Fr. Bob's Corner

The long awaited report from the Vatican on the Legionaries of Christ was released today. The NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER has just published the document in English. Deception and Betrayal are horrible to experience in life, and I can imagine that many in the Legion are experiencing all kinds of mixed emotions. Why their founder (Father Marcial Maciel Degollado) did what he did is now in God’s hands, but the scandalization, hurts, and scars he has left behind are just horrible. Let us remember in our prayers the thousands and thousands of very good and holy people he has hurt and betrayed, and pray that the church will be able to comfort and heal the wounds of so many. Here is a brief quote of assurance from the Vatican report.

“The Holy Father wishes to assure all Legionaries and members of the Regnum Christi Movement that they will not be left on their own: The Church is firmly resolved to accompany them and help them on the path of purification that awaits them. It will also mean dealing sincerely with all of those who, within and outside the Legion, were victims of sexual abuse and of the power system devised by the founder: They are in the Holy Father’s thoughts and prayers at this time, along with his gratitude to those of them who, even in the midst of great difficulties, had the courage and constancy to demand the truth.”   FULL REPORT

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It seems that the only news available on the the Catholic Church right now is about the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests. My Google reader is filled with story after story, viewpoint after viewpoint, situation after situation, opinion after opinion, etc.. If you are like me, you look for articles and people who have the ability to be most insightful and helpful. One of the authors I turn to is John Allen which Vatican Radio also turn too, and even reprinted one of his recent articles. A second author is  Thomas Reese, S.J., Senior Fellow of Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. There is an excellent interview with him by Maureen Fiedler on http://interfaithradio.org/node/1290.

Technorati Tags: Vatican,Abuse,Tom Reese,John Allen,Commentary,viewpoint,understanding

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Getting News and Information from the Vatican just got a whole lot easier and simpler in the last few days. The Vatican has launched a new blog on blogspot or blogger (a free blogging service operated by Google) which provides easy up-to-date information on the Pope and the Vatican in general. The name of this new blog is VIS. The Vatican has also transferred information from its main web site dating back to 1999. EWTN reports:  “The new site offers Vatican Information Service (VIS) press releases to the user in an easy-to-read blog format which is to be updated daily at 3 p.m. Rome time. The same information is available on a free subscription basis sent by email to interested parties and continues to be available on Holy See’s www.vatican.va website.”
Zenit states: “So far, the blog has some 35,000 news items on the Pope and the Holy See.”
Spanish journalist Miguel Castellvi, VIS director, told ZENIT. "Yesterday we had 9,532 visits: 6,216 to the blog in English, 1,562 to the Italian, 1,017 to the Spanish and 737 to the French."

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The Official blog of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto has a new post on the sexual abuse crisis. It is well worth reading. These few opening words near the beginning of the post set its tone and perspective: “We should all remember that if there was no abuse, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. We are ashamed that there was rampant sexual abuse of minors by clergy throughout the world and that this abuse was not dealt with more directly and pastorally.Yes, the spotlight is being shone on us but it is also our responsibility to set the bar at the highest level.” FULL POST of March 29, 2010 –ADDRESSING WORLDWIDE CLAIMS OF ABUSE

The long awaited letter to the Irish People has finally been published by the
Vatican. Here is the Link: Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, 19 March 2010, Benedict XVI

Some of you will probably wonder what reaction people in Ireland will have etc…., and will no doubt do a google search. John Allen is one of the first to respond: Link 

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This week, a historic moment in the Vatican’s response to the global clergy sex-abuse scandals arrived as Ireland’s 24 diocesan bishops began an unprecedented two-day summit with Pope Benedict and his senior Curia over the devastating fallout of November’s Murphy Report on the history of abuse and its handling in the archdiocese of Dublin.
While the American cardinals were addressed by Pope John Paul II and met with the relevant heads of dicasteries nearly four months after the outbreak of the US’ edition of the crisis in 2002, never before has an entire national bench been summoned to Rome on the hot-button issue… and neither has a pontiff himself led the discussions as Benedict XVI did with his Irish visitors. Whisper’s in the Loggia (week of Feb 14, 2010) has a number of posts and links to read more about this historic meeting at the Vatican about a crisis that has caused and continues to cause excruciating pain, suffering, and scandal to Catholics (victims, laity, and clergy) around the world.

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Christmas Trees have been a part of my Christmas for 65 years. I can’t imagine Christmas without one. Yet, it was only in 1982 that John Paul II recognized the tradition. In that year John Paul II requested that a Christmas tree adorn St Peter’s Square during the Christmas Season, and one has enhanced the square every Christmas since. On December the 4th, 2009 a 100ft tree was put in place in the square. The official lighting ceremony took place on December 18th. Pope Benedict admired the tree and made the following comments:

"In the forest," the Holy Father said, "the trees are close together and each one of them contributes to making the forest a shadowy, sometimes dark, place."
"But here," he continued, "chosen from among this multitude, the majestic tree that you offered us is today lit up and covered with brilliant decorations that are like so many marvellous fruits."
"Leaving aside its dark garments for a brilliant explosion, it has been transfigured, becoming a beacon of light that is not its own, but rather gives testimony to the true Light that comes to this world," To read more on this go to ZENIT.

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