As I predicted, a new scandal involving sexual abuse within the Church is just about to break with lawsuits and huge monetary compensations awarded to a new class of victims: the children of Priests and their mothers.
Recently, the Papal Commission charged with protecting children from sexual abuse publicly announced that it has expanded its mission to include the needs and rights of children fathered by Roman Catholic Priests and their mothers as well.
Committee members have stated that a working group is looking into developing guidelines that can be used by Dioceses around the world to ensure that children born to Priests are adequately cared for.
“It’s a horrendous problem in many cultures, and it’s not something that is readily talked about,” a member of the Papal Commission, Krysten Winter-Green, said.
It is a scandal that has largely remained hidden over the centuries. Priests having sexual intercourse and fathering children would have been unthinkable in the past.
However, with the revelations of the multiple thousands of cases involving homosexual Priests sexually abusing adolescents, the reality of Priests having fathered children is gaining greater visibility.
The Boston Globe Spotlight Team, which first broke the horrific stories of minors having been sexually abused by homosexual Priest predators, recently published a two-part series reporting that there are thousands of men and women around the world who are claiming, with strong evidence, that they are the sons and daughters of Catholic priests, and that many are forced to lead lives of secrecy and sorrow.
Just as recently, the national conference of Irish Bishops unilaterally published a set of guidelines that focus on ensuring the well-being of a Priest’s child and the child’s mother, who often suffer psychological problems from the stigma and silence imposed on them by Church hierarchy.
The Irish guidelines represent the first comprehensive public policy by a national Bishops’ Conference on the issue.
They have already become a model of sorts.
The Union of Superiors General — an umbrella group of male religious orders — has sent the Irish guidelines to their members for study and application. The International Union of Superiors General, the female umbrella group, is expected to endorse them at their upcoming November assembly.
Papal Commission member, Bill Kilgallon, briefed Francis on the decision of the working group to take up the issue of priests’ children.
Commissioner Kilgallon said that the issue falls squarely under the broad mandate of the Commission, which is officially known as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and has as its mission the aim of promoting and protecting the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults.
The Boston Globe has reported that the Pontifical Commission took up the issue at the request of Marie Collins, a former Commission member who resigned earlier this year.
However, the head of the Commission, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the Archbishop of Boston, said in a statement that the Commission would be not be examining the issue, and would refer the matter to the Vatican.
Thus far, there has been no official comment regarding the discrepancies among Commission members’ statements.
The Archbishop of Dublin has established an online self-help resource to help eliminate the stigma of having been fathered by a Priest. The website seeks to educate them and the Church about the emotional and psychological problems that such children suffer, including depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, as well as social isolation and financial hardship.
The issue has been placed squarely on the Church’s doorstep and it is certain that major lawsuits and compensatory financial awards will be forthcoming.
There are no figures about the number of children fathered by Catholic Priests.
The fact is the scandals involving Priests fathering children has existed in many cultures. It has remained hidden much like the scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors. Many of the mothers in question have claimed that they were raped as girls or teens by Priests, and are themselves victims of sexual abuse.
The wounds resulting from the abuse of minors by homosexual Priest predators are still open and bleeding.
The Church itself and the Sacred Priesthood have been severely crippled by the onslaught of the horrific stories of suffering and anguish reported by victims as well as the steps which many in authority took to cover them up either by spiritual intimidation or outright coercion.
One must wonder how much more the Church can take as it is rightfully forced now to confront and compensate for the terrible misdeeds perpetrated by ordained Clerics entrusted with the care of souls.
The scandal regarding the fathering of children by Priests is just breaking. We shall being hearing more and more about this in the months and years ahead.
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