www.charlottediocese.ors
Jesus answered, "You love your God with with
all
shall
Catholic student
your heart,
swings into
your soul, and with all your
mind. This first
all
is
the greatest and the
*3C
Little
League history
commandment. The second
is like
it:
You shall love your neigh-
NEWS
bor as yourself."
Matthew 22:34-39
UMMNMHHMHHt OCTOBER 25, 2002
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HERALD
SERVING CATHOLICS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA IN THE DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE
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Vatican decision on sex
abuse norms draws local, national positive response By
JOANN
S.
KEANE
Editor
CHARLOTTE
issue," said
— Lead-
cese of Raleigh. "It means rather that the Vatican joins
ers of the three dioceses in
the Carolinas responded favorably to a decision by the Holy See to establish a Vatican-U.S. bishops commission to revise some of the key elements of the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." "The Holy See has expressed complete solidarity with the bishops in the United States in their condemnation of sexual abuse of children," said Msgr. Mauricio West, diocesan administrator of the Diocese of Charlotte. "I am confident that the commission will move expeditiously in addressing clerical abuse of children in restoring and preserving trust in church leaders."
On Oct. 18, the Vatican responded to the U.S. bishops' sex abuse norms with concern that "ambiguity and confusion" could arise when the norms are applied be-
cause some of the provisions are "difficult to reconcile with the universal law of the church." Problematic areas include the definition of terms like "sexual abuse," the role of diocesan review boards and the canonical procedures for dealing with priests who have abused minors.
"This news does not
mean
that the Vatican has rejected the U.S. bishops' ef-
or that the Vatican and the bishops of the United States are adversaries in this
forts,
Bishop F. Joseph
Gossman, bishop of the Dio-
the American bishops in condemning sexual abuse that has occurred within our dioceses,
.
and wishes to col-
laborate with us in further developing the charter and the norms."
"The American bishops are looking for
the implementation of the norms in conjunction with canonical procedure," said
Bishop Robert Baker of Charles Lon, S.C.
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and bishop of Belleville, 111., said a commission made up of four U.S. bishops and four Vatican officials would meet soon and hoped to fin-
ish its
work
in
ers at a ence.
He
Rome
press confer-
said the
commission
would be "fine-tuning" the norms, and that the Vatican
had not categorically rejected any element of the American bishops' sex abuse plan.
"Nothing (in the charter and norms) has been taken off the table," he said. "Nothing has been ruled out." Bishop Gregory said the commission's review did not mean that implementation of See VATICAN, page 11
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time for the
plenary meeting of U.S. bishops in November. "We're dealing with a basically sound document that needs modification rather than recasting," Bishop Gregory told report-
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Photos by Chris Keane
Top: Mario Wallace of Catholic Social Services hands out roses to the jubilarians after the the 25th and 50th wedding anniversary Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church Oct. 20. Bottom: Bishop William G. Curlin, former bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, celebrated the Mass. For story, see page 5.
Columnist Father John
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