Good will come from storm facing Church - Mgr Scicluna
The Maltese priest who serves at the Vatican as prosecutor in cases of sexual abuse on minors has avoided saying that the Church is currently in crisis over the paedophilia outcry, but says that good will come out of the current situation.
Replying to questions by The Sunday Times, Mgr Charles Scicluna, Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that if crisis means a turning point, then it's welcome.
"Because that means that whatever good comes from this - and good will come from this - is going to change the way we look at certain problems and the way we address them. Crises are also opportunities. And these are very good opportunities for us to grow."
Asked if this issue has affected the morale of the Church - in Rome and beyond, Mgr Scicluna said the current pressure did not help morale.
"But I think Catholics are used to being under pressure and this is another type. However, I find that all this pressure not only humiliates us but purifies our commitment and also gives us a deeper understanding of the virtue of hope - which is about persevering in moments of tribulation"
In the interview, by Steve Mallia, Mgr Scicluna gives an insight into Pope Benedict, with whom he worked closely when the then Cardinal Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When asked about the view that people in his position have not been willing enough to be convinced of the guilt of fellow priests, Mgr Scicluna said the accusation that it's all in-house was very old and he felt that efforts to render the process more transparent would only help the Church.
"The Church has to be very, very clear on a simple point: that we are interested in the truth because only the truth will set us free. When it comes to minors, the paramount concern is the safety of children in churches and in organisations run by the Church.
The full interview can be seen at:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100411/interview/we-have-to-get-our-act-together
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
'No need for early election if PM's...
In Discussion
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Gozo tunnel could take 5-7 years to...
CABS remote controlled aircraft shot...
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Joseph Calleja condemns portrayal of...
Updated: Labour would give...
CABS drone shot down
Second group of migrants arrives
Adrian Vassallo in scathing...
26 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
victor pulis
Apr 12th 2010, 07:41
@ Alfred Gatt
That is what Christians believe. Go tell some ancient Egyptian that Osiris didn't rise from the dead. Go tell some Muslim that Mohammed didn't ascend to heaven on a white horse. All religions claim to be of divine origin (that is after all the reason for religions) It is almost inconcievable that one day Christianity like all other religions will be a thing of the past. Other religions will crop up I'm sure. Beliefs change as do morals and values. Christianty today is different from that of five hundred years ago. Jesus Christ wouldn't recognise a large part of what is taught today as his teaching regarding Christianty.
Alfred Gatt
Apr 11th 2010, 22:39
Dear Mr Pulis: The Catholic Religion is of divine origin because its founder is Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead after the cruellest of deaths and whose resurrection has been witnessed by the first disciples and all along the centuries by those thousands who gave up their lives for this belief, notwithstanding their great sufference. We would rightly be called 'fools' if we are followers of Christ, had he not risen from the dead. Moreover, statistics are not that important in this case; everyone is at liberty to believe or not.
A Attard
Apr 11th 2010, 22:02
Storms make the oak grow deeper roots.
George Herbert
(1593-1632, British metaphysical poet)
r.cutajar
Apr 11th 2010, 20:47
NOTE ; to an excusabile degree Not the act / abuse involving children in anyway whatsoever but only the psyciatric or a combination of body material condition as such which definitely is considered abnormal as in such circumstances as to render such damaging implications to victims AND consequently to the Church where it is agreived by the unfortunate cloak of secrecy and none social justice to an otherwise faithfull Comunity
Truly tragic and Disbeleif ! However one and all Must Not forget the Immensity of Good Deeds the Holy Church did and is Doing !
proper perspectives should be focused on what is an otherwise unfortuate chapter.
r cutajar
Apr 11th 2010, 18:40
Fr scicluna seems to imply This Storm as though it is not a self imposed problem which is what actually is Most Serious . One and all must keep this in mind .It is excusabile to a certain degree to have somebody taking advantage of a situation as what quite clearly happened in many cases over the years of Absolute Faith in the men in the cloth .
Now once the complains started against Anybody ie any priest for that matter Why on earth where the priest concrned almost always moved somewher else among new Sheep ????!!!! That is Damning And Damaging to an otherwise good image of wht innumerabile numbers of other very good priests'work . For God's and childrens' sake REMOVE offenders completely if you want to be credibile FULL STOP AND please no more Subtle titles and excuses as in this day and age IT IS OVER to keep on trying to woo young generations with what You wish to make beleive !
