Pope Francis and Church accused of covering up abuses of former U.S. cardinal

A former apostolic nuncio to the accused church officials, including , of failing to act on accusations of abuse of conscience and power by now- Theodore E. McCarrick.

In an open letter first published by Lifesite News and National Catholic Register Aug. 26, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who served as nuncio to the United States from 2011-2016, wrote that he was compelled to write his knowledge of Archbishop McCarrick’s misdeeds because “corruption has reached the very top of the church’s hierarchy.”

Archbishop Vigano confirmed to the Washington Post Aug. 26 that he wrote the letter and said he would not comment further. Despite repeated requests from journalists, the Vatican had not responded to the allegations by midday Aug. 26.

Throughout the 11-page testimony, which was translated by a Lifesite News correspondent, the former nuncio made several claims and accusations against prominent church officials, alleging they belong to “a homosexual current” that subverted church teaching on homosexuality.

Citing the rights of the faithful to “know who knew and who covered up (Archbishop McCarrick’s) grave misdeeds,” Archbishop Vigano named nearly a dozen former and current Vatican officials who he claimed were aware of the accusations.

Archbishop Vigano criticized Pope Francis for not taking action against Cardinal McCarrick after he claimed he told the pope of the allegations in 2013. However, he did not make any criticism of St. John Paul II, who appointed Archbishop McCarrick to lead the Archdiocese of Washington and made him a cardinal in 2001. Former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick

According to the former nuncio’s testimony, the Vatican was informed in 2000 of allegations that Archbishop McCarrick “shared his bed with seminarians” by two former U.S. nuncios — Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo and Archbishop Pietro Sambi.

This corresponds to remarks by Father Boniface Ramsey, of St. Joseph’s Church Yorkville in New York City, who told Catholic News Service earlier in August he had written a letter “and it didn’t seem to go anywhere.”

Archbishop Vigano said that in 2006, as the official in the Secretariat of State that coordinated relations with nunciatures around the world, he sent two memos recommending that the “intervene as soon as possible by removing the cardinal’s hat from Cardinal McCarrick and that he should be subjected to the sanctions established by the Code of Canon Law.”

“I was greatly dismayed at my superiors for the inconceivable absence of any measure against the cardinal, and for the continuing lack of any communication with me since my first memo in December 2006,” he said.

The former nuncio claimed that Pope Benedict XVI later “imposed on Cardinal McCarrick sanctions similar to those now imposed on him by Pope Francis.”

“I do not know when Pope Benedict took these measures against McCarrick, whether in 2009 or 2010, because in the meantime I had been transferred to the Governorate of Vatican City State, just as I do not know who was responsible for this incredible delay,” he said.

Then-Cardinal McCarrick, he said, “was to leave the where he was living” which, at the time, was the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Archbishop McCarrick, he added, was also “forbidden to celebrate in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, to travel, with the obligation of dedicating himself to a life of prayer and penance.”

However, no such sanctions, which normally are made public, were announced by the Vatican at the time.

The alleged sanctions, he said, continued to be in effect when Archbishop Vigano became apostolic nuncio to the United States in 2011 and were relayed to then-Cardinal McCarrick.

“I repeated them to Cardinal McCarrick at my first meeting with him at the nunciature. The cardinal, muttering in a barely comprehensible way, admitted that he had perhaps made the mistake of sleeping in the same bed with some seminarians at his beach house, but he said this as if it had no importance,” Archbishop Vigano wrote.

Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl

Archbishop Vigano also said that Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., was the first informed of the sanctions against McCarrick. He said he spoke directly to Cardinal Wuerl on several occasions and that Cardinal Wuerl “failed to acknowledge receipt of my two letters, contrary to what he customarily did.”

“His recent statements that he knew nothing about it, even though at first he cunningly referred to compensation for the two victims, are absolutely laughable. The cardinal lies shamelessly and prevails upon his chancellor, Msgr. Antonicelli, to lie as well,” the archbishop wrote.

He apparently was referring to Msgr. Charles V. Antonicelli, vicar general and moderator of the curia. The Washington Archdiocese chancellor is a layman, Kim Viti Fiorentino.

Contacted by Catholic News Service, Edward McFadden, secretary for communications for the Archdiocese of Washington, said: “In spite of what Archbishop Vigano’s memo indicates, Cardinal Wuerl did not receive any documentation or information during his time in Washington, regarding any actions taken against Archbishop McCarrick.”

He also alleged that several U.S. were aware or should have known about then-Cardinal McCarrick’s behavior, including retired Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen; retired Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark; Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, head of the Vatican office for laity and family and former of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Cardinal Farrell told Catholic News Service July 24: “I was shocked, overwhelmed; I never heard any of this before in the six years I was there with him.”

