Protesters outside the U.S. Bishops’ conference on 13 November 2018.
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is reeling after the Vatican last week abruptly directed its bishops to postpone plans to increase accountability in the clergy sex abuse crisis. A chorus of Catholic critics is calling the move another cover-up of abuse by the Catholic hierarchy.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was set to vote on two measures—one on a code of conduct for bishops and another on a lay-led special commission to review complaints against them—during last week’s annual assembly in Baltimore. But during the meeting’s opening few minutes, the conference president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, told the bishops he had received an order from the Vatican the night before to suspend the vote.
“The Holy See has asked that we delay voting on these so that our deliberations can inform and be informed by the global meeting of the conference presidents that the Holy Father has called for February 2019,” DiNardo told the gathering. Earlier this year, Pope Francis summoned the presidents of […]
Would that this impending slow-mo collapse would have begun earlier. It couldn’t have happened to a more despicable organization. Like all the other tipping points you chronicle on a daily basis, Stephan, humans are in for a gigantic shakeup in how we live, what we eat, what we believe and where we place our truth. Crunch time is rapidly approaching. Hedges is correct in his last book with the title: America – The Farewell Tour. Add to all of this abrupt climate change and the ride will be unlike anything an amusement park could possibly offer.
“U.S. Catholic Church, which has seen a steady rise in members—from 47.9 million in 1970 to 68.5 million last year, despite major abuse revelations in the 2000s”.
It is pointless to try to understand the depths of malicious stupidity that the average person possesses. And I use the term malicious because not only does it take concerted effort for these people to be that stupid, but this stupidity harms all of us. I think of Mitt Romney who is proud to have it publicly known that he is a believer in a religion which is so blatantly fraudulent. And I think of the millions of Americans who voted for this man not even thinking about this fact as they checked his name on the ballot.