ஸ்டாக்டன் கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் ஒரு சிறுவனை பாலுறவு பலாத்காரம் செய்ததற்காக கைது

ஸ்டாக்டன் கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் ஒரு சிறுவனை பாலுறவு பலாத்காரம் செய்ததற்காக கைது

இது மாதிரி லிஸ்டு எடுத்து அலுத்து போயிற்று என்று விட்டுவிட்டேன்.

ரொம்ப நாள் கழித்து திடீரேன்று போட்டால் ஒரே நாளில் இவ்வளவு!


Stockton diocese priest hit with suit alleging sex abuse
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 04/02/2008 01:51:38 PM PDT


STOCKTON, Calif.—A priest at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton faces a claim that he sexually abused a boy in the 1980s.
The Rev. Michael Kelly was a priest at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton when the alleged abuse occurred at the boy's home from 1982 to 1985.

The alleged victim is now 33 years old, but did not recall the molestation until 2006, according to the lawsuit filed March 26 in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Kelly was placed on leave when the plaintiff's parents first contacted the diocese about the allegations last October. But in March, he returned to the ministry at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford.

Kelly calls the claims "outrageous lies," and says he intends to fight the suit.

சாத்தானை ஓட்டுவதாக டிராமா போட்டு பணம் சுருட்டிய கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் மீது வழக்கு

சாத்தானை ஓட்டுவதாக டிராமா போட்டு பணம் சுருட்டிய கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் மீது வழக்கு
இதுவரை சாத்தானை ஓட்டுகிறேன் என்று டிராமா போட்டு, ஆறு மில்லியன் டாலருக்கு மேல் ஏமாளி கிறிஸ்துவ மக்களிடமிருந்து சுருட்டியிருக்கிறார் என்று போலீஸ் தெரிவிக்கிறது.

Priest allegedly staged fake exorcisms
Published: April 3, 2008 at 4:37 PM

FLORENCE, Italy, April 3 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Florence, Italy, accuse a Roman Catholic priest in the city of committing fraud by collecting $6 million through staging phony exorcisms.

The Rev. Francesco Saverio Bazzoffi is alleged to have used an organization he founded, the House of the Sainted Archangels, to collect donations from spectators at public exorcisms he performed at his organization's headquarters, The Telegraph, a British newspaper, reported.

Prosecutors said associates of Bazzoffi would "pretend to be possessed by demons" and the priest would use ancient and obscure rites to perform fake exorcisms on them. The events regularly drew crowds in excess of 400 people.

"During mass, the priest spoke in Aramaic, and strange things happened," a witness told police. "I do not know if it was group hysteria or our suggestibility but I remember one old woman screaming in a man's voice while five big guys held her down."

Several documents were seized from Bazzoffi's residence last month that allegedly suggested he has more than $6 million in his bank account, The Telegraph said. Prosecutors said 13 associates of the priest are also under investigation.

1500 டுட்ஸி சாதியினரை சர்ச்சுக்குள் வைத்து கொன்ற கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரிக்கு ஆயுள் தண்டனை!

கிறிஸ்துவம் தான் போகும் இடங்களிலெல்லாம் சாதிகளுக்குள் வன்முறையை தூண்டிவிட்டு மற்றவரை கொன்று தீர்க்கும் வேலையை செய்துவருவது தெரிந்ததே.



ர்வாண்டா நாட்டில் டுட்ஸி ஜாதியினருக்கும் ஹூடு ஜாதியினருக்கும் சண்டையை மூட்டிவிட்டு அந்த சண்டையில் 500,000 டுட்ஸி ஜாதியினர் கொல்லப்பட்டார்கள்.

அப்போது ஒரு சர்ச்சுக்குள் அடைக்கலம் தேடிவந்த டுட்ஸி ஜாதியினரை உள்ளே வைத்து பூட்டி அதன் மீது ராணுவ வீரர்களை விட்டு நெருப்பு வைத்து கொளுத்தி 1500 பேரை உயிரோடு பொசுக்கிய கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரி ரெவரண்ட் அதானஸே செரோம்பா என்பவனுக்கு ஆயுள் தண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்த பாதிரியார் மனம் திருந்தி இந்துமதத்தின் அன்பு வழியை கண்டடைந்து ஆன்மீகத்தை அடைய எல்லாம் வல்ல இறையை இறைஞ்சுவோம்.

