TBD on Ning
from Frontline on PBS
'Secrets of the Vatican' exposes moral crises facing Catholic Church's new pope
The Roman Catholic Church is enjoying some of its best press in decades, and hundreds of thousands of alienated Catholics are returning, thanks in large part to the new, and in some cases revolutionary, leadership of Pope Francis.
But, says a new documentary by PBS’ "Frontline," “Secrets of the Vatican,” the morally wrenching controversies that threatened to destroy the church's credibility, starting about the time Pope John Paul II died in 2005, have not fully subsided. Further, the success of Francis’ papacy will depend on how quickly and thoroughly he addresses them.
"Secrets of the Vatican," airing tonight at 9 p.m. ET on most PBS stations (check local listings), takes an unsparing look at the state of the church Pope Francis inherited from his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, successor to Pope John Paul II and the first head of the church to resign in 600 years.
“2012 was an annus horribilis for [Benedict],” Antony Thomas, the producer, writer and director of the film for "Frontline," told Yahoo News in an interview. “Everything was exploding. He wanted to clean up the Vatican bank. He was in a very difficult predicament all the way through.”
A horrible year on many fronts, not just with mounting evidence of financial impropriety at the Vatican bank, but also with incidents of sexual abuse by clergy spreading to more than 20 countries and, further, exposure of church hypocrisy about homosexuality. Two of Benedict’s most significant moves were to publicly re-frame the Catholic catechism — in effect, its rules of practice — to emphasize its reference to homosexuality as an “objective disord... laying groundwork to, among other things, remove gay clergy.
At the same time, reports emerged from Rome of a “gay mafia” inside the church that included some of its top officials, who were unafraid to wield political power and at the same time live an openly promiscuous gay lifestyle.
“There was a lot that came to light, including a man who was, as it were, providing choirboys as rent boys,” Thomas said. “What we have tried hard to do in the film is not be simplistic about this. There are a lot of people in the Vatican who are gay who are leading celibate lives, and this is difficult for them. And there are others who are promiscuous.”
In the film, a gay priest working in the Vatican describes the effects of the church’s teachings this way: “It’s like a knife in your heart, because I believe in vocation. I believe in the calling of God. I believe in Jesus. I believe He wants us to serve his people, and when a document [says], ‘Oh, you are not able,’ that is ... that is terrible. It’s painful. I hope that, one day, priests can be freely in a relationship and be good priests. That celibacy in the Church will be optional.”
"Secrets of the Vatican" also looks at the connection between the church’s requirement that its clergy must remain celibate and the high number of sexual abuse incidents among its ranks. Few were worse, or as explosive, than the case of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Roman Catholic order the Legionaries of Christ, a child abuser whose activities the church turned its back on for decades — and who also managed to father several children by at least two women.
Maciel’s crimes were irrevocably exposed by a Vatican investigation released a year after the death of Pope John Paul II. Due to be declared a saint on April 27, the pope had been an ardent supporter of Maciel and the Legionaries, which developed a reputation for vigorous fundraising, encouraging young people to be priests, and standing as a bastion against liberalism. Brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the revelations about its founder, the Legionaries denounced Maciel in February and apologized to his victims, though the group elected one of his proteges its new leader.
“Secrets of the Vatican” interviews one of Maciel’s sons, who describes the abuse he sustained at the hands of his father. Thomas said the film’s specificity about the nature of sexual abuses was necessary — because it’s still an overwhelming concern and because its seriousness may not have fully registered with the public. “How much more terrible it must be to be abused by your priest ... and the way [abusers] make the child feel guilty by saying, ‘You are the one who is going to hell if you say anything about this...’ You’re taking a little child’s deepest thoughts and trampling on them.”
And yet, Thomas said, despite interviewing dozens of people over the course of the film’s near yearlong production, he discovered something almost miraculous: Only one person said the church's multiple transgressions over the past decade caused a loss of faith. “All the people who are strong critics of what’s going on, they are all devoted Catholics, and I think that is wonderful,” Thomas said.
Further, though Pope Francis has yet to significantly address difficult issues such as abortion and contraception, he has raised the spirits and hopes of untold numbers of alienated Catholics. He has articulated a clear position on the growing economic gap between the world’s wealthiest and poorest people, an outlook he shares with U.S. President Barack Obama, who plans a ....
Whether Francis will be able to tie up Benedict's loose ends by adequately reforming the Vatican bank and its Curia, which oversees its bureaucracy, is a story yet to be told. But the new pope is “absolutely taking things on,” Thomas said.
“He is so warm and spontaneous and natural. He has already achieved an enormous amount, and he hasn’t even been there a year.”
http://news.yahoo.com/frontline-inside-the-vatican-234530666.html
to watch the full episode from PBS:
Views: 119
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by frenchy on
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i'm gonna watch it .. as a kid who went to catholic school for over 5 years and eventually ended up in boystown in kearny n.j. which is run by the catholic church i'd like to see what they're gonna do .. so far i like the new pope .. and i've prayed for him cause .. man he needs it ..
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Permalink Reply by Shadowman on
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I saw most of it. Makes one wonder why and how the Catholic Church still exists. Something for everyone, sex, rape of all kinds, beatings and assaults, homosexuality, "celibate priests" fathering children, money laundrying, coverups, deception, etc. They should run this as a movie; they could make a killing at the boxoffice.
