Revised Catholic rules put female ordination in same category of crime under church law as clerical sex abuse of minors.

The Vatican today made the « attempted ordination » of women one of the gravest crimes under church law, putting it in the same category as clerical sex abuse of minors, heresy and schism.

The new rules, which have been sent to bishops around the world, apply equally to Catholic women who agree to a ceremony of ordination and to the bishop who conducts it. Both would be excommunicated. Since the Vatican does not accept that women can become priests, it does not recognize the outcome of any such ceremony.

The latest move, which appeared to bar and bolt the door to Catholic women priests, came at a time when the Church of England moved in the opposite direction, to a step closer to the ordination of female bishops.

The Vatican’s reclassification of attempted female ordination was part of a revision of a 2001 decree, the main purpose of which was to tighten up the rules on sex abuse by priests in reaction to the scandals that have been sweeping through the church since January. The most important change is to extend the period during which a clergyman can be tried by a church court from 10 to 20 years, dating from the 18th birthday of his victim.

The new rules introduce speedier procedures for dealing with the most urgent and serious cases; allowed for lay people to form part of church tribunals that judge such cases; put abuse of the mentally disabled on a level with that of minors, and introduced a new crime of pedophile pornography.

The pope’s spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, stressed that the changes applied solely to canon, or church, law. They had no bearing on whether suspected offenders should be reported to the civil authorities.

He said that issue had already been dealt with earlier this year in instructions making it clear to bishops that they must report cases promptly.

The Vatican was working on further instructions « so that the directives it issues on the subject of sexual abuse of minors, either by the clergy or institutions connected with the church, may be increasingly rigorous, coherent and effective, » he said.

John Hooper
The Gardian

***

Sur le même sujet :

Le «délit grave» de l’ordination des femmes – Le Vatican suscite indignation et peine
Lisa-Marie Gervais, Le Devoir édition du 17 juillet 2010

Relic of cross stolen from cathedral
Archdiocese prays for its recovery

A janitor at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross entered the church’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel early one recent morning and made a startling discovery: A thief had pried open a panel covering a small glass case and stolen a small piece of wood venerated by Catholics as a fragment of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

The relic, one of the oldest and most treasured possessions of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, has not been seen since, and now on the wall in the dim chapel hangs a cross with its base pried open and an empty cavity where the relic once rested.

“We are deeply troubled that this sacred relic was stolen, and we pray for those responsible,’’ the Rev. Kevin J. O’Leary, rector of the cathedral, said yesterday. “We ask the faithful of the Archdiocese of Boston to join the cathedral’s parishioners in praying every day for its return.’’

The relic disappeared sometime between 10 a.m. on June 30 and 8 a.m. on July 1, according to a police report. The theft was re ported Sunday by The Lady in the Pew, a blog written by Kelly Thatcher, who describes herself as “a Roman Catholic lady who loves being a Roman Catholic lady.’’ The theft was confirmed to the Globe yesterday by the Archdiocese of Boston.

Lieutenant Detective Michael Conley said police believe that the relic was stolen by someone who visited the chapel during the day because there were no signs of forced entry. The relic, he said, was last seen by a church official at 10 a.m. June 30. Nothing else was missing from the chapel, he said.

“Somebody knew what it was,’’ he said.

He said investigators are scouring eBay to see if the relic might turn up. Last night, a Globe search of eBay found a dozen items under a search for “true cross relic,’’ with price tags ranging from $105.49 to $3,800.

The relic arrived in Boston in the late 18th century, a gift to a French missionary priest, the Rev. Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, who later became the first bishop of Boston.

The relic was given to Cheverus by Abbe Claude de la Poterie, the first pastor of the cathedral, who was also a French priest, as well as a onetime chaplain in the French Navy.

De la Poterie celebrated the first public Mass in Boston on Nov. 2, 1788.

The relic is one of many around the world that are said to be parts of the “True Cross.’’ Churches have professed to have relics of the cross since the fourth century; the authenticity is often disputed, but the relics are nonetheless significant objects of prayer for many Catholics.

“The relic of the True Cross is an important sacramental that helps Christians contemplate the crucified Savior and the great suffering He endured for the salvation of the world,’’ said archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon.

Boston’s first Catholic church, completed on Franklin Street in 1803, was named the Church of the Holy Cross.

The church was designated a cathedral in 1808, when the Diocese of Boston was established; the current cathedral, on Washington Street in the South End, was completed in 1875.

The north transept window at the cathedral depicts the legendary discovery of the cross by Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine. In the scene, a dead woman is restored to life after the cross is laid upon her.

The south transept window depicts another story associated with the cross: return of the relic to Jerusalem by a Byzantine emperor after it was stolen by the Persian army in the seventh century.

On a day-to-day basis, people visiting the chapel often stop to pray before the relic, said the Rev. Jonathan Gaspar, an aide to Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley. Yesterday at midday, a lone man stood in the chapel, praying.

