April 6, 2001
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Terry Dosh
617-8271818
ARCC CALLS FOR A PAPAL
COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE SEXUAL ABUSES
The Association for the Rights
of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) calls for an immediate, thorough and
open investigation by Church authorities of reports concerning widespread
sexual abuse of nuns by Catholic priests first presented to the Vatican
at least six
years ago.
A long overdue inquiry, preferably
by a papal commission that includes laymen and laywomen with competence
in the human sciences, must focus on the Church's discipline regarding
priestly celibacy. While we do not agree that celibacy directly causes
sexual assaults, we believe that enforced celibacy is itself a sexual assault
on the rights of priests who are its victims and that it contributes to
the cycle of the abused turning into abusers. By claiming authority
over one of the most intimate aspects of a priest's manhood, church leaders
(who are themselves products of the same formation process) keep him on
a leash in a subordinate role. The relatively powerless tend to compensate
by violating the rights of those over whom they have control.
ARCC is a national organization
of Roman Catholic clergy, religious and lay people with affiliations in
eleven European countries. ARCC works for the promulgation of those teachings
which were stated at the Second Vatican Council. ARCC accomplishes
this task through education advocacy, networking, and the circulation of
its document A Constitution for the Roman Catholic Church to the Catholics
of the world.
For information about ARCC,
visit our website at http://arcc-catholic-rights.org or contact our office,
PO Box 912 Delran, New Jersey, (609)461-8960. E-mail ccooperpt@aol.com.
Link
to related ARCC Statement |
