UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Occasionally, for lucky politicians, the right thing to do is also the politically smart thing to do.
President Obama will have such a rare opportunity on next Thursday (3/27). Obama then has his first meeting with Pope Francis. Obama will be able to directly confront Francis for failing to hold bishops accountable for facilitating priest predators.
Vatican sponsored experts have estimated priests have sexually abused over 100,000 children in the USA alone. That is many more, obviously, than the number of Penn State child sexual abuse victims of a football coach protected by an athletic administration that Obama, in effect, strongly condemned several times during the 2012 presidential election campaign.
When the courageous Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, set up over a year ago her Royal Commission to investigate institutional child abuse, reportedly 96% of Australians supported her decision to investigate child abuse. The widespread abuses that have been mainly disclosed in Australlia have been under the cover of Catholic and Anglican hierarchies and The Salvation Army’s leadership, locally and worldwide, all of whom have major presences in the USA as well.
Gillard has just superbly confirmed her strong commitment to the “rightness” of her Royal Commission decision in her generous tribute at the Memorial Service for the prominent and remarkable Australian activist, Lewis Blayse. The tribute was read earlier this month by his impressive daughter, Aletha. She is carrying on bravely her father’s advocacy efforts, as shown in her moving reading of Gillard’s speech in the video here:
[lewisblayse.net]
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Julia Gillard’s bold stand followed a similar one against the Irish bishops and the Vatican by the popular Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, as shown in the video here:
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Will President Obama display the courage comparable to that which Gillard and Kenny displayed?
Are children in the USA as valued by political leaders in the USA as much as they have been valued by political leaders in Australia and Ireland?
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While Pope Francis is currently still very popular, his halo is dimming as (1) his less than stellar record in Argentina is becoming better known worldwide, (2) his stonewalling on holding bishops accountable becomes clearer, (3) his support for continuing the ban on contraception becomes understood more widely, and (4) his support for women’s equality remains weak.
Moreover, Francis’ subordinate US bishops are directly challenging Obama on his key Obamacare program and his US Supreme Court legacy in anticipation of November’s key US Congressional elections.
Obama appears to have much to gain, and little to lose, in confronting Pope Francis on Thursday.
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