Top Vatican Cardinal Admits ‘Absolutely Scandalous’ Handling of Child Sex Abuse by Clergy

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Top Vatican Cardinal Admits ‘Absolutely Scandalous’ Handling of Child Sex Abuse by Clergy

Catholic sex abuse (Photo: Reuters/David Gray)

Christian Post Report – Victims and relatives of children who claim they were sexually abused by the Catholic Church hold placards as they stand outside the venue for Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney, Australia, February 29, 2016.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, a top official in the Roman Catholic Church, admitted in a sex abuse inquiry in Rome Monday that some allegations of abuse against children were dismissed in an “absolutely scandalous” manner by clergy.

Pell, who is the Vatican’s finance chief, admitted that there was a strong tendency during the 1970s to dismiss allegations of abuse against children, as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse looked at cases stretching back decades.

Pell, the former archbishop of Sydney, said in his testimony that many allegations “certainly were dismissed and sometimes they were dismissed in absolutely scandalous circumstances.”

“They were very, very plausible allegations made by responsible people that were not followed up sufficiently,” he added, according to Religion News Service.

Pell has said, however, that he has the “full backing” of Pope Francis in his cross-examination over sexual abuse in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Francis and Pell reportedly met face to face at the Vatican hours before the senior Australian cleric testified via video link to the Royal Commission, though Holy See officials gave no details of the meeting.

Some sex abuse survivors have spoken out about the ongoing investigation, including one man by the name of Paul Levey, who was sexually abused as a minor by Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, but instead of being protected was forced to live with him.

Ridsdale was eventually convicted of a large number of child sexual assaults, but Pell was questioned by the commission about why the church failed to stop him sooner.

Levey said that he was angered that Pell has called the Ridsdale case “a sad story and it wasn’t of much interest to me,” the Guardian reported, but was pleased that the commission has asked tough questions of the former Sydney archbishop.

Senior Counsel Assisting Gail Furness asked Pell how he could not have known that Ridsdale was abusing children, though the Catholic cleric insisted that despite the many allegations against the priest, he was not told about the abuse.

Pell has insisted that people who did not have knowledge of the abuse should not be held accountable for failing to protect children, and has said that he does not accept any responsibility that Ridsdale was moved from parish to parish rather than being removed from the Church and reported to police.

The investigation continues as Catholic sex abuse charges lead media headlines with the recent Oscar Best Picture victory for “Spotlight,” a film about the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of priest sex abuse of children in the United States.

Producer Michael Sugar, who spoke at the awards ceremony, said he hopes the Vatican will focus its effort on protecting children.

“This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican,” Sugar said onstage. “Pope Francis, it is time to protect the children and restore the faith.”

Source : Christian Post

‘Deep Shock’ in Nigeria Over Brutal Violence Against Christians; Hundreds Killed in Clashes

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‘Deep Shock’ in Nigeria Over Brutal Violence Against Christians; Hundreds Killed in Clashes

Christians in Nigeria (Photo: REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)

Christian Post Report – Christians in Nigeria suffering under continued terror attacks in this undated photo.

As Nigeria continues battling well-known terror groups like Boko Haram, reports have stated that hundreds of people have been killed and Christians have been heavily targeted in brutal Islamist Fulani raids across the country’s “Middle-Best.”

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into the tribal clashes between Fulani ethnic herdsmen and local farmers in central Benue state, BBC News reported, expressing “deep shock” at the level of violence that has left hundreds of people dead across several villages.

“We will conduct an investigation to know exactly what happened; the only way to bring an end to the violence once and for all is to look beyond one incident and ascertain exactly what factors are behind the conflicts,” Buhari said.

He added: “We are all one nation and one people. There should not be any reason why Nigerians of any group or tongue cannot now reside with one another wherever they find themselves after decades of living together.”

The attacks also reportedly displaced close to 7,000 villagers.

Persecution watchdog groups, such as International Christian Concern, have pointed out that much of the violence is aimed at Christians, who make up close to half the nation’s population.

“The level of brutality that Fulani herders continue to barbarously wage toward Nigerian Middle-Belt Christian communities cannot be understated. ICC condemns this systematic, ongoing depopulation of the region within the highest order of human tragedy and atrocity. Fearing Christians face constant threat of fire, machete, and gunshots as each of these attacks tells the same tragic story,” ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Troy Augustine, said in a statement.

