This petition will be delivered to:
Pope Francis, The Vatican
Pope Francis, The Vatican: For Christ's Sake Stop Sexual Abuse.... for good!
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Petition by
Sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has been nothing
short of an epidemic of catastrophic proportions. The devastation of
victims, the ruination of priests and religious, the damage to a major
world religion and its faithful are horrendous and incalculable.
Australian Bishops - Geoffrey Robinson, Bill Morris and Pat Power
call on the new Pope to seize the opportunity of his appointment to not
only sweep the Church clean but to put His /God’s house in order for
all time.
ROYAL COMMISSION WILL NOT PREVENT SEXUAL ABUSE FROM HAPPENING – FOR GOOD.
Bishop Robinson identifies three major tasks to be performed
in eradicating sexual abuse from the Church: identifying and removing
all offenders; reaching out to, and assisting, all victims and
survivors; and identifying and overcoming the causes of both abuse and the poor response to abuse
by the Church’s hierarchy. The Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating the first two of these
tasks however it does not have the scope or power to make the changes
necessary to ensure that systemic sexual abuse NEVER happens again in
the Catholic Church.
Bishops Robinson has considerable expertise, having been
involved in these first two fields for eighteen years. He and Bishops
Morris and Power firmly believe there is a desperate need to address the
third element: preventing abuse from happening in the first place . . .
for good! He is calling for nothing less than a Council of the whole Church, inclusive of the laity, to confront the issues that contribute to the causes of systemic sexual abuse.
MANY CATHOLIC GROUPS CALL FOR CHANGE.
There
are many people and many groups around the world seeking change in the
Catholic Church. Though they may have slightly different emphases, there
are a number of changes, common to all groups. These groups are calling
out for:-
1) Greater Inclusiveness – a Church that
is as much for women as for men, for laypeople as for clergy, for the
marginalised as for those in the mainstream.
2) Greater Openness – if there are scandals, it is better to bring them into the light and confront them rather than seek to conceal them.
3) Greater Participation
– not taking away the power of the Pope, but asking for greater
participation and consultation, so that the whole Church may have a more
active role in the mission of the Church.
4) Greater Sense of Mission
– a greater concentration on the person and mission of Jesus Christ
rather than on authority, laws, obedience and theological conformity.
Bishops Robinson, Morris and Power believe it’s time to unite as one voice that the Vatican can no longer ignore.
IT’S TIME FOR ACTION
This global petition will give Catholics a collective voice.
It will let the new Pope know the intensity and solidarity we feel in
relation to the sexual abuse issue. It will show him that the whole
Church wants to help him, to work with him on this issue of paramount
importance. We want the new Pope to lead the Church into a future he and all Catholics yearn for - and the world needs.
FOR CHRIST’S SAKE - FIND YOUR VOICE AND GIVE YOUR SUPPORT
By
signing this petition you are assisting every Catholic group calling for
change. You are helping to create something very special: - the voice
of the faithful. You will be helping to create a church for the future,
free of sexual abuse, full of participation and inclusiveness–, a Church
where loving God, through Jesus Christ makes us proud and full of the
Holy Spirit. This is the voice we want the Vatican to hear.
So if you are Catholic and believe that it’s time for the Church to
listen to its people; if you’re a Catholic who wants to stamp out sexual
abuse from ever occurring again please sign this petition.
For Christ’s and our Church’s sake encourage your family,
friends and fellow parishioners to do the same. Together, as Catholics
we can make a change.
For more details on Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s action plan to end sexual abuse¬- for good, read his latest book,
For Christ Sake: End Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church…for good.
To:
Pope Francis, The Vatican
We, the undersigned members of the Catholic Church, have been sickened
by the continuing stories of sexual abuse within our Church, and we are
appalled by the accounts of an unchristian response to those who have
suffered.
When so many people either offend or respond poorly, we cannot limit
ourselves to blaming individuals, but must also look at systemic
causes. The situation is so grave that we call for an Ecumenical
Council to respond to the one question of doing everything possible to
uproot such abuse from the Church and produce a better response to
victims. An essential part of this call is that the laity of the whole
world should have a major voice in the Council (for it is our children
who have been abused or put at risk), and that the following subjects be
included:
1. The continuing influence of the idea of an angry God
2. The immaturity that arises from passive obedience in adults
3. The teaching of the Church on sexual morality
4. The part played in abuse by celibacy, especially obligatory celibacy
5. The lack of a strong feminine influence in every aspect of the Church
6. The idea that through ordination the priest is taken above other people (clericalism)
7. The lack of professionalism in the life of priests and religious
8. The unhealthy situations in which many priests and religious are required to live
9. The constant placing of right beliefs before right actions
10. The passion for secrecy and the hiding of faults within the Church, especially in the Vatican
11. The ways in which the protection of papal authority has been put before the eradication of sexual abuse
12. The provision of structures to make a reality of the ‘sense of faith’ (sensus fidei) of all Catholic people
13. The need for each Conference of Bishops to have the authority to
compel individual bishops to follow common decisions in this matter.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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