Priest gets life for killing 1500By staff writers
March 14, 2008 04:24am

A RWANDAN Roman Catholic priest who ordered soldiers to set fire to a church and then bulldoze it while 1500 people were inside has ended up with a life sentence after appealing his conviction.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said it upheld the 2006 conviction of Reverend Athanase Seromba in the deaths of some 1500 Tutsis and sentenced him to life imprisonment, the Associated Press reported.

He had earlier received 15 years.

The tribunal is trying the alleged masterminds of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which over 500,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.

கொக்கேய்ன் வைத்திருந்த கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் கைது

ஆர்ச் பிஷப்பின் வலது கை என்று கருதப்பட்ட கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் லியோனார்ட் வான் விலெண்ட்ரென் கொக்கேய்ன் போதையுடன் வண்டியோட்டிக்கொண்டிருந்த போது கைது செய்யப்பட்டார்.

Brookfield Pastor Charged With Crack Cocaine Possession

POSTED: 8:41 pm CST December 11, 2007


BROOKFIELD, Wis. -- The pastor of a catholic church in Brookfield, who was once the right-hand man of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, took on the title of defendant Tuesday, entering a plea of "not guilty" on charges of crack cocaine possession.

Police said a St. Francis motorist called for help last Saturday evening after seeing Father Leonard Van Vlaenderen's car drive up and along the sidewalk before coming to a stop. Van Vlaenderen was found unconscious, and inside his pocket, police said they found two rocks of crack cocaine.

For years, Van Vlaenderen was among the archdiocese's elite, working as secretary to former Archbishop Weakland. After Weakland's retirement, Van Vlaenderen, affectionately known by parishioners as Father Len, was appointed to head St. John Vianney parish in Brookfield.



In a letter to parishioners issued Tuesday, Archbishop Timothy Dolan said that Van Vlaenderen will need to step down from his post.

"Last January, after receiving various reports of concern for Father Len's health from parishioners and others, I insisted that Father Len take a health leave from the parish. He himself admitted to a variety of health-related struggles and spent the next seven months under the care of health professionals. Last August, with assurances from his doctors that he was ready to return to full-time ministry, I allowed him to resume his pastorate. Now, with this news, it is clear that Father Len will need step down as pastor and cooperate fully with the law," the letter says.

The archdiocese has named a temporary administrator of the church while it looks for a replacement pastor.

புனித கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவ கன்யாஸ்திரியால் கற்பழிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுவர்கள்

மில்வாக்கியில் பிரின்ஸிபாலாகவும் ஆசிரியராகவும் இருந்தபோது, கன்ஸ்யாஸ்திரி நார்மா கியானின்னி இரண்டு சிறுவர்களை கற்பழித்திருக்கிறார் என்பது கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டு அவர் தற்போது சிறைவாசத்தை எதிர்நோக்கியிருக்கிறார்.

இந்த குற்றங்களை வெளிக்கொணர உழைக்கும் அமைப்பின் தலைவரான மேரி பாட் பாக்ஸ் என்பவர் இது வெறும் துளிதான், பனிக்கட்டியின் கீழே இருப்பது போன்ற ஏராளமான குற்றங்கள் வெளிவர காத்திருக்கின்றன என்று கூறியுள்ளார்.

Nun Pleads No Contest in Sex Abuse
By CATRIN EINHORN
Published: November 13, 2007

A Roman Catholic nun pleaded no contest yesterday to two counts of indecent behavior with a child in connection with accusations from the 1960s when she was a principal and teacher at a Catholic school in Milwaukee.

The nun, Norma Giannini, 79, faces up to 20 years in prison for what prosecutors say was sexual abuse of two male students.