“We must not allow the frequency and heightened brutality Christians continue to endure in this region to desensitize us to the real human loss and suffering they experience,” he continued.

“Nigerian officials should follow their first mandate in protecting all Nigerians against violent threats to life and property, whatever the source, instead of allowing these crimes to continue unpunished and conveniently explained away through the lens of resource wars and historical tribal tensions.”

ICC noted that Nigerian officials are failing to convey this targeting of Christians, evaluating the ongoing attacks more as historical tensions over land rights for cattle grazing versus farming.

There were several reports of massacres committed by Fulani herdsmen in 2015, however, including attacks in May where over 70 Christians were killed, while church buildings and houses were burned down in the central Plateau State.

One senior journalist, Emeka Izeze, managing director of Guardian Newspapers of Nigeria, told The Christian Post back then that the killings are not getting enough coverage either at home or abroad, and suggested the government is failing to address the problem.

“The government is not doing enough,” Izeze told CP. “It is either in denial or treating the deteriorating security situation with kid’s gloves.”

There have also been some connections between Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen reported, Izeze noted, as although Boko Haram militants are largely from the Kanuri ethno-cultural group, they have carried out several attacks on villages while disguising themselves as herdsmen.

What is more, some Fulani have admitted during interrogations by police that they are Boko Haram members.

“So far, no one has been able to draw a link between the two,” Izeze said at the time. “Yet their activities remain similar in causing maximum mayhem especially with attacks against Christians and churches.”

In its report, ICC called on the Nigerian government to stop putting part of the blame for the clashes on the Christian farmers, even if it is proven that some have stolen cattle.

“Even if unconfirmed reports of cattle theft were proven true as catalysts for vengeance, the scope and scale of human suffering the Fulani have waged across Nigeria’s Middle-Belt represents such a vastly disproportional response. Therefore, the explanation lacks reasonable credibility,” the group said.

Source : Christian Post

Billy Graham on How to Begin the Bible

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Billy Graham on How to Begin the Bible

Billy Graham On How To Begin The Bible

Christian Post Report – No other book is as important as the Bible and Christians need to make an effort to understand it, the Rev. Billy Graham advises.

When asked for tips on how to better understand the Bible, the evangelical pastor said the Holy Book is the most important text to understand in the entire world, “because it is God’s Word — God’s message — to you, and to all humanity.”

Graham then goes on to give advice for beginning to explore the Bible, suggesting that a first-time reader not start at the beginning, but rather start with one of the Gospels in the New Testament, adding that he often recommends John.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/billy-graham-bible-most-important-book-christians-need-to-read-understand-it-158744/#EGY52jwGtvBkpHlt.99

Source : Christian Post

Don’t Fall For Donald Trump!

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Don’t Fall For Donald Trump!

Christian Post Report – We the senior editors of The Christian Post encourage our readers to back away from Donald Trump.

As the most popular evangelical news website in the United States and the world, we feel compelled by our moral responsibility to our readers to make clear that Donald Trump does not represent the interests of evangelicals and would be a dangerous leader for our country.

Trump claims to be a Christian, yet says he has never asked for forgiveness.

While God, in His wondrous creativity, has drawn people to Himself through the saving grace of Jesus Christ in many different ways, there are certain non-negotiable actions needed to become a Christian: One must repent of their sins and follow Christ as Lord and Savior. Trump doesn’t talk this way, even when urged to.

Source : Christian Post

Erica Campbell’s ‘I Luh God’ Inspired by Cocaine Anthem

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Erica Campbell’s ‘I Luh God’ Inspired by Cocaine Anthem

Erica Campbell (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn)

Christian Post Report – Erica Campbell and Warryn Campbell pose with their Grammy award for Best Gospel Song for “Go Get It” backstage at the 55th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, February 10, 2013.

Erica Campbell broke new ground with her hit trap gospel song “I Luh God” last year, which she now reveals was inspired by one rapper proclaiming his love for drugs.

After rapper O.T. Genasis’ 2014 song “CoCo,” an ode to the love of cocaine, became a top 20 hit on U.S. Billboard charts with major airplay, the 43-year-old gospel singer knew she had to do something.

