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Europe roiled by fresh allegations of clerical child abuse

14 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

We are to be ambassadors for Christ, Saint Paul reminds readers in this Sunday's second reading. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi Tuesday acknowledged the "gravity of the crisis the church is undergoing" after fresh allegations surfaced in recent weeks of widespread sexual abuse by members of the clergy in Germany, Austria, and Holland. But the Vatican said it was wrong to focus blame for child abuse exclusively on the church, saying "the issue is much broader." Lombardi also denied allegations by a German government minister that the Vatican had hampered investigations of pedophilia by "creating a wall of silence." Reports last month alleged that Catholic priests had sexually abused more than 100 children at Jesuit schools there. "Errors committed by the institutions and members of the church are particularly reprehensible given the church's educational and moral responsibility," Lombardi told Vatican Radio. "But every objective and well-informed person knows that . . . concentrating accusations on the church alone gets things out of perspective," he said. Lombardi cited a recent report by Austrian authorities that detailed 17 cases of abuse in institutions linked to the Catholic Church, but 510 in other organizations. The Dutch Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday said it would ask an independent commission to look into more than 200 reports of alleged sexual abuses by priests, in response to an increasing number of victims coming forward. Germans were outraged by reports of abuse by Jesuits and allegations of beating and pedophilia at three Catholic schools in Bavaria, including one linked to a prestigious choir run by Pope Benedict XVI's brother from 1964 to 1994. Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, 86, has acknowledged he slapped pupils in the face to discipline them but has denied any knowledge of sexual abuse. "At the beginning I also repeatedly administered a slap in the face, but always had a bad conscience about it," Ratzinger is quoted as saying in an interview with a German newspaper Tuesday. The latest allegations follow years of damaging scandal in Ireland and the United States. The U.S. church has paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since 1992. Source: An article by Daniel Flynn for Reuters News, Allan Hall for TimesOnline.co.uk, and Melissa Eddy and Alessandra Rizzo for the Huffington Post

vatican georg ratzinger pedophilia netherlands austria jesuits germany clergy sexual abuse federico lombardi domspatzen

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Aussie church agencies apologize for forced adoptions

31 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Nothing and no one can separate us from the love of Christ, Saint Paul confidently asserts in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Romans. Three Catholic agencies in Australia have apologized "with a deep sense of regret and heartfelt sorrow" for forcibly separating thousands of unmarried mothers from their newborn babies immediately after birth and handing them to adoption agencies in past decades. The apology this past week came jointly from Catholic Health Australia, the largest nongovernment provider of healthcare services in Australia, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, about 100 miles north of Sydney. The practice of forced adoption was reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a story on its website after an investigation into claims of abuse and trauma in Newcastle. The story said it was believed that at least 150,000 Australian women had their babies taken against their will by some churches and adoption agencies. Initially Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth said he saw "little evidence" of forced adoptions in decades past. He issued a follow-up statement this week which said: "While it is true that I had little evidence of forced consents to adoption, I realize that many of the young women at the time were not clear that their consent was required. Many were confused, feeling powerless during their pregnancy for fear that their baby would be taken from them.” Martin Laverty, chief executive officer of Catholic Health Australia, addressed hospital adoption practices in a letter to the Australian Senate which is investigating past adoption policies and practices. He wrote that "in some cases, the adoption practices of 30 to 60 years ago had devastating and ongoing impacts on mothers, fathers, children, and families. "We acknowledge the pain of separation and loss felt then and felt now for the mothers, fathers, children, families, and others involved in some of the practices of the time," Laverty said. "For this pain that arises from the practices of the past, we are genuinely sorry." "Catholic Health Australia would endorse a proposal to establish a national framework to aid those dealing with their post-adoption circumstances," Laverty said. He also said that there were several options to support the mothers, including access to medical records related to the births and adoptions. Source: An article by Kerry Myers for Catholic News Service

australia barry hickey martin laverty adoption diocese of maitland-newcastle sisters of mercy catholic health australia

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South Africa struggles with alcohol’s aftereffects

26 Feb 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Teach me your paths, guide me in your truth,” the psalmist prays to the Lord this Sunday. Long-standing cultural traditions and a lack of education on the dangers of heavy drinking have led to a crisis of alcohol-related problems in South Africa, including high levels of violent crime, road deaths, and fetal alcohol syndrome. Ironically, the country is full of teetotalers. According to the World Health Organization, nearly two thirds of South Africans have never taken a sip, and only 27 percent say they have had a drink in the past year. But many of those who do drink, drink a lot. Researchers said the problem is especially severe in the rural Northern Cape provinces, in part due to historical reasons. When French Huguenots arrived in South Africa and started vineyards, the laborers received part of their wages in alcohol--a scheme known as the "dop system." Dop payments were banned in the 1920s but in practice the system carried on in many rural zones until apartheid ended in 1994. In some areas the custom has "now spread to social drinking on a very large scale," said Denis Viljoen, who studies rural communities. Authorities are now pondering a range of laws to tone down heavy alcohol consumption. The legal drinking age may soon be raised from 18 to 21, pregnant women may be refused liquor sales, and alcohol ads banned. Source: An article by Claire Price for Agence France Presse

south africa alcohol drinking dop

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Cycling ring doped and duped the testers

