Tribulation Times
VIA TIMES OF MALTA: The Papal itinerary and routes
HEADLINE: Pope faces growing hostility on visit to Malta Pope Benedict XVI's planned two-day trip to Malta this week is set to be overshadowed by the paedophile scandal enveloping the Catholic Church, with victims of abuse on the island demanding that he meet them and apologise. A papal visit to the staunchly Catholic nation would normally be one of the easier official journeys for a pontiff, but revelations surrounding the scale of the abuse committed by the clergy have stunned and angered the nation. According to the diocesan authorities in Malta, 45 of its 850 priests have been accused of abuse and the Maltese Catholic Church is conducting investigations into several sex abuse claims. Demands for a public apology by the Pope are being led by Lawrence Grech, who said that he was regularly abused by priests and who is holding a media conference today with nine other alleged victims. "He should recognise that these things happened in Malta, reflect about the victims' suffering and issue a formal apology," he said. "We want to meet the Pope and we want an apology," added Mr Grech, now 37 and a father of two. He said that he was abused by two priests and a lay Christian Brother at St Joseph's, a Catholic orphanage in Santa Venera, between 1984 and 1987. He has begun legal action against the clergymen involved. He also claimed that a fourth man has since transferred to Rome without penalty.
"The priest used to come to my room at 6.30am and go to preach at the church at 7am," Mr Grech said. He wrote to the Vatican a month ago demanding an apology, but has so far has received no response. Another man Joseph Magro, 38, claimed yesterday that he too had been abused by a priest at the same home when he was between 16 and 18. "I can never forget," he said. "I want justice." No one was available to comment from the Maltese Catholic Church on the claims on Sunday. At the weekend large billboards promoting the papal visit to Malta on April 17-18 were defaced by vandals who added a Hitler moustache to the Pope's photograph and scrawled the word paedophile next to his image. The papal visit is the first foreign trip that the Pope has made since fresh sex allegations in the Catholic Church emerged across Europe and the US, raising questions about his personal response to abusers both as Archbishop of Munich, and later as the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. EXCERPT INTERVIEW: Mgr Charles Scicluna
A Maltese priest, Mgr Charles Scicluna knows the Pope personally and is one of the most senior figures in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith at the Vatican, which deals with cases of sexual abuse involving priests. Q. What steps have been taken by the Congregation in recent years to improve the safeguards? Promotion of a safe environment for children is left to the individual diocese. The diocese has to promote the protection of children on its own territory. It also has to be responsible for the screening of personnel - clergy and non-clergy - as well as liaising with the statutory authorities to be able to implement any safeguards. So it is not the responsibility of the Congregation to enforce or impose protection of children policies, but we are responsible for the negative side - that is, people who offend are brought to our tribunal. That is our specific role. Q, Does the Congregation view paedophilia as an incurable condition? This is not a question of dogma or doctrine, but a question of psychology and human sciences - which have developed on this aspect in recent years. There are compulsive paedophiles who are sick and who cannot control their compulsion. However, most cases (60 per cent) involve ephebophilia (sexual preference for mid-to-late adolescents). If you're talking about sexual relations with a 17-year-old, that would be heterosexuality or homosexuality. So diagnosis has to be carried out on a case by case basis and we would need expert advice before deciding. Q, Does the Church now just want to get rid of these priests? Dismissing the person from the clerical state means they have no status as clergy and they cannot abuse the trust people instinctively put in clergy. We have to ensure they are not destitute - that is what Canon Law demands - but the outcome of the future of such people is a concern which the Church has to share with society. Q. How has this issue affected the morale of the Church - in Rome and outside of Rome? The current pressure doesn't help morale. But I think Catholics are used to being under pressure and this is another type. However, I find that all this pressure not only humiliates us but purifies our commitment and also gives us a deeper understanding of the virtue of hope - which is about persevering in moments of tribulation. In his encyclical Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope), Pope Benedict talks in a very beautiful way of the gift the virtue of hope gives us. In moments of great tribulation and humiliation, the virtue of hope helps us to go on, to go forward and helps us survive through the storm. Q. Some people have described the Church's current predicament as a crisis. Do you see it like that? If crisis means a turning point, then it's welcome. Because that means that whatever good comes from this - and good will come from this - is going to change the way we look at certain problems and the way we address them. Crises are also opportunities. And these are very good opportunities for us to grow.