“I was listening to the radio. Some song called ‘I’m In Love With The CoCo’ came on, and I got upset ’cause I’m like, this is what kids are singing and saying over and over,” Campbell told Rapzilla. “Why can’t [Christians] change that? We got some crazy writers, incredible artists that love Jesus. Let’s infiltrate! Let’s get in there and change it.”

The singer and songwriter decided to craft a record where people could party for Jesus.

“I know sometimes I want to turn up and have a good time, but I don’t want to listen to [music like ‘CoCo’], so I figured I’m a songwriter, I’ll write my own song,” she said. “I got in a little trouble for [the song], but I don’t think God is ever mad when you’re saying that I love God, no matter the dialect, slang, whatever. I love God… I luh God, It’s all the same.”

The song, which has amassed over 3 million views on YouTube, has a Hip Hop beat and features Campbell using a rap cadence never heard before by fans.

“They’re used to (me) very pulled up and polished and singing ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Help.’ But, I just wanted to have fun, declare my love for God and at the same time reach an audience that I think the gospel community sometimes ignores,” Campbell previously told CNikky.com. “There is Christian hip-hop but I feel that more Caucasian children gravitate to it. So, I figured, you’re my people so, let me get with my folks!”

Campbell, who grew up in Inglewood, California, said being raised in a rough neighborhood has influenced who she is as a person. Even if she has not previously showcased that to the world, it is still a part of her experience that is now present in her music.

The singer said she’s used to doing things differently and facing criticism because of it. Still, she believes that the devil can attack the church in situations where members criticize one another.

“What we have to understand is that this is the enemy’s number one tool. He knows that we’re not going to stop going to church, but if he can get you to go to church and fuss and argue about things, then you can’t hear God’s directive,” the singer said. “So, if you’re distracted by someone who wears a dress and you don’t like the dress, etc. you’ve got to really assess yourself and say ‘What is really going on?’ ‘What do I really have a problem with?'”

While Campbell recognizes that not everyone will appreciate songs like “I Luh God,” she previously cautioned critics to think about what they’re doing to the body of Christ when they publicly bash her musical expression.

“… I think before you criticize, and especially before you criticize publicly, … because what that does is make the Christian body look even more divided and more argumentative and at war with each other. If you know me, or you know someone that knows me, contact me as opposed to posting something ugly or nasty,” said Campbell. “Now, you’ve created this conversation and the people that like it are mad and the people that don’t like it are mad, and really God gets no Glory out of that. If you take all of the music away, which is the main thing people are mad at, and you just look at the words, you change your total view.”

Campbell does not take her career for granted and previously spoke to The Christian Post about remembering her purpose when accidentally offending people.

“I really love Jesus and I’m really really grateful for what I do. I don’t take it lightly,” she told CP. “It is never my intention to offend people but I know sometimes they get offended. I just hope that they hear and see my heart in the things that I say and the music that I sing…The real purpose is to reach people for Jesus.”

Source : Christian Post

Tasha Cobbs Says Churches Need to Focus More on Depression

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Tasha Cobbs Says Churches Need to Focus More on Depression

Tasha Cobbs(Photo: DKC Public Relations)Tasha Cobbs will perform with Erica Campbell at Soul Train Awards 2015 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 6, 2015.

Christian Post Report – Tasha Cobbs has never shied away from speaking about her battle with depression, but now she wants churches to do the same thing.

In an interview with Essence magazine, the 34-year-old “Jesus Saves” singer detailed her own battle with depression. Although she helped lead worship at her church, her struggles with sad feelings while growing up spiraled into full-blown depression.

“I could get up and sing and watch people be delivered and set free and experience freedom in their lives, and yet I would go home and be under the covers, with the curtains closed, not eating, never coming out of my room for days at a time. My cousin Shaniqua — who was my roommate at the time — knew the routine,” she revealed to Essence. “This time I had been in the bed for three or four days and I hadn’t left my room. The house was completely dark; curtains closed, and the sadness was so heavy in that house that she literally moved out and moved into my pastor’s house for that week because it was just too heavy for her.”

