What's Right with the Catholic Church #52

The Vatican, and especially its spokesman Fr. Lombardi, never know when to shut up. It's as if they all believe that they all have infallibility. Father Lombardi's response to the Cloyne Report is a masterpiece of double-speak, as is often true with his pronouncements.

On another subject, your forwarded piece on Contraception, a few points:

My position, as clearly expressed in all my writings on the subject, addresses the use of contraceptives only between committed married spouses.
The "Unitive" principle expressed by the Church, wherein any and all acts of sexual intercourse must always be open to procreation, stands on thin air as applied to married couples, regarding whom the Church has no jurisdiction in my opinion.
Pope Paul VI operated in opposition to a definite majority of his committee of Cardinals charged with reviewing the subject. That, plus the over-broad application his writing was given by the conservatives in the Church who - immediately after the end of Vatican ll and since then - began a systematic attack on many of its decisions, has resulted in a grievous wound to the Church in quantity and quality - and in the current arrogance of many in the Clergy. It has also been directly related to the explosion of abortions performed in the last 40 years.
"Artificial Contraception" is as artificial if it comes out of a pill bottle or from a patch as it is if it results from the intended use of a wife's menstrual cycle to avoid procreation.
Sexual intercourse between willing, committed married couples, pals, is and should be as natural and spontaneous as breathing. Whether and when it should be open to creating a new child is the function of that couple's clear responsibility to produce and raise children whom they can support. That responsibility is clearly articulated in the Catholic Catechism.
That construct is as true throughout the world as it relates to committed married couples in New York, New London, Mexico, Brazil or in Africa. If the Church were to make that distinction, entirely in keeping with Natural Law, there would be vastly less hunger, misery and war in the world.
I have never condoned fornication, adultery, "free sex", and all the other manifestations of Sodom and Gomorra that pass for "modern culture" around us. Yes, Contraception has contributed to all of that. And so has the Church's demented stand on its application to the married state.
And through all of this, all the good Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York could mount as an argument to Morley Safer's challenge on 60 Minutes recently was: "Because!". I was definitely underwhelmed by the Archbishop's performance.

"Can you hear me now?"

Lest we forget: Having read salient parts of both the Cloyne Report and the response of Father Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, I continue to see the Vatican in denial and...worse yet...practicing duplicity. Not nice, and not at all productive.

GS

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ZENIT, The world seen from Rome
News Agency
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Ireland Stands By Criticism of Vatican in Cloyne Report
Says It Hopes Lessons Have Been Learned

DUBLIN, Ireland, SEPT. 8, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The government of Ireland has thanked the Vatican for its response to the Cloyne report, but stands by its criticism of a 1997 letter that Ireland says gave some clergy a pretext for covering-up sexual abuse accusations.

In a brief statement issued today, the government of Ireland said it welcomes the statement in the response that the Holy See is sorry and ashamed for the terrible sufferings which the victims of abuse and their families have endured.

The 400-page Cloyne report, published in July, found that Bishop John Magee of Coyne, who resigned in 2010, ignored the 1996 child protection guidelines set down by the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference and failed to report to the police at least nine of 15 sexual abuse allegations in that period.

Furthermore, it found that the reaction of the Vatican to the efforts of the Irish bishops to respond to child abuse allegations was unhelpful to any bishop who wanted to implement the agreed procedures.

The report cited a 1997 letter sent to the Irish bishops' conference by then-nuncio Archbishop Luciano Storero (1926-2000), who stated that the Congregation for Clergy considered the child protection guidelines outlined in Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response as a mere study document, and that it contained procedures and dispositions, namely what is referred to as mandatory reporting, which appear contrary to canonical discipline.

The Vatican responded that the letter merely offered advice on the development of a document, and that the Church has a long history of reiterating the importance of reporting sexual abuse cases to civil authorities.

Having considered carefully the Cloyne Report and the response of the Holy See, the statement stated, the Government of Ireland remains of the view that the content of the confidential letter in 1997 [...] provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full cooperation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors. This is a matter of great concern to the Irish Government.

It is the Government of Ireland's hope that, in spite of outstanding differences, lessons have been learned from appalling past failures, the text continued. In this regard, it welcomes the commitment in the concluding remarks of the Holy See's response to a constructive dialogue and cooperation with the Government.

In welcoming this commitment the Government expects the fullest cooperation from the Holy See, the Catholic Church in Ireland and all other relevant bodies with a view to ensuing that Ireland is a society fully safe for children and minors and that all of those with responsibility for the welfare and care of children in this country are fully subject to Irish laws and requirements.