In a June 20 statement, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark said: “The Archdiocese of Newark has never received an accusation that Cardinal McCarrick abused a minor. In the past, there have been allegations that he engaged in sexual behavior with adults. This Archdiocese and the Diocese of Metuchen received three allegations of sexual misconduct with adults decades ago; two of these allegations resulted in settlements.”

In a July 29 statement, Cardinal Wuerl said: “When the first claim against Archbishop McCarrick was filed in the Archdiocese of New York, the Archdiocese of Washington reviewed its own files and found no complaints of any kind made against Archbishop McCarrick.

“Further, the confidential settlements involving acts by Archbishop McCarrick in the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark were not known previously to Cardinal Wuerl or the Archdiocese.”

Cardinal O’Malley has apologized for what he described as an administrative communication failure in which his secretary did not relay to him a 2015 letter from Father Ramsey about allegations against Archbishop McCarrick.

Archbishop Vigano himself has been accused of suppressing an investigation into alleged homosexual activity committed by retired Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

In a 2014 memo to St. Paul-Minneapolis Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piche, Father Dan Griffith, a former delegate for Safe Environment for the archdiocese, said the former nuncio’s call to end the investigation against Archbishop Nienstedt and to destroy a piece of evidence amounted to “a good old-fashioned cover-up to preserve power and avoid scandal.” Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piche resigned in 2015 after the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office filed criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese in its handling of perpetrated by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer in 2008-2011.

This is not the first time that Archbishop Vigano has been openly critical of Pope Francis.

In January, nearly two years after the release of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on marriage and family life, Amoris Laetitia, the former nuncio was among several prelates who signed a document criticizing ministry to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics and the possibility that, under some conditions, some of those Catholics could return to the sacraments.

The document claimed the pope’s exhortation caused “ever increasing confusion among the faithful” and stated that the admission of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics is “a discipline alien to the entire tradition of the Catholic and apostolic faith.”

Edmonton delegates find positive inspiration at World Meeting of Families

The World Meeting of Families is a chance to recharge the batteries and focus on the family as the engine for strengthening and passing on the Catholic faith to future generations.

That’s the message from some Edmonton delegates attending the Aug. 21-26 event in Dublin, Ireland.

“It’s been a great event in many ways, there are a lots of families here – young and old – you can probably hear kids in the background,” Deacon Chris Ashdown said in a telephone interview.

A member of St. Thomas More in Edmonton, he is among more than 39,000 people – including 2,000 clergy – at the international Catholic gathering, held every three years. The teen village in Dublin alone has hosted some 1,000 teenagers per day.

“The family is seen as the way to pass on the faith, from parents to children, and there is a vocation for grandparents to do that too,” Ashdown said. There are challenges, however. Chief among them is the Internet and the use of social media.

Deacon Chris Ashdown

“There are so many conflicting things on the Internet that draw children away from the family,” said Ashdown, a retired health and university administrator who was one of three deacons ordained on Aug. 11 at St. Joseph’s Basilica.

“As parents, you face those challenges by being faithful, by attending Mass, and showing your faith.”

Ashdown is attending the World Meeting of Families for the first time with his wife, Jean. A takeaway lesson for her is that families should be responsible in their use of technology.

“Sometimes it means putting away your social media and talking to each other and sharing with family, especially at meal time ̶ and to increase on the Word of God in the home,” Jean said.

The gathering includes speakers, learning sessions, worship and music. Pope Francis is expected to address delegates on Aug. 25 and celebrate Mass the next day at Phoenix Park in Dublin. The Vatican released a three-minute video message from the pope in anticipation of his trip. Deacon Chris Ashdown of Edmonton is seen in Dublin, Ireland.Chris and Jean Ashdown, Special to Grandin Media

This year’s topics include the role of technology in the family, the impact of conflict on families and children, and building a more sustainable approach to the economy, work and the environment. They draw largely from Pope Francis’ teachings in Amoris Laetitia (‘The Joy of Love’), the apostolic exhortation published in 2016.

“It’s been really positive. There have been lots of good speakers,” Jean Ashdown added.

The World Meeting of Families also comes at a time when the Church has been rocked by abuse crises.

In , a grand jury report that detailed decades of clerical sexual abuse and coverups in six dioceses. The report spoke of credible allegations against 301 priests in cases involving more than 1,000 children.

Pope Francis is expected to meet with abuse survivors when he’s in Ireland. However, delegates say it hasn’t coloured the World Meeting of Families experience for them.

“We’re focused on the importance of family and how to support that. There’s a real sense of that and it’s a good thing,” said Jean Ashdown, who attended the last World Meeting of Families three years ago in Philadelphia.

Bishop Gregory Bittman, the former auxiliary of the Edmonton Archdiocese, agreed. “It’s in the media here in Ireland, and they are negatively talking about the conference. But at the conference, I don’t get that impression at all. There’s a great spirit here,” said Bishop Bittman, who now leads the Diocese of Nelson, B.C.