Cobbs said she would cry for hours without truly understanding why, believing that people were only using her for her gifts. However, a tugging in her spirit caused Cobbs to seek professional help.

“During that time, something in my spirit said, ‘Tasha, you have to do something about this.’ It was just a moment where I felt like I couldn’t move forward in my career and in my ministry if I kept allowing myself to be in this place,” she revealed. “I thought, ‘At some point somebody is going to find out and it’s going to get much bigger than what I’m able to handle.’ So I got up to do some research and I started studying depression.”

After calling her cousin and pastor, the singer began speaking to a therapist who diagnosed her with depression. Still, she acknowledged that speaking about getting therapy outside of the church is not a common occurrence in the church community.

“Our culture and churches in general, should put more focus on depression and people who struggle with mental health,” she said. “From what I’ve experienced in sharing my testimony with different people, it’s something way more prevalent than we acknowledge, and I am willing to stand on the frontline as a leader in our culture and address the mental health issues we have been ignoring.”

Now, the Georgia native recognizes healthy ways to deal with her depression. Last year, she spoke to The Christian Post about her single “Jesus Saves” documenting how God helped her overcome that hardship.

“The song actually just brings me back to that place where Jesus saved me. I think I talk about that a little, but throughout your life He saves you from different things that you may struggle with,” she told CP. “He breaks those chains throughout your life and that’s where that [song] came from. I remember when He saved me from depression and rejection in 2007. And every time I minister that song now, it takes me back to that place where I was a minister of the Gospel and struggling and Jesus saved me from that.”

Source : Christian Post

Tina Campbell Releases New Music Video Duet With Her Husband

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Tina Campbell Releases New Music Video Duet With Her Husband

Tina Campbel (Photo: AMC Networks)

Christian Post Report – Mary Mary’s Tina Campbell

Tina Campbell teams up with her husband, Teddy Campbell, to get church attendees on their feet to praise God 1920s-style in her new music video, “Speak The Word.”

The 41-year-old Mary Mary singer released her latest music video from her debut solo album It’s Personal Thursday. The five minute music video set in the 1920s era features the husband-and-wife duo singing and praising God while encouraging church congregants to do the same.

The video, directed by Derek Blanks, starts off focusing on the image of a Bible before turning into a church party backed by a live band. Tina’s sister and fellow Mary Mary group member Erica Campbell also makes a cameo in the music video, along with their mother, Honey Atkins.

The song is special to Tina because it represents the singer sharing her story with the world.

“It’s autobiographical for me. A few years ago, my life was so bad that the only true therapy I could find was in reading the Bible,” Campbell told EBONY.com, where the video premiered. “I began singing and speaking those truths. Now I’m grateful to be living those truths. It all comes to life in my new single and video ‘Speak The Word.'”

Campbell recently won two Stellar Awards and an NAACP Image Award for her solo album, which was released last May. Her solo release was birthed out of tragedy.

The gospel star publicly dealt with the death of her father and husband’s infidelities simultaneously in 2013.

“I found out who I really was when my marriage fell apart,” the gospel singer said in an Essence magazine report. “It was really hard.”

While the fourth season of her hit WE tv show “Mary Mary” with her fellow gospel singing sister Erica Campbell focused on drama concerning her husband’s cheating, Tina feels empowered by the process.

“That entire season was about my broken marriage. It was empowering for me to go through that in the public eye and then make it to the other side and fall in love again,” she said. “My husband, who is also an executive producer on our show, was exposed in front of everybody but so was I. There was a lot of prayer and counseling, but now I’m stronger and so is our marriage.”

Tina previously told The Christian Post that God worked a miracle in her marriage.

“I know God opened up the Red Sea for the children of Israel; He kept the three Hebrew boys from getting burned up in the fire; He kept Daniel from getting eaten by that lion, but He also kept Tina and Teddy from a broken marriage and He did it in one year,” Tina said during an interview with The Christian Post.
“That is a modern day miracle. So anybody who can come to experience that God is still doing miracles, God is still proving Himself, the Bible is still real and it can still work in your life, I would think that anybody can be encouraged by that.”