Although dozens of nuns have been accused of sexual abuse, often in civil lawsuits, Sister Giannini is one of the first to face criminal charges, said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a group that compiles reports about abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

Mary Pat Fox, president of Voice of the Faithful, a lay group formed in response to the Catholic sexual abuse scandal, said she hoped the case would encourage more victims of nuns to come forward. “I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” Ms. Fox said.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office, Sister Giannini repeatedly assaulted the two boys while they were in middle school at St. Patrick School. The complaint said the assaults included intercourse and occurred in numerous locations, including a convent and a classroom.

The men who say they were abused, Gerald Kobs and James St. Patrick, now in their 50s, attended Monday’s hearing in Milwaukee.

“This is just a tragic situation for everyone involved,” said Sister Betty Smith, president of the Regional Community of Chicago of the Sisters of Mercy, the religious order to which Sister Giannini belongs.

Sister Smith said Sister Giannini had been removed from work with minors after one of the men came forward with accusations in 1992. She will be sentenced on Feb. 1.

இயேசுவை உணரமுடியாத மதர் தெரஸா

மதர் தெரஸாவின் கடிதங்களை தொகுத்து தற்போது புத்தகமாக வெளிவந்துள்ளது.
அதில் 1949இலிருந்து எழுதப்பட்ட கடிதங்களில், இயேசு என்று ஒன்றையும் தன்னால் உணரமுடியவில்லை, வெறுமைதான் அங்கிருக்கிறது. மனதில் வெறுமையே குடிகொண்டிருக்கிறது என்று திரும்பத்திரும்ப எழுதியிருக்கிறார்.

இயேசு தெரஸாவின் மீது அன்பு செலுத்துகிறார் என்று யார் எழுதினாலும் தன்னால் அதனை உணரவும் முடியவில்லை. வெறுமையே இருக்கிறது. இது பொய் என்றும் எழுதியிருக்கிறார்.

கடுமையான பிரார்த்தனைகள் பின்னாலும் இயேசுவை பற்றி ஒன்றுமே உணரமுடியவில்லை என்று எழுதியிருப்பது, கிறிஸ்துவத்தை நிராகரிக்கிற மேற்கத்திய நாஸ்திகவாதிகள் "அப்பவே சொன்னேனே கேட்டியா" என்று கேட்க வைத்திருக்கிறது.

இயேசுவை விற்க மதர் தெரஸா லேபிள் உதவும் என்பதால், வாடிகன் தொடர்ந்து மதர் தெரஸாவை ஸெயிண்ட் ஆக்கும் வேலைகளில் மும்முரமாக இருப்பதாக செய்தி தெரிவிக்கிறது.

Mother Teresa's '40-year faith crisis'
By Malcolm Moore, Rome Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:19pm BST 24/08/2007

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who may be canonised as a saint by the Vatican later this year, had a deep crisis of faith in God for the last 40 years of her life, according to a new set of her letters.

The correspondence, which spans most of Mother Teresa's life, shows that she felt alone and in a state of spiritual pain from around 1949, roughly the time when she started taking care of the poor and dying in Calcutta.

Mother Teresa, who is likely to be canonised, admitted that she had begun to doubt God
Although she publicly proclaimed that her heart belonged "entirely to the Heart of Jesus", she wrote to the Rev Michael Van Der Peet, a spiritual confidant, in September 1979 that "Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear. The tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak."

The letter was written just a few weeks before she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her charitable work.

More than 40 other letters, many of which she had asked to be destroyed in her will, show her fighting off feelings of "darkness" and "torture".

The letters are published for the first time in a new book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, and are edited by the Rev Brian Kolodiejchuk, a close friend.

advertisementHe wrote that during that period, Mother Teresa did not feel God "in her heart or in the eucharist".

Mr Kolodiejchuk gathered the letters as part of the process to make Mother Teresa a saint, and is responsible for arguing in her favour. He said the letters would show people another side of her life, and said that the fact that she was able to continue her work during such torment was a sign of her spiritual heroism. Mother Teresa has been beatified, and is awaiting canonisation.

The Vatican has insisted that the revelations will not obstruct her path to sainthood.

