IRISH PROTEST POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT: “SAY NOPE TO THE POPE”

WORLD RELIGION NEWS

POSTED BY DEREK WELCH

TAOISEACH VARADKAR HAS CRITICIZED THE CAMPAIGN, TERMING IT PETTY.

By Crristoph Wagener  GFDL from Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Many Irish applied for tickets to the mass scheduled to be celebrated in Dublin’s Phoenix Park by Pope Francis. Not many, however, will actually attend. The action of taking the free tickets and not going thereafter to the Francis helmed event is a part of the “Say Nope to the Pope” campaign. According to the latter’s organizers, the protests will be peaceful and silent. Even the most optimistic estimate does not venture attendee numbers to exceed 500,000. The actual number of attendees could be much smaller.

US not alone in grappling with Catholic sex abuse, cover-up

FOX NEWS

By NICOLE WINFIELD | Associated Press

 

VATICAN CITY – Recent revelations of sexual misconduct and cover-up within the highest ranks of the U.S. Catholic Church have revived the sense of betrayal that devastated the American church’s credibility after the first wave of scandal hit in 2002.

POPE’S LETTER URGES TO PRAY AND FAST FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE VICTIMS

World Religion News

POSTED BY COREY BARNETT

Pope Francis wrote a “Letter to the People of God” in which he requests readers to pray and fast as a kind of atonement for sexual crimes committed by members of the clergy. The letter follows the release of a report which describes in excruciating detail how hundreds of Catholic priests scattered over a total of six Pennsylvania dioceses engaged in horrific sexual abuses of children. The pope admitted that the Vatican abandoned the victims.

Papst gesteht Fehler im Umgang mit Missbrauch in US-Kirchen ein

WELT

Seltene Geste: Papst Franziskus gesteht Fehler im Umgang mit Missbrauch ein
Quelle: pa/Stefano Spazi/Stefano Spaziani

Jahrzehntelange hat die Kirche in den USA Missbrauch verschwiegen. Nun hat der Papst einen Brief geschrieben, in dem er Fehler der Kirche eingesteht und Katholiken dazu aufruft, sich gegen Missbrauch einzusetzen.

Papst Franziskus hat den sexuellen Missbrauch durch Priester und dessen Vertuschung in einem Brief an Katholiken in aller Welt als Verbrechen verurteilt. In einem ausführlichen Schreiben richtete er sich an die Gläubigen in aller Welt.

Pope angers Chile after backing bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse

World-Wide Religious News

Rick Noack (“The Washington Post,” January 19, 2018)

It was supposed to be an apology tour, but the pope’s Chile visit drew unexpected ire Thursday after the head of the Catholic Church came to the support of Juan Barros, a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse. The remarks came at the end of a visit that was intended to ease tensions between the church and victims of sexual abuse committed by a priest named Fernando Karadima.

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Both a Chilean judge and the Vatican had found that the accusations made by Karadima’s victims were credible — even though by then it was too late to prosecute the priest. But Barros, once Karadima’s protege, continues to have he support of the Catholic Church, despite accusations he covered up the abuse. The accusations against Barros have come from some of the same victims deemed credible in the investigation of Karadima.

Papal visit to Ireland in numbers: From loaves to loos

WORLD

By Nuala McCann
BBC News NI

Organisers are expecting 500,000 people to see the Pope in Dublin’s Phoenix Park next week

God works in mysterious ways, but when it comes to a Papal visit, it’s a miracle of engineering.
Pope Francis needs an army of the faithful backing him up for his Ireland visit next week for the culmination of the World Meeting of Families.
The country is bracing itself for a holy show in the best possible sense.
And the advice to those travelling is: Get your jabs. Ireland’s health authority has warned that large gatherings pose their own risks.
Saint John Paul is ‘top of the Popes’
Pope tickets scooped up within hours
Francis to visit ‘a very different’ Ireland
So it’s highly advisable to be up-to-date with vaccinations.

Humanist weddings are the antidote to out-of-touch marriage ceremonies

Vonny Leclerc

‘Getting married doesn’t mean the same thing it meant a generation ago.’ Photograph: Jan Kozelnicky / Alamy/Alamy
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Civil ceremonies are dry, while traditional weddings symbolise intolerance. I’m choosing the more people-centred option

“Good morning/afternoon and welcome to [venue’s name]. My name is [blank], and I have been authorised by the registrar general for Scotland to conduct civil marriage ceremonies in the district of [blank].”

Planning our civil ceremony was as special as filling in a tax return. There was little magic in the photocopied wedding booklet, on cheap blue paper, with options to circle like a hospital menu. The song we picked was rejected because it said “God” in it, so we had to find something else. When standing in front of 100 friends and family, being married by someone with all the zeal of a headmaster giving out a punishment exercise, I started to have my doubts about weddings.

Vatican responds to Pennsylvania priest abuse scandal with ‘shame and sorrow’

By Elizabeth Zwirz/Fox News

The Vatican responded Thursday to the report of hundreds of Pennsylvania priests abusing children, saying in a statement: “There are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow.”

“The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible,” the statement read. “Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith.”

More than 1,000 children were allegedly abused by more than 300 “predator priests” and church officials were accused of covering up the allegations, a grand jury’s report released Tuesday said.

SHOULD RELIGION BE A FACTOR FOR ADOPTING A CHILD?

WORLD RELIGION NEWS

 

PROSPECTIVE PARENTS FIGHTING BACK AGAINST RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTION.

 

Adoption is a complicated process. It can take years and involve a multitude of tests, references, and forms. Of all the requirements, one is becoming more controversial, religion. Applicants are asked to list their faith and amount of participation in their local religious center. Some states, like New York, allow birth parents to reject prospective parents based on their religion.

Katholische Geistliche missbrauchten mehr als 1000 Kinder

WELT

Hunderte katholische Geistliche haben im US-Bundesstaat Pennsylvania in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten mehr als 1000 Kinder missbraucht – die Dunkelziffer ist vermutlich höher. Ranghohe Kirchenbeamte sollen den Missbrauch systematisch vertuscht haben.

Im US-Staat Pennsylvania haben mehr als 300 katholische Geistliche in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten mehr als 1000 Kinder missbraucht. Zu diesem Schluss kam eine Grand Jury, die am Dienstag ihren Bericht vorlegte.