Bishop Gregory Bittman

Bishop Bittman said he attended a session on the connection between sports and faith, which included a hurdler and a former professional soccer player for Manchester United, Philip Mulryne, who is now a Catholic priest.

A session on human trafficking, and its reach around the world, made a particular impression on him.

“It’s a billion-dollar industry. During the session you hear from a girl who had been trafficked, but you never saw her. It made you think of it in terms of abuse and of commercial trafficking, the use of domestic help, for example.”

As a result of attending the World Meeting of Families, Chris Ashdown said he’s looking forward to getting involved in the Catholic Grandparents Association ̶ as well as a program that teaches the entire Catholic Catechism – when he’s back in Edmonton next month.

The event, he said, has even helped him a little as he chooses his future ministry as a deacon.

“When I get back, I’ll talk to my pastor and we’ll figure that out!” Controversial Jesuit urges Catholics to re-examine attitudes to LGBT community

U.S. Jesuit Father James Martin set out a series of ways in which parishes can show welcome and respect to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics.

Addressing a packed 1,000-seat auditorium, from which organizers of the World Meeting of Families were forced to turn people away Aug. 23, the theologian said gays have often been treated like “lepers” by the church.

Father Martin, who has written about building a bridge between the LGBT community and the Church, said most LGBT Catholics have been deeply wounded by the Church.

“They may have been mocked, insulted, excluded, condemned or singled out for critique, either privately or from the pulpit,” he said. “They may never have heard the term ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ expressed in any positive way, or even a neutral way.”

At a news conference the same day at the Royal Dublin Society, which is hosting the international gathering, Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich backed Father Martin’s stance, warning that “to stigmatize one group over another can be very damaging,” particularly to teenagers.

Ahead of Father Martin’s talk, the Irish branch of Tradition, Family and Property – a Catholic lay organization – presented a petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling for Father Martin to be disinvited from the meeting.

Father Martin explained that Catholic faithful must help LGBT people and their families know God.

He urged people to examine their own attitudes and ask themselves whether they believe someone “is sinful because she’s lesbian, or more inclined to sin than a straight woman? Do you hold the parents ‘responsible’ for a gay teen’s orientation? Do you think a person is transgender person only because it’s ‘fashionable’?” he challenged.

One of his recommendations for Catholic parishes and communities is not to reduce gays and lesbians to the call to chastity.

“LGBT people are more than their sexual lives. But sometimes that’s all they hear about,” he said.

Continuing the theme of the tendency to focus on the sexual morality of LGBT parishioners, he said this was wrong, because “you often have no idea what their sexual lives are like; and, second, even if they are falling short, they are not the only ones.”

He urged Catholic parishioners to focus on the many other joys and sorrows in LGBT Catholics’ lives.

“They lead rich lives. Many LGBT Catholics are parents themselves or are caring for aging parents; many help the poor in their community, many are involved in civic and charitable organizations. They’re often deeply involved in the life of the parish. See them in their totality.”

The overemphasis on LGBT Catholics’ sexuality resulted in many of them feeling that they must be dishonest about who they are, and that they have no place in ministries, he said.

Like everyone else in the parish who does not live up to the Gospels, Father Martin said, LGBT people should be invited into parish ministries as “Eucharistic ministers, music ministers, lectors, bereavement ministry, and every ministry,” he said.

He also urged the Catholic community to advocate for LGBT people and “be prophetic.”

“There are many times when the church can provide a moral voice for this persecuted community,” he said and stressed that he was not talking about hot- button topics like same-sex marriage.

“I’m talking about incidents in countries where gay men are rounded up and thrown in jail or even executed for being gay, and lesbians are raped to ‘cure them’ of their sexual orientations. In those countries, LGBT issues are life issues,” he said.

In some countries, advocacy might mean responding to incidents of teen suicides, hate crimes or bullying.

“There are many opportunities for parishes to stand with LGBT people who are being persecuted,” he said and cited the Catechism of the , which states, “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard must be avoided.”

Using the parable of Jesus’ welcome to Zacchaeus as a model for how the church should engage with LGBT people, he noted that the encounter with Jesus led to the conversion of Zacchaeus.

“And what do I mean by conversion? Not ‘conversion therapy.’ No, the conversion that happens to Zacchaeus is the conversion that we’re all called to. In the Gospels, Jesus calls us to metanoia, a conversion of minds and hearts.” At the news conference, asked about conversion therapy for LGBT people advocated by some Catholic groups, Cardinal Cupich responded, “I think that we have to make sure that a so-called conversion therapy model doesn’t start from the premise that the individual is in some way deformed or sick like somebody else who needs a therapy.”

“For young people in their teenage years struggling with sexual identity questions, if that (conversion therapy) is the first message that we as an adult world give them, then I think we are setting them on the wrong path,” he said.

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said he was not aware of any conversion therapy taking place within the Irish Catholic Church.

