More terrible revelations about sexual abuse in our Church
On Nov 9 the story broke in France. "It's a new tsunami" reported La Croix. Award-winning Catholic theologian and ethicist, Marie-Jo Thiel, says the latest cases of abuse involving 11 French bishops mark "point of no return" for the Church.
On Nov 14, Ireland, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she has not ruled out a public inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by the Spiritan order. A documentary broadcast on RTÉ Radio One last week related details of abuse against two brothers at Blackrock College and since its broadcast more people have made allegations against members of the Spiritan Order.
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/blackrock-college-abuse-claims
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/1114/1335978-spiritan-order/
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/rte-documentary-reveals-litany-abuse-28432588
Then, on November 17, Italy’s Catholic bishops provided their first accounting of clergy sexual abuse and revealed that more than 600 cases from Italy were on file at the Vatican since 2000…responding to a reporter's question during a press conference about the report, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi revealed that the bishops' conference was researching 613 files held at the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith…. Baturi, the secretary-general of the bishops' conference, noted that some of the 613 cases might have been archived and some might contain multiple victims of a serial predator. “We have to understand how many victims, what their profile is, who are those responsible,” he said.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/italy-church-releases-abuse-accounting-years-93469050
All of this confirms at CLC the importance of our work of reaching out to survivors in Canada to foster healing and reconciliation. See our First Friday Fellowship series, part of CLC’s program Walking with Survivors. https://concernedlaycatholics.ca/upcoming-events/49wpqu5grwdgh1wl73opi7sv86tiyr and consider joining us.