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PDF versionWhere is Catholicism's Tahrir Square?
by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea on Mar. 16, 2011
Editor’s Note: Part of the column is graphic in nature.
Across the Middle East and in North Africa, courageous citizens are calling to account monarchies and dictators who have invested in power and personal privilege over the wellbeing of their people.
The sheer volume and tenacity of the crowds indeed are bringing change as some leaders fall and others hasten to gesture to their populace in ways meaningful enough to keep the peace.
In Philadelphia, the second grand jury in 6 years issued a second scathing report highlighting the moral corruption and indifference to souls we have come to expect from the Catholic hierarchy in that city and, indeed, around the world as events in Germany, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland have amply illustrated.
This time, the grand jury recommended criminal charges against three priests, a teacher, and Msgr. William J. Lynn, former secretary for clergy, who has been arrested.
Once again, a prince of the church -- fuschia-lined cape flowing behind him, gold ring shimmering in the camera lights trained on him -- stood at a bank of microphones apologizing for harboring 21-37 alleged sexual predators, many still laboring in the ministry he controls.
Really? Is there anyone left who believes this hackneyed and heartbreaking theater of hypocrisy?
So where is Catholicism's Tahrir Square? Why isn't the Philadelphia chancery surrounded by thousands of Catholics and their priests shouting for Cardinal Rigali to "Go! Go!" What will it take to mobilize the People of God to insist on, to fight for an end to a privileged patriarchy holding up a feudal monarchy whose members tolerate sexual and spiritual slaughter of the lambs?
When will the people say, "Enough!" and assume the power that is theirs to wield within their own church?
We hear about all the "good and decent priests" who are unfairly tarred by this never ending story of power perverted through sexual assaults against the innocent. Can one truly be an alter Christus, a shepherd of souls, and not rebel, protest, turn over the tables of the money changers of today, and shout "Enough!"
What will it take for priests to speak, to insist? Priests have that power. There is no Catholic Church without the ever-shrinking community of contemporary priests. The power is there to be assumed and imagine if it were.
Jesus faced the Pharisees directly and called them out publicly for their greed, indifference to those in need, and their gross abuse of power. Should not a contemporary alter Christus do at least as much?
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And where is the laity? Philadelphia renders us out of excuses and rationalizations. Hundreds of thousands of children's bodies and souls have been desecrated worldwide by men of God who still today are then shielded by the hierarchy and set out among the unknowing.
At this point, "sexual abuse" has been so overused that the words are stripped of their emotional clout. What we are talking about here, however, is not "just" a priest flashing an altar boy after Mass. As the John Jay report made clear, about a third of abusing priests penetrated their victims or engaged them in oral sex and only 16 percent stopped at touching under the clothes.
It is imperative for every one of us to "get" what this means. It means an adult man's erect penis tearing anal tissue; it means a child's small mouth forced around an engorged and pushing penis; it means a man's hand -- one that the day before may have transformed wine into blood -- probing a little girl's vagina or pulling at the penis of a pre-pubescent boy, perhaps after plying the young person with drugs and alcohol.
We must conjure these scenes in our minds and feel them in our guts in order to do what is right. Only by imagining ourselves on a rectory bed, under a crucifix, with a priest we love and trust lying on top of us grinding to orgasm, can we access appropriate empathy for the victims and outrage at those that still, today, cover up sexual crimes and soul assaults committed by priests in their charge.
Catholic laity, where do you stand? What will you risk to take seriously Jesus' clear warning, "If any of you puts a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believes in me, it would be better if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Do we not take him seriously? The pope, cardinals, and bishops have privileged those who put the worst kind of stumbling blocks before generations of children, stumbling blocks that keep tripping them up, often for decades. What do you think you should do about it?
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's declares: "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Similarly, psychoanalyst Sue Grand (author or The Reproduction of Evil) chills us when she addresses the roles of bystanders in the perpetration of evil: "Secrecy, concealment, denial, ambiguity, confusion: these are Satan's fellow traveler's … The operations of silence potentiate evil and remove all impediments from its path."
Silence about evil, minimization of evil (mistakes were made, but it's time to move on), obfuscation of evil (no one really knew how bad sexual abuse was); and projection of evil (the whole crisis is over-blown by anti-Catholic media) allow evil to reproduce itself. What should we do?