Check out Tina Campbell ft Teddy Campbell “Speak The Word” below:

Source : Christian Post

Christian Parents Must Accept Their Adult Child’s Choices, Even If They Don’t Approve, Billy Graham Says

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Christian Parents Must Accept Their Adult Child’s Choices, Even If They Don’t Approve, Billy Graham Says
 Christian parents must accept their child’s decisions whether they approve of them or not, the Rev. Billy Graham advises in a message posted on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s website Saturday.

The renowned 97-year-old preacher was responding to a question posted to BGEA’s “My Answers” which asked how parents should handle their daughter’s marriage when they don’t approve of the fiancé.

“We can’t always control what our children do as they grow older and become adults — nor should we. And even when they make mistakes or go against our advice, they are still our children, and we still love them and want what is best for them,” Graham explains.

The religious leader says that despite a child’s seemingly poor judgment, it is important the parent keep communication open and remain a beacon of support, so when the child does need help they have a reliable source to turn to.

If you cut ties with your child it won’t change anything, Graham explains, it would only “alienate [the child] from you and make it harder to be reconciled in the future.”

“If they have children someday, why should you deny them the privilege of knowing their grandparents?” the preacher adds.

Ultimately, although they disapprove, parents should “accept” their adult child’s circumstances as is and pray to God for guidance. Because the Lord loves the parents as much as he loves their children, he may answer their prayers in a surprising way.

“Rather than rejecting them or wishing ill of them, I challenge you to pray for them and ask God to bless them as a couple,” Graham encourages.

The Baptist minister adds that this is an opportunity for all involved to renew their relationship with Christ.

“Do all you can to reach out to them — not in an overbearing way, but simply to let them know you care for them and value them as part of your family. Encourage them also to put Christ at the center of their marriage,” he continues. “May this also be a time of recommitment on your part — to each other, and most of all to Jesus Christ.”

Graham has offered his advice on parenting before. When asked why it is so hard to parent in a previous BEGA post back in 2006, the preacher responded by saying that while raising a child may be the most challenging experience of one’s life, it can also be the most satisfying.

Graham suggests that parenting could be a more fulfilling experience “if we learn to look beyond the immediate problems and heartaches and begin to see it from God’s point of view.”

“After all, God gave your children to you, and He did it because He knows they need the love and wisdom only you can give them. The Bible says: ‘Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him,’ Psalm 127:3.”

Source : Christian Post

Yazidi Girl Sets Herself on Fire to Stop ISIS Jihadists From Raping Her, Doctor Says

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Yazidi Girl Sets Herself on Fire to Stop ISIS Jihadists From Raping Her, Doctor Says

Christian Post Report – A Syrian refugee holds onto his daughter as he pleads to cross into Turkey at Akcakale border gate in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 15, 2015.

A Yazidi girl held captive by the Islamic State terrorist organization set herself on fire, severely burning 80 percent of her body, in a desperate attempt to stop jihadists from raping her, a German doctor has said.

Doctor Jan Ilhan Kizilhan heads a project that has helped bring over 1,100 women and girls victimized by the militant group to Germany to help heal their physical and emotional wounds through a project started in 2014 which is run by the German state Baden-Wurttemberg.

Kizilhan told AFP that he has personally been told over 1,400 horrifying stories of how the barbaric terrorist group has brutally raped and abused religious minority girls and women who were captured and sexually enslaved.

Kizilhan told of one 8-year-old Yazidi girl who was sold eight different times as an IS sex slave and was also raped hundreds of times by IS fighters in a span of 10 months.

“This is one of the cases I always have in my mind,” Kizilhan said, emphasizing that the horrors of IS sex slavery are so bad that one girl even set herself on fire to defend herself from being repeatedly raped by the militants.

Yazidi displaced refugee (Photo: Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

A displaced girl from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, stands at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria on the border with Kurdistan, August 16, 2014.

He recalled meeting a Yazidi girl at a refugee camp last August who had burns covering over 80 percent of her body. After being raped and tortured for weeks by IS militants, the girl was sleeping in her refugee tent one night when she dreamed that IS militants were outside the tent to get her. In a rush reaction, she poured gas over herself and set herself a light with a match so that IS militants wouldn’t want to have sex with her.

“She had no nose, no ears left,” the doctor said.

Kizilhan had the girl transported to a hospital immediately because he felt that she would not survive. She has had over a dozen operations and is currently in a hospital in Germany.

