[Grem] Benedict XVI addresses the sex abuse scandal

[Emoke Greschik]

 Benedict XVI addresses sex abuse scandal
https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/04/11/benedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal/
<https://catholicherald.co.uk/author/catholic-news-agency/>
11 April, 2019
Pope Benedict XVI addresses the faifthful for the last time on February 28,
2013 (Getty Images)

   -
   <https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/04/11/benedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal/#>

<https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/04/11/benedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal/#>
<https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/04/11/benedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal/#>
-
<?subject=Benedict+XVI+addresses+sex+abuse+scandal&body=Read%20Benedict+XVI+addresses+sex+abuse+scandal%20-%20https%3A%2F%2Fcatholicherald.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2019%2F04%2F11%2Fbenedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal%2F>

*The emeritus pope** said* *a crisis in* *moral theology** led * *the
Church* *unable* *to defend itself agains*t *the social changes of the
1960s *

*In an essay published
<https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse-59639>
Thursday at CNA, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI offered his thoughts **about **the
sex abuse crisis facing** the Church.* Benedict reviewed the sexual
revolution of the 1960s, and examined its effects on priestly formation and
life, before suggesting the Church’s proper response.

“Today, the accusation against God is, above all, about characterizing His
Church as entirely bad, and thus dissuading us from it. *The idea of a
better Church, created by ourselves, is in fact a proposal of the devil,*
with which he wants to lead us away from the living God, through* a
deceitful logic by which we are too easily duped*,” Benedict wrote in “The
Church and the Scandal of sexual abuse,” published April 11
<https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse-59639>
.

“No, even today the Church is not just made up of bad fish and weeds.* The
Church of God also exists today, and today it is the very instrument
through which God saves us.*”

The emeritus pope’s essay was published simultaneously in German at
Klerusblatt, in Italian at Corriere della Sera, and in English at Catholic
News Agency and the National Catholic Register.

The former pope said the sex abuse crisis cannot be understood apart from
its wider social context, noting that *“in the 1960s an egregious event
occurred … the previously normative standards regarding sexuality collapsed
entirely, and a new normalcy arose.”*

“This was in many ways a very difficult time … *the extensive collapse of
the next generation of priests in those years and the very high number of
laicizations were a consequence of all these developments.”*

Concurrently but independently, “*Catholic moral theology* *suffered a
collapse* that rendered the Church defenseless against these changes in
society,” he wrote.

The crisis of moral theology *led to an abandonment of **the idea of
intrinsic evil,* and* a rejection of* *the role of the Magisterium** by
some theologians*, to which the 1993 encyclical Veritatis splendor was, in
part, a response.

Benedict wrote: “*There are values which must never be abandoned* for a
greater value and even surpass the preservation of physical life,” *calling
martyrdom “a basic category of Christian existence.”*

*“There is a minimum set of morals which is indissolubly linked to the
foundational principle of faith *and which must be defended if faith is not
to be reduced to a theory but rather to be recognized in its claim to
concrete life,” the emeritus pope reflected.

He also discussed *the ecclesial reaction to** pedophilia,* noting that the
1983 Code of Canon Law “*did not seem sufficient** for taking the necessary
measures*,” and that over time “a renewal and deepening of *the
deliberately loosely constructed criminal law of the new Code began to take
shape.”*

Benedict reflected on Christ’s saying that “* Whoever causes one of these
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great
millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”*

“The phrase *‘the little ones’ in the language of Jesus means* *the common
believers who** can be confounded in their faith by the intellectual
arrogance of those who think they are clever. *So* here Jesus protects the
deposit of the faith with an emphatic threat of **punishment to those who
do it harm*,” he explained.

“The modern use of the sentence is not in itself wrong, but it must not
obscure the original meaning,” in which it is clear “that it is not only
the right of the accused that is important and requires a guarantee. Great
goods such as the Faith are equally important.”

“A balanced canon law that corresponds to the whole of Jesus’ message must
therefore not only provide a guarantee for the accused, the respect for
whom is a legal good. It must also protect the Faith … *A properly formed
canon law must therefore contain a double guarantee – legal protection of**
the accused,* *legal protection of the good at stake. * If *today *one puts
forward this inherently clear conception, *one * *generally falls on deaf
ears* *when it comes to the question of the protection of the Faith as a
legal good. *In the general awareness of the law, *the Faith** no longer
appears to* *have the rank of a good requiring protection. *This is an
alarming situation which must be considered and taken seriously by the
pastors of the Church.”

He said the decision to give competence for cases of clerical pedophilia to
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, rather than the
Congregation for the Clergy “is a consequence of the importance of the
Faith for the Church. In fact, it is important to see that *such misconduct
by clerics ultimately damages* *the Faith.”*

Benedict finally turned to *what ought to be done: “Only obedience and love
for our Lord Jesus Christ can point the way.”*

“The Lord has initiated a narrative of love with us and wants to subsume
all creation in it. The counterforce against evil, which threatens us and
the whole world, can ultimately only consist in our entering into this
love. It is the real counterforce against evil. *The power of evil arises
from our refusal to** love God.* *He who entrusts himself to the love of
God is redeemed*. Our being not redeemed is a consequence of our inability
to love God. *Learning to love God is therefore the path of human
redemption.”*

*“A paramount task*, which must result from the moral upheavals of our
time, *is that we ourselves once again begin to live by God and unto Him*. *
Above all, we ourselves must learn again to recognize God as the foundation
of our life instead of leaving Him aside,”* *Benedict stated.*

The emeritus pope also said *there must be a profound appreciation of *the
astoundingness of the Incarnation, and, through it, *Christ’s presence in
the Eucharist.*

“The Second Vatican Council was rightly focused on returning this sacrament
of the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ … to the center of
Christian life and the very existence of the Church. In part, this really
has come about, and we should be most grateful to the Lord for it.”

But *“a rather different attitude is prevalent,*” he said. “*What
predominates is* not a new reverence for the presence of Christ’s death and
resurrection, but* a way of dealing with Him that destroys the greatness of
the Mystery,”* citing* declining **participation in Sunday Mass and
treatment of the Eucharis*t *as “a mere ceremonial gesture.”*

*“We do not need another Church of our own design. Rather, what is required
first and foremost is the renewal of the Faith in the Reality of Jesus
Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament.”*

While “there is sin in the Church and evil … even today there is the Holy
Church, which is indestructible. Today there are many people who humbly
believe, suffer and love, in whom the real God, the loving God, shows
Himself to us.”

“I*n the trial against the devil, Jesus Christ is the first and actual
witness for God, the first martyr, who has since been followed by countless
others.”*

*Witnesses can be found today “who stand up for God with their life and
suffering.* It is an inertia of the heart that leads us to not wish to
recognize them. One of the great and essential tasks of our evangelization
is, as far as we can, to establish habitats of Faith and, above all, to
find and recognize them,” Benedict concluded.

<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
Mentes
a vírusoktól. www.avast.com
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
--------- következő rész ---------
Egy csatolt HTML állomány át lett konvertálva...
URL: <http://turul.kgk.uni-obuda.hu/pipermail/grem/attachments/20190411/8b7e9353/attachment.html>