Pope quietly trims sanctions for sex abusers seeking mercy - Polidicks

[IMG]http://binaryapi.ap.org/d9e0e7e406294f328ff4715bf428ac12/460x.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE][B]Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope's own advisers question.[/B] One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope's clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.[/QUOTE] [URL]http://bigstory.ap.org/article/64e1fc2312764a24bf1b2d6ec3bf4caf/pope-quietly-trims-sanctions-sex-abusers-seeking-mercy[/URL] This is fucking [I]horrifying[/I].

For all the good he's done, the pope is still the pope.

How could anyone forgive these atrocities, they committed it in total secret, and systematically covered it up, they should never be forgiven.

[QUOTE=Tasm;51876218]How could anyone forgive these atrocities, they committed it in total secret, and systematically covered it up, they should never be forgiven.[/QUOTE] That's not how the church works though. It's entire ideology is based on the idea that as long as one believes Jesus died for people's sins and the narrative that goes along with that then everyone is forgiven no matter the sin. Mercy especially for crimes like this is a tough concept to adhere to, but, no matter if it is seen as an unfavorable approach at times, the pope has shown consistency with that message. He has still worked towards policy that help makes uncovering the truth easier and the legal system still will punish.

But I thought this Pope was a cool Pope. :s:

[QUOTE=Prism;51876390]But I thought this Pope was a cool Pope. :s:[/QUOTE] A lot of people heap praise on him because he occasionally expresses opinions that aren't totally ass backwards in this day and age. Doesn't mean he's making any real positive changes to the Catholic church.

Just want to quickly highlight two things from the article. [quote] "With all this emphasis on mercy ... he is creating the environment for such initiatives," the church official said, adding that clemency petitions were rarely granted by Pope Benedict XVI, who launched a tough crackdown during his 2005-2013 papacy and defrocked some 800 priests who raped and molested children. At the same time, Francis also ordered three longtime staffers at the congregation dismissed, two of whom worked for the discipline section that handles sex abuse cases, the lawyers and church official said. One is the head of the section and will be replaced before leaving March 31. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the others too will be replaced and that staffing in the office, which has a yearslong backlog of cases, would be strengthened after Francis recently approved hiring more officials. "The speed with which cases are handled is a serious matter and the Holy Father continues to encourage improvements in this area," Burke told AP. [/quote] and [quote] But he also recently said he believed sex abusers suffer from a "disease" — a medical term used by defense lawyers to seek mitigating factors in canonical sentences. [/quote] So Francis isn't just going, "rofl lol let the pedos go". He's actively taking organizational steps to crack down on abuse, after his predecessor took [I]extreme[/I] steps to crack down on abuse. The church, Francis specifically, in extending clemency to some priests, is trying to live up to the doctrine of redemption and forgiveness. They're also taking a relatively progressive stance on approaching abuse in some of these clemencies, which should be admired on a particular level. All of this is mildly important. It's also not apparent the priest in question re-offended, but might have committed more offenses than had been known of before he was given clemency, as indicated by this portion, [quote] In November, an Italian criminal judge showed little mercy in convicting Inzoli of abusing five children, aged 12-16, and sentencing him to four years, nine months in prison. The judge said Inzoli had a number of other victims but their cases[B] fell outside the statute of limitations.[/B] Burke disclosed to AP that the Vatican recently initiated a new canonical trial against Inzoli based on [B]"new elements"[/B] that had come to light. He declined to elaborate. [/quote] Emphasis mine. [QUOTE=RainbowStalin;51876410]A lot of people heap praise on him because he occasionally expresses opinions that aren't totally ass backwards in this day and age. Doesn't mean he's making any real positive changes to the Catholic church.[/QUOTE] Good lord, what horse puckey.

So the pope is adhering to the Catholic ideal like he probably should be I don't see much problem, I mean obviously people will abuse his mercy but I wouldn't want to see him become a tyrant over this either

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51876308]What does church trial mean?[/QUOTE] possibly tossed out of the church and catholic faith

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;51876214]For all the good he's done, the pope is still the pope.[/QUOTE] Well then again that's not exactly a good excuse is it

The church is meant to adhere to the Virtues of Mercy and forgiveness for all crimes, not just for crimes you guys think are forgivable.

[QUOTE=Prism;51876390]But I thought this Pope was a cool Pope. :s:[/QUOTE] He isn't. He's the "slightly cooler pope"

[QUOTE=SirJon;51876747]Well then again that's not exactly a good excuse is it[/QUOTE] He's the Pope of the Catholic Church. I'm not entirely sure what you expected but he was never going to suddenly jump on "the right side of history" and start changing literally thousands of years of church teaching on issues like abortion or gay marriage as if they were as arbitrary as an office dress policy simply because public opinion shifted. For example - church teaching is that gays are still human beings who deserve "respect, compassion, and sensitivity," but that homosexual acts are "contrary to the natural law", which is consistent with the whole 'hate the sin, love the sinner' thing. Francis never changed that, he just reiterated the first part that didn't get said much. And re: the article I'm pretty sure he takes what they did seriously, if I remember correctly the church holds that [i]any[/i] sin can be forgiven if you're truly repentant, but doesn't mean that they're putting out an amnesty for pedophile priests. And it sounds like Inzoli was just convicted in criminal court for the same crimes that got him defrocked, which was awkward after the church had somewhat reduced his 'sentence'.

I am absolutely amazed how similar every Francis thread on Facepunch has been since he took his functions. It's the vatican loop of facepunch.

[QUOTE=No Party Hats;51876586]So the pope is adhering to the Catholic ideal like he probably should be I don't see much problem, I mean obviously people will abuse his mercy but I wouldn't want to see him become a tyrant over this either[/QUOTE] This.