News from the Church in Malta
Pope Francis addresses the Pontifical Academy for Life in a Plenary Assembly marking 25 years of activity, on the theme “Roboethics. People, machines and health”.
Despite all of the potential that science has, the accumulation of it all does not always obtain the results hoped for, says Pope Francis when addressing the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for life…
“The time has come, then, to work together to eradicate the evil” of child abuse, Pope Francis said, in a speech delivered at the close of the final Mass for the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church. “The time has come to find a correct equilibrium of all values in play and to provide uniform directives for the Church, avoiding the two extremes of a ‘justicialism’ provoked by guilt for past errors and media pressure, and a defensiveness that fails to confront the causes and effects of these grave crimes”…
For the first time since his opening address, Pope Francis on Friday afternoon took the floor to speak to the participants at the Meeting for the Protection of Minors in the Church.
The Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks followed the speech by Dr Linda Ghisoni, the first woman to deliver a presentation during the General Assemblies. “Listening to Dr Ghisoni,” the Pope said, “I heard the Church speaking about herself.” He explained, “Inviting a woman to speak about the wounds of the Church is to invite the Church to speak about herself, about the wounds she has.”
Pope Francis said that this is “not just a question of style, the feminine genius reflected in the Church, which is woman.” Nor is it simply a matter of giving women a greater role in the Church, although this is important…
The “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting began on Thursday with prayers, readings, and brief periods of silent reflection, before Pope Francis gave his opening remarks in the Vatican’s Synod Hall. In front of the Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Religious Superiors and other leaders, the Pope told them that, “in the face of the plague of sexual abuse perpetrated by men of the Church against children”, he had called them together so, “we may listen to the Holy Spirit and with docility to His guidance we may hear the cry of the little ones who ask for justice.”
Evil of abuse that afflicts the Church and humanity
He told those gathered that this meeting was, “weighed down by the weight of pastoral and ecclesial responsibility which obliges us to discuss together, in a synodal, sincere and profound way, how to deal with this evil which afflicts the Church and humanity.”
Pope Francis noted that, “the Holy People of God look to us and expect from us not simple and predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be prepared”…
Archbishop Scicluna, who delivered the second presentation at the meeting, entitled “Taking Responsibility for Processing Cases of Sexual Abuse and for Prevention of Abuse”, is the Archbishop of Malta and Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Day one of the event has “Responsibility” as its main theme…
With the “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting in the Vatican, the Church is attempting to provide guidelines to its own leadership and communities. But she is also offering a painful witness and a precise commitment to the whole of society. Because, as the statistics of minors abused in the world indicate, the protection of minors is an issue that concerns everyone…
