ROME
Abuse victims’ protest sidelined
Robert Mickens In Rome
THE VATICANprevented several dozen peo- ple who were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests from holding a “Reformation Day” vigil in St Peter’s Square last Sunday. The US-based organisation, Survivors Voice, had sought to lead a candlelit procession below Pope Benedict XVI’s window and deliver let- ters urging more action to bring priest abusers to justice. But the group, made up of some 75 victims and about 100 supporters, were forced to hold their vigil at Castel Sant’Angelo, several blocks away. Two representatives of the delegation were
eventually permitted into St Peter’s Square, where they delivered the survivors’ letters to Swiss Guards at the entrance of the papal palace. The event was named Reformation Day because it took place on 31 October – commemorated by Protestants as the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 96 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg.
AUSTRALIA Anglo-Catholics urged to ally with Rome
ANGLO-CATHOLICS considering a move to the Catholic Church under the provisions of the Pope’s Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, have been warned that they would have to leave behind many things they hold dear, including their buildings, writes Mark Brolly. The constitution allows Anglican parishes to join an ordinariate of the Catholic Church in which they could retain elements of their Anglican patrimony. But Bishop Peter Elliott, the Australian Catholic bishops’ delegate for the ordinariate and a former Anglican, told a Forward in Faith Australia meeting in Melbourne last month that those who joined the ordinariate would have to shed their old allegiances. He said that it was “illusory congregationalism” to believe it was possible to remain in communion with Canterbury and not give assent to the established order that he and the other bishops of that Church represented. He warned his audience against thinking they could regard their parish as a Church in itself, because a bishop could “send them a vicar not of their choosing or even close their church”. Bishop Elliott, who is an auxiliary in
Melbourne, also cautioned against what he
called “building worship” and “ancestor worship” – “This is a painful matter, entering an ordinariate and having to let go and sacrifice a familiar, much-loved place of worship with so many family memories.” But he added: “The Church is not buildings, rather it is that Holy Temple of living stones, a communion of people, united to Christ the Lord, one in faith, one in grace.” Bishop Elliott said that the ordinariate would take concrete form in 2011 and steps towards establishing others in the UK, US, Canada and Australia were well under way. The model would be set by what happened in Britain, with two stages envisaged: the reconciliation and ordination of clergy who had applied for orders in the ordinariate and been accepted, then at a later date, the first reconciliations of the lay faithful. The bishop advised those Anglicans who
believed that God was calling them to full communion with Rome to take practical steps, such as obtaining evidence for their baptism, which would be needed before registering for reconciliation through Confirmation with Chrism next year. Those in irregular marriages should go at once to the local Catholic marriage tribunal and seek whatever is possible to regularise their situation, he said.
The Pope did not mention the victims’
gather ing, which included representatives from a dozen countries, during Angelus addresses on Sunday and the next day’s Feast of All Saints. However, Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, tried to address the group at Castel Sant’Angelo, which lies just in front of Vatican Radio, where he is also director. After being rebuffed by jeers, he returned to his office, where he later met several survivors and gave them a two-page letter in English expressing his solidarity. “This intervention of mine is not an official one, but because of my deep involvement and identification with the Catholic Church and the Holy See, I believe I can express the feel- ings shared by many regarding the object of your manifestation,” he wrote. Fr Lombardi said three times that he was
“convinced that the Church has done and is doing a lot” to address child sex abuse. “I invite you to look at the Church ever more as a pos- sible ally, or – according to me – as an ally already active today in the pursuit of the most noble goals of your endeavours,” he wrote. Margaret Kennedy and Brendan Butler,
two members of the seven-strong Irish dele - gation that attended the gathering, said they would register protests with the Department of Foreign Affairs in relation to how they were treated by Vatican police. (For the full text of Fr Lombardi’s letter, go to
www.thetablet.co.uk.)
SPAIN
Pope to consecrate Gaudì’s unfinished Barcelona church
POPE BENEDICT XVIarrives at the pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela today at the start of a weekend visit to Spain that will include the consecration tomorrow of Antoni Gaudì’s unfinished Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, writes Graham Keeley. Benedict XVI’s visit comes after repeated clashes between Spain’s socialist Government and the Church over reforms, including the legalisation of gay marriage, speedier divorce and easier access to abortion. The Government is preparing a law of religious freedom that will give greater rights to other religions, such as Islam and Judaism. The Pope has urged Spanish bishops to
avoid confrontation with the Government. During his visit he will meet José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, as well as the opposition leader and members of the Spanish royal family. A bus driven by Atheists of Catalonia was due to travel through Barcelona this week bearing the slogan “I will not await you”. Albert Riba, of Atheists of Catalonia, said: “We would like people to campaign for a secular state.” Gay campaigners were also expected to stage a protest kiss-in in the city.
GERMANY
Catholics to mark Reformation
LUTHERANS ANDCatholics have opted to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation together on 31 October 2017, the International Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue Commission announced after meeting in Regensburg last month, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt. The Lutheran commission president, the former Bishop of Helsinki, Eero Huovinen, said that the decision marked a “revolutionary step”. Up to now, celebrations have been held separately. The 2017 celebration would not be “triumphalistic”, but it would be a worldwide event. “It might prove possible to show that the Reformation profited both sides, he added, “but also where we [both] failed to be loyal to the gospel message”. The Catholic commission president,
Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, said: “We have a great fund of things we share from which we can draw,” adding that both sides “lost something” in the Reformation – “namely unity”. (See News from Britain and Ireland, page 37.)
6 November 2010 | THE TABLET | 33
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