June 30, 2010

Dear Archbishop Sambi:

Enclosed you’ll find a U.S. penny—one cent—as my contribution to the Peter’s Pence collection. The Pope’s charities in lands far, far away need support, but I believe there are more pressing needs here in the U.S.

My lowly penny has a lofty message—In God We Trust. With this penny I intend to make a statement: I am appalled at the Pope’s performance to date in addressing the clergy sex abuse scandal. The scandal and the failed attempts by the Pope and his bishops to keep this scandal under wraps and secret from Catholic donors worldwide are unprecedented. Selling indulgences pales in comparison to the rapes and molestations–soul murder–of tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of innocent children worldwide by priests, brothers, and nuns of the Institutional Church.

The scandal and the clumsy attempts at cover up by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II have been well documented for more than 25 years by newspapers, television, and cable networks, and on the World Wide Web. Thirty million American Catholics have left the church. Yet Pope Benedict seems to be blind and deaf to these facts.

It seems that the Pope places his highest priority on saving his own personal reputation, the reputation of his predecessor, and the reputation of the Institution. He and closest advisors place great store, it seems, in a few transparent, carefully orchestrated events in which the Pope meets with a handful of victims and then tells us through the media how much he feels the victims’ pain.

And then there are the endless words, words, words and apologies, apologies, and apologies. It’s as if words and apologies will make the extended nightmare go away and hasten the sunrise of the following morning.

I and many others await meaningful, concrete actions, not more papal words and apologies. Cardinal Bernard Law sits in a place of high honor in Rome. It’s time the Pope rids himself and all of us of this symbol of mindless papal loyalty.

The Pope ignores, it seems, the command of the Good Samaritan parable to be a good neighbor to the abused person who lies at the side of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30) stripped of his/her clothes, beaten, and half dead.

So rather than give to the Pope’s worthy charities in Kenya, Bosnia, and Rwanda, I’ll apply the common sense principle that charity begins at home by giving to U.S. non-profits that act like the Good Samaritan and minister to abuse victims and survivors. Because of the life-long effects of childhood abuse, water and wine need to be poured out (Luke 10: 34) onto abuse victims/survivors for their entire lives.

If BP must compensate those who have been harmed by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, shouldn’t the Universal Church—Pope, bishops, priests, all of us—compensate abuse victims/survivors?

Sincerely,

Frank J. Douglas
Send the Bishops a Message
8064 W. Greensleeves Way
Tucson, AZ   85743
Frankdouglas62@yahoo.com
(520) 404-2489 (cell)

Click on the following link to see a Tucson TV interview about the Send the Bishops a Message and its Peter’s Pence Penny Initiative:

http://www.kvoa.com/videos/?id=2423

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Group says “Don’t give to Catholic church”

Posted – 6/27/2010 at 8:25PM by Tyler Wing

author

Tyler Wing – View Bio

TUCSON – A local group is supporting a nationwide outcry against how the Pope handled the documented clergy sex abuse and alleged cover up.

The grassroots group of Catholics who call themselves Send the Bishops a Message, chose the church’s annual Peter’s Pence Papal Collection Day urging people donate to charities other than the Catholic religion.

“We’re here for two things,” says organizer Frank Douglas. “To protect children and to heal the wounded.”

“There are still sexual predators in the Catholic church and they’re being hidden by the bishops and the Pope,” says Douglas.

A statement issued from the Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson, says, “The Pope has consistently supported efforts to address child abuse by priests and to support the zero tolerance policy.”

Meantime Douglas still wants people to donate on Peter’s Pence Sunday, just not to the Catholic church, “Take the world by the scruff of the neck and make your own decision about where your money goes.”

Douglas say by putting just one penny in the collection plate will send a message of dissatisfaction.

He says this message is directed to the Pope, “That he is on the wrong track. That we want transparency, accountability and we want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Kicanas says Catholics can be assured their gifts are used only to support the charitable ministries in desperately poor and struggling nations.

He also says diocese across the United States, including Tucson, put in place significant policies and procedures to provide a safe environment for children.
To learn more visit http://www.sendthebishopsamessage.com/index.html

Read the Tucson Bishop’s statement in its entirety below:

Statement from Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson

The charities supported by the gifts of Catholics to the Peter’s Pence Collection do immense good throughout the world. Catholics can be assured that their gifts are used only to support the charitable ministries of the Holy Father in desperately poor and struggling nations.

Because of this worldwide collection, the Holy Father is able to personally direct charity on behalf of the entire Church. The collection provides for the needs of the Church in struggling parts of the world, including providing humanitarian assistance to victims of war, oppression and natural disasters. Two examples of assistance provided by the Holy Father thanks to the generosity of parishioners have been the establishment of a village for HIV/AIDS orphans in Kenya and the establishment of the Hospital of St. Vincent de Paul in Bosnia.

We can all be very proud of how our gifts and the sharing of our blessings benefit countless numbers of people, especially the littlest and weakest among us. I have very confidence our people will be as generous as they have always been.

The Holy Father has expressed his profound sorrow and regret about the sin and crime of sexual abuse by priests and the failure of some bishops to respond appropriately to abuse of children by priests. He made this very clear in his statement to the thousands of priests gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica two weeks ago to conclude the Year for Priests. He has expressed his deep sorrow to victims of abuse personally in face-to-face meetings on several occasions. He has established a special study of the tragedy of abuse within the Church in Ireland.

He has consistently supported the efforts of the U.S. Bishops to address child abuse by priests and to support the zero tolerance policy. In dioceses across the U.S., including our Diocese of Tucson, significant policies and procedures have been put in place to provide safe environments for children and vulnerable adults. These include mandatory reporting all allegations of sexual abuse to civil authorities (which the Holy Father has emphasized), background checks and criminal history checks for Church employees and volunteers, personal safety education for children and child abuse awareness and prevention education for parents, grandparents and Church volunteers and employees.

