Poland's Catholic church apologizes as pedophile scandal spreads

WARSAW - Poland's powerful Roman Catholic church on Friday apologized over two alleged pedophile priests as prosecutors on both sides of the Atlantic began probing the men, one a former Vatican envoy.

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic have asked Interpol to arrest fugitive Polish priest Wojciech Gil, 36, who allegedly abused several young boys while serving on the Caribbean island.

A Vatican probe is already under way into allegations of child sex abuse against Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a 65-year-old Pole who served as papal envoy in Santo Domingo for around five years.

Senior Polish church officials said they were unaware of the whereabouts of both men on Friday as prosecutors in Warsaw also launched criminal investigations against them.

"Trust in the church is waning. We are sorry. This is the least we can do," Bishop Wojciech Polak, a senior official with the Polish episcopate, told reporters on Friday.

The church would however not offer victims any material compensation, he said in Warsaw.

"The scale of pedophilia in the church in Poland is unknown," Jesuit priest Adam Zak, responsible for child and youth welfare in the Polish episcopate, said at the same press conference.

"The cases that end up in court are just the tip of the iceberg," he said, pointing to 27 priests convicted of child sex abuse in Poland over the last decade.

In the latest scandal to make headlines, a Warsaw priest who was convicted of committing so-called "other sexual acts" continued to work with children, with the full consent of his superiors.

Unlike the United States or Ireland, the string of crimes in heavily Catholic Poland has not provoked widespread public outcry.

Wesolowski was recalled by the Vatican on August 21 after the allegations of abuse surfaced.

He is suspected of engaging in sexual relations with underage prostitutes in the historic center of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, according to press reports.

Reports also linked him with the fugitive Gil, accused of raping minors in the city of Santiago, about 155 kilometers (96 miles) north of the capital.

Gil went missing in May when the allegations surfaced and he was suspended from his duties as a priest.

"We have had no contact with him since May 28," Father Tadeusz Musz, spokesman for Gil's order of the Michaelite Fathers, said at the press conference.

Bishop Polak added that Wesolowski had served under the Vatican's jurisdiction and was not "an archbishop in Poland or a member of the Polish Episcopate".

Religious affairs experts in Poland say its powerful church is ill-prepared to deal with the pedophiles in its ranks.

"The Polish church isn't ready to confront this issue. It's a rigid institution, very bureaucratic, detached from reality and certain of its power," Warsaw-based sociologist Pawel Boryszewski told AFP Friday.

"These cases could fuel a wave of criticism against the church."

Wesolowski was ordained in 1972 by then-Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II.

The late pontiff named Wesolowski the Vatican's envoy to Bolivia. He was later posted to several Asian countries before being dispatched to the Dominican by former pope Bendict XVI in 2008.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis came under fire from victims groups following news he had quietly sacked Wesolowski.

Pope Francis has vowed to crack down on abuse in the Catholic Church, reiterating the zero-tolerance approach taken up by his predecessor Benedict XVI after a wave of revelations.

source: interaksyon

Pope may change conclave rules before abdication - Vatican

Pope Benedict may change Church rules governing the conclave where cardinals from around the world will meet next month to secretly elect his successor, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

Benedict was studying the possibility of making changes to laws established by his predecessor Pope John Paul before he abdicates on February 28, a spokesman said.

The changes may affect the timing of the start of the conclave. Current Church rules call for the conclave to start around March 15 but there have been indications that it could be held earlier if the rules are changed.

source: interaksyon.com

Pope Benedict XVI Joins Twitter

Pope Benedict XVI has launched an official Twitter account with the handle @pontifex.

The move was announced in November, when a Vatican official said the Pope (or, more precisely, whoever handles his Twitter account) would be tweeting fairly infrequently, with his tweets “not veering far from his texts.”

The Pope’s account currently doesn’t have any tweets. It follows 7 other accounts, which are all versions of the same account in different languages: German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, French and Arabic.

The new account is not the Pope’s first encounter with Twitter; last year, he sent a tweet from the Vatican’s official account, coinciding with a new Vatican information site, news.va.

source: mashable.com

Saint Pedro Calungsod, our model of faith and witness

Martyrs are those who stand witness for their beliefs and who give testimony to their faith.  Since the early years of the Church, there have been thousands of martyrs; people who never feared, or even if they did, stood their ground for the sake of the principles they espoused and the faith that they lived by and lived for.

Martyrs therefore are the models of the faith, especially those who believed and followed Jesus, the Christ and in effect, were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and killed.  Martyrs did not renounce their faith and remained true to their beliefs even if the consequence meant death.

Today, October 21, 2012, the Catholic Church and all Filipinos worldwide are one in thanking the Lord for the gift of faith and witness of one of our very own.  As  Christians and as Catholics, we  joyfully celebrate the life and faith  of Blessed Pedro Calungsod and six others who will be elevated to the altar of God and will be known as “holy men and women” of  the Church and in the world.  They will be canonized by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and will be declared  and given the title fitting to them. As they are declared Saints (or Holy Men and Holy Women), they  can now be publicly venerated by the  Church.

Saint Pedro Calungsod was a Visayan who joined the missions in the Marianas in the 17th century.  He was a lay young man who worked in the evangelization and proclamation of the gospel to the Chamorros, the indigenous people who lived at that time in islands of the Marianas.  He helped and assisted Blessed Diego de Sanvitores, a Spanish Jesuit in work of catechesis and in the delivery of the   sacraments to  the people.

This young man who made a decision to be a missionary gives us an idea of who he is.  A person with a certain level of maturity in his faith so that he committed himself to join the mission and dedicated his life in the following of Jesus in his capacity a lay young man.   He was not only willing to go but made himself available for others as well.  He was a catechist as he taught to the people the Story of Jesus and his saving message  of love.  We know in history that during those times, going to missions was very hard and it was possible that one would not be able to return.  It was really a decision of faith and loving service that he made for the sake of the gospel.

At 17, San Pedro Calungsod was killed  on April 2, 1672 in Tumon, Guam together with Blessed Diego de Sanvitores when they were suspected by some villagers that  the water used in baptism has poison.  Their stories never ended after they died because their lives were the very witness of faith. After 340 years, that young Visayan martyr is recognized by the Church as a “Beloved of Christ” and worthy recipient of the crown of sainthood.

May Saint Pedro Calungsod be our model of faith, of witness, of service.  He is not only a model for the young people but for all of us who want to share God’s good news to everyone.  May we also follow Jesus and be His witness, like the young martyr named Pedro Calungsod, for at 17 he made a difference in his life and faith.

Saint Pedro Calungsod, pray for us and be our model faith and witness.

source: interaksyon.com

Pope expresses solidarity with disaster victims in PH, Iran, China

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday expressed solidarity with the victims of natural disasters in Iran, the Philippines and China which have claimed hundreds of lives.

"My thoughts at this moment are with the Asian populations, especially those in the Philippines and the People's Republic of China who have been hit by torrential rain," he said at his summer residence south of Rome during Angelus prayers.

Floods in the Philippines have claimed at least 85 lives while at least 16 people have died in China in the wake of Typhoon Haikui, which left a trail of devastation in the country's east.

The pontiff also spoke of people "in the northwest of Iran who are victims of a terrible earthquake."

Hundreds of villages were flattened by twin earthquakes on Saturday killing at least 227 and leaving 1,380 injured.

"These events have claimed numerous victims and injured many, led to thousands being displaced and caused serious damage," the pope said.

"Our brothers have our solidarity and our support," he said, calling on those gathered for the Angelus to pray for the victims and those affected by the disasters.

source: interaksyon.com