Fr Thomas Rosica Plagiarism priest submits teaching resignation to college
A long-time Vatican spokesman who apologised last week for plagiarism has resigned from the governing board of a Catholic college affiliated with the University of Toronto.
“As a sign of contrition and acknowledgement of the error, I freely submitted my resignation (February 24) to the Collegium of the University of St Michael’s College,” Fr Thomas Rosica said.
“It has been a privilege for me to serve that excellent university for many years in various capacities. I did not want my errors to cloud over the university governance and offer a bad example to students, educators and staff. We know that plagiarism is wrong, especially when it is practised deliberately. Please note that my actions were never deliberate. Nevertheless, they were wrong.”
Reports
Fr Rosica, a long-serving English language press aide at the Vatican Press Office, and the CEO of Canada’s Salt+Light Television network, was reported by Life Site News on February 15 to have plagiarised sections of text in several lectures and op-eds from a variety of writers, among them priests, theologians, journalists and at least two cardinals.
Subsequent reports found widespread plagiarism in essays, speeches, and op-eds by Fr Rosica, dating back more than a decade. Plagiarised sections in some texts ran beyond even one paragraph.
Vatican guilty of sexual hypocrisy, new book alleges
A new book has accused the Vatican of hypocrisy, claiming that the majority of prelates working within its walls live active homosexual lifestyles.
The book, titled In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, by French author and journalist Frederic Martel, was scheduled for publication in eight languages on February 21, the same day leaders of the world’s bishops’ conference convened in Rome to reflect on the abuse crisis that has rocked the Catholic Church.
The author, who is openly gay, said he spent four years of “authoritative research” interviewing current and former Vatican officials, including priests, bishops and cardinals.
He also claimed that Pope Francis’ homilies on those in the Church who lead “double lives” refer to “the dizzying hypocrisy of those who advocate a rigid morality while at the same time having a companion, affairs and sometimes escorts”.
God’s love never falls short – Pope
Despite the best efforts of human beings, it is only God the Father who will never fall short in loving his children, Pope Francis said last week.
“No one must doubt that he is the recipient of [the Father’s] love,” the Pope said. “He loves us, he loves me, we can say. He loves us even if our father and our mother have not loved us, there is a God in Heaven who loves us as nobody on this Earth has ever done and will ever do.”
At his weekly general audience, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the ‘Our Father,’ focusing on the start of the prayer and the words: “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”
This means, he said, that though it is impossible to find perfect love on earth, among imperfect creatures, “there is another love, that of the Father ‘who is in Heaven’”.
“This is a perfect love.” he commented. “If all our Earthly loves also crumble, and there remains nothing but dust, there is always for all of us, burning, the unique love of God.”
This expression of a Father “in Heaven” is meant to express a difference, not a distance, he explained. It is a tireless love that never ends and is always within reach.