Is it possible that the Holy Spirit, like those yearning and determined souls in Tahrir Square, persists in calling us to action through the endless, crushingly repetitive exposure of careless indifference to suffering and moral depravity most recently exemplified in Philadlephia?
Will we respond? Where will the Catholic Tahrir Square be found? When will it be filled with righteous indignation and sacred insistence that "Enough is Enough?" What would Jesus do?
[Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea is author of Perversion of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church and a psychologist who has been working with sexual abuse survivors for 25 years.]
What can we do? Withhold
What can we do? Withhold money? I have done that for over a year, but recently pledged a small amount because I returned to my parish because I missed the people, the body of Christ, and felt that I should contribute something to the operation of the parish.
The only salvation for the church is for not only the perpetrators, but the co-conspirators, bishops, cardinals to be indicted and prosecuted.
How can we demand that? Is it not up to the District Attorneys where the crimes took place? I live in a south Texas city where the catholic church reigns like a parallel KINGDOM. I cannot imagine a district attorney going after any of our retired bishops. There are civil suits against the archdiocese by families that whose children were victimized. In one, the perpetrator is dead.
How can we act? We depend, disgustingly, on the leaders of the Church to ask for our opinions. We do not give them in the context of the MASS or community gatherings.
Perhaps SNAP could put out a petition on FACEBOOK to be signed by practicing catholics and delivered to the National Council of Catholic Bishops demanding that they do what? Step-down admitting their complicity in the repeated victimization of children? Would they not be incriminating themselves and would then face indictment, prosecution, and imprisonment? Would they do that?
There is NO REMEDY within the Catholic Church. It must come from civil authorities prosecuting crimes. Since many times these priests were moved by their bishops across state lines, there should be a federal prosecution under the anti-MOB RICO act that could be and should be done.
There's NO Tahir Square in
There's NO Tahir Square in the RCC,
Oh, there is the --Vatican--
Oh, there is the --Vatican-- square, Betrayed, and I can't help wonder if Benedict, when gazing over the area, doesn't on occasion, break out into a cold sweat.
you're not suggesting that
you're not suggesting that someone post a date and that everyone with the means make a pilgrimage to the vatican on that date and just sit there for as long as it takes, are you? dont forget that the vatican has been laundering money for the mob and it could get ugly.
Do you think too many people
Do you think too many people cheering, praying and hanging on his every word makes him nervous?
There's NO Tahir Square in
There's NO Tahir Square in the RCC,
--------------------------------------
Fear not, it's coming.
RCC Tahrir Square Coming? A
RCC Tahrir Square Coming? A New “Sacred Spring?”
===========================================
Roman Catholicism is becoming a wasteland — in chaos because it’s become a cult of male-ego — the domain of male-absolutist, self-elected imperial dominion. The lording of empire makes life’s journey impossible when it is dominated by distrust, guilt and fear, the antitheses to faith, hope and love.
My God, My God! What have your People come to? The yoke is unbearable, the burden heavy. The terrorist ways of royal despotism persist in Tridentine cult, what is antithetical to your Gospel message and the Second Vatican Council. How more blind to history can die-hard royalists be? Why do they persist in waging a Second War of Religions?
This is a Spring-time in which there is the prospect for a global “Tahrir Square Happening,” and a “SACRED SPRING” (beyond the Philosophes of Vienna), namely, at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, MI, June 10-12, 2011.
The AMERICAN CATHOLIC COUNCIL can revitalize the Promise of the Second Vatican Council. Here’s the opportunity for peaceful planning to return to the Gospel of Peace and Justice. There can be a “Sacred Spring” in which the Gospel of Eucharistic Altruism liberates people from the cult of terror, guilt and fear. It’s time for the People to speak up and insist on being heard.
And there never will be,
And there never will be, please liberals at the ACC conference go form your own Church we'll both be happy.
You think forcing the
You think forcing the hierarchy to take the abuse of children seriously is a LIBERAL issue? Are not conservative Catholics equally outraged? Are conservatives so bent on holding onto power in the church and having all their beliefs validated by the hierarchy that they are willing to sacrifice a few children in the name of preventing scandal?
Is it really going to take a LIBERAL Catholic to clean up this mess? Or are you just saying that the mess doesn't exist.
Please clarify.
This is why the hierarchs
This is why the hierarchs always win, Anonymous.