Frank Muscat
Apr 11th 2010, 15:50
Where I stand is mirrored in Timothy Radcliffe's article entitled SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? Please refer to: www.thetablet.co.uk Timothy Radcliffe is former master of the Dominicans; I happen to know his family fairly well. Worth a read and a comment.
victor pulis
Apr 11th 2010, 15:17
@ Alfred Gatt
The Christian faith has about a thousand years to go (give or take a few decades) to braek the record of the Egyptian religion to mention just one religion. I guarantee you that the ancient Egyptians also believed that their faith was of divine origin and that it would survive last forever. This is the way of the world and man's nature. A recent survey in Malta has produced these results;
54% agree with introduction of divorce
69% reject Church teachings on condoms
26% do not believe in Hell
20% feel alienated by Pope Benedict XVI
60% reject Papal infallibility dogma
What would have been the results had the survey been held forty, fifty years ago?
Leah Micallef
Apr 11th 2010, 14:53
Church apologists, your tears are delicious (and at times, delusional).
Friends abroad are in hysterics over the billboards' vandalism. For once we made amusing headlines. Finally Malta is showing that the goody-goody days of pandering to whatever the Church wants may be finally coming to an end! I really hope that this country may soon start moving forward. Hooray for secularism!
Louise Vella, you are always the voice of reason and poise regarding this subject, and I enjoy reading your comments.
edward bartolo
Apr 11th 2010, 18:51
Ignore history, my friend, ignore history... The church has had already a crises from within, and that has been mentioned in these posts.
Joe Xuereb
Apr 11th 2010, 14:39
Quote: 'I think Catholics are used to being under pressure and this is another type'. Quite. But mon seigneur's thinking is flawed. The Church'es middle name is 'pressure' so nothing new there. And this time round, the pressure from without is certainly the result of shenanigans from within. Talking about pressure one has to research the source of such.
Listning to mon seigneur speak it seems he has a lot of faith in faith and hope. He is optimistic to a fault. As for the truth setting one free - it depends what the 'truth' is. I think this truth is very damning. The Church knows it and this is the reason why commitment to admission of evils past is so slow and painfully contorted in coming. Personally, I cannot see any good coming from this. Especially when one considers that people's belief in the unsubstantiated is getting lukewarm every day. The hushing up of the abuse of children is the last straw. To talk of hope is unrealistic and immature. And yet again, smacks of self-serving agendas.
Unfortunately child abuse is one crime that requires more than an apology. How DOES one put right the ruination of a life?
Alfred Gatt
Apr 11th 2010, 14:38
The whole issue is a disturbing one but it will not destroy the Catholic religion as suggested by Mr Pulis. The Church has withstood 2000 years because of its divine origin, otherwise she would have crumbled many years ago, given the frailty of human nature.
Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Apr 11th 2010, 14:56
I may agree with you that it has withstood 2000 years but that is before the information revolution when the Church's hierarchy treated the people of God with contempt. Is it not strange that they quickly dispatch a priest like Mark Montebello to Rome and then protect pedopile priests!
G Vella
Apr 11th 2010, 15:34
@Alfred Gatt
Hinduism and Buddhism are older than Christianity and Islam not much younger. Are we also to assume that these religions are of supernatural origin?
leo attard
Apr 11th 2010, 14:34
@victor pulis...history has endless examples of internal crises within the catholic church and in fact they helped to make the church stronger. examples are the babylonian captivity when there were 3 popes, the reformation, etc. the best 'mixed blessing' was when the papal states were confiscated by Victor emmanuel 2 and the pope was left with just the vatican, thus making the papacy a more spiritual rather than temporal power......So who knows what this present anti-clerical wave will lead to in the future. this may sound corny, but you know that at Fatima it was reported that the Virgin Mary told the children that the church would be persecuted by her own children --- it was never specified who the 'children' were : the faithful? the priests? Both? before i judge, i want absolute proof! Michael Jackson was also considered a child-molester by many when, in fact, no actual proof was ever found, just children's accusations, sometimes deliberately designed by parents to sue in court and get compensation! and there are those who misunderstand things --- in my days, a pat on the butt was a sign of friendliness---- today? Child abuse! court! Money!
MG Buttigieg
Apr 11th 2010, 12:59
@Victor Pulis
Mgr. Scicluna will correct me if I am wrong and perhaps presumptuous in trying to interpret his words. By the word 'strong' he was not meaning strong in numbers but strong in the faith. Yes sadly enough there will be those who will chose to move away from the fold. But many others will keep on going keeping strong in their faith in the Church. It might sound strange but this time around purification is not coming by martyrdom in an arena or before a firng squad. It is this profound humiliation which is putting to question our beliefs. Now is the time to stand and be counted. Yes next weekend our presence at the Granaries and the Waterfront is not a show of strength and triumphalism but a public declaration of faith in our Mother Church and the Vicar of Christ on earth Pope Benedict XVI
Chris Fenech
Apr 11th 2010, 12:25
Good has already began to come out from this crises. Malta is being adverted for free by The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/11/pope-uk-visit-abuse-victims
John Smith
Apr 11th 2010, 12:23
It is the nature of things that man does not have a legal problem with God. That is to say, the nature of our problem is not forensic. The universe is not a law-court.
