Jesuit priest calls for better ethics in Catholic Church
There are eight cases being heard in Dominican courts for sexual abuse involving Roman Catholic Church clergy. These follow after the notorious cases of the papal nuncio Jozef Wesolowski, who died in The Vatican shortly before his case for sexual abuse of minors was to be heard. Wesolowski had served as nuncio in the Dominican Republic from 2008 to when he abruptly returned to the Vatican in 2013 after investigative journalists had gathered evidence that showed his abuses of minors. In Poland, fellow Polish priest, Wojciech Gil, would be tried and sentenced to seven years in jail for committing 10 crimes, eight of which related to the sexual abuse of boys under the age of 15, while serving at a Santiago province church during the same time Wesolowski was nuncio.
Now Jesuit priest Antonio Lluberes published an article in the magazine “Raices” where he reveals that the sexual scandals are at all the levels of the church, among the hierarchy and laymen, secular and religious church servers. He said the image of the church is affected, causing “a segment of the population to notice and delight in the cases, instead of in the sacrifice of most of the priests.”
In its feature on the Raices story, Diario Libre mentions among the most notorious cases that are being heard in court of sexual abuses by priests: Elvin Taveras Durán, accused of the death of Fernely Carrión, whom he would have sexually violated. And that of Miguel Florizan Ulloa, accused of sexually abusing a schoolboy, who was ordered to be available for appearance in court and to stay away from his past students at the Colegio Agustiano in La Vega.
Priest Antonio Lluberes says that society and the church have had a connection, a peaceful relationship and mutual cooperation, from its origins to the present day, although at times there have been estrangements. “I could safely say that the church has displayed remarkable cooperation in shaping national identity and the formation of the Dominican nation,” he said.
But he observes the image of the vocation to become a priest has eroded in recent years. He writes that the Catholic faith is being questioned on grounds of ethical issues, namely sexual ethics, social and economic ethics. He said the expansion of other religious cults demands a more Christian behavior of the Catholic priests in society.
He believes that “sooner or later, there will be the need for a constitutional and concordat reform.” “We must be prepared not only to defend, but to propose,” he writes.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
May 8, 2018
Category: DR News |