Is Pope Francis the Right Choice to Fix a Church in Disarray?

The larger question is whether the Catholic Church has become too rich, powerful, and corrupt to continue.

Courtesy: world.topnewstoday.org

(SAN FRANCISCO) - As the whole world now knows, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope (Pope Francis).  Clearly, the cardinals saw him as a safe, compromise choice.  In other words, a keeper of the status quo.  He holds traditional Catholic Church views.  Otherwise he would not have been elected.  He opposes abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, adoption by gays and lesbians, and contraception.

He was criticized for not openly confronting the terrorism by the Argentine dictatorship in the 1970s that was kidnapping and killing thousands of people as it sought to eliminate "subversive elements."  In fact, a human rights lawyer has filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, accusing him of involvement in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests.  At the time, he was the superior in the Society of Jesus of Argentina.

How will he deal with the various scandals facing the Catholic Church?   The most pressing, of course, is the widespread allegations of sexual child abuse by Catholic clergy and the coverup by church officials.   A study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 10,669 allegations of child sexual abuse were reported to church officials in the U.S. alone between 1950 and 2002.

Similar crimes have occurred in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere.  And according to a complaint filed by The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) before the International Criminal Court, between 1981 and 2005, there are more than 100,000 sexual abuse victims.

The CCR complaint alleges that Vatican officials, including then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, ignored information that subordinates were committing these crimes and engaged in a widespread coverup of such abuse.  The complaint alleges that since 1981, when Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had primary responsibility for dealing with the clergy sex crimes.  His refusal to decisively address the epidemic – and discipline Church officials who protected predator priests – was exacerbated when he became Pope.

And supposedly there is the "Vatileaks" incident.  Supposedly, there is a secret "dossier" exposing the existence of a gay lobby within the Church, who had some sort of control on the careers of those in the Vatican.  And further, the dossier alleges that members of this group were blackmailed by laymen with whom they entertained relationships of a "worldly nature."

Will Pope Francis "fix" these scandals by sweeping them under the rug or institute real reform?  I suspect the former, but only time will tell.

Salem-News.com writer Ralph E. Stone was born in Massachusetts. He is a graduate of both Middlebury College and Suffolk Law School. We are very fortunate to have this writer's talents in this troubling world; Ralph has an eye for detail that others miss. As is the case with many Salem-News.com writers, Ralph is an American Veteran who served in war. Ralph served his nation after college as a U.S. Army officer during the Vietnam war. After Vietnam, he went on to have a career with the Federal Trade Commission as an Attorney specializing in Consumer and Antitrust Law. Over the years, Ralph has traveled extensively with his wife Judi, taking in data from all over the world, which today adds to his collective knowledge about extremely important subjects like the economy and taxation. You can send Ralph an email at this address stonere@earthlink.net

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Anonymous March 18, 2013 8:12 am (Pacific time)

A whole Nation/Country supported Hitler so Anonymous what's your point? Matthew 7:13-14

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Luke Easter March 16, 2013 2:46 am (Pacific time)

Dissary? With all the overlooked Child Abuse known but overlooked by the former Pope, Arch Bishops, Cardinals, etc., etc. Gross Sinful Dissary with outright Contempt for the safety and well being of tens of thousands of children (12 and under) along with teens and young adults. Babylon has fallen, fallen. Joseph told Pharaoh because he dreamed this twice it is surely going to happen. Jesus said, "verily,verily" meaning surely it will come to pass. There is nothing this or any Pope can do. The second coming will not be derailed by the Pontiff. This world is under the authority of the evil one (where is this scripture?) The bible confirms it must get worse first and Numbers 23:19.

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gp March 15, 2013 6:56 pm (Pacific time)

Look, the Catholic Church is the richest entity in the world. Do you really think there is even a chance of anyting good coming from this good old boys club that continues to hate women and hide criminals?

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Anonymous March 15, 2013 6:09 pm (Pacific time)

" He opposes abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, adoption by gays and lesbians, and contraception." Ralph is this a problem? Do you also have as outline for Islam dogmatic beliefs? Why on earth should anyone concern themselves with rumor and innuendo from anti-Christian marxists. Over a billion people support the Pope, so bring it on marxists, bring it on.

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