“I wouldn’t support the idea of some kind of psychotherapy happening within a church setting,” he said at the news conference.

Families urged to devise digital protection plan

Behavioural scientists and cybercrime experts talked to families about how digital distraction, pornography and the “online echo chamber” impact their lives, during one of the first panels at the international World Meeting of Families.

Pornography in particular has emerged as a threat to individual and family life, said panelist Thomas Lickona, a developmental psychologist from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland.

Lickona cited numerous academic studies that document the widespread use and long-term effects of online pornography. One study observed that the average age at which boys in the U.S. and the U.K. begin to view Internet pornography is now 11.

The normalization of pornography, combined with its “ubiquitous” distribution on social media platforms, leads to depression, anxiety, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, sexual assault and dysfunction, as well as marital infidelity, said Lickona.

He listed several resources for combating pornography, the most important of which is a “family media plan.” “We need to make it clear that the use of the internet is a privilege, not a right,” Lickona said. “Usage should require parental permission and be managed in a way consistent with the family’s values.”

Lickona’s son Matthew, a San Diego-based journalist, shared his personal experiences of managing digital media as a parent, while reflecting on the often-damaging ways that social media reshapes self-perception and identity.

Although it may begin as a form of self-expression, social media can quickly “trap us in an echo chamber” where we only listen to like-minded people and “unfriend” or ignore those with whom we disagree.

In contrast, “you can’t self-select your family,” said Matthew Lickona, adding that a true social life requires self-sacrifice and a commitment to peace.

Mary Aiken, a cyberpsychologist at University College Dublin and an academic adviser to Europol, the European Union’s largest law enforcement agency, moderated the panel. Noting that technology is neither good nor bad, Aiken stressed the need to use digital devices and social media with restraint.

“If you are a parent or caregiver to a young infant, and if you are consumed by your devices, then the infant is losing out,” Aiken said, adding that the average person looks at a cellphone 200 times, while touching it about 2,500 times, in a given day.

By distracting parents from engaging with their children, digital technology can hinder a child’s development. Lack of eye contact can prevent a child from bonding with parents, and Aiken said some preschool teachers have had to train students to look directly at others.

In addition to developmental challenges, Aiken said digital media presents serious security concerns for children and families. Prior to the widespread availability of social media platforms, sexual predators had far less direct access to child victims. Now, as young children gain increasing access to smartphones, “we’re giving a global audience access to the child,” Aiken said.

The panelists agreed that meeting the challenge social media presents to family life can involve “simple but difficult” solutions, such as committing to a regular meal together — something Pope Francis has endorsed as a “fundamental experience.”

Bridget Murphy of Dublin agreed.

“I think after Mass on Sunday we should sit down and just get together and talk over dinner,” she said.

Celia Barnes, a mother of 10 and grandmother of 13 from Wexford, Ireland, emphasized that regular conversations at the kitchen table enable parents “to find out what their kids are thinking.”

Aiken drew applause when she called for “academic first responders” who understand the urgency of studying the digital landscape in a timely manner that results in practical strategies for protecting children and families.

“More than safety, we need to teach children security, which has a psychological aspect,” Aiken said. “We need to teach children good self-esteem, which makes them less likely to be targeted by predators.”

That task belongs to all the faithful, said panelist Teresa Kettelkamp, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

In building “a foundation for universal child protection, Kettelkamp urged attendees to focus on two key tasks, whether or not they were directly responsible for children.

“We need to honour the sanctity of life,” said Kettelkamp, a retired colonel with the Illinois State Police. “And we need to remember that if you have the ability to help, then you have the responsibility to help — in your schools, your churches. This is part of your purpose on earth.”

An estimated 37,000 attendees from 116 countries are at the World Meeting of Family’s Aug. 22-24 pastoral congress, which features 290 speakers as well as dozens of workshops and discussions.

After the pastoral congress, the international gathering will conclude with a Festival of Families. Pope Francis arrives for that Aug. 25, followed by a papal visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock and a final Mass Aug. 26 in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

Trinity Western ruling worries advocates for religious freedom

Trinity Western University’s (TWU) decision to drop its mandatory community covenant has left religious freedom advocates wondering what the implications are for the future.

TWU’s president Bob Kuhn said the private evangelical Christian university has made no plans to re-start its pursuit of a law school. “It’s not on the list for immediate priority if any decision is made,” he said.

The decision to drop the covenant — which among other things, required students to refrain from sexual activity outside of traditional marriage — was under discussion for some time, even before the Supreme Court’s June decision, he said.

The timing of the announcement in mid-August had to do with wanting the policy in place for the start of the academic year in the fall.

Trinity Western University President Bob Kuhn

The high profile of the TWU case led to a “lot of misinformation” about the university. that it “discriminated” and “did not permit gays to attend,” which was not true, Kuhn said.

“No one is refused entry based on their belief system, sexual orientation or other issues.”

