Of Priests and Pedophiles Come What May

This article in today's Huffington Post tackles the issues of pedophilia and celibacy for priests.

Visit: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/pope-francis-celibacy-pedophilia-2012_n_2910636.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3829824,b=facebook

In the article, author Dominique Mosbergen reports on an interview the then-future-Pope had in 2012 with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary. At that time, as a Cardinal, Pope Francis stated that he did not want to change the celibacy rules for priests because they had been working for the Church for "ten centuries" but expressed hardline views regarding pedophilia.

On the celibacy issue, it appeared as if there was a bit of room for potential change at some point. " 'If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons, not so much as a universal option,' " he had said to Skorka.

On the pedophilia problem, "Bergoglio told Skorka in 2012 that child sex abuse should never be tolerated or swept under the carpet, and that church leadership 'must never turn a blind eye. . . .[and that you] cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person.' "


Notably, there was no discussion about the status of nuns ability to marry. So, what can we make of this? Perhaps if enough pressure is applied from more-liberal factions within the Church, perhaps priests may gain the rights that all other religious have to marry. I would hope that the activists would also include nuns in this.

What we MAY see—what is more likely—is a possible kind of "housecleaning" to rid the church of the pedophiles. Will this happen? Will it be successful? All eyes are on the Church regarding this issue and the watchers are from all ends of the spectrum from conservative to liberal.

Evidently, the trail left by Pope Francis when he was a Cardinal is full of interesting—and somewhat contradictory—views. It appears he may have the Eastern propensity to look at issues from more than one viewpoint simultaneously (the "yin" and the "yang").

It is one thing to make statements to a reporter when in a different position and another thing to actually make real changes in a new position. We liberals can hope that Pope Francis might do this. Everything is still too new to judge at this point. It's tantalizing and fascinating, which is why I started this page on this blog.