All the reasons and counter-arguments you have listed are probably true. And it probably reflects the general situation in most US dioceses.
But we folks out here in the pews have to stop fighting this battle on the hierarchs terms. First, you and me and everyone else must free our minds of the dominance and hegemony of the hierarchs. It's time for put up or shut up.
The best place to start is on the parish level. Forget about grand confrontations at the cathedral. [Don't get me wrong, if that is the place where things have progressed to in your neck of the woods, go for it!]
It would be nice if the hierarchs just all en masse just resigned, but that is not going to happen. And, I don't think that it is all that important, either.
My best advice: IGNORE the hierarchs!!! I have long since stop pining and hoping that the hierarchs will come around. They betrayed and corrupted their high office long ago. LET THEM GO! Let's take matters into our own hands.
On each and every local level, with all the variety and variance that implies, gather all the people around you who share your vision of the church to come, to develop the best strategies to achieve two concrete goals:
1. Defund the hierarchs. Each local area will have different strategies. Demand local control over the finances. When you and your friends cut off the money stream to parish and diocese, believe me, the hierarchs hearts and minds will follow. This is going to demand that you actually raise more money to fund the ministries and programs that you value!
2. Refuse to encourage your sons and daughters to take up ministry in the church until the priesthood is thoroughly reformed and renewed from parish to pope. It will work! Without new recruits to replenish their aging and corrupt numbers, the bizarre and perverse behavior of the hierarchs will only get worse, more desperate. We Catholics actually hold the upper hand in this struggle.
We need to adopt the revolutionary long view of things. Just like Moses, most of us will not "get to the Promised Land." We have to do this for our grandchildren!
Thank you, Jim, for helping
Thank you, Jim, for helping those of us who not only acknowledge (are are sickened by, might I add) this crisis in our church but who are ready to make a long lasting, effective change. The two ideas you had mentioned in your post are practical, "rubber meets the road" approaches that can lead to not only a definitive change in the abuse by clergy but also an empowering of the laity. An argument that I seem to hear extremely often (particularly surrounding any discussion on sexual abuse in the church) is that if there were no heiarchy, then that would take care of this particular problem... as if somehow, magically, all would be well. Inevitably, it comes down to accountability rather than removal of the entire community of priests in my opinion, because there truly are wonderful, decent, passionate priests that are working within that heiarchical system for systemic change. And I would dare say that most of those priests are just as outraged by not only the crimes that their brothers have committed but also by the blatant disregard and/or willingness to "look the other way" by some of their other brother priests. With that being said, I so strongly believe that we, the laity, need to stand up and take our rightful place in the church.... not from a hatred for priests but from a deep, heartfelt compassion for the victims. Hatred breeds hatred, but compassion & determination creates positive change. I will never be able to (thank God) understand the mind of ANYONE who could harm a child. But what I will always be able to do is work to ensure that the abuse ends and that perpetrators are held accountable. Because of the enormity and sheer disgust of this particular issue, I would imagine that anyone with a pulse would want to do SOMETHING to help... but because of the enormity of it, most folks (including myself by times) feel overwhelmed and simply don't know where to start to help. Your "grass roots" suggestions are so very needed, and they are doable. I pray that every person who reads your thoughts not only take heed but take action. I know I will, and maybe... just maybe... we can manage to find a way to work together with the priests who are like-minded.
AMEN!!!
AMEN!!!
If you want to become
If you want to become Protestants in your protest that's your business. There are plenty of Protestant churches out there where you would be welcome.
Remember that God rebukes the proud and gives grace to the humble, according to the Book of Proverbs.
Pray for the bishops. Don't stand in judgement lest you be judged because the bishops stands in the place of Christ to quote St. Ignatius of Antioch around the year 105 A.D.
Focus on your own holiness and call for real spiritual reform rather than imitating secular politics.
I thought the priest stood in
I thought the priest stood in the place of Christ?Pray for bishops? They did not have the guts to blow the whistle a long time ago. If you are over 60,I'm 80, we were taught that we can never bring scandal to the church. It finally caught up to us. I really feel bad for the good priests.PROUD,give me a break.Who the h do we think we are? The TRUE church? Sometime I wonder.
I fully agree.
I fully agree.
@ Anonymous' brave words: I'm
@ Anonymous' brave words:
I'm not going anywhere, thank you very much!