The Supreme Court of decision “provided some guidance, or at least a reference point for pursuing this,” he said.

The covenant remains in place for faculty and staff and “in our commitment to a biblically-based evangelical Christian perspective,” he said. “We’re not making any changes to our definitions we consider critical and central to the Christian message and our Christian foundations.”

Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver said he hopes TWU will go ahead with its proposed law school. “I think a law school at a Christian university is a good thing.”

The Archdiocese’s intervention, done jointly with the Catholic Civil Rights League and the Faith and Freedom Alliance “concerned freedom of religion, conscience and expression,” something “our constitutional history promote,” said Archbishop Miller, noting the Supreme Court of Canada in its June TWU decisions “did not really take on those arguments.” The Archdiocese was not arguing for the covenant per se, he said, but for TWU’s right to have a covenant.

“The (Supreme Court’s) response really seemed to be the objectionable nature of the covenant,” the archbishop said dropping the covenant should make it easier for the proposed law school to get accreditation from the B.C. and Ontario law societies and for TWU to find support from the courts.

“They might find new grounds but I think it’s going to be harder because they argued heavily on the grounds of the covenant,” he said. “They didn’t want to try to argue that religious institutions had no right to a law school. To me, that doesn’t preclude the possibility they might come forward with other arguments.”

Phil Horgan, the president of the Catholic Civil Rights League said TWU has addressed the impediment to having a law school proceed.

“On the negative side, we have witnessed the impact of three Law Societies, but not all, which have chosen to apostatize a Christian university of certain commitments of its faith claims in higher education,” Horgan said.

“Further, the decision of the Supreme Court has overturned a previously understood constitutional matrix, especially as it applied to religious claims. Rather than apply an approach of genuine pluralism, and an acceptance of difference between competing claims, the majority accepted one set of claims over others, a process of allowing LGBTQ claims to Charter ‘values’ to trump recognized religious freedom claims.”

Former Religious Freedom Ambassador Andrew Bennett “Now that TWU has removed the mandatory nature of its community covenant – the sole objection of both the Court and law societies – will regulators of the legal profession welcome a law school at the evangelical Christian university if TWU resurrects its proposal?” asked former Religious Freedom Ambassador Andrew Bennett, the director of Cardus Religious Freedom Institute.

“Or, will they find new grounds to object to the creation of Canada’s first Christian law school?”

Bennett reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court’s “narrower, truncated view of the fundamental right to freedom of conscience and religion” in its TWU decision.”

“We regret that the Supreme Court of Canada took a narrower, truncated view of the fundamental right to “The Court’s decision challenged the ability for Canadians to manifest their beliefs through action in society beyond public worship,” Bennett said.

“This raises questions about how governments, other state, and quasi-state actors in Canada will respect the rightful place of faith-based institutions in the public square.”

“Anti- religious bigotry will never be satisfied,” said Canadian constitutional lawyer Iain Benson, who now teaches law in Sydney, Australia. “The means of explaining of their concerns with developments will be plastic and endlessly amorphous.”

“The usual anti-religious ingenuity will be used to seek not only plausible public arguments but also judicial support, he said, noting only the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the two dissenting justices in the Supreme Court “understood the nature of diversity in Canada.”

Benson said justices needed to “know the important questions of society, to see through the simplistic formulations of the day and ground justice in rigorous philosophical, theological and judicial framework. The majority did none of that.”

“Now that confusion has been given a judicial imprimatur, we can except to see a deepening set of attacks on religious associations and their members,” he said.

Albertos Polizogopoulos, a constitutional lawyer who represented the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) in its intervention in the TWU cases, noted in an article for Convivium.ca the division in the Christian legal community following the university’s decision to drop the covenant.

“Some disapprove of the decision and ask why TWU didn’t simply make the Community Covenant voluntary years ago, instead of spending years and millions of dollars fighting a legal battle that it ultimately did not need to wage,” he said.

“Others say that TWU fought the good fight, lost and now is simply responding to the Supreme Court’s decision in an attempt to preserve its institution and community.”

Polizogopoulos said the Court’s analysis had to do with the “reasonableness” test of the various law societies’ decisions regarding accreditation, yet that same test could allow law societies to come to differing conclusions.

“And therein lies the criticism: the reasonableness test results in unequal application or protection of Charter rights,” he wrote.

Kuhn said some of the criticism of TWU for dropping the covenant reflects an “oversimplification” of a complex legal case reflected in the Supreme Court’s TWU decision.

“We were deeply disappointed in that decision,” he said. “We don’t have much of a choice but to comply with the law of the land and act accordingly, as would any other Christian organization in in other circumstances.”

“It was an important issue; it remains an important issue, but has the benefit of a Supreme Court of Canada decision,” he said. “It puts it in context; it creates a picture of the future.” Kuhn said TWU thought the 2001 Supreme Court decision regarding its teacher’s college would also apply to its proposed law school.

