Abuse commission member: questions remain on how Church will respond
March 10, 2017
A member of the Pope’s special commission on sexual abuse has indicated that it is an open question how Chuch leaders will respond to the problem.
In an interview with Katholisch.de, Father Hans Zollner said: “The question remains if those responsible in the Church will actively pursue the topic out of self-motivation, or only when scandals become public.”
The Jesuit priest was reacting to the resignation of another commission member, Marie Collins, who had complained that the group’s work has been thwarted by resistance from the Roman Curia. Father Zollner said that although he did not think the Curia in particular were opposed to the commission’s work, he did find that Church officials generally find the topic “deeply terrible and frightening.”
Questioned about the failure of many country’s episcopal conferences to adopt the guidelines that the commission has recommended, Father Zollner admitted that “one can wonder why no one takes them to task about this.” But he observed that “the Church has no means to sanction entire bishops’ conferences.”
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Mar. 11, 2017 12:54 PM ET USA
"The Church will...pursue the topic out of self-motivation, or only when scandals become public." As with alcoholism and drug addiction, the Church first has to acknowledge the true source of the rampant male-on-male sexual abuse: homosexual clergy. The "official" reports deny this, all the training in the U.S. Church denies it, the U.S. Church is in complete denial; but the numbers don't lie. Spin by any other name is nonetheless spin. Male-on-male sexual activity remains homosexual regardless.
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Posted by: dfp3234574 -
Mar. 11, 2017 11:29 AM ET USA
Enough, already! This *same story* has now gone on for over 25 years. No other organization on the planet has tried to rectify for its past more than the RCC. Over $3 billion in 'settlements' in the US alone, countless 'reforms' and 'awareness trainings,' and *still* the abuse lobby says it is "not enough." Well, yes, the Church has done enough, and, quite frankly, the Church should put this whole issue to rest and stop acting like an ATM machine for the opposition.
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
Mar. 10, 2017 9:14 PM ET USA
Your article omits some of the most important points of the interview. There is no means to sanction Bishops' Conferences. 2- Some of them have not yet implemented the CDF policies from 2011.
