The Catholic Weekly 9 August 2020

18 9, August, 2020 W orld catholicweekly.com.au Claims cost one US diocese A$70m THE ARCHDIOCESE of Phil- adelphia has paid out or ap- proved over A$70 million so far to 222 clergy sex abuse sur- vivors, according to a new re- port from the Independent Reconciliation and Repara- tions Program. IRRP was launched in November 2018 as a means of providing settlements to claimants alleging abuse by archdiocesan clergy. The program’s administra- tors, acting independently of the archdiocese, assess claims and offer compensation with no monetary cap, either indi- vidually or in total. Claims are considered re- gardless of how long ago the events in question occurred, or whether the statute of lim- itations had expired. The archdiocese has pledged to pay all awards as indicated by the plan and agreed to by the survivors. As the 30 September 2019 deadline for filing the forms approached, program admin- istrators reported a surge in claims, which totalled 616 as of 30 May 30 this year. Of those, “the overwhelm- ing majority” have been “mer- itorious,” according to the IRRP’s third interim report, issued on 24 June. Settlement offers average about A$315,000 per claimant, an amount “the overwhelm- ing majority of claimants” found to be “satisfactory,” the report said. Approximately 250 claims are still under re- view. If all were approved at the same average amount, an additional A$74 million could be awarded to survivors. The three-stage review pro- cess ranges from four to five months, according to the re- port. While advocates stress that no price can be put on victims’ suffering, such funds generally attempt to redress economic consequences of sexual abuse, including lost wages, medical costs and counseling. - CNS HUMAN LIVES and jobs are not the only things threatened by the coronavirus pandemic: In many countries, democracy and efforts to build a more just world also are under attack, said Father Arturo Sosa, supe- rior general of the Jesuits. “Democracy can be one of the victims of the pandemic if we do not take care with our political condition,” Father ¾ ¾ Cindy Wooden Pope: focus on her Virus threat to democracy Francis urges youth to turn toMary in order to aid their path to God’s will LET MARY inspire and guide young people today, Pope Francis told participants at the annual International Youth Festival at the Marian shrine in Medjugorje. Mary will always be “the great model of the church” because she is ready to fol- low Christ with vitality and docility, he said in a message to those attending the festi- val from 1-6 August in Bos- nia-Herzegovina. He said, “her ‘yes’ means getting involved and taking a risk, without any guarantee besides the certainty of be- ing the bearer of a promise,” and her example continues to show the beauty in freely en- trusting oneself completely to the hands of God. “May her example capti- vate and guide you!” he said. The pope’s message, re- leased to journalists on 2 Au- gust, was read at the festival the day before. Though it was the 31st edition of the annual festival, it was the first time a papal message was sent to the event after it became an offi- cially approved church festival in 2019. That approval came three months after Catholic pilgrimages to the site in Bos- nia-Herzegovina were author- ized by the pope. While an estimated 40,000 to 45,000 people attended the festival last year, including senior Vatican representatives for the first time, organisers were unsure how many peo- ple to expect in 2020 because of travel restrictions and safety measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-July Bosnia-Herze- govina opened its borders to citizens of the European Un- ion and Switzerland on the condition that they present a health certificate certifying they tested negative for the coronavirus not more than 48 hours before entry into the country. Citizens of neigh- bouring Croatia were exempt from taking the test. Before ¾ ¾ Carol Glatz A rescued migrant is checked upon arrival in Malta during the COV- ID-19 Pandemic. PHOTO: CNS/DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI, REUTERS the pandemic, the shrine an- nually attracted up to 3million people – with foreign visitors making up the bulk of those numbers. Pope Francis said inhismes- sage that Mary is the mother watching over her children who are journeying through life, often tired and in need, but yearning for that light of hope that never goes out. He said the festival was an “opportunity to encounter Je- sus Christ,” especially in the Eucharist and in the sacra- ment of reconciliation. Young people can discov- er “a new way to live, differ- ent from the one offered by a culture” where everything is temporary, nothing is defin- itive “and the only thing that matters is enjoying the present moment.” “Do not be afraid!” he said. “Christ is alive and desires that each of you live.” Keep one’s gaze fixed on Christ, he told young people, and take the time to be with the Lord in prayer. The festival, he said, was an occasion to “come and see” the Lord, to experience his presence and become real witnesses of Christ. More than 40,000 appari- tions have been claimed over 38 years at Medjugorje, where six teenagers reported first seeing an apparition of Mary on 24 June 1981. Some of the visionaries say Mary still appears to themdai- ly with messages. In May 2018, Pope Francis named Archbishop Henryk Hoser as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje after a papal com- mission recommended that Medjugorje be designated a pontifical shrine with Vatican oversight. A ban on pilgrimages or- ganised by Catholic dioceses and parishes was lifted under a papal decree in May 2019. Archbishop Hoser said in August 2019 that the pope had “opened a great door to enter Medjugorje” with the decree, adding that hewas “personally and intimately convinced” the Marian centre offered “a mod- el for new evangelisation.” He said Medjugorje should be seen as “a living, dynamic reality,” with over 700 voca- tions so far recorded there, adding that the centre’s im- portance was summed up “by the people coming here, pray- ing here, being transformed here and returning to their countries with the Gospel spirit they breathed here.” “The fact apparitions are still continuing is the main ob- stacle to a final ruling, since it’s hard to decide on something which hasn’t finished,” he said at the time. - CNS ¾ ¾ Gina Christian Sosa told VaticanNews. “At this time, for example, many gov- ernments – including so-called democratic governments – are taking the path of authoritari- anism.” The interview was pub- lished on the eve of the 31 July feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Pope Francis, also a Jesuit, joined Fa- ther Sosa and his confreres for a feast-day lunch at the order’s headquarters near the Vatican. In the interview, Father Sosa saidmany governments are us- ing the pandemic as an excuse to restrict or end their assis- tance tomigrants and refugees, “which is a great mistake if we want to make the world more fraternal and just.” “To discriminate against mi- grants would be and is a great danger andwouldbe a signof a world that we do not want,” he said.The Jesuit superior saidhe also is concerned about how some businesses are using the pandemic as an excuse to fire workers or reduce salaries and benefits. “In other words, the pan- demic is an occasion to take steps forward or to take steps backward,” he said. “And we must be very aware of this as the Catholic Church and as people committed to justice and peace so that we can build a more welcoming, more dem- ocratic society.” - CNS ... her ‘yes’ means getting involved and taking a risk, without any guar- antee besides the certainty of being the bearer of a promise.” Pope Francis Pilgrims are pictured in a file photo surround- ing a statue of Mary on Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. PHOTO: CNS/MATKO BILJAK, REUTERS