The 2018 TWU decision dealt with the “unique characters of the law societies, and to what extent those law societies could impose their view of moral and religious faith on Trinity Western,” he said.

“Now we know,” he said. “We haven’t change our principles at all, but this clarifies question of admission of students from all variety of belief and non- belief which is consistent with our mandate to deliver higher education from the Christian viewpoint.”gra

Catholics are ‘rightly ashamed’, say Canadian responding to U.S. abuse crisis

Canada’s Catholic bishops have joined their American counterparts in expressing heartbreak and sorrow over the unfolding clerical abuse crisis south of the border.

“Catholics across our country are rightly ashamed and saddened regarding the findings of the Pennsylvania Investigating Grand Jury,” said an Aug. 20 statement from the executive committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

“With Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we reiterate the profound sadness that we as Bishops feel each time we learn about the harm caused as a result of abuse by Church leaders of any rank.”

The grand jury reported on decades of clerical sexual abuse involving more than 1,000 minors and about 300 predator priests as well as on the bishops who covered up their crimes.

“The Bishops of Canada treat with great seriousness instances of sexual abuse of minors and inappropriate conduct on the part of all pastoral workers – be they fellow Bishops, other clergy, consecrated persons or laity,” the CCCB statement said.

“National guidelines for the protection of minors have been in place in Canada since 1992, which dioceses and eparchies across the country have applied in their local policies and protocols.”

Canada’s Catholic bishops developed protocols long before their American counterparts because the clerical sexual abuse crisis hit Canada in the late 1980s with the revelations of abuse by Irish Catholic Brothers at , followed by the set up by the St. John’s, N.L. diocese in 1989 that identified systemic abuse and cover up.

Canada’s experience with the clergy abuse scandal was well over a decade before the 2002 scandal in Boston that rocked the Catholic Church in the United States and led to the 2002 Dallas Charter the bishops adopted to prevent clerical sexual abuse of children.

In 2005, the province of Ontario launched the into sexual abuse in the Alexandria-Cornwall diocese and found systemic failures on the part of church leaders, police and social services in responding to complaints.

Across Canada, individual dioceses have faced litigation by individuals who have claimed sexual abuse by priests. Some dioceses, such as Antigonish, have been forced to sell church properties and faced bankruptcy due to sexual abuse litigation settlements.

Antigonish’s historical $13-million dollar abuse class action settlement was announced by ex Bishop Raymond Lahey in 2009, only days before he was picked up at the airport with on his computer. He was convicted and subsequently de-frocked by the Vatican.

The Catholic Bishops of Alberta also responded to the American abuse scandal.

“We all have a sacred trust to protect those who are vulnerable, particularly children, and to stand up and speak when we witness that trust betrayed,” said the Alberta bishops in an Aug. 17 pastoral letter, noting the high priority placed on diocesan Safe Environments and Abuse Prevention programs.

“We cannot run or hide from instances of abuse and harm and we have no desire to do so. We confront these situations with the Gospel principles of truth, justice, repentance and healing.”

“With this letter, we renew our commitment to ensure that any clergy, employee, or lay volunteer who commits an offence against children or other vulnerable persons is promptly removed from ministry, that any offences are immediately reported to civil authorities, and that victims receive an apology, compassion and assistance in recovering from any harm they have suffered, including compensation when appropriate,” said the Alberta bishops.

Individual bishops also weighed in with statements.

“Like you, I am devastated by these accounts of profound evil,” said Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver on Aug. 17.

“In addition to being sexually abused, many victims were treated very poorly by authorities in the Church,” Archbishop Miller said. “The failure of Church leaders to prevent the abuse, covering it up by moving abusers around, their lack of care and concern for victims: these were grave failures and terribly wrong. We are all rightfully outraged and discouraged by these actions.”

In an Aug. 19 column for the Ottawa Sun, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast also responded to news that ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Archbishop-emeritus of Washington, is facing credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and that he had sexually harassed seminarians for years. He has since resigned from the .

Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast

“The alleged victims included young people, seminarians and newly ordained priests,” Archbishop Terrence Prendergast wrote. “There is clear evidence of an abuse of power and trust as well as sexual crimes. Even more disconcerting are the reports that other churchmen knew of the archbishop’s proclivities. Yet they did nothing to deal with the danger to young people’s lives.”

“Learning about this high-profile case of abuse in the Church, along with similar situations in Australia, Chile and Honduras, causes me great distress,” he wrote. “Many bishops, priests and lay Catholics in the U.S. and in Canada are rightly angry, chagrined and bewildered.”

“This has been particularly hard news on the great majority of faithful Catholic priests who live lives of virtue,” Prendergast said. “How could a leader abuse his position and violate those who, in trust, looked up to him?”

“Civil and Church authorities are duty-bound to promptly address any abuse situation,” Archbishop Prendergast said. “There is no justification for hiding or covering up abuse. We must listen to victims and support them.”

