Pope blames U.S. sex abuse crisis on ‘clericalism,’ leaves out homosexuality
by Lisa Bourne, LifeSite:
Nearly a week after last Tuesday’s scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report exposing 70 years of clergy sex abuse of 1,000 known victims on the part of some 300 priests, Pope Francis responded to the scandal today, stating that “clericalism” was the root cause.
The letter is facing criticism from faithful Catholics for failing to specify any concrete actions he would take to address the crisis, and ignoring the underlying issue of rampant homosexuality in the clergy.
“Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today. To say ‘no’ to abuse is to say an emphatic ‘no’ to all forms of clericalism,” he stated.
He called clericalism a “peculiar way of understanding the Church’s authority” that is “common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience have occurred,” and that “not only nullifies the character of Christians, but also tends to diminish and undervalue the baptismal grace that the Holy Spirit has placed in the heart of our people.”
In his letter “to the People of God” (published in full below), the Pope called for collective Church-wide penance, fasting, and prayer as a response.
Read also: Pope Francis’s Failed Abuse Letter by Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
Bishop’s blistering letter: Time to root out ‘homosexual subculture’ in Church hierarchy by Patrick B Craine
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