28 Oct 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Each of us makes decisions to close our eyes to a lot we prefer not to see,” which “puts us at risk as we participate in certain grand lies,” says Alice Camille about spiritual blindness and the Sunday gospel theme of blindness and restoration of sight. A case of silent collusion and participation in a grand lie in professional cycling came to a stunning conclusion Monday when cancer survivor and American sports icon Lance Armstrong was stripped of his 7 Tour de France championships for doping to win his titles and for playing an instrumental role in a massive secret doping ring in the tainted sport.International cycling's governing body Monday accepted the findings of a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report about the elaborate doping program involving Armstrong, not only stripping the famed athlete of his titles but also banning him from competition for life.International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid said that Armstrong’s teams had a “win at all costs” attitude fueled by “deceit, intimidation, coercion, and evasion” and that all of the evidence was there to prove that Armstrong doped. Armstrong, who has vehemently denied ever doping, declined to comment Monday. By early Tuesday his biography on his Twitter page had been changed to no longer say he is the seven-time Tour de France winner.The USADA sent 1,000-plus pages of documentation to the UCI, including a report from 26 witnesses, among them 11 former Armstrong teammates, who alleged Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood-booster EPO, blood transfusions, and testosterone and hid it from testers in a sophisticated doping scheme during his Tour de France title runs."It's a very nasty story," said Don Catlin, the International Olympic Committee medical commission member who has presided over sports drug testing since the 1980s. "Doping control has a lot of problems."Homily hint: Jesus was kind and patient with a lot of shortcomings, but he didn’t have much tolerance for lying, cheating, and hypocrisy. Perhaps that is why he took so well to blind Bartimaeus in the gospel story, who had not a hint of guile in him. Though blind, he saw the truth and spoke it clearly. May we all do so as well. Sources: Articles by Lance Pugmire for the Los Angeles Times and Juliet Macur for the New York Times

cheating lance armstrong cycling doping don catlin pat mcquaid international cycling union us anti-doping agency tour de france

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Cycling ring doped and duped the testers

28 Oct 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Each of us makes decisions to close our eyes to a lot we prefer not to see,” which “puts us at risk as we participate in certain grand lies,” says Alice Camille about spiritual blindness and the Sunday gospel theme of blindness and restoration of sight. A case of silent collusion and participation in a grand lie in professional cycling came to a stunning conclusion Monday when cancer survivor and American sports icon Lance Armstrong was stripped of his 7 Tour de France championships for doping to win his titles and for playing an instrumental role in a massive secret doping ring in the tainted sport.International cycling's governing body Monday accepted the findings of a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report about the elaborate doping program involving Armstrong, not only stripping the famed athlete of his titles but also banning him from competition for life.International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid said that Armstrong’s teams had a “win at all costs” attitude fueled by “deceit, intimidation, coercion, and evasion” and that all of the evidence was there to prove that Armstrong doped. Armstrong, who has vehemently denied ever doping, declined to comment Monday. By early Tuesday his biography on his Twitter page had been changed to no longer say he is the seven-time Tour de France winner.The USADA sent 1,000-plus pages of documentation to the UCI, including a report from 26 witnesses, among them 11 former Armstrong teammates, who alleged Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood-booster EPO, blood transfusions, and testosterone and hid it from testers in a sophisticated doping scheme during his Tour de France title runs."It's a very nasty story," said Don Catlin, the International Olympic Committee medical commission member who has presided over sports drug testing since the 1980s. "Doping control has a lot of problems."Homily hint: Jesus was kind and patient with a lot of shortcomings, but he didn’t have much tolerance for lying, cheating, and hypocrisy. Perhaps that is why he took so well to blind Bartimaeus in the gospel story, who had not a hint of guile in him. Though blind, he saw the truth and spoke it clearly. May we all do so as well. Sources: Articles by Lance Pugmire for the Los Angeles Times and Juliet Macur for the New York Times

cheating lance armstrong cycling doping don catlin pat mcquaid international cycling union us anti-doping agency tour de france

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Homily stories

18 Jun 2017 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle A

A recent Reddit thread asked the question: “Orphans who didn’t get adopted, what happened and how is life now?” Here is a taste of the many affecting replies: “I was in foster care, but was never adopted. I was taken away from my biological family at a young age. I went from home to home being told directly that ‘You are here only because you make us money.’ When I would misbehave, my foster parents would threaten to ‘call the agency’ and return me, like some sort of defective product. It took a mental toll on me, and I lived in constant fear. The people I was surrounded with in my foster homes made be believe that anybody that interacted with me wanted to use me, and that led me to withdraw from everybody and isolate myself. I really only felt ‘at home,’ when I was in school. “Things are better now, I am working on my Ph.D. and am trying my very best to build healthy relationships with people, but it is extremely hard to open up when I’ve been hurt so much.” Another contributor writes: “It also scares me to think about how easily I can just let people go. I’ve been alone my whole life so my bonds with people are never strong. I’m scared of this happening with my child. I want to be an amazing dad not a deadbeat.” As these stories so perfectly illustrate, the world leaves many orphans, but Jesus, as the Body and Blood, remains in each of us and gives us the power to love and endure.

Authors Father Larry Janowski O.F.M.

orphans adoption

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