Archbishop Prendergast also said he reminded a recent gathering of seminarians “they have a right to live and study for priestly ministry in a safe environment, and that they can and should report any approach of an unwanted sexual nature from anyone in the Church, including seminary formation staff all the way up to the archbishop’s office.”

Archbishop Donald Bolen of Regina posted a video noting that for some even coming to the webpage was an “act of courage.” He assured victims and their loved ones “we are committed to hearing you and supporting you.”

“As a Church community, we must sadly acknowledge that victims have not always been heard and supported and I understand that hearing such reassurance can be painful to those who have been revictimized in this way,” Archbishop Bolen said. “We are striving to do better and humbled to move forward with you.”

Something about Mary inspires faithful at historic St. Albert shrine

There’s something about Mary that inspires such love and devotion.

For some it’s her maternal instinct as the mother of Jesus. Or the challenges the Blessed Virgin faced throughout her life. Or her own fidelity to God and her support and intercession on our behalf. The reasons are as unique as each individual.

And for 80 years, thousands have flocked to St. Albert to pray at the seven- by-10-metre stone grotto built in her honour by seminarians from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

This year, a steady stream of people made their way to the grotto for the annual pilgrimage on the Aug. 18-19 weekend, and packed the outdoor Mass and picnic. Mimi Belhumeur, 91, attended the very first St. Albert pilgrimage. Her family first moved to the St. Albert area in 1936.

For many women in particular, Mary is a role model.

“She is not just a woman up there on a pedestal. She went through a lot of things in her life. And I think she is a good model for us,” said Mimi Belhumeur, 91, who has been attending the St. Albert Pilgrimage since it began. She was 11 at the time.

“When things are rough, we just have to think: she had it rougher than us at certain times. If she can go through something like that, then maybe – with her help – I can go through it too.”

Kristen Schiller, a mother of four young children, added: “Mary is somebody I aspire to emulate as much as I can when I lose patience with my kids, which is more often than I’d like to admit. Whenever I find motherhood challenging, I try to offer that up to Mary. I try to say a quick Hail Mary and ask for her strength.”

Now that devotion has been formally recognized. Archbishop Richard Smith officially declared Mary’s Grotto a Marian shrine during the Aug. 19 outdoor Mass.Alan Schietzsch< Grandin Media

The Archbishop of Edmonton has officially declared Mary’s Grotto a Marian shrine. It’s the second such declaration in as many weeks. The grotto at Skaro, northeast of Edmonton, received the same recognition as pilgrims marked the 100th anniversary of that pilgrimage.

The declarations stem from last year’s celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, when bishops across the country consecrated their dioceses on July 1 to the protection of the Blessed Virgin.

“Like every mother, Mary remains close to her children,” Archbishop Richard Smith said in his homily – delivered at an outdoor Mass on the last day of the St. Albert pilgrimage. “She is always near us and earnestly wants us to turn to her for the help – the unsurpassable assistance – that she can and wants to give us by the power of her intercession.”

Archbishop Smith added: “We as a Catholic people, in our desire to follow Jesus, cannot remain faithful to Him without turning to his mother.” Kirsten and Greg Schiller attended the 80th Aniversary pilgrimage Mass with their four children.Alan Schietzsch, Grandin Media

Kristen Schiller does that. She said she can relate to Mary on a spiritual level, and on a personal one.

“Seeing everything she had to go through as a mother, and now being a mother myself, her struggles give me strength to know she could go through that and still be so holy,” said Schiller, whose four kids range in age from seven years to three months.

“She never gave up. She never turned away from God. She always stuck with the faith, so I try to try to use her to strengthen my own mothering.” The declaration of the grotto as a Marian shrine is a recognition of Mary’s importance, Schiller said.

“I think it’s telling us that we need strong mothers and we need Mary in our lives. We can turn everything to Mary. We can give her everything and she’s strong enough to help us through it. It really shows the importance of Mary in our faith.”

Schiller and her husband Greg were married in St. Albert Parish, and every year the family tries to attend the pilgrimage to the grotto behind the church building.

“It was a very important part of my childhood growing up,” Greg said, “and I want to give them that same strong foundation for their lives. It’s really cool. I grew up in St. Albert, so I remember visiting this grotto, coming and saying the rosary here often and just walking over.” Fr. Ignacy Warias says he sees visitors come to the grotto to pray and seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary every day. Alan Schietzsch, Grandin Media

Father Ignacy Warias said he hopes the shrine designations will raise awareness of the Skaro and St. Albert pilgrimages, encourage more people to attend, and “spread more devotion to Mary and also to the ways we can seek Jesus’ healing and Jesus’ ways in our lives.”

From the church windows, Father Warias, the pastor of St. Albert Parish, can see visitors praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary every day.

