Catholic Church offices raided by Belgian police

Police raided several offices belonging to the Catholic Church in Belgium on a case regarding a retired archbishop and child abuse conducted by church officials. The bishops were held in custody for nine hours, and were kept from communication with one another. Almost 500 files deemed important to the investigation were seized during the raids.

Pope Benedict denounces the act, and Vatican officials accuse the Belgian police of leaving the bishops with no food or water while they were in custody. The Vatican has summoned the Belgian ambassador to explain its opposition to the raids.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/10427935.stm

Pope Finally Takes Responsibility

In the long-running story on Catholic Church child abuse scandals, one irritant to the general public that’s been discussed before is the Catholic Church’s odd handling of the public relations damage the stories were causing: the church seemingly tried, for far too long, to avoid making such heinous crimes related directly to them, instead, quietly moving or releasing the abusers from their ranks. Not once did we hear what amounted to a proper apology, or an assertion of responsibility. Until today.

Pope Benedict XVI said on Tuesday that the scandal was “[a] sin inside the Church” and directly blamed high ranking church officials who attempted to minimize the problem, instead of bringing it to proper justice.

It is of this writer’s opinion and the opinions of many others that though the Catholic Church is an entity which predates the constitutions of all nations on Earth, they must not be excused for neglecting the proper channels which exist today within the nations in which they dwell: a priest abusing a child is no different than a neighbor abusing a child. It should have been reported to the police in the 1980s. It should be reported now.

What the Pope?

A quick one for you, folks: if you’re as confused as I am trying to keep up on all the Catholic church sexual abuse news, the New York Times has an excellent ‘topic page’ to help you follow the events chronologically:

http://www.nytimes.com/info/pope-benedict-xvi/news/

And of course, the universal encyclopedia galatica Wikipedia has an excellent article as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_church_sex_scandal

“The Good of the Universal Church”

Sexual abuse cases have plagued the Catholic church for over two decades, reducing the public opinion of the Catholic church to far what it once was.

The latest in the ongoing abuse cases, as reported by the AFP via Yahoo! News, concerns one Stephen Kiesle, who in 1978 had pleaded no contest to abusing six children. Then bishop of Oakland, California, John Cummins, repeatedly asked the church to defrock Kiesle in letters addressed in 1981 and again in 1982. Kiesle was finally defrocked in 1987, but not after a much delayed process.

Despite being 30 year old news, this story has found relevance due to its relation to current Pope Benedict XVI and the late Pope John Paul II. Cummins’ letters to the church generated responses by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) in which he stated that reviewing the defrocking request would take more time, and that whatever decision was to be made should take into account, “the good of the Universal Church.” Cummins told the New York Times that the late Pope John Paul II “really slowed down the process and made it much more deliberate”.

Cummins later wrote: ” It is my conviction that there would be no [sexual abuse scandal] if this [defrocking] were granted.”