UNITED STATES
Huffington Post
Dan Arel
Pope Francis has been praised for all the very positive things he has been saying since taking over the papacy last year. He welcomes non-believers into Heaven as long as they are “good people,” he told the Church to back off on fighting against marriage equality, and he derided capitalism as dehumanizing, saying “we … have to say ‘Thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills.” Critics of the new pope point out this is nothing more than propaganda and remind us that out of all the great things the pope has said, no changes to Church doctrines have been put forth.
Pope Francis has spoken a few times about the Church’s sex abuse scandals, but as his critics have pointed out, he had done little to stop sex abuse or change the Church’s actions, until now. This week, the pope appointed a commission to solve the “sex abuse problem,” Earning him praise for taking what many see as a serious step towards resolving these issues.
But is this really a step? Can a Vatican-appointed commission bring about real change and be trusted to give a non-biased and honest report about the scale and severity of the abuse and offer real solutions that will be accepted by the Church?
Not everyone seems to agree that this is a great step forward. Former Maine State senator and president of SecularityUSA took to his Twitter account to say:
“Pervert Priest victims want Papal ACTION protecting kids: “expose predators, discipline enablers & uncover cover-ups.” A Commission? Please.”
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