“They come to seek the intercession of Mary in whatever needs they have in their lives. This is not artificially made as a shrine. It is recognition of what has been happening for 80 years.

“Many people have contributed with their prayers and their sacrifices to make this place holy,” Father Warias said, not the least of whom are the Oblates. Their history in St. Albert dates back to the mid-19th century, and the Marian declaration – and the St. Albert Pilgrimage itself – is seen as recognition of that.

Fr. Ken Forster OMI Provincial

“It’s a great gathering of a community of faith,” said Father Ken Forster, the provincial superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. “People come together and share their faith and we get enriched by that. We also know that the Blessed Mother is our mother and we can turn to her and ask intercession, assistance and guidance.”

Topping: A mountain of lessons on holiday

“Daddy, I can’t walk any more.”

So complained my 10-year-old son. I admit I was inwardly beaming. Triumphs come so infrequently to us parents. I revelled not, of course, because a thorn protruded from my son’s big toe. Nor did I delight in the thin lightining streaks of blood that crisscrossed my seven-year-old son’s legs. My smile formed for other reasons. It swelled up because of the wonder I felt at the beautiful lessons that hung, like ripe hanging fruit, waiting to be plucked during these long holiday afternoons.

Our family has never visited Disneyland, but we’ve always delighted in holidays. Looking back over the years, our summer vacations have virtually all revolved around my work, our relatives, or some pilgrimage.

This summer was no different. Our destination was the far coast of British Columbia. Our three-day trek through the Rocky Mountains had brought us to the shadow of Vedder Mountain, about an hour’s drive east of Vancouver, and to my wife’s hometown. And this afternoon we were splashing in the mountain-fed river.

The sun had been relentless all week, perfect for ripening berries which now rested triumphantly upon the arms of their mother plants. We had finished our swim, and during our walk back along the dike to grandma’s house my sons and I were lulled from our destination by the sight and smell of delicious fruit. So began that day’s lesson.

There are few sybaritic pleasures equal to the picking of the blackberry. Rubus ursinus, that enticing bramble known as the Trailing Blackberry, is as pleasing to the eye and tongue as it is painful to the flesh.

With vigour the children dove into the bushes, pulling, pinching and popping the succulent berries into their faces which shone beet-red under the delirium of the late afternoon heat. It was as though we had tumbled back into Eden; so intense was the pleasure that we felt that, like Joshua’s army, the Lord had caused the sun itself to rest from its motion so we might finish our errand in triumph.

But alas, nothing gold can stay. Within a few moments cries not only of delight were heard. I shouted, “Slow down, boys!” For I too have known the frenzy of this world’s luscious fruits. “Watch for the thorns,” was another call that only half penetrated their distracted brains. It was like watching the Fall in slow motion.

For a few brief moments in the face of our children did the hope of pleasure mix with the pain of disappointment just like the flush that our first parents’ must have known in their moment of intoxication. As the lips of my boys became stained in dark juice, so did their limbs grow with the faint lines of their own blood.

When all was over, on our walk back to the house, conversation turned to sober thoughts. “Life is like that berry bush,” I proposed. “If you seek pleasures in the wrong way, at the wrong time, those pleasures will bring nothing but pain.”

It was too hot for conversation so as we walked the words hung there without inviting a reply. A few kids just kept shuffling along; others nodded in grave assent, of the sort that can only be given when thought has mixed with suffering.

That afternoon delivered a memorable lesson, though our summer holiday brought many others. A few days ago, as we poured over eggs just cooked in our bacon’s sizzling fat, on our last morning in the mountains, I asked the boys to list any lessons they thought they had learned the past weeks. Among them, the kids said they had learned: how far a bottle of bear spray can shoot (about seven metres); the danger of a brown-recluse spider bite (great-grandpa was just recovering from one); how many Saskatoon berries you can eat before getting sick (my 12-year-old had found out); they learned also what it was like for great-grandma to escape to Canada via Paraguay from the Nazis (she had been retelling old stories again one afternoon), what it feels like to be trapped on a log that rested on the water that was about to tip you into the water (my six-year-old had experimented with this), the best ways to keep a fire alive (a cause for endless study), how to tie knots, what a grizzly with two cubs looks like; and on and on.

To think that learning only occurs while a child is strapped into some state- approved desk under a fluorescent bulb is perhaps one of the more wildly foolish ideas about education that has plagued us moderns who, on the whole, have too often adopted the most foolishly wild ideas about education that can be swallowed. So I say, embrace the holidays with all its lessons.

Dr. Ryan N.S. Topping is vice-president and academic dean of Newman Theological College in Edmonton. His most recent book on education is The Case for Catholic Education. His forthcoming book is The Gift of the Church: How the Catholic Church Transformed the History and Soul of the West. This article was originally published on newmansociety.org.

Open Book: What is the New Testament?

Dr. Stephane Saulnier returns to discuss what the New Testament is.