Certainly one of the most newsworthy happenings this week was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s new article about the sexual abuse crisis. Of course, the usual papal detractors have taken the opportunity to pit Benedict’s opinion against Francis’ reforms and teachings. Others have attacked Benedict for publishing this essay.
However, good apologists have set out to defend both pontiffs. Austen Ivereigh and Pete Vere have written good articles, that explain the wrongfulness of the critics. Also, a Cardinal close to Benedict says that it would sadden the Pope Emeritus very much if his article would be construed as an attack on Francis.
In the meantime, Francis continues to push forward on his reforms to try to curb sexual abuse within the Church. The Vatican has established a Virtual Survivor’s Advisory Panel and is currently working on guidelines to report bishops in abuse cases.
The Holy See’s representative in the United Nations decries this international body’s insistence on “reproductive rights” as a way to advance abortion and deviate resources from the defense of actual human rights.
Very moving! Eighty-two year-old sciatica-suffering Pope Francis kneels down to kiss the feet of South Sudan leaders in order to implore for peace. Watch the vÃdeo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQzyTzw-e4
Pedro Gabriel, MD, is a Catholic layman and physician, born and residing in Portugal. He is a medical oncologist, currently employed in a Portuguese public hospital. A published writer of Catholic novels with a Tolkienite flavor, he is also a parish reader and a former catechist. He seeks to better understand the relationship of God and Man by putting the lens on the frailty of the human condition, be it physical and spiritual. He also wishes to provide a fresh perspective of current Church and World affairs from the point of view of a small western European country, highly secularized but also highly Catholic by tradition.
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