It is important that safeguards for due process for those accused of sexual abuse be honored, even as we work toward guaranteeing the safety of all members of the church.
Kevin E. McKenna
Kevin McKenna is the pastor of St. Theodore’s parish in Rochester, N.Y., former president of the Canon Law Society of America and the author of Pope Francis and the Parish (Paulist Press, 2022) and A Concise Guide to Canon Law: A Practical Handbook (Ave Maria Press, 2023).
Posted inFaith, Short Take
A new approach to Trump’s immigration policy: See, judge, act
We can see and judge the unjust treatment of refugees and migrants by the United States. Now we must address the root causes of the injustice.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
The First Canon: Mercy: Pope Francis and the canon lawyers
Many canon lawyers may be in an ecclesiastical funk since the election of Pope Francis. Not one to “wield canons” at miscreants violating ecclesiastical norms, this pontiff seems more prone to mediation, conciliation and mercy, while upholding the important values of communion within the
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Benedict XVI And the Synod of Bishops: Are significant changes in the synod process likely?
Are significant changes in the synod process likely?
Posted inFrom Our Archives
The Rights of Gods People
The church is not a democracy, we often hear, and the statement is true in several senses. But does this mean that the faithful have no rights before church authorities? Is the church’s teaching on the importance of basic human rights consistent with its own internal governance? The present Co
Posted inFaith
The Dallas Charter and Due Process
Before banks of cameras, intense lights and the gaze of victims of sexual abuse, the bishops of the United States recently debated in Dallas a new policy to “repair the breach” with those damaged at the hands of church ministers. They approved overwhelmingly a Charter for the Protection