As there are believed to be about 3,800 women and girls still being sexually enslaved by the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, Kizilhan is calling on other German states other than Baden-Wurttemberg to help provide refuge for these girls.

While the state of Baden-Wurttemberg has spent approximately $104 million to provide refuge to women formerly enslaved by IS, Kizilhan explained that programs in other German states would benefit as many as 1,200 other Yazidi women and girls who were once held by IS.

Kizilhan stated that a majority of the girls in the program are between 16 and 20, while the youngest was 8 and the oldest was in her 40s.

“They have been through hell,” Kizilhan explained, according to Gulf News. “It is really an urgent situation.”

Although some women are lucky enough to escape the grips of IS, most of the Yazidi women and girls that do escape have little access to the psychological help needed to cope with the heinous things that IS militants did to them.

In many cases, Kizilhan said, the Yazidi women who are raped by their captors are shunned by their communities when they return because some feel that they have brought dishonor to their families and community.

“These women really need specialized treatment,” Kizilhan said. “If we don’t help them, who will?”
Some of the women who are being shunned in the Yazidi community often fall on prostitution to support themselves, while others just kill themselves. Kizilhan says he believes that as many as 150 Yazidi women have committed suicide after escaping from IS.

“Over the last year, I have documented more than 20 cases of suicide, but this is surely just the tip of the iceberg,” he contended.

Source : Christian Post

‘Spotlight’ Wins Best Picture Oscar; Survivors Network Says Film Is ‘Life-Changing Win for Countless Children’

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‘Spotlight’ Wins Best Picture Oscar; Survivors Network Says Film Is ‘Life-Changing Win for Countless Children’

Christian Post Report – Mark Ruffalo, nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Spotlight,” arrives at the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 28, 2016.

“Spotlight,” the movie about the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of Catholic priest sex abuse of children, won Best Picture at the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday night, with producer Michael Sugar calling on Pope Francis to focus the Vatican’s efforts on protecting children.

“This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican,” Sugar said onstage, alongside cast and crew of the movie. “Pope Francis, it is time to protect the children and restore the faith.”

The drama showcases the widespread pattern of abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Boston, which shook the Catholic Church in America and led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in December 2003.

Deadline reported that McCarthy, alongside actor Mark Ruffalo and co-writer Josh Singer, raised more awareness for the issue when they joined a protest outside L.A.’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels before the Oscar ceremony, demanding the public release of the names of pedophile members of clergy.

Vatican Radio, which is the Vatican’s official radio outlet, has in the past praised the movie for being “honest” and “compelling.”

Spotlight Oscars (Photo: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

Actor Michael Keaton (R) hugs director Tom McCarthy after their film ‘Spotlight’ won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 28, 2016.

Crux reported in October that the Vatican outlet has praised the Globe’s reporting that led to the uncovering of sex abuse, which it said helped the Church in the United States “to accept fully the sin, to admit it publicly, and to pay all the consequences.”

American Catholic bishops have also said that the movie can play an important role in helping the Church face up to the wrongdoings of the past.

“I can tell you unequivocally that anything that raises awareness of the crime of sexual abuse of minors and encourages transparency is a good thing,” Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, New York said in November. “I certainly hope ‘Spotlight’ will be a vehicle to communicate the truth and advance the dialogue regarding the protection of children.”

While Pope Francis has not spoken out on the movie himself, he has often talked about ongoing efforts in the Catholic Church to address the sex abuse controversy.

He met with victims who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy on separate occasions, including on the last day of his visit to the United States in September.

“This disgrace keeps burdening me, that the people who had the responsibility of caring for these tender ones raped them and caused them great pain,” Francis told bishops in Philadelphia at the time. “God weeps for the sexual abuse of children.”

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement on Sunday that children are the real winners at the Academy Awards.

“Of course, sadly, it takes much more than public awareness to stop those who commit and conceal child sex crimes,” SNAP wrote.

“But exposing hundreds of thousands of people across the planet to a compelling, reality-based film about this crisis — people who might otherwise not pick up a book, go hear a speech or search the Internet for information about abuse — is, in itself, an incredible achievement and a real, life-changing ‘win’ for countless children.”

Source : Christian Post

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