Catholic Church: Mass Attendance Down, $77 Million Settlement, German Teologians in Revolt

I often lament that far too many Catholics refuse to pull their heads out of the sand and admit to themselves that (1) they belong to a Church where the top leadership is nothing less than a total moral cesspool and (2) by continuing church attendance and financial support they are accessories to the crimes of the hierarchy. Underscoring this rot and stench in the Church hierarchy is a new $77 million sex abuse settlement involving the Delaware Catholic Diocese of Wilmington that involved 150 victims of sexual abuse by priests. The good news, however, is that some Catholics seem to be finally waking up. In Boston, mass attendance has plummeted (less than 20% of Catholics attend weekly mass) prompting parishes closing and in German one third of the theologians at Catholic universities have demanded broad Church reforms including an end to celibacy, women priests and gay couples. Such reforms would be the truly Christian thing to do, which means the Vatican will oppose them tooth and claw. First, here are highlights from the Washington Post on the settlement in Wilmington:
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Lawyers involved with the Delaware Catholic Diocese of Wilmington's $77 million settlement with nearly 150 alleged victims of sexual abuse said the church's agreement to release unredacted documents is a historic step toward making sure it doesn't happen again. And lawyers for the alleged victims said they will post the documents on the Internet. "When people see the documents, they will be able to judge for themselves" how the church dealt with pedophile priests, attorney John Manly said.
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The diocese agreed Wednesday to settle the lawsuits, which claimed child sexual abuse by dozens of diocesan and religious order priests dating to the early 1960s. Attorney Thomas Neuberger, who represented 99 of the 146 alleged victims, said they would each receive $530,000 on average.
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Meanwhile, the Boston Archdiocese is seeing mass attendance fall drastically and is looking at parishes to close due to lack of operating funds - even though the Church ironically has millions of dollars to invest in anti-gay political activities. It's strange to me that the priorities of the Vatican are such that they will throw parishioners out of their churches, yet has money to burn when it comes to fueling homophobia and interfering with the civil laws. Here are highlights from the Catholic News Agency on the plight of many parishes in the Boston area:
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[A]rchdiocesan spokesman Terry Donilon told CNA. “Today less than 20% attend weekly Mass in the Archdiocese.” These numbers call for what Donilon described as a “total rebuild of the archdiocese,” likely to include mergers between several parish communities
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Statistics from the archdiocese indicate that 40 percent of its parishes are barely meeting their financial needs or operating at a loss, while the number of active diocesan priests is expected to diminish by nearly half – from around 400, to only 180 – by 2021. Mass attendance in Boston dropped by 23 percent between 2000 and 2009.
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Obviously, covering up the rape of children has not been good for business in the Boston Archdioceses. Neither is the Vatican's refusal to move away from a 13th century view of the world and human sexuality. Some 140 plus Catholic theologians in German are demanding that things change. While their valiant effort is probably a case of spitting into the wind currently, unless the Catholic Church wants to ultimately become an African based church where uneducated populations remain plentiful, change will have to come at some point. Here are highlights from the Canadian Press:
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University theologians in Germany have called on the Catholic Church to abandon the vow of celibacy for priests, open up the clergy for women and accept gays couples. The 143 professors said the church must implement bold reforms because of "a crisis without precedent" following the discovery of widespread sexual and physical abuses by clergymen a year ago.
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More Christians than ever have turned their backs on the Catholic Church in the past year, they said. "The Church has to understand these signs and move beyond its ossified structures to regain new vitality and credibility." The appeal, published in newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung's Friday edition, called on the church's leadership to stop excluding gay couples and remarried Christians. "The Church also needs married priests and women holding positions in the clergy," the appeal said — in clear defiance of the Vatican's dogmas.
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[T]he wealthy Catholic Church in the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI sees the number of its followers dwindling, leading to lower proceeds every year, and ever fewer young men choosing to become priests.
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The professors also called for a more democratic and less centralized church, including giving the faithful a say in appointing their priests and bishops. "What can be decided locally, should be decided there," the appeal said.