Fr. Stephen Freeman OCA
victor pulis
Apr 11th 2010, 11:55
"But I think Catholics are used to being under pressure..."
Unlike the other crisis during the two thousand year history of the church the current crisis is coming from within and that is the worst calamity for any organisation, empire, or religion.
Outside attacks tend to strengthen the defenders but when the rot starts from inside it is not a pleasnt situation. I am not saying that the Catholic church will cease to exist but it will not be as strong as it once was. The worst thing that the church authorities can do is underestiate the harm that is being done to the church. No religion lasts for ever and that also goes for the Christian religion.
John Smith
Apr 11th 2010, 13:30
Then Jesus said to him: "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me." --John 14:6
edward bartolo
Apr 11th 2010, 14:54
Quote: "No religion lasts for ever and that also goes for the Christian religion."
You are contradicting Christ by that. Should Roman Christians doubt the gospel of the risen Christ, to believe the opinion of someone, who will not exist a few decades from now?
As I reiterated in another post, the church was tortured, attacked and incarcerated, but nothing destroyed it. During its very beginning years it was savagely persecuted, its faithful were tortured and killed, and yet, the church still exists!
You are saying that the church will lose some of its mundane power. The power of the church is the risen Christ and not this valley of tears. The church will continue to strive, notwithstanding the amplified allegations, which very sadly, are being taken out of their proper context even though there is no justice that ignores the context in which a crime occurs.
The only power of the church is the risen Christ: Who can take that away from the church?
Sorry, but many, will stand by the word of Christ.
Wilfred L Camilleri
Apr 11th 2010, 14:59
And who gave you this absolute wisdom to declare that "No religion lasts for ever and that also goes for the Christian religion." Mr. Pulis? Are you now equating yourself to God to know what will happen in the future? How pathetic. The "rot" you point it is a minuscule number of priests who have done wrong and who should be layicized because of it and taken to court to face justice. The real "rot" is in the current state of society where anything goes including the murder of unborn children by the millions (48 million abortions in the US alone), euthanasia, rampant consumerism, abject poverty in many third word countries, conflict and wars, terrorism, murder, you name it. That is the real rot Mr. Pulis!
ray sacco
Apr 11th 2010, 19:17
@wilfred l.camilleri:
so you think that murder, conflicts, wars, terrorism, abortion, etc are modern rots? they have existed from the beginning of humanity. and many of them were and are result of religious extremism. but what does all this have to do with child abuse, which also is an ancient scourge! we hear more about it in modern times only because modern society is more informed, educated and highly aware of perverts who used to get away with everything in the past. i am amazed how catholic die-hards as you keep defending perverts and their protectors, when they caused nothing but damage to the catholic church and it's honest clergy members!
John Smith
Apr 11th 2010, 11:39
The exclusion of children and infants from the Eucharist may go some way towards explaining systemic paedophilia in the Western Church. The fullness of communion takes place in the bread that comes down from heaven --John 6:41.
martin saliba
Apr 11th 2010, 11:34
What kind of Pope , or church , would discriminate between its faithfull ? Instaed of trying to bring people closer it is pushing them away. Seperated poeple have every right to meet the pope toghether if they wish,, after all i thought that the church was supposed to care for its " lost sheep ". As far as im concerned it would have been better if he did not come at all scince he is not going to pass through my street not to mention thew camoflage paid for with my taxes. To all the christians who might read this , if i'm not censored as i have allready been , remember that you are not one to judge as judging is left to a higher being.
Louise Vella
Apr 11th 2010, 11:12
II
About the Response Team set up in 1999, I am not as enthusiastic about it as Mgr Scicluna. I appeared as a witness before the Response Team in 2000. I was later informed that the priest concerned had been "suspended". But the Response Team is obviously intended to keep these crimes in-house and confidential. The panel of the Response Team is chosen by the Archbishop among trusted persons. In my case I appeared before retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo, who is close to the church, and Mgr Mario Grech, now bishop of Gozo. It is clear that in choosing the Response Team the Archbishop takes no risks.
Louise Vella
Apr 11th 2010, 11:11
I
Mgr Scicluna says he is like a prosecutor. I think he would make a great defence lawyer too. In this interview he is all out to defend the church as an institution, which is why what he says must be taken with a pinch of salt. He talks about justice being meted out. But what justice? The church meting out in-house justice in secret? Why should a priest not be subject to civil justice, just like any other citizen? Why should he be an exception? The church has said 45 priests were involved in cases of paedophilia in the last 10 years in Malta. Of course those who are caught are always a fraction of those who actually commit a crime. Even so, how many of these 45 priests were brought before a court of law? A teacher who is accused of paedophilia is prosecuted by the police. How many priests have been so prosecuted?