Of course, if you would like to join you mindless soul mates back in the Reformation, then just knock yourself out! Have at it! Because, you will have surrendered the future to those of us who yearn for a new Pentecost in the church.
BTW: Catholicism would be much better off if we had listened to folks like Martin Luther instead of blindly retreating behind silly intellectual and political walls that forced Catholics to adopt a weak and bizarre resistance to the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, and even to the Enlightenment. But that is another argument for another day.
The words of Ignatius of Antioch [one of the original bishop boot-lickers of Christianity] may help you to further indulge complicit hierarchs, Anonymous.
But I prefer the judgement of the words of Jesus:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitened sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Mk 23:27)
And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea." (Mk 9:42)
Anonymous, you have unwittedly acknowledged the kernel truth of the matter: the hierarchs betrayed their high office to become nothing more than corporate political hacks (of the all-male, feudal, geriatric genre).
The present struggle and controversy in the Catholic Church is not about "holiness," "spiritual reform," theology or even ecclesiology. It's about the hierarchs' political hegemony and exploitation of the people of God.
In that struggle I know which side I want to be on.
As my sainted sixth-grade teacher, Sister Mary Adelaide, would frequently reminds us: "Christianity is not for sissies."
There is nothing in your
There is nothing in your posts is even vaguely reminiscent of Catholic teaching. You call St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the earliest martyrs of the faith, a "boot-licker". That is beyond disgusting. It is offensive to all those who gave their lives for the faith.
You claim that the "present struggle and controversy in the Catholic Church is not about 'holiness', 'spiritual reform'..." That very statement is clear evidence of how far you have drifted. The call of Our Lord was a call to continuing conversion, continuing to move away from our selfishness and toward Him. Bishops, popes, priests, sisters, laity, when any of us make mistakes, commit sins, it is because we have embraced our selfishness and not embraced the Lord. That is why we must constantly strive to become holy, to reform ourselves spiritually, and to conform ourselves to Christ. The more we do that, the less "struggle" and "controversy" there will be.
The fact that you do not recognize this spiritual reality indicates that you view the Church as a mere human endeavor, an organization to be influenced by sit-ins and demonstrations, chanting and withholding tithes (I would remind you, that the tithe is not a man-made rule, it is a divinely given law; the Lord commands us to return the first-fruits of our labor to Him). The Church is not a government or labor union or political party. The Church is the Body of Christ. We are called to conform ourselves to Christ, not to conform Christ to ourselves.
Your sixth grade teacher was right, "Christianity is not for sissies". Sissies complain that the world and the Church is not fair; when they don't get their way, they pack up their toys (or their checkbooks) and go home. True Christians recognize that we are all imperfect creatures trying our best to become perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Christians recognize that we do that by praying for each other, by studying the Sacred Scriptures and the Church's teaching, by prayer, fasting, almsgiving and by continually turning away from sin and being faithful to the Gospel.
Your church CWG, at the
Your church CWG, at the institutional level, is rotten to its jurisdictional core. People are tired of the same old gas coming out of supposedly faithful Catholics. One cannot, without geat dysfunction, be faithful to the practice of corruption, even under the title of orthodoxy and christianity.
The church needs to stand up and get rid of all the most-reverend-father- filthy-mcnasties that have been feeding off and sometimes destroying the pure and innocent believer.
By rebelling against Christ
By rebelling against Christ and His Church, you risk not seeing the promised land: heaven.
@ maggie townsend: No one is
@ maggie townsend:
No one is "rebelling against Christ and His Church" but rather most of us are saying that we have had ENOUGH of hierarchs who have betrayed their priesthood and corrupted their high office by their complicity in the rape and sodomy of children by priests.
I'll take my chances about "seeing the promised land," thank you very much.
Besides, as my sixth grade teacher, Sister Mary Adelaide always admonished us: "Never confuse the CHRIST for the church!
I stopped giving to the
I stopped giving to the Church and my Parish 2 years ago; no one ever asked me why! And our Bishop called me "mean spirited". Most Catholics are not really aware of what is going on in the Hierarchy of the Church and there are too many Catholics who still "pray, pay and obey". Lay people who work in the Church world become aware of more cover up even on a local level than most Catholics can even imagine. The cover up is not only in Rome but on a local level as well. The culture of