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/march.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101
April 16, 2010 (Php 1:28-30) And in nothing be ye terrified by the adversaries: which to them is a cause of perdition, but to you of salvation, and this from God. For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him: Having the same conflict as that which you have seen in me and now have heard of me.VIA TIMES OF MALTA: The Papal itinerary and routes
HEADLINE: Pope faces growing hostility on visit to Malta Pope Benedict XVI's planned two-day trip to Malta this week is set to be overshadowed by the paedophile scandal enveloping the Catholic Church, with victims of abuse on the island demanding that he meet them and apologise. A papal visit to the staunchly Catholic nation would normally be one of the easier official journeys for a pontiff, but revelations surrounding the scale of the abuse committed by the clergy have stunned and angered the nation. According to the diocesan authorities in Malta, 45 of its 850 priests have been accused of abuse and the Maltese Catholic Church is conducting investigations into several sex abuse claims. Demands for a public apology by the Pope are being led by Lawrence Grech, who said that he was regularly abused by priests and who is holding a media conference today with nine other alleged victims. "He should recognise that these things happened in Malta, reflect about the victims' suffering and issue a formal apology," he said. "We want to meet the Pope and we want an apology," added Mr Grech, now 37 and a father of two. He said that he was abused by two priests and a lay Christian Brother at St Joseph's, a Catholic orphanage in Santa Venera, between 1984 and 1987. He has begun legal action against the clergymen involved. He also claimed that a fourth man has since transferred to Rome without penalty.
"The priest used to come to my room at 6.30am and go to preach at the church at 7am," Mr Grech said. He wrote to the Vatican a month ago demanding an apology, but has so far has received no response. Another man Joseph Magro, 38, claimed yesterday that he too had been abused by a priest at the same home when he was between 16 and 18. "I can never forget," he said. "I want justice." No one was available to comment from the Maltese Catholic Church on the claims on Sunday. At the weekend large billboards promoting the papal visit to Malta on April 17-18 were defaced by vandals who added a Hitler moustache to the Pope's photograph and scrawled the word paedophile next to his image. The papal visit is the first foreign trip that the Pope has made since fresh sex allegations in the Catholic Church emerged across Europe and the US, raising questions about his personal response to abusers both as Archbishop of Munich, and later as the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. EXCERPT INTERVIEW: Mgr Charles Scicluna
A Maltese priest, Mgr Charles Scicluna knows the Pope personally and is one of the most senior figures in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith at the Vatican, which deals with cases of sexual abuse involving priests. Q. What steps have been taken by the Congregation in recent years to improve the safeguards? Promotion of a safe environment for children is left to the individual diocese. The diocese has to promote the protection of children on its own territory. It also has to be responsible for the screening of personnel - clergy and non-clergy - as well as liaising with the statutory authorities to be able to implement any safeguards. So it is not the responsibility of the Congregation to enforce or impose protection of children policies, but we are responsible for the negative side - that is, people who offend are brought to our tribunal. That is our specific role. Q, Does the Congregation view paedophilia as an incurable condition? This is not a question of dogma or doctrine, but a question of psychology and human sciences - which have developed on this aspect in recent years. There are compulsive paedophiles who are sick and who cannot control their compulsion. However, most cases (60 per cent) involve ephebophilia (sexual preference for mid-to-late adolescents). If you're talking about sexual relations with a 17-year-old, that would be heterosexuality or homosexuality. So diagnosis has to be carried out on a case by case basis and we would need expert advice before deciding. Q, Does the Church now just want to get rid of these priests? Dismissing the person from the clerical state means they have no status as clergy and they cannot abuse the trust people instinctively put in clergy. We have to ensure they are not destitute - that is what Canon Law demands - but the outcome of the future of such people is a concern which the Church has to share with society. Q. How has this issue affected the morale of the Church - in Rome and outside of Rome? The current pressure doesn't help morale. But I think Catholics are used to being under pressure and this is another type. However, I find that all this pressure not only humiliates us but purifies our commitment and also gives us a deeper understanding of the virtue of hope - which is about persevering in moments of tribulation. In his encyclical Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope), Pope Benedict talks in a very beautiful way of the gift the virtue of hope gives us. In moments of great tribulation and humiliation, the virtue of hope helps us to go on, to go forward and helps us survive through the storm. Q. Some people have described the Church's current predicament as a crisis. Do you see it like that? If crisis means a turning point, then it's welcome. Because that means that whatever good comes from this - and good will come from this - is going to change the way we look at certain problems and the way we address them. Crises are also opportunities. And these are very good opportunities for us to grow.
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions, and virtues"
10. If the day in our soul does not draw to evening and grow dark, then the thieves will not come and rob and slay and ruin our soul.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
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