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ROME – The crisis of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church already casts a shadow on an international meeting of bishops to be held in the Vatican next month.
The rally, two years in planning, is supposed to focus on the subject of youth. But in the midst of abuse scandals in the United States, Latin America, and Australia, the hundreds of bishops who will be meeting in Rome next month will have to deal with what many Catholics consider to be the most pressing problem in the world. the church.
A prominent American archbishop asked Pope Francis to cancel the event, known as the synod, and other bishops called on the pope to hold a separate synod to address the topic of sexual abuse.
These calls are likely to become more common since the crisis hit the papacy at the end of last month, when a former Vatican ambassador accused the pope of concealing the sexual misconduct of a cardinal favorite American. Pope Francis and the Vatican refused to comment on the allegations.
The charges threaten to undermine the moral authority of Pope Francis and jeopardize his agenda of church emphasis on issues of social justice such as immigration, poverty and the environment.
The cancellation of the Synod or the focus on the inclusion of sexual abuse would require major last minute changes in a little known institution. The Vatican tightly controls the synodal agenda, limiting the possibilities for spontaneous bishops' interventions.
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the synod, did not respond to a request for comment. Mgr Fabio Fabene, the undersecretary, refused a request for comment.
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said last week that he had written to Pope Francis asking him to interrupt the synod on youth, arguing that the "bishops would have absolutely no credibility to address this topic ".
Archbishop Chaput is an elected member of the synod's governing council and one of five US bishops designated to attend next month's meeting.
Other American, British and Australian bishops have publicly called the pope to convene a synod on the sexual abuse crisis.
"Abuse of power" and "church transparency" were mentioned by Bishop Edward Burns, Bishop of Dallas, about the protection of children and vulnerable people, the sensitization of victims, of the identity and way of life of the clergy. , who is not scheduled to attend the rally next month, in an open letter to Pope Francis last week.
The Vatican did not respond publicly to the bishop's letter.
The agenda published for next month's synod, scheduled for October 3-28, only refers to sexual abuse by employees. The meeting is supposed to explore how the church can better engage young Catholics and help them find roles in the church, whether as clergy or laity.
One of the controversial topics expected was the church's teaching on sexual and medical ethics. The official working document, published in June, highlighted the resistance of many young Catholics to such teaching and made headlines using the term LGBT – apparently for the first time in an official Vatican document.
A Youth Synod advisor argues that this could also be an appropriate place to address the crisis of violence, especially if it becomes a forum for the views of young Catholics on the subject.
"A gathering of bishops from around the world, with the Pope at the front of the room, would be the perfect time for some honesty, frankness and a bold confrontation to the crisis of sexual abuse," said Katie Prejean McGrady, a Catholic layman. attended a "pre-synodal" meeting at the Vatican in March, wrote this week on the website of America magazine.
But adding new speakers and a new important subject is not something that the members of the synod can decide for themselves; it would require the approval of the pope himself.
In 2015, at a synod on family issues, dominated by arguments on the issue of divorce, a group of cardinals, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, wrote to Pope Francis to complain about the recent rules of the bishops. The letter was intended to be passed on to the pope by the private sector, but it was leaked to the press, adding controversy to an already controversial rally.
Like this event, next month's synod will be an opportunity for the press to question church leaders around the world. Sexual abuse is an important topic no matter what happens inside the synod.
Write to Francis X. Rocca at [email protected]
