Can Pope Francis finish the job that Benedict began?
Posted by Robert A. Gahl J.r. on May 7, 2013 at 4:24 pm
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano,
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, left, is welcomed by Pope Francis as he
returns at the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel
Gandolfo, 35 km South-Est from Rome, Thursday, May 2, 2013. Emeritus
Pope Benedict XVI came home on Thursday to a new house and a new pope,
as an unprecedented era begins of a retired pontiff living side-by-side
with a reigning one inside the Vatican gardens. In background is
archbishop George Gaenswein, prefect of the papal household. (AP
Photo/Osservatore Romano, HO)
In October of 1999, at the end of a meeting of departmental chiefs in
the Vatican, I confronted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and challenged him.
The meeting was meant to discuss available options for dealing with the
already-burgeoning international crisis of sexual abuse. Everyone in
that room aimed for justice, especially for the victims, but also for
the accused. Ratzinger was leading the curial push to decisively deal
with perpetrators who were still a threat because of some weak-minded
administrators and their policy to move criminals first to treatment and
then back into ministry.
I had been invited by the Congregation for Clergy to present an
ethical analysis of the extrajudicial, administrative practices used by
the church to prosecute cases of clerical sexual abuse. At that meeting,
I highlighted the risks of violating the natural right to a fair trial.
The cardinals expressed differences of opinion regarding their concern
for the rights of the accused and the terrible wounds of the victims who
had been abused by those whom they had held in sacred trust. Despite
his gentleness, Ratzinger demonstrated deep determination to satisfy
justice.
Ratzinger did not aim for a middle place between the competing
interests of the victims and of the accused, but to ascertain the truth,
reach a verdict, and impose a just penalty, all while doing everything
possible to heal the victims and repair the damage done to the church
and society. After noting my concern for judicial due process, he
indicated his unshakeable commitment to do everything possible to root
out abusive clergy, fully cognizant that he could be criticized by canon
lawyers for eliminating traditional steps in ecclesiastical trials
designed to protect the rights of the accused.
That moment in 1999 was an emergency. The problem was even worse than
it appeared. First under John Paul, Ratzinger drafted new norms,
extended statutes of limitations, and even offered dispensations from
the retroactive statutes of limitations in the case of the most grievous
crimes committed against minors.
Once elected pope, Benedict continued the reform. He revised the
church’s penal law and sharpened its teeth to make sure that no criminal
could evade sanction. He created tribunals, met with victims and
purified the ranks of clergy from those who might hurt the young. He
held judicial trials and removed more than a 1,000 from the priesthood
and several from the episcopacy. Towards the end of his papacy, in 2010,
Benedict again reformed church law to empower a tribunal to hear cases
brought against bishops and cardinals.
Benedict is rightly known for uplifting men and women of good will by
preaching that God is love and Jesus is divine Logos incarnate.
Benedict also taught about the dark side of humanity. “Evil,” he once
stated “draws its power from indecision and concern for what other
people think.” He had experienced the malignancy of the Nazi regime and
reconfirmed his commitment to sweep out the filth from the Bride of
Christ.
Upon retirement, Benedict explained that he no longer enjoyed the
needed vigor, of body and spirit, to govern the church. He stepped aside
so that a younger man might continue the task and follow through with
reform of church governance.
Now, the world observes the eloquent gestures in these first few
weeks of Pope Francis, while wondering whether the new pope will
continue Benedict’s reform. Francis has already shown the world the
Christ-like characteristics that the cardinals, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, had been seeking for the new pope.
In his third tweet, Pope Francis stated: “True power is service. The
pope must serve all people, especially the poor, the weak, the
vulnerable.” And when archbishop in Buenos Aires, Bergoglio commented on
the responsibility of bishops regarding priests who have committed
sexual abuse.
“You must never look away” he said. “You cannot be in a
position of power and use it to destroy the life of another person.” It
would be a mistake, he added, to put the church’s reputation first, in a
“corporate spirit … to avoid damaging the image of the institution.”
After meeting for the first time with Archbishop Mueller, the head of
the Vatican’s office responsible for prosecuting culpable clerics,
whether priests, bishops, or even cardinals, Francis publicly confirmed
his commitment to continue Benedict’s efforts to protect minors, assist
victims of abuse, prosecute criminals according to due process, and to
help bishops’ conferences around the world to implement the
“necessary directives in this area that is so important for the church’s witness and credibility.”
Cardinals have confided that when deliberating in the Sistine Chapel,
they were looking for a pope who could lead a reform of the Vatican
while continuing Benedict’s policy of zero tolerance for sexual abuse.
Benedict’s new laws specify how to satisfy justice and guarantee
accountability within the church by bringing to trial even the highest
ranking clerics accused of abuse of power, whether by sexual or
financial crimes. In a mystical apparition, Jesus told St. Francis of
Assisi to repair his church. All signs point to a Pope Francis ready to
keep cleaning the house of God.
Rev. Robert A. Gahl, Jr. is Associate Professor of Ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
--- comments so far ---
amelia45
Rev
Gahl's vision of what Ratzinger did is not the image that took hold in
the Church. He failed to bring justice to victims, to assure they were
treated with respect, dignity, and love. He failed to hold sex abusers
accountable. And the reason he failed is because he did not hold
bishops accountable for their poor handling of either one.
It
seems, based on the latest stories of a fumbling bishop, that the
bishops got his real message clear enough. Ratzinger acted if they
talked about women priests or optional clerical celibacy. As for the
sex abuse scandal, as long as the bishop was not the sex abuser, the
bishop was safe no matter what he did. I think the U.S. bishops, and
perhaps those in Australia, did get Gahl's message of assuring due
process for the priests - because they did not get the message about
justice for the victims.
Maybe Francis will see that he must act to bring credibility back to the Church by holding bishops accountable.
Continue
what Ratzinger started? What a question? The only thing Ratzie
started was to continue the same agenda as all the other Popes before
him. I'm sure the new pope Francis will do exactly the same. Only
difference is a personality that is trying to be so very HUMBLE. Unlike
the" his own cologne and Prada shoe wearing" undercover old pope.
Don't think glorybe1929 has facts on his side.
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