Before the collapse?

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The Pope's envoy to review the situation of the Church in Ireland draws a devastating first balance according to information from the Irish press. The Catholic Church in this country is "on the verge of collapse" as a result of the abuse crisis. The church has only five to ten years left to implement radical countermeasures, it said.

This is according to the daily newspaper "Irish Independent" on Monday (14.02.2011) in a report by U.S. Cardinal Sean O "Malley to Benedict XVI., which will be transmitted to Rome in the coming months.

The paper refers to a member of the Association of Catholic Priests' leadership, Tony Flannery. The latter, speaking at the annual meeting of the lay organization The People of God over the weekend, said O "Malley was giving the Irish church only ten years at most, in his own words, to avoid a situation "like many other European countries" where religion played only a marginal role.

Flannery said Boston Archbishop O "Malley recommended at a private meeting with the priests' association that the church desperately needs to give lay people and women more influence in decision-making processes.

Hard hit morally and financially
The abuse scandal had hit the Irish church particularly hard, morally and financially, in several waves. Claims for compensation brought several religious orders and dioceses to the brink of insolvency; the Vatican ordered an investigation.

Most recently, the national priests' association protested vehemently against a new translation of the Roman missal for divine service. The language used in it, which is closer to the Latin original, is not communicable to the faithful, he said.

Pope's letter soon to be a yes
In October of last year, the Vatican set the course for the upcoming visitations in the Church of Ireland, which has been badly shaken by abuse scandals, with a crisis summit of the main players. The Pope has entrusted the task to four experienced churchmen.

Preparation for the initiative made Benedict XVI. with his letter of 20. March of the same year, asking for forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy "in the name of the Church". In it, the pope expressed shame and remorse, said he was "shocked and hurt" by the sinful and criminal actions by clergy and called the perpetrators to account before secular and ecclesiastical courts. Clearly, he had also admitted at the time "serious misjudgments and failures" on the part of bishops.

Already 3.5 million Poles have seen it: the film "Clergy" about the offenses of priests. Now it is also running in Germany. Meanwhile, in Poland, church faces accusations.

Never before has a feature film in Poland so successfully denounced wrongdoing in the Catholic Church as "Klerus" (Polish: Clergy). The flick by Wojciech Smarzowski (55) is a box-office hit in the neighboring country. 3.5 million people he attracted in the first 16 days already in front of the screen. It is already the fifth most-watched film in Poland since 1989.

Director Smarzowski shows self-important, sinful priests who dream of a career in the Vatican, build a huge church, break celibacy or abuse children. He calls on Church to mend its ways with high-profile film. "In no country has the church cleansed itself," he criticized. He is also concerned with the co-responsibility of society, which allows the abuse of power by the church. For actress Grazyna Szapolowska, therefore, the film's most important message is society's "complete indifference to the dramas that affect us".

Fierce debate in Poland

Now "Clergy" is coming to cinemas in other countries as well. In the U.K. and Ireland, it grossed $1.3 million last opening weekend. In German cinemas it will be shown on Sunday as a special screening in the original with English subtitles.

In Poland, the film has triggered a sometimes heated debate about the church. The country's Catholic Journalists Association called Smarzowski's work "anti-Catholic" and "anti-Polish". It humiliates Catholics and degrades priests. He says one should not fall for the claim "that the film was made for the good of the Polish Church". The spokesman of the Polish Bishops' Conference, however, did not want to comment on the film.

An apology

On the other hand, the bishop of the Silesian city of Opole, Andrzej Czaja, went on the offensive. He specially wrote a long pastoral letter to the faithful of his diocese about the abuse cases and had it read out at church services: "So far, the guilt of six priests of the Opole diocese has been established, who at least once sexually exploited an underage person." Czaja asked for "God's protection for all those who suffered because of us". And he added: "We apologize to you and ask for forgiveness for our grave sins."

Other local bishops also presented figures for their diocese. The Church is taking the ie more and more seriously. It offers training nationwide to better protect children. In bad memory is still an eclat from 2013 around the then bishops' conference chairman Jozef Michalik. Speaking to journalists, the archbishop blamed broken relationships between parents for their children becoming victims of sexual violence.

Do victims in Poland receive compensation?

Such a child is looking for love, "it leans, it looks for. And it loses itself and drags another person into it," Michalik said at the time. Six hours later, at a press conference called at short notice, he retracted the statement: "I apologize for the misunderstanding. A child is innocent and must not be victimized."

