from Frontline on PBS

[ProblemAgain]

'Secrets of the Vatican' exposes moral crises facing Catholic Church's new pope

By FRONTLINE/Yahoo News 18 hours ago Yahoo News

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:

http://video.houstonpbs.org/video/2365187642/

[crestofwaves]

I think the priesthood draws men with confusing sexual identities. It is a way for them to hide and not "sin."  If the priesthood were open, it would draw men from all walks of life. But that might not decrease the sexual abuse. Even protestant clergy have been accused along with rabbis and imams.

[ProblemAgain]

i didn't post this to castigate the catholic church. i posted it because it seemed to be a realistic depiction of the church changing direction under a pope who was not a part of the problem but rather attempting to rectify the situation. i applaud him for that. as far as the church being tainted by the child abuse and all the other scandals, yes it is there but the church is also 2000 years old so take that into account.  there are bound to be skeletons in the closet. and child abuse, breaking vows, pedophilia, theft and all the other transgressions that can be hurled at the catholic church can also be levied at virtually all churches whether they are christian or any other religion. it comes with the territory of elevating a person to a position of trust and authority without any checks on them. as far as child molesters go, you can also find them among your scoutmasters, youth leaders from protestant churches, the weird fucker at the library, the grocery shopper next to you on thursday and let's not forget uncle chester or grampa. stop looking for easy answers -there aren't any

[frenchy]

well just to try and clarify somethin here if i can .. i think that any kind of molestation is wrong .. without a doubt its wrong .. but the thing is with priests is that 99% of them are pedophiles .. its not that often that you hear about a priest rapin a woman .. i'm not sayin never now mind you i'm just sayin that women for the most part ain't on their menu if you get my drift and thats what makes it so bad .. a woman would be mature enough to know hey this ain't right , stop what you're doin right now .. but a little kid of say 8 or 9 ?? they don't have the experience to say stop it .. and if i had to hazzard a guess i'd say a good percentage of priests who molest were molested when they were young too .. maybe even by another priest .. so the cycle continues .. if priests could marry would that solve the problem ? for some maybe .. but if they have that kiddie diddler bone in em it may not matter married or not .. its not like you can give em a pill and they're cured .. or talk em outta bein a kiddie diddler .. sandusky was married and he carried on in his house while his wife was there .. ya think she knew ??    

far as them fucktards in d.c. goes i don't really care who they're shtoopin as long as they're of legal age then they're old enough to say yes or no .. i think it's a bit immoral but i'd rather see em gettin a nut then bein wrapped too tight .. there will always be powerful men who will try to use their position to get a piece .. but in this day and age all a woman has to say is sexual harassment and that shit stops and his career goes down the tubes .. if however she thinks it might advance her career then thats her decision too .. who am i to judge ??and thats the difference .. both parties can say no .. but kids can't .. 

problem hit the nail on the head when he said there are places that are havens for these kinda guys .. boy scouts , the p.a.l. and i was in both .. my mom wanted me to get some kinda older male attention after my dad split so she signed me up for the big brothers .. i have to say i had no problem with my big brother .. he was married and had a few grown kids and he never acted in any way inapropriatly with me .. i think his thing was boxin and so i boxed for the p.a.l. .. and i won almost all my fights .. ( can't win em all ) but i didn't really care for it so i quit and i think that might have upset him .. he tried to talk me into stayin .. kept tellin me but you're good .. and all i could say was just cause i'm good don't mean i have to like it .. so that was it for the big brothers and the p.a.l. ..i'm sure i let him down when i look back on it now but you can't live your life just to please others ..the boyscouts was another story tho .. our scoutmaster did molest a couple of the kids in our troop and that was the end of our boyscout troop .. i didn't like boyscouts all that much either tho so no big deal .. i don't remember anything happenin to the scoutmaster tho .. for all i know he started another troop someplace else and did it again ?? back then them guys just slipped right thru the cracks .. cause after all they were good guys weren't they ?? givin all their time to the kids .. and i'm not sayin every scoutmaster is a kiddie diddler or every little league coach or golden gloves coach .. but i am sure there are more there than anyone would ever know .. what better place to meet them little kids they crave so much ?? anybody who has kids in some kinda organized sport or group be it religious or non secular i'd suggest you keep your eyes and ears open when them group leaders are around .. and ask questions of both the kids and their group leaders . .its the only way to keep them kids safe is to pay attention .. and even then .. it might not be enough ..cause no matter what , at the end of the day they're still kiddie diddlers .. always kiddie diddlers .. that don't go away ..  

[carrie cavanaugh]

Our newspaper released all the names of the Priest in Minnesota who have been convicted or accused of molestation, when and where it happened.  It was sad to see my school had a priest that I remember very well listed as one of the pedophiles.  I can pretty much guess which male classmates he molested.  He would come to the class (5th grade) and ask for boy volunteers to help him with chores around the church.   Looking back, no one volunteered the nun had to pick the boys.   It was always the same two.