Clearly, Pope Benedict encourages and supports efforts within the Church to put in place effective ways of preventing and responding to sexual abuse of minors.

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NATIONAL SURVIVOR ADVOCATES COALITION NEWS

June 29, 2010                                                                     Vol. 2, No. 111

Press Release

For Immediate Release

June 28, 2010

BARRIER to OBTAINING TRUTH FALLS

VATICAN CALLED UPON TO DROP LEGAL FIGHTS

SURVIVOR HAILED as COURAGEOUS

Statement National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) Regarding US Supreme Court Decision

A barrier to obtaining the truth regarding the sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church fell today when the US Supreme Court allowed the case of a victim in Oregon to move forward declining to hear the Vatican’s appeal to halt the case.

We hope this decision is a clarion call to Pope Benedict and the Vatican to give up the legal fight against victims along with its accompanying costly use of the Church’s resources.

We hail the courageous survivor in the Oregon case along with all victims of sexual abuse by priests and nuns. Without their courage, Catholics would not know of what was perpetrated and covered up by their Church.

Supportive publication:  http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/us_supreme_court_lets_vatican.html

Contact: Kristine Ward, National Survivor Advocates Coalition, 937-272-0308, kristineward@hotmail.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Click on the headline to read the whole story.

1.  Court rejects Vatican immunity appeal – UNITED STATES – The Irish Times

2.  Supreme Court rejects Vatican sex abuse appeal – ST. PAUL (MN) – KARE -  [with video]

3.  Belgian Abuse Commission Shuts Down – BELGIUM – Zenit

4.  Outraged over police raid on church offices? Wait for what is revealed – UNITED STATES -                       National Catholic Reporter

5.  Diocese Of Wilmington Loses Fight Over Investment Pool – DELAWARE – The Wall Street Journal

6.  Pope stifles abuse discussions; Clergy sex abuse victims respond – UNITED STATES – Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

7.  Belgium a ‘perfect storm’ on sex abuse crisis – UNITED STATES – National Catholic Reporter

8.  Moral pollution engulfs church – MASSACHUSETTS – Newburyport Daily News

Is the Pope Catholic? (One Page Version)

This version was shortened from the original to print on one page. If you want to print it on one page for your own use and/or wish to distribute it, be my guest (no copyright problem here). First copy and paste the text below into your word processor software. Then change the font to Times Roman 10-point. Then change top, bottom, left, and right page margins to 0.7″. If you have problems, send e-mail to frankdouglas62@yahoo.com.

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Yes, the Pope is Catholic. He’s the Number One Catholic in the world. The force and direction of Roman Catholic Church history over the last century and a half have resulted in an Imperial Papacy that is so strong in the minds and hearts of many Catholics that being Catholic means, to them, being mindlessly loyal to the Pope—no matter what. But the ban on artificial birth control by Pope Paul VI and the ongoing clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal under John Paul II and Benedict XVI have resulted in even some of the most loyal Catholics to begin thinking for themselves rather than just swallowing every word from the Vatican. In addition millions of Catholics have left the church because of these and other key issues.

Rather than ask is the Pope Catholic, more meaningful questions might be: 1) Is the Pope a Christian; and 2) Does the pope embrace Gospel values? To me, being a Christian means being a follower of Jesus and trying to act like he would. In other words asking the question (again and again): What Would Jesus Do (WWJD)? For example, as a statement of dissatisfaction with Pope Benedict’s performance to date on the clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal, would Jesus drop a penny into the Peter’s Pence collection plate this weekend? Would Jesus mail a penny to the Papal Nuncio at the Vatican Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue in our nation’s capitol to resister the same dissatisfaction?  My guess (my hope) is that he would.

As for the Pope embracing gospel values, I refer you to two Scriptures: Matthew 18:1-6 and Luke 10: 25-37.

Here is verse 6 from the 18^th chapter of Matthew:

⁶But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

If the Pope embraces gospel values, if the Pope really wants to keep kids safe, rather than just announce through the Vatican spin machine that he wants to do everything possible to safeguard children, shouldn’t he develop–and promulgate in a very public way–ironclad policies that every bishop and religious superior must implement, to keep kids safe from known and potential sexual predators? Given that strong evidence exists that child rapists and molesters rarely offend just once, doesn’t common sense tell you that it is prudent to publicize worldwide on the Internet the names and last known whereabouts of priests, deacons, members of religious orders, and church lay employees  who are known child molesters—and those credibly accused of such crimes? Isn’t it just good common sense to make this publication requirement for every bishop and religious superior one of the ironclad policies? Once such policies are in place, shouldn’t the Pope call for effective, independent non-church oversight of each bishop and religious order throughout the world to make sure the spirit of the policies are being implemented day in, day out?

In other words if the Pope embraces gospel values, shouldn’t his actions align with his rhetoric?

Now let’s look at verse 30 of Luke chapter 10:

³⁰In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

Haven’t the Pope and the vast majority of bishops, priests, and Catholic lay people passed by on the other side? Haven’t groups like SNAP and Road to Recovery and many other survivor support groups acted like the Good Samaritan? Because of the life-long effects of childhood abuse, don’t water and wine have to be poured out onto abuse victims/survivors for their entire lives? If BP must compensate those who have been harmed by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, shouldn’t the Universal Church—Pope, bishops, priests, all of us—compensate abuse victims/survivors?

Frank J. Douglas | June 29, 2010 | frankdouglas62@yahoo.com | Voice from the Desert | Send the Bishops a Message