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Vatican: Letter to Ireland's Bishops on Abuse Was Misunderstood
By not in system - AOL NewsVATICAN CITY -- The Vatican says a letter warning Irish bishops against reporting sexual abuse of children to police has been misunderstood. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that with its 1997 letter, the Vatican wanted to ensure that Irish bishops follow church law precisely so that pedophile priests would not have any technical grounds to escape church punishment. Lombardi issued the statement Wednesday after The Associated Press reported that the letter from the Holy See's top diplomat in Ireland told bishops that their "mandatory reporting" of abuse policy "gives ...
Catholic Bishops: More Exorcists Needed
By not in system - AOL NewsNEW YORK (Nov. 12) -- Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the rite, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops are holding a conference on how to conduct exorcisms. The two-day training, which ends Saturday in Baltimore, is to outline the scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed, and review the prayers and rituals that comprise an exorcism. Among the speakers will be Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, and a priest-assistant to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. "Learning the liturgical rite is not difficult," ...
'Vatican Bank' Under Investigation Again
By Paul Wachter - AOL News
(Sept. 21) -- The president of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) -- commonly called the Vatican Bank -- and another senior official are being investigated for money laundering, The Guardian reports. Italian police have ordered the freeze of 23 million euros ($30 million) from the account under dispute. Just what is the Vatican bank in the first place, and why has it been so prone to scandal over the years? Surge Desk takes a look: Founding and charge Founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage the Vatican's coffers, the IOR operates outside the central administrative structure of the ...
Priest-Molesters Often Aren't Monitored, Despite Church Promise
By David Gibson - Politics DailyFiguring out how to keep children safe from child molesters released from prison is a longstanding problem facing American society, since even neighborhood notification programs can only do so much. Protecting children from predators who escaped criminal punishment, as most clergy accused in the Catholic abuse scandal did, is likewise a dilemma. The Catholic Church hoped to have a better solution, since it could insist that priests found to have abused children but who were beyond the reach of the law might be closely monitored and kept away from minors if they remained priests in the employ ...
Bishops' Spokeswoman Denounces Violence Tied to Health Care Debate
By David Gibson - Politics DailyA longtime spokeswoman for the United States Catholic Bishops on Thursday added her voice to those denouncing threats and attacks against members of Congress in the wake of the health care debate. The Catholic hierarchy was one of the leading opponents of the health care reform bill, and efforts by the bishops nearly killed the legislation. But Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh writes on the bishops' Web site that whatever the passions against the bill, they "cannot justify the verbal and physical violence that has ensued." We've seen reports of homes and offices of lawmakers vandalized and heard ...
Stupak Calls Bishops, Anti-Abortion Groups Hypocrites on HCR
By David Gibson - Politics DailyThe war among pro-lifers over health care reform is worsening, not easing, in the wake of the passage of the health care overhaul: Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, leader of a key Democratic bloc that held out for tougher language against abortion financing, has called the Catholic bishops and conservative anti-abortion lobbies "hypocrites" for not supporting the bill after Stupak won last-minute concessions from the White House. Stupak received a guarantee from President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Obama would sign an executive order after the bill's passage that reiterates the bill's ...
Bishops Nod to Health Care Reform, but Stick to Their Story
By David Gibson - Politics DailyNearly two days after the passage of a health care reform bill that they wanted to support but nearly wound up killing, the U.S. Catholic bishops on Tuesday issued a statement that welcomes aspects of the package but vows to monitor its provisions on abortion financing and to push for legislative fixes. "Many in Congress and the administration, as well as individuals and groups in the Catholic community, have repeatedly insisted that there is no federal funding for abortion in this statute and that strong conscience protection has been assured," Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president ...
How the Bishops Lost, Even as Their Cause Prevailed
By David Gibson - Politics DailyThe Catholic bishops of the United States held the best cards of all in the high-stakes showdown over health care reform, and yet remained the odd men out in the political gamesmanship on the pivotal issue of abortion. So perhaps it was inevitable that as the legislation passed the House in a historic vote, the bishops were on the outside looking in, with their soul mates in Congress abandoning them and foes thumbing their noses. How did this happen? The paradoxes were evident from the start. Universal, affordable health care has long been considered a pro-life priority for the Catholic ...
Bishops Oppose Health Bill, Still Claiming It Could Fund Abortions
By David Gibson - Politics DailyThe nation's Catholic bishops are maintaining a firm stand against the health care reform bill despite the decision of their onetime allies, the national association of Catholic hospitals, to endorse the legislation, and in the face of mounting evidence that the basis of their opposition -- a conviction that the bill would finance abortion -- is faulty. The health care reform bill is due for a showdown vote in the House later this week. Its success or failure appears to hinge on whether a dozen or so pro-life House Democrats -- taking their cue from the Catholic hierarchy -- will vote en ...
Catholic Bishops to Congress: Ditch the Politics, Pass Health Care
By David Gibson - Politics DailyIn a strongly worded appeal that will test their political influence, especially with their pro-life and Republican allies, the Catholic bishops of the United States have told Congress to put politics aside and focus on the "moral imperative" of passing universal health care. "The health care debate, with all its political and ideological conflict, seems to have lost its central moral focus and policy priority, which is to ensure that affordable, quality, life-giving care is available to all," the three bishops who are leading the lobbying effort for the Catholic hierarchy write in a letter ...
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