“Lord, my God, you have thrown [me] away as unwanted - unloved,” she wrote in one missive. “I call, I cling, I want, and there is no one to answer, no, no one. Alone. Where is my faith? even deep down right in there is nothing. I have no faith. I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart.”

She added: “I am told God loves me, and yet the reality of the darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?”

She even compared her problems to hell and admitted that she had begun to doubt the existence of heaven and God.

"The smile," she wrote, "is a mask or a cloak that covers everything. I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God, a tender personal love. If you were there you would have said, 'What hypocrisy'."

சல்மான் கானுக்கு எதிராக கத்தோலிக்கர்கள் போர்க்கொடி

லாஸ்ட் சப்பர் என்ற ஓவியத்தைப்போல ஒரு ஓவியத்தை சல்மான் கான் அமிர்தா அரோரா என்பவருக்கு பரிசாக கொடுக்க இருக்கிறார்.

அது போல லாஸ்ட் சப்பர் ஓவியத்தை அசிங்கப்படுத்துவது கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் மனத்தை புன்படுத்துகிறது என்று கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் கூக்குரல் இடுகிறார்கள்.

சல்மான் கான் வீட்டுக்கு முன்னால் தர்னா செய்யப்போகிறார்களாம்.

மேலும் படிக்க


Catholics protest Salman’s Da Vinci Code
BY PHILIP VARGHESE | Tuesday, August 21, 2007 11:41:9 IST

The furious Catholic forum has come down heavily against the actor who plans to gift painting to Amrita Arora

Catholics in the city have come down heavily on actor Salman Khan for the 'Last Supper' painting which he plans to gift to actress Amrita Arora. The Catholic Forum has decided to hold demonstrations at Amrita Arora's house at Bandra, if Salman Khan's painting, a spoof on the 'Last Supper' is placed at her residence, as reported in one of the city newspapers on Sunday.
"How can someone insult religious paintings like the Last Supper? The Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) takes strong exception to reports appearing in the media that Salman Khan is painting the holy picture, but instead of Jesus Christ and his Apostles he is to paint Amrita Arora's family members. There is also speculation over who will sit at the center of the table, in the place of Jesus. It may be mentioned that Da Vinci Code and other similar spoofs had put forth the idea that the one at the side of Christ was Mary Magdalene, a woman with whom Jesus was alleged to have fathered a child. The holy picture is revered by Catholics and hence we have decided to protest against this painting," said Joseph Dias, General Secretary of Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), a Bombay based Christian activist organisation.
Speaking further about the issue Dias said, "It seems that Salman Khan is either attempting to revive his staggering film career prospects or make some fast money by painting such pictures. However, this is an insult to the Christianity and has hurt the sentiments of the community. This issue is also a punishable offence and so we have written to the Police Commissioner D.N. Jadhav to register a case under section 295 (A) of the IPC, after due investigation. The CSF has also approached A.R. Antulay the Union Minorities Affairs Minister and the National Commission for Minorities to take up the issue with the actor. We have also called for legislation on the lines of the Atrocities on SC or ST Act to prevent such insults to any religion, which would go a long way in preserving the secular fabric of the country and in curbing communal unrest."
Dias also warned that the CSF has further called upon Salman Khan to either deny the reports or apologise, failing which the CSF will hold demonstrations and initiate legal action against the actor all over India, as in the case of M.F. Hussain's painting of a Hindu goddess. "What adds insult to injury is the fact that the actors are not in any way associated with the Christian faith and are better known to exhibit behaviour and values that Christians, as a community do not share - violence, immorality, licentiousness, etc. We also urged the film and advertising fraternity to refrain from the use of gods or religious figures of any and every faith, as religion in India is a sensitive issue and a very personal matter. Unlike the West, which is largely irreligious, believers in India are quick to take offence, in the face of public affronts to their faith. Christians are made soft targets since they are a more tolerant lot, commanded by their religion to demonstrate peacefully. However, the community is becoming increasingly aggressive and in no mood to take such insults lying down. Would the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other religions tolerate such an affront to their faith?" asked Dias.
Meanwhile, even though Salman Khan and Amrita Arora were unavailable for comment, Amrita's mother — Joyce told Afternoon, "Yes, Salman called up and said that he would be gifting a painting to Amrita. But he didn't reveal the subject of the painting. I just read in the newspaper that it is on 'Last Supper' depicting our family. So I cannot comment anything on this issue till we receive the painting."

