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Tuesday, 17 May 2011 More moral support for Bishop Bill Morris...  Dear Friends, IMPORTANT NEWS: First off today can I alert you to some very important news. There appears to have been a highly significant breakthrough in the approach of the Vatican to the whole matter of clerical sexual abuse. Our resident legal eye, James, has been drawing attention to it in our forum. It comes in a document released in the last 48 hours by the Vatican and appears to overturn the policies that have been followed from possibly as far back as 1922. As James argues at the conclusion of the quite a few posts in the string exploring the intricacies of the change — which to some extent the Vatican might be endeavouring to "sneak in 'under the radar'" trying to pretend there has in fact been no change in policy (the institution has a pretty good track record of doing that extending back not just decades but a millenia or so): "[T]he good thing is that the cover up policy enshrined in Canon Law, I think from about 1922, is now over, at least on paper. And it is over because the Vatican has been dragged, kicking and screaming at the end of countless law suits to accept a standard that the whole world has long regarded as the proper one. Which might suggest that the Holy Spirit speaks through secular society to give a message to the Church. It [Secular society] can't be as bad as George Pell and Benedict make out." TODAY'S LEAD REFLECTION: For today's lead reflection I have chosen a letter submitted by Judith Lynch which is effectively an open letter of support to Bishop Bill Morris. Why Bill Morris has received such widespread sympathy around the world is that he does seem to represent a view of Catholicism that many aspire to but which sadly seems to be gradually been taken away from us by a small minority in the lay Church, the priesthood and the hierarchy. Judith ends her letter by saying: "I want to welcome you to the world that many women have been living in for years. We have chosen to remain true to our Catholic Baptism. We long to see a Church that relies less on the exercise of power and more on walking the walk that Jesus walked in the company of men and women that he recognised as equal in the eyes of God."
Wishing you a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life and in our world. Catholica |
