When Pope Francis was elected he won our hearts when he washed the feet of beggars, chose to live in a simple hostel rather than sumptuous Papal apartments, and opted for a second-hand car - a far cry from his predecessor who wore beautiful hand made slippers costing thousands of pounds.
We wanted Pope Francis to signal a new set of values for the Catholic Church, but sadly that has not turned out to be the case.
Six years on, Francis has just hosted the first Papal conference into sexual abuse, and at the end of four days, you might well ask - why did he bother?
Given that these scandals extend back more than 30 years, the Church has consistently denied the true scale of the problem.
Now, thousands of allegations relating to nuns being raped and young boys forced to carry out sex acts with bishops and priests have surfaced in every country where the Catholic Church has a presence.
Australia's most senior Catholic Cardinal George Pell in Melbourne, Australia. He was found guilty on five charges of child sexual assault after an unanimous verdict on 11 December 2018, the results of which were under a suppression order by the judge until being lifted on Tuesday
Pope Francis, flanked by cardinals and bishops, attends a closing Mass of 'The Protection Of Minors In The Church' meeting at the Regia Hall on Sunday
In Australia, Cardinal Pell - formerly one of the Papal inner circle of nine and number three in the Vatican hierarchy - has just been found guilty of rape and sexual abuse and will be sentenced this week.
Some of the allegations are extremely troubling - in Italy and Argentina a report in the Washington Post claimed that dozens of children in Catholic schools for the deaf have been abused - one man has pleaded guilty and thirteen more have been arrested.
The blog Hear Our Voices- the Gay Catholic Priests' blog, claims that the Roman Catholic diocese in San Francisco has paid out $87 million to silence victims of sexual abuse by priests in the last 15 years.
The 1.3 billion Catholics who fund the church and regard Francis as their spiritual leader on earth are worth more than this shoddy treatment, which is both arrogant and perverted.
Francis called the conference and said he would 'spare no effort' to clean up the church, but ended by telling the assembled 190 Bishops and Cardinals that the majority of sexual abuse takes place within the family, with relatives, parents or teachers.
George Pell when he was Archbishop of Melbourne as he arrives at St. Patricks Cathedral for a farewell mass in his honour in April 2001
Victims and relatives of children who claim they were sexually abused by the Catholic Church hold placards outside the venue for Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney, Australia, in 2016
He said that sex tourism and freely available pornography online had made the abuse worse.
This argument doesn't hold up - the vast majority of sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church consist of old men forcing themselves on young boys, and 'celibate' heterosexual priests raping very young girls.
Put simply, men who claim to be acting on behalf of God are using their power to destroy the lives of innocents. Does any crime get much worse than that?
Francis has consistently dragged his feet over allegations of cardinals and bishops he knew personally - it took years to get Cardinal Pell to return to Australia, where he was Bishop of Melbourne and then Sydney from 1996 to 2014.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into alleged 'sexual aggression' by Catholic priest Luigi Ventura at Paris City Hall (pictured)
There have been scores of allegations from survivors but the Pope has consistently remained silent.
The Vatican envoy to France is currently being investigated, accused of sexually molesting a young man at Paris City Hall. In Chile, Bishop Juan Barros was accused of covering up abuse by one of his priests.
The Pope refused to condemn Barros (a friend) and said he was convinced he was innocent.
In the US, after allegations of sexual assault of a teenager by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick were found to be credible, dozens more cases emerged. He finally resigned in July 2018.
The Pope has drawn up 21 'reflection points' for his Cardinals to consider as they attempt to draw up a way of tackling allegations of sexual impropriety.
But how can the Catholic Church be trusted to police itself if some of the perpetrators are the same men in power? It's too little, too late. The Pope promises a battle but has no rules of engagement, no master plan.
He's also unable to stem all the allegations of financial misconduct, tax evasion and shadowy financial manipulation which dog the Church.
The Vatican bank has been consistently accused of being involved (whether knowingly or not) in money laundering.
There is a convoluted management structure and the Pope is outmanoeuvred by the teams of cardinals and advisers who have been in place for decades.
Pope Benedict XVI (right) looks at Australia's senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, at an inter-faith meeting during World Youth Day in Sydney July 2008
Cardinal George Pell leaves the County Court in Melbourne on Tuesday after the suppression order was lifted by the judge
Only recently, the bank was ordered by the EU to repay €4 billion for misusing tax breaks on property.
The former president of the bank for 20 years to 2009 is accused of disposing of real estate and the Vatican is seeking over €50 million in compensation!
A US charity was asked to give a sum 100 times larger than normal towards a Vatican funded hospital.
Following an investigation, 24 people from the hospital management have been indicted for money laundering.
It's clear that the Catholic Church can't be trusted to get it's own house in order.
Francis needs to set up an external inquiry into child sexual abuse, as has happened in countries like the UK, chaired by independent lawyers who gather evidence before handing cases over to the judiciary in the relevant countries.
As for the Vatican businesses and banks, the time has come to bring in external auditors and force through a forensic investigation into corruption.
Priests take a vow of celibacy - and yet 50,000 children of priests have signed up to a global network to discuss their situation.
Should Francis force through a decree allowing priests to have sex? It won't get rid of the paedophiles but it at least might help these children, many of whom do not know their fathers.
Pope Francis can't sit back and continue to play the humble outsider any longer. The Catholic Church is a disgrace. I'm almost glad I was raised an Anglican.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/27/pope-francis-proved-catholic-church-is-incapable-of-tackling-sexual-and-financial-abuses-rotting-it/
Main photo article When Pope Francis was elected he won our hearts when he washed the feet of beggars, chose to live in a simple hostel rather than sumptuous Papal apartments, and opted for a second-hand car – a far cry from his predecessor who wore beautiful hand made slippers costing thousands of...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/26/21/10326384-6748909-image-a-28_1551217952537.jpg
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