Still controversial today is how Poland's church compensates abuse victims. For a long time, the bishops saw only the perpetrators, but not the church, as being responsible. After all, teachers themselves would have to make amends for sexual assaults, not schools, argued, for example, the lawyer for a Catholic religious order that had been sued by a young woman.

Every case should be tried

A religious had raped the then 13-year-old girl several times from 2006 to 2007. Now the order "Society of Christ for the Pastoral Care of Emigrants" transferred to her 233.000 euros, as the Court of Appeal in the western Polish city of Poznan had ruled at the beginning of October.

But the order is having the verdict reviewed by the Supreme Court, apparently to prevent a wave of lawsuits against the church. The ruling does not provide a basis for compensation claims by abuse victims against the church, stressed the order's lawyer, Krzysztof Wyrwa. "Each case must always be evaluated individually by the court," he.

Fireworks and new year's eve celebrations worldwide

With a glass of champagne into the new year… © Jean-Christophe Bott

Giant fireworks from Sydney to Berlin: for many people around the world, 2017 started peacefully. Istanbul, on the other hand, does not – at least 39 people die in an attack at a nightclub.

The year 2017 is here. Millions of people worldwide welcomed the new year. They also celebrated with big fireworks in Germany. In Berlin, Munich and Cologne, the parties were mostly peaceful, but under strict police protection. The people of Samoa and other Pacific islands had been the first to cheer the New Year: point 11.00 o'clock Central European Time (CET) began there 2017.

Attack in Istanbul

However, the celebrations were overshadowed by a terrorist attack in Istanbul. At least 39 people were killed and at least 69 injured in the attack at one of the largest nightclubs in the city center. Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said: 'This is a terrorist attack'."An attacker had gained access to the club by shooting a police officer and a civilian at the entrance.

The German Foreign Office expressed shock at the attack.

The leaders of the Green Party in the Bundestag, Katrin Goring-Eckardt and Anton Hofreiter, also expressed their dismay: "We mourn with the people in Turkey. The horrific attack in Istanbul leaves us unconvinced."

The head of the Turkish Office for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Mehmet Gormez, condemned the act. It was "barbaric and abhorrent," he wrote on Twitter. Terror can never be tolerated – no matter who it comes from or against whom it is directed. "I strongly condemn the terrorists who are responsible for this massacre," Gormez said. No Muslim conscience could accept something like this.

Biggest German party in Berlin

In Berlin, Germany's largest New Year's Eve party saw hundreds of thousands of visitors, according to organizers. The party mile in front of the Brandenburg Gate was secured with concrete bollards and other barriers against possible attacks with vehicles. Cologne also celebrated the New Year with a large police contingent one year after the mass sexual assaults on New Year's Eve.

Strict security measures were also often in place abroad – for example in Paris. People there celebrated the New Year with fireworks on the magnificent Champs-elysees boulevard despite freezing temperatures. Because of the terror threat, authorities had blocked about access roads with concrete blocks and vehicles.

Londoners greeted the new year with a twelve-minute fireworks display on the London Eye Ferris wheel on the Thames just as Big Ben chimed at midnight. The spectacle was set to music, including pop greats such as Prince, David Bowie and George Michael, who had died last year.

Already at 14.00 German time, more than a million spectators witnessed a gigantic fireworks display in Sydney Harbor alone. Above the famous opera house in the Australian metropolis, rockets flew into the night sky for twelve minutes in summer temperatures. Two men died in accidents involving fireworks during the night.

In Tokyo, people released hundreds of white balloons into the air. In Buddhist temples across Japan, bells rang exactly 108 times to free people from one of 108 earthly desires.

Partial firecracker ban in Italy

For the more than 1.3 billion inhabitants of China – the world's most populous country – the new year began simultaneously (at 17.00 CET); the giant country has only one time zone. There were no official celebrations of New Year's Eve in the country's major cities this year. The 1. January is also a holiday in the People's Republic, but according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, the new year does not begin until a good month later. However, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region hosted a spectacular fireworks display at the turn of the year 2016/17.

In many cities in India, such as New Delhi and Bangalore, people flocked to Bollywood movie-style parties. Strict security measures also in place in many places out of concern for terrorist attacks.

In Italy, too, people were cautious after the suspected assassin of Berlin was shot a few days ago near Milan. Tighter security was in place in Rome and other major cities across the country. A ban on firecrackers was in effect in Turin, Bologna and Venice, among other cities, according to media reports.

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