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United Parishes activist Ginger Marx of St. Matthew Zilwaukee welcomes crowd of concerned Catholics at meeting last June at Bay City Country Club.

CATHOLIC MOVES: Pope Francis Actions Against Clergy Sex Abuse Gives Hope

United Parishes Continues Petition Drive to Papal Nuncio as Deadline Nears

April 20, 2014       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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With Easter, comes a ray of hope for area Roman Catholics.

Whether this sliver of hope will result in a full-blown resurrection of the faith is the eternal question.

While parishioners of churches like St. Mary's Nine Mile in Pinconning and St. Joseph in Bay City pray to be saved from closing, two new groups called "United Parishes" and "Save Our Rural Catholic Churches" have stepped up a petition drive they hope will eventually reach Rome.

The clock is ticking toward July 1 closures, termed "mergers" and "planning tomorrow's parishes" by the Saginaw Diocese, of 50 of 105 parishes in the 11 county mid-Michigan ecclesiastical district.

Indications are that the disturbing spiral of clergy sex abuse, lawsuits and payments to victims by culpable bishops and archbishops who have been accused of cover-ups and mismanagement are finally reaching the apex.

United Parishes, a group that spun out of threatened closure of thriving St. Matthews, Zilwaukee, has established a website and has been orchestrating a petition drive to be sent to the Papal Nuncio.

At first Rome seemed to have halted the St. Matthew's closure, then Bishop Cistone, citing failure to meet an obscure deadline, proceeded to reinforce his order.

Another group formed to oppose the closures, called "Save Our Rural Catholic Churches," has posted a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurRuralCatholicChurches to support the drive for signatures to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, D.C.

Boston appeal consultant Peter Borre', who has been here three times at the behest of United Parishes, lays the root of the closings and consolidations at the feet of bishops who, he said, need money to pay travel, legal fees and judgments of lawsuits over past clergy sex abuses. The property of closed parishes eventually could be sold to satisfy the judgments, he said.

Statements last week by Pope Francis seem to play into the widely felt opinion among many Catholics that change has to come from the top. And, perhaps, the Pope's apology for years of abuse of children and denials by local church authorities will spark that change.

The latest issue of United Parishes online newsletter (http://www.nationalcatholicnews.com/UnitedParishes.html) states:

"Couple the increasing sophistication of appeals against bishops' mergers and closings with the potent ability of the INTERNET to proliferate information, and you've got a powerful arsenal of tools available to defend your parish and your church against unwanted merger and/or closure.

"And, apparently, in Rome, parishioners' voices are being heard--loud and clear. One significant change occurred last September when the head of the CFC, the Prefect for the Congregation For Clergy, Mauro Piacenza, who presided over second-level appeals to closings made to the Vatican, was summarily dismissed and replaced by Pope Francis.

"Though a connection between previous denials on appeal and Piacenza's dismissal cannot be confirmed or rejected based on this observation alone, this change is thought to be good by our own United Parishes--perhaps the new Prefect for the CFC, Beniamino Stella, will be more sympathetic to parishioners reaching out for assistance from the Vatican against unwarranted closures of their beloved churches and parishes."

Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service (http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1401505.htm) reported:

"I feel called to take responsibility for all the evil some priests -- large in number, but not in proportion to the total -- have committed and to ask forgiveness for the damage they've done with the sexual abuse of children," Pope Francis said.

"The church is aware of this damage" and is committed to strengthening child protection programs and punishing offenders, he told members of the International Catholic Child Bureau during a meeting April 11 at the Vatican.

The remarks appeared to be the pope's first apology for the sex abuse scandal, following earlier statements affirming the Vatican's work investigating and punishing perpetrators, and encouraging bishops to support abuse victims. The pope also has said the church deserves to be forced to make monetary settlements to victims.

In December, Pope Francis established a Vatican commission to promote improved child protections policies throughout the church.

Meeting with leaders of the International Catholic Child Bureau, an organization based in France and dedicated to defending children's rights, Pope Francis said it was hard to believe "men of the church" would commit such horrors.

"We don't want to take a step backward in dealing with this problem and with the sanctions that must be imposed," the pope said. "On the contrary, I believe we must be very strong. You don't play with children's lives!"

Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of defending children's right "to grow in a family with a mother and father able to create a healthy environment for their growth and affective maturity," which includes "maturing in relationship to the masculinity and femininity of a father and a mother."

Parents have a right to determine the appropriate "moral and religious education" of their children, he said, and should not be subject to school curriculums that are thinly veiled courses of indoctrination into whatever ideology is strongest at the moment.

The pope said he wonders sometimes whether parents are "sending a child to school or to a re-education camp" like those run by dictatorial governments.

Obviously, he said, children need help in responding to the problems and challenges contemporary culture and the media raise. Young people can't be kept in "glass jars," but must be given the values that will help them evaluate what cultural trends respect their dignity and freedom and the dignity and freedom of others.

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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