Please click here to read: “Philadelphia Child Sex Abuse Nonprofit Invites Pope Francis to Visit,” by Vince Lattanzio, NBC10.com.
Excerpt: “We really thought that knowing what we know about him, knowing about his interesting commitment to the welfare of children that it would be great to showcase our work to Pope Francis,” Chris Kirchner, PCA’s executive director, tells NBC10.
Based in the city’s Hunting Park neighborhood, PCA operates on a unique model where it provides counseling, forensic interviewing and family advocate services to victims in conjunction with social workers and law enforcement. The Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit, city prosecutors and Department of Human Services all share space with the PCA in the same combined facility.
I wish Chris Kichner well in his attempts to get Pope Francis to visit his organization that helps victims of childhood sexual abuse. It would be great PR for his organization .My question would be what good would it do for Pope Francis or the Vatican. Clergy sex abuse is the elephant in the room that everyone in the Church from the pope on down to the parish pastor wants to put behind them.This will not be a major topic of conversation during the visit of Pope Francis. Oh there may be a meeting with some hand picked victims praying with those victims.There may be some PR tweets from the Archbishop, the Vatican and the Pope. But there will be no apology from the Hierarchy that fits the suffering that victims of clergy abuse go through on a daily basis. There will be no acknowledgement of the Church’s responsibility in covering up the abuse. Until the Pope and the Vatican are willing to admit there complicity in this entire atrocity, there will be no healing.
Jim for them to admit that they would need to be humble. About half the bishops and maybe more are in their positions because they actively sought power and prestige. I watch all different things on the internet and churchmilitantv.com had been documenting all the abuses of the bishops money corruption, sexual abuse coverups and failure to teach and or believe in the teachings of the catholic church. Recently they documented that many of the bishops programs are funded by the U.S. government. This was shocking to me but not as shocking as the sexual abuse coverup but it explains how in the end many of them are just playing politics seeking power and money. If it was the days of the early church or the church here was being persecuted we would have very different bishops…….they would actually be humble and believe in the teachings of the church and this would be obvious to everyone as they would reach out to survivors of clergy sexual abuse in a genuine way instead of the “damage control approach” that is so forced and callous it just back fires on them. On a positive note. I have noticed several of the new priests coming out of the seminary actually believe in the teachings of the church seem very genuine and humble and are aware of the corruption in much of the leadership and all I can do is pray for them. They seem much more humble to me than priests in the past and several have overcome a lot to become priests both from in and outside the church.
No, Francis will not accept this invite. He has put all sexual abuse related matters and efforts in the hands of the Commission he created. The Commission’s impending statutes will determine the Church’s future policy, pastoral healing efforts, etc. Francis met with survivors last year. That, he had to accomplish before completely turning the sexual abuse crisis over to his Commission. Francis is effectively finished with it on a personal or one-on-one level.
I have to agree.
Agree with Kate! He will not visit, it is not an issue he wants to focus on especially in Philadelphia. By the way, as a survivor, his coming to Philadelphia where 3 grand jury reports were done, thousands of victims, priests who were not involved in the sexual abuse, said and did nothing and are still silent, cover-up still going on protecting the priest perps, victims still suffering every day because this church refuses to admit their crime, financial hardships for the victims while millions are being spent on this popes visit, coins being made of the pope, with all this and more, it is a disgrace and shows a total lack of compassion or care for the victims of clergy sexual rape! Shame on this pope!