“What they’re doing many a time is they are uniting their own suffering, their own darkness, to the suffering of Christ, in the hope that through Christ’s power and mediation, they will have light and experience the glory, even in this life, of the resurrection,’’ Gaspar said.

On Good Friday, the cross that holds the relic is brought into the cathedral, and people are invited to come forward and venerate the cross by genuflecting and kneeling in remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus, Gaspar said.

“When a bishop comes forward to venerate the cross on Good Friday, the Ceremonial of Bishops [the book of liturgical instruction for bishops] suggests that he come to venerate without the zucchetto [the bishop’s skull cap] and without shoes,’’ Gaspar said.

“He comes forward to venerate the cross as the Emperor Heraclius did, barefoot and bareheaded.’’

Lisa Wangsness
The Boston Globe

CITE DU VATICAN – Le Vatican a durci jeudi les règles contre la pédophilie au sein du clergé, introduisant des procédures accélérées pour les cas les plus urgents, augmentant de 10 ans la durée de la prescription et assimilant les abus sexuels sur des handicapés mentaux à la pédophilie.

Ces nouvelles normes prévoient en particulier «des procédures accélérées pour régler les cas les plus urgents et graves», a précisé le Vatican dans un document baptisé «normes sur les délits les plus graves» et présenté par le porte-parole, le père Federico Lombardi.

La procédure accélérée permet de remplacer la procédure judiciaire normale par un «décret extra judiciaire» ou de présenter au pape les cas les plus graves en vue de la réduction du prêtre à l’état laïc, a précisé le porte-parole du Vatican, le père Federico Lombardi, lors d’un point de presse.

Les règles portent par ailleurs la prescription des faits de dix à vingt ans après l’accession à la majorité de la victime. En outre, la possibilité de dérogation, pour allonger encore cette prescription, qui était déjà prévue, est maintenu, a souligné le père Lombardi.

Le texte «assimile l’abus sexuel sur des handicapés mentaux à celui sur mineurs», et «introduit le délit de pédopornographie», pour possession de matériel concernant des jeunes jusqu’à 14 ans.

Il prévoit aussi la possibilité de faire appel à des laïcs comme membres des tribunaux ecclésiastiques.

Toutefois, les nouvelles procédures ne comprennent pas un «ordre explicite», pour les Églises locales concernées de s’adresser à la justice civile.

«S’en tenir à ce qui est prévu par les lois civiles fait partie des indications fournies par la Congrégation pour la Doctrine de la Foi dès les phases préliminaires de l’enquête canonique, comme cela est expliqué dans le Guide publié il y a quelques temps», rappelle simplement jeudi le Vatican.

Cette publication «offre un texte juridique officiel mis à jour et valable pour toute l’Église», a relevé le père Lombardi, soulignant que «l’Église est aujourd’hui fortement engagée à agir avec rigueur et transparence» en ce qui concerne la pédophilie de ses membres, une «douloureuse expérience».

L’Église catholique est secouée depuis plusieurs mois par une avalanche de scandales pédophiles commis en son sein, tant en Amérique du Nord et du Sud qu’en Europe.

Les nouvelles règles, élaborées par la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi (CDF), présidée par le cardinal américain William Levada, et contresignées par le pape Benoît XVI, actualisent un motu proprio (décret) de Jean Paul II d’avril 2001, complété par un texte du pape actuel, à l’époque responsable de la CDF. Le motu proprio de Jean Paul II de 2001 vise à la « protection de la sainteté des sacrements » et charge la CDF des «délits les plus graves commis contre les moeurs ou dans la célébration des sacrements».

Le texte de la CDF complétant le motu proprio les énumère: pédophilie par un homme d’Église et atteinte aux sacrements de l’eucharistie et de la pénitence.

Le Vatican a aussi actualisé dans le même texte ses règles vis à vis des sacrements et a ainsi inscrit la tentative d’ordination de femmes, qui entraîne déjà l’excommunication automatique, parmi les délits les plus «graves». Il aborde aussi les «délits contre la foi» que sont, à ses yeux, «l’hérésie, l’apostasie et le schisme».

Agence France-Presse
Canoe Infos

***

MAJ 19 juillet 2010 :

Google: «Vatican» mène vers un site pédophile

Une recherche effectuée sur le moteur de recherche Google avec le mot clé «Vatican» renvoie sur un site intitulé www.pedofilo.com, a constaté samedi l’AFP.

Selon l’agence italienne Ansa, ce phénomène a été relevé quelques heures plus tôt dans la journée. Interrogée par l’agence, une porte-parole de Google n’a pas pu confirmer s’il s’agissait d’une attaque informatique contre le site du Vatican. Le Vatican a publié jeudi de nouvelles règles plus dures contre les prêtres pédophiles, mais les victimes les jugent encore insuffisantes.

Agence France-Presse
Le Devoir