கேரளா: கன்யாஸ்திரி கற்பழித்து கொலை - பாதிரியார்கள் மீது விசாரணை

21 வயதான அபயா என்ற பெண்மணி கன்யாஸ்திரியாக பயஸ் X கான்வெண்டில் கோட்டயத்தில் இருந்தார்.
இவர் 1992இல் மர்மமான முறையில் காண்வெண்டில் இருந்த ஒரு கிணற்றில் கிடந்தார்.

இந்த சாவை விசாரித்த கேரள போலீஸ் இது தற்கொலை என்று முடிவு செய்து வழக்கை மூடியது.

இந்த பெண்ணின் பெற்றோர் தொடர்ந்து போராடியதில், இந்த வழக்கை சிபிஐ விசாரணைக்கு எடுத்தது.

2005இல் இந்த வழக்கு கண்டுபிடிக்கமுடியவில்லை என்று மூடப்பட்டது.

ஆனால் தற்போது போலீஸ் ஆவணங்களில் இந்த கன்யாஸ்திரியின் பிறப்புறுப்புகள் சேதப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன் என்பதை பத்திரிக்கைகள் வெளிக்கொணர்ந்ததால், இது மீண்டும் வெளிச்சத்துக்கு வந்துள்ளது.

ஆகவே, இந்த காண்வெண்டின் பாதிரியார்கள் கன்யாஸ்திரிகள் பொய் சொல்கிறார்களா என்று அறிவியற்பூர்வமாக கண்டறியும் கருவி மூலம் பரிசோதிக்கவேண்டும் என்று கோர்ட் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது

அந்த கன்யாஸ்திரிக்கு அஞ்சலி

Priest, nuns take lie test in murder case
Don Sebastian
Friday, August 17, 2007 09:45 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has taken two nuns and a priest from Kottayam to Bangalore to undergo truth serum tests in connection with the mysterious death of sister Abhaya in 1992, a case the central agency had twice given up on.

The CBI had been given permission to conduct the tests on Jose Puthrika, Sephy and Helen, by Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

Abhaya (21), an inmate of Pius X Convent, Kottayam, was found dead in a well on the convent’s premises on March 27, 1992.

The crime branch, which investigated the case, said that it was a case of “suicide by drowning”. The CBI took over the case after the victim’s parents and an action council campaigned for justice.

The CBI, which concluded on July 12, 1999 that Abhaya’s death was homicide that remains “untraced”, was again directed by the court to conduct a fresh investigation utilising scientific methods such as brain finger printing.

The court had said there was a glaring discrepancy in the inquest report and the FIR regarding the time of detection of the body from the well.

The agency was back to square one on August 31, 2005, when it requested in its final report before the CJM court in Ernakulam that the case be closed as untraced.

The case got headway when a newspaper report revealed that forensic reports on Abhaya’s private organs were tampered with.

கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் இனவெறியுடன் திட்டியது யூட்யூபில் வெளிவந்ததால் பாதிரியார் விடுப்பு

ஆஸ்திரேலிய சர்ச்சின் முன்னே ஸ்கேட் போர்ட் விளையாடிக்கொண்டிருந்த சிறுவர்களை இனவெறி வார்த்தைகள், கெட்டவார்த்தைகள் ஆகியவற்றை கொண்டு கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியார் திட்டியதை வீடியோ பிடித்து யூட்யூபில் போட்டு விட்டனர். இதனை அறிந்து பாதிரியார் மன்னிப்பு கேட்டுக்கொண்டு விடுமுறையில் ஓடிவிட்டார்.

