Vatican to bishops: follow law, report sex abuse/ Vatican Needs Women to Clean Up Mess

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CHURCH_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-04-12-15-55-08
April 12, 2010
All I can say is it is about time that the Vatican made it clear that the bishops should follow the law. The rape of children is a crime. I agree with Ms. Casteix, that if the Vatican was serious about cleaning up the mess of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, they would fire the bishops who shuffled the abusers around from parish to parish, country to country. In addition, they need to change the structure of the all-boys, insular, top-down male hierarchy to include women in leadership roles including women in a renewed priestly ministry in an more open, accountable, just and transparent church, where children are safe, and predators are not shielded. As Lisa Miller pointed out, in a church that honors Mary, women are needed now to clean up the mess and renew the church.
Good grief, the Vatican promoted Cardinal Law to a prominent bascilica in Rome and a seat at the table of decision-making in appointing new U.S. bishops. How credible is Pope Benedict and the Vatican when bishops like Cardinal Law remain in office or are promoted to posh jobs in the Vatican?
It is time for a reality check!
The guidelines issued by the Vatican describing church policy still leave the bishops and pope in charge of the sex abuse investigation. It is the coverup of the all male hierarchy that has caused this global crisis. The church is the people of God and we the people, women and men, must reform it as partners and equals, not as subordinates or second-class citizens. The Vatican needs an independent truth commission both ordained and non-ordained, women and men, including victims on any church tribunal, not just the hierarchy. This newly released Vatican policy still looks too much to me like the fox guarding the hen house! Let's hope it is work in progress!Catholics, speak up with a billion voices, "it is silence that kills the soul",as St. Catherine of Siena said.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
sofiabmm@aol.com

Vatican to bishops: follow law, report sex abuse
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer
EXCERPT: Victims, government inquiries and grand juries have all charged that the Catholic Church created what amounted to a conspiracy to cover up abuse by keeping allegations that priests raped and molested children secret and not reporting them to civil authorities.
Victims were not impressed by Monday's action.

"Let's keep this in perspective: it's one sentence and it's virtually nothing unless and until we see tangible signs that bishops are responding," said Joelle Casteix, western regional director for SNAP, the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, the main victims' group in the U.S. "One sentence can't immediately reverse centuries of self-serving secrecy."

"She said if the Vatican truly wanted to change course "it would be far more effective to fire or demote bishops who have clearly endangered kids and enabled abuse and hid crimes, than to add one sentence to a policy that is rarely followed with consistency."