Media representatives in the dock

adminonNovember 24, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Cardinal George Pell surrounded by members of the media © Daniel Pockett/AAP

Now the reporting on the Pell case is occupying the judiciary: in Australia, proceedings have begun against dozens of publishers, editors and reporters for their publications in the abuse proceedings against Cardinal George Pell.

The media representatives are accused of violating the comprehensive reporting ban ordered by the court in this context. Among the defendants are editors of the daily newspapers "The Age," "Herald Sun" and "The Sydney Morning Herald," as well as presenters of radio and television stations.

Violation of the ban on reporting

According to the prosecution, the defendants interfered with the proceedings against Pell through their reporting and contributed to foreign media disregarding the reporting ban. This, they say, has "scandalized" the court and the proceedings. A legal counsel for the accused denied the accusations.

There is no precedent of this kind in Australian law, and the crime of "scandalization" does not exist. Moreover, all charges were formulated only vaguely. This was already agreed by the judge in charge, John Dixon, as reported by The Age. In addition, Dixon had hinted at possibly splitting the process into several individual proceedings.

The proceedings against Cardinal Pell, the former head of finance of the Vatican, for abuse of two minors had been opened in August. On 13. March he was sentenced to six years in prison. Pell (77) has lodged an appeal. This trial is scheduled to begin in June.

Protection from public interference

The court had imposed a ban on reporting and justified this with the protection of the judge and the jurors from public interference. The decree applied "to all states and territories in Australia and to all websites or other electronic (media) or broadcast formats accessible in Australia". The ban explicitly referred to reports about the ban itself.

The so-called gag order was lifted in February after a planned second abuse trial against the cardinal fell through. This cleared the way for legal reporting of the sentencing announcement.

Despite a ban, the accused media had previously reported, in a covert manner, that Pell, on 11. December had been found guilty by a jury on five counts of sexually abusing two teenage males.

Three women demonstrate on 4. September 2020 in Frankfurt in front of the entrance to the Dominican monastery © Bert Bostelmann (KNA)

Before the start of a regional conference of the Synodal Way, the Catholic Women's Community of Germany has called for a renewal of the church. To this end, they prayed for all those who are working for the opening of ordained ministry to women.

On Friday morning, about a dozen kfd members from different dioceses prayed in front of the conference hotel in Dortmund, among others, for all those who advocated for the opening of ordination offices for women. "We pray for all those who are disappointed in the church," the group also said. Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen also participated in the prayer.

Discuss Voderholzer criticism internally

Referring to Regensburg Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer's criticism of a preparatory paper from a Synodical Way forum dealing with women in the church, kfd deputy national chairwoman Agnes Wuckelt said, "This is an internal matter that we need to discuss. The substantive ies, such as biblical interpretation or biblical emphases, are something we may be able to address here at this gathering."

Voderholzer had complained in an open letter that parts of the text had been published which the Forum had not yet discussed. He himself, as a member of the forum, had not been included. In addition, the text "lacks any theological level". The paper says, among other things, that Jesus had disciples and did not ordain anyone. From this, demands for the position of women in the church were derived.

Regional conferences spread over five locations

The regional conferences are the second meeting of all participants of the Synodal Way. Because of the Corona pandemic, their meeting is spread over five locations.

In the Synodal Way reform dialogue, the German Catholic bishops and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) want to discuss the future of church life in Germany. One goal is to regain trust lost after abuse scandal. Reform dialogue focuses on sexual morality, priestly lifestyle, power and separation of powers, and the role of women in the church.

The initiative, which has never existed in this form in the Catholic Church, was originally planned for two years. Supreme body is the synodal assembly. It has 230 members, who are supposed to represent the widest possible range of church life.

People who biologically could be assigned neither to the male nor to the female gender are "endowed with all human dignity and all personal rights". They did not represent a third gender.

Passau Bishop Stefan Oster says he considers it an "impairment" when people do not have a clear biological assignment to the male or female sex. These people are not a third gender, Oster said Sunday in his homily for the Feast of the Holy Family in Passau Cathedral. "But they are humans – naturally equipped with all human dignity and all personal rights – who simply lack this assignment to one of the two sexes. It is a detriment."

Oster said that where intersexuality occurs, "nature has produced the variant of a human being who is missing something". Almost always these people could not reproduce. In creation, there are deviations from normal processes "that leave us wondering," the bishop said. "And so it happens that people are born who suffer a deficiency, such as when someone is born blind or with a heart defect or with some other impairment."

Furthermore, he said, there are people who grow up biologically clear as male or female, but who feel wrong about that gender identity. "And who, therefore, would like to have a change in gender affiliation. They are called trans people or call themselves that," Oster said. The questions, developments and decisions behind such processes are very complex and individual, often painful, he said. "And because I have very little personal experience with such people, I cannot and will not judge here."

Easter: homosexual inclination "simply there"

About homosexuals, the bishop added, "Their inclination is, as a rule, simply there." Church says that not the inclination, but its acting out in sexual act is sin. "That this is difficult to understand, I can honestly empathize with. But I also know people who, although they feel homosexual, feel within themselves that the Church is nevertheless right with its teachings. They feel that something does not fit for them in this act."

Oster said he believes the Church's teachings on family, gender and sexuality are true. Nonetheless, believers should be "open and accepting in their encounters with people who think about these things differently and live differently". Because God wants the salvation of every person regardless of their sexual orientation.

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