Catholic dean on leave after YouTube outburstStory Highlights
Roman Catholic priest put on leave after verbally abusing skateboarders

Skateboarders were using St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne as a skate park

Reverend Monsignor Geoff Baron's outburst filmed and placed on YouTube

Baron apologized, said skaters provoked him alleging he was a pedophile

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- A Roman Catholic priest who unleashed a torrent of expletives and racist abuse against skateboarders outside his Australian cathedral, only to have the outburst filmed and placed on YouTube, has been put on leave.


St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne.

The Reverend Monsignor Geoff Baron, the dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Australia's second biggest city, Melbourne, was videotaped swearing at and abusing a group of teenagers using the cathedral grounds as a skate park.

"Move, you f------ fool," Baron tells one skater in the video, slapping one of the group across the head and prompting a torrent of abuse in reply.

Pointing to a skater lying on the ground, Baron is heard telling the youth "Little foreigner there, look at the sleepy eyes, black hair".

"At least he's got hair. You f------ bald prick," one youth replies. Others spat on and shoved the furious priest.

The embarrassed Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, placed Baron on indefinite leave after the outburst appeared on YouTube, while security guards began patrolling the cathedral grounds on Wednesday amid threats of reprisal attacks.

"I want to relieve the dean of the pressures and responsibilities he carries as dean of the cathedral," Hart said, promising further action.

Baron apologized for the outburst on Tuesday, but on radio described the skaters as "jackals and hyenas" who had provoked him with allegations he was a pedophile.

"It was outrageous behavior. I let myself down terribly badly, quite clearly, and I've also brought scandal and shock to other people," he told local radio.

The video clip of the outburst, which was filmed a year ago but only recently posted on YouTube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=HQAfalqo340), was viewed tens of thousands of times

சிறுவர் பாலுறவு பலாத்காரம் செய்வது கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச் மட்டுமல்ல

சிறுவர் வல்லுறவு பிரச்னை கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச் பிரச்னை மட்டுமல்ல. மற்ற நிறுவனங்களும் அவர்களுக்குள் இருக்கும் இது போன்ற பிரச்னைகளை தீர்க்க அவர்கள் முனைய வேண்டும் என்று வாடிகன் இன்று தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

அப்படி சிறுவர் வல்லுறவில் ஈடுபடும் நிறுவனங்கள் என்ன என்று லிஸ்ட் போட்டிருந்தால் நன்றாக இருந்திருக்கும்.

Sexual abuse not just a Catholic problem: Vatican By Philip Pullella
Tue Jul 17, 8:06 AM ET

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Sexual abuse of children is not just a Catholic Church problem and other institutions should take steps to acknowledge and deal with such "wickedness" within their own ranks, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

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The Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, also said the record $660 million settlement between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and victims of sexual abuse was an attempt to "close a painful chapter and look forward."

"The Church is above all clearly pained by the suffering of the victims and their families, by the deep wounds caused by the grave and inexcusable behavior of some of its members," Lombardi said.

"It has decided to commit itself in every way to avoid a repetition of such wickedness," he said, adding that the Church now had a "a policy of prevention and creation of an ever more secure atmosphere for children and young people in all aspects of (its) pastoral programs."

Lombardi reaffirmed a position taken by other Catholic Church leaders in the past -- that other organized religions and institutions should also deal with paedophilia as publicly as the Catholic Church has been forced to by various scandals.

"The problem of the abuse of childhood and its adequate protection certainly does not regard only the (Catholic) Church, but also many other institutions and it is right that these take the necessary decisions as well," he said.

Lombardi said the Church was aware of its educational responsibilities to youth and intended to be "a protagonist in the struggle against paedophilia," which he said was on the rise worldwide.

ABUSE DATING BACK TO THE 1940s

The Los Angeles decision involved 508 plaintiffs in cases dating back to the 1940s. The pre-trial settlement means Cardinal Roger Mahony will not have to testify in court.

The settlement reached on Saturday after 4 1/2 years of negotiations came before the first trial was due to begin on Monday. Victims' attorneys would have called Mahony to testify about the church hierarchy's protection of abusive priests.