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Permalink Reply by T2Friends on
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Nothing in this surprises me. It does make me worry for this Pope. Challenging power can be very dangerous. I like him and his approach, which to me is all about the heart of the catholic faith, compassion, understanding, and caring concern for others. It is an approach that puts Christ and his teaching above the politics. And I know there will be some that think this is naive but it is how I feel about his approach so far. I wish him luck and hope that he is successful. The Church and the clergy in Rome is long overdue for a shake up.
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i watched most of it last night till i got interupted by a phone call , but i saw most of it .. it kinda inspired me to look thru some dvd's i had recorded when i had the satelite dish hooked up .. a movie with ted danson about father gagan ( probably spelled that wrong ) a priest in the boston area who was convicted of child abuse and the trail of kids went back years and years .. and the cover up went all the way up to the cardinal .. i think it was called our fathers ..
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Permalink Reply by crestofwaves on
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I watched a whole documentary on HBO on specifically the sex abuse cases and cover-up there of. Can't watch anymore. It's the same info that has come out over the years. I did watch a little, but, the same thing...
Too bad that people equate this debacle with the religion of most Catholics. The good ole boys network covered these cases up just like they do in the military, in college sports, etc. Patriarchies never are a good idea.
Doubt, with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is also excellent. He is as self-righteous as can be in it--excellent acting.
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Permalink Reply by Karin M Fichtner on
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Yes, Crest, you made a valid point. Priests are men....no more, no less. And to make it worse, they are men who aren't supposed to have sex. (yeah, that was a great idea, wasn't it? Most men I know would rather screw than eat.) So anytime you get an organization of men with power.....it gets perverted. (see "Washington D.C.") I don't know if the Catholic Church just attracts that type of man.....or if it's just "boy being boys". Men cheat. Men like porn. Men commit rape. Men have a tendency to be molesters. Not all men, certainly, and probably not even a large percentage. But nevertheless, they do. I personally do not know one woman who wasn't molested by a male member of her family.....NOT ONE. And my granddaughter's father was molested when he was a boy. So is it more prevalent in the Vatican.....or even just the Catholic Church? Maybe. But I kinda doubt it. I do, however, have serious issues with the cover-ups of these abhorrent activities. Far too many innocent children were harmed before anything was done about it. This, too, is often the case with other victims of sexual abuse. Either the victim stays silent, or the parent or confidant he/she tells doesn't believe them or fails to act upon the information. My best friend's grandmother and mother knew for years that Mom's brother....Grandma's little boy.....was molesting my friend. No one did anything. In fact, Grandma stopped speaking to my friend. Not uncommon. My own mother was molested as a girl. It tainted her relationships all her life. If, indeed, there is an abundance of this sort of goings on in the Vatican.....or anywhere in any church, regardless of the denomination, strong measures must be taken to put an end to it. Maybe doing away with the celibacy rule would help; I don't know. But there is no mistaking that Francis has a big job on his hands.
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I think people keep bringing up the church because they have issues with religion in general, but this molestation is there. The church was wrong wrong wrong to cover this up, but no more wrong than Penn State, which doesn't make the church right. And men with ultimate power? When has that ever worked out right?
No offense intended to the men in this group, but just look around, and this does not mean that all men are this way.
Maybe the same thing that drives men to shoot themselves rather than take pills when they want to commit suicide, or the same thing that drives little boys to tussle with each other while little girls are having tea parties, maybe the male physical nature drives this corruption, I don't know. But its there.
Karin: I also don't know one woman who has not at least been touched inappropriately as a little girl by a man or flashed or something--not ONE ( not that everyone speaks of it, but of my close friends and family with whom I have had these conversations--well, we all have stories and that makes us all sisters.) And I know many who were actually sexually abused by male family members. And I know a couple who have been violently raped by strangers.
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Yes, Crest, I had no idea how common this was! I, personally, have not been a victim, although I think I had a narrow escape with the father of one of my friends. It's sad, really. You hate to make your daughters afraid....but you need to make them aware. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life.
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Oh, Callie, how horrible for your brother.
I was lucky in the sense that what happened to me was minimal. My daughter, not so lucky.
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Permalink Reply by blithe spirit on
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I did watch part of this the other night....the violated trust...the lives ruined by the systematic grooming of sexual predators..sick..sick..sick. I'm not a Catholic, not particularly religious... and yes, what man has done in the name of religion...it's one of many of those societal institutions that man has perverted to it's own uses.. religion in general is something many people apparently need in their lives...so it is what it is. Hopefully for Catholics, their new pope can help them make this work for them and help the poor victims get some peace.
All children are vulnerable and are often taken advantage of....we must alway be vigilant in not giving those sick fucks the opportunity to get their hooks into them... -
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Callie, letting priests marry might help some, but it's important to keep in mind that many, if not most, of the sexual molestations committed are committed by married men. At least, all the ones I am personally knowledgable about. Look at our illustrious leaders....most of the men who became entangled in sexual scandals are.....you guessed it....married. Anthony Weiner is a lovely example. Presidents from the beginning have had affairs, and we have a congressman tapping his foot in some washroom, another one with a taste for Senate pages, many who frequent call girls. It's nothing new. Married or not, extracurricular sexual encounters and perversions are commonplace in DC. There was once a brothel on White House property, for Pete's sake! Marriage has never done much to curb man's sexual appetites. So priests are no different; it might lessen the problem.....but it won't cure it. Oh, and maybe one of you trivia fanatics will know.....which pope was it that actually had little boys brought to him for sexual purposes? It was way back in the past, but I remember reading about him. I want to say Pope Pius I, but don't hold me to that.
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