Episode 4: Savio and Joseph – Demanding love not concealment: the abuse crisis in India

The Guests

Both guests are committed Catholics who believe the core of the Christian message is universal love and the absence of violence.

It is this core belief that motivates both men to act and to be central participants in a demand for the sanctity of human life and the protection of the innocence and purity of childhood.

This was at the core of Mahatma Gandhi’s message of course. The notion of “ahimsa”, doing no harm or injury to any living soul and the need for Truth to prevail

The sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults is the most horrific and egregious repudiation of this core belief and has to be stopped and prevented at all costs.

Revealing this scourge and revealing the truth is the cure of this disease. Men like Savio Rodrigues and Joseph Kennedy should be treasured for their demand for this truth to be acknowledged and acted upon.

Shownotes for Savio Rodrigues
After the 2019 Abuse Summit in Rome Mr Rodrigues made the following observations:

Savio Rodrigues pointed out that, “For the sake of victims, survivors and children, Pope Francis should reveal documents, publicly name and defrock sexual abusers and those who participated in the cover-up, not oppose statue of limitation laws from being amended. It would be too far-fetched to think that the Catholic Church, which has historically shown that it cannot self-police, now can create and implement a “we’ve fixed it with a more guidelines plan”. Guidelines have not worked in the past and they will not work now.”

And let’s not forget Satan. On the eve of the summit, the Pope said: “One cannot live an entire life accusing, accusing, accusing the Church. Whose is the office of the accuser? The devil! And those who spend their life accusing, accusing, accusing, are – I will not say children, because the devil does not have any – but friends, cousins, relatives of the devil.” And who are these” friends, cousins and relatives?” Savio questioned.

There was high expectation from ECA and the world that Pope Francis would keep his word of the past 6 years of his papacy and embrace a zero tolerance law or policy for the sexual abuse of a minor by clergy. In the past whenever he spoke on the issue he always said there must be ‘zero tolerance’. Amazingly these words were never spoken during the Summit. Instead we got ‘21 reflection points’ that were recycled old ideas and provided no concrete actions that any bishop is bound.

ECA responded challenging Pope Francis with 21 Actions that must be taken if this worldwide scourge should end. Key among those actions are a universal zero tolerance law of the Church that mandates that any clergy who sexually abuses a child will be immediately be removed from ministry and removed from the priesthood and any bishop or church leader who covers up the abuse of clergy will be immediately removed from leadership and removed from the priesthood. Pope Francis as Supreme Pontiff of the Church could have written this into law that week.

Another key action is calling for the Vatican to comply with the 2014 recommendations of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child as they relate to the protection of children.

In the end the Summit and Pope Francis issued only policies, a wish list, that no bishop is bound. The Summit was a failure on this score.

https://goachronicle.com/recycled-rhetoric-hailmary-team-reacts-to-vatican-abuse-summit/

Mr Rodriques is currently working on the documentary “Hail Mary” Here is an example of Savio Rodrigues on You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28kQi690RvQ

Show notes for Joseph Kennedy
In 2013 Mr Kennedy received a special recognition by Universal Studios California for his presentation on the increasing use of special effects in movies.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/Chennai-film-buff-makes-a-mark-at-Universal-Studios/article12061830.ece

In 2015 he embarked on his ambitious project, an international documentary titled “Men In White” on the life of war affected children in Sri Lanka. This documentary was extensively shot in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, Chennai and California. The documentary has had over 100 international screenings and was recently endorsed by none other than Ulagayagan Padmashri Kamal Haasan.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/an-insiders-eye-on-the-after-effects-of-war/article19640375.ece

The World Confederation of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco has also officially acknowledged this project as one of the ‘Best Practices’ by an Alumni.

http://www.exallievi.org/best-practices/

In 2019, Mr Kennedy’s comments on the Rome Summit were quoted in a significant article in The Goa Chronicle

https://goachronicle.com/recycled-rhetoric-hailmary-team-reacts-to-vatican-abuse-summit/

Recycled Rhetoric: ‘HailMary’ team reacts to Vatican abuse summit

“And what we needed to hear – what the whole world needed to hear is that Pope Francis was going to write a ‘motu proprio’ to enact into universal church law, because that’s what counts in the Catholic Church, zero tolerance for priests that have abused any individual is going to be removed from ministry and taken out of the priesthood.” Kennedy said.

Kennedy also observed, “The conviction of Cardinal Pell and the defrocking of Theodore McCarrick marks an extraordinary moment in the Church. It is time to accept the painful truth about abuse by some in the highest positions in the Christian community.”

“We’ve heard the condemnation, the apologies, but they are all words. Unless he removes a bishop who covered up sexual abuse then it just recycled rhetoric.” he said on Pope’s speech which offered no new solutions.

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