The Los Angeles settlement dwarfs other landmark payouts. The Archdiocese of Boston, where the U.S. scandal erupted in 2002, reached a 2003 deal for 550 people worth $85 million.

Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, was forced to resign in disgrace in December 2002.

Leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church were found to have moved priests who abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking them or reporting them to authorities.

In his interview with Vatican Radio, Lombardi spoke of the "sacrifices" the settlement would impose on the archdiocese.

The settlement funds will come from the archdiocese selling real estate assets, including the archdiocese's headquarters, insurers and various Catholic religious orders.

Before his election as pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went out on a limb to decry the "filth" in the Church.

Benedict, who was elected in 2005, has taken a tougher stand on sexual abuse in the Church than his predecessor. Last year he disciplined Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the 86-year-old founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ, who had been accused of sexually abusing boys decades ago.

கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் மட்டுமே உண்மையான கிறிஸ்துவர்கள்- போப்

கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்துவர்களே உண்மையான கிறிஸ்துவர்கள்.மற்ற கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் எல்லோரும் கிறிஸ்துவர்களே அல்ல. கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச் மட்டுமே சொர்க்கத்தை தரும் என்று போப் பெனடிக்ட் XVI கூறியிருக்கிறார்.

இது புரடஸ்டந்த் ஆகிய மற்ற கிறிஸ்துவர்களிடமிருந்து கடுமையான எதிர்ப்பை உருவாக்கியிருக்கிறது.

இயேசு கிறிச்து ஒரே ஒரு சர்ச்சை தான் உருவாக்கினார். அது கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச்தான் என்று போப் பெனடிக்ட் கூறியிருக்கிறார்.

எங்கும் உறைந்திருக்கும் இறையை உணராமல், இப்படி வெட்டி கூச்சல்போட்டுக்கொண்டிருப்பவர்களையும், அதுவும், இறையை ஆளுக்காள் பங்கு போட்டு இதில்தான் இறை இருக்கிறது, இந்த புத்தகத்தில் சொல்லியபடிதான் கடவுள் இருக்கிறார் என்று கடவுளை ஒரு காலம், இடம் நேரத்தில் அடைப்பவர்களையும் பார்த்தால் பரிதாபமாகத்தான் இருக்கிறது.

Pope: Other Christians not true churches
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago


LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.


The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries.

"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the church," the group said in a letter charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second Vatican Council.

It was the second time in a week that Benedict has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-1965 meetings that modernized the church. On Saturday, Benedict revived the old Latin Mass — a move cheered by Catholic traditionalists but criticized by more liberal ones as a step backward from Vatican II.

Among the council's key developments were its ecumenical outreach and the development of the New Mass in the vernacular, which essentially replaced the old Latin Mass.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers its erroneous interpretation by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed before becoming pope, said it was issuing the new document Tuesday because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.

The new document — formulated as five questions and answers — restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which riled Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church "has the fullness of the means of salvation."

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains.

The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles — and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.

The Rev. Sara MacVane, of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said that although the document contains nothing new, "I don't know what motivated it at this time."

"But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglicans and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics," she said.

The document said that Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.

"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," said a commentary from the congregation that accompanied the text.

Despite the harsh tone, the document stressed that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.

"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants, but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.

The top Protestant cleric in Benedict's homeland, Germany, complained the Vatican apparently did not consider that "mutual respect for the church status" was required for any ecumenical progress.

In a statement titled "Lost Chance," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber argued that "it would also be completely sufficient if it were to be said that the reforming churches are 'not churches in the sense required here' or that they are 'churches of another type' — but none of these bridges is used" in the Vatican document.

The Vatican statement, signed by the congregation prefect, American Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul — a major ecumenical feast day.

There was no indication why the pope felt it necessary to release it now, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles.

Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics or that the congregation was sending a message to certain theologians it did not want to single out. Or, it could be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.

In fact, the only theologian cited by name in the document for having spawned erroneous interpretations of ecumenism was Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian clergyman who left the priesthood and was a target of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's crackdown on liberation theology in the 1980s.