General
Cardinal Tagle's Reflections from Asia (2012)
Symposium Toward Healing and Renewal, held at the Pontifical Gregorian University, February 6-9, 2012
"Clergy Sexual Misconduct: Some Reflections from Asia" by Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines
"The so‐called crisis of the clergy unfolding these past years is immense in scope. It includes allegations of sexual misconduct, suspicions about the clergy’s handling of money, accusations of misuse of authority, inappropriate lifestyle and a host of other things. The faithful are appalled at the rudeness of their pastors. Priests who do not preach well or do not preside at sacraments religiously cause scandal as well. So when we refer to the crisis in the Church related to the clergy, we are dealing with a multi‐faceted reality. But our colloquium is centered on the allegations and actual cases of sexual misconduct on the part of the clergy.
At first glance, this crisis seems to be about explicitly sexual behaviour only. But a closer look at the actual cases reveals that deep theological, spiritual, anthropological and pastoral cases are involved. That is why the impressionist way by which some people tackle the problem is quite inadequate and even unfair."