priesthood but what about the bishop's who protected them and used the money of the faithful to pay off the victims and make them the silent
None of this was discussed at the conference I am sad to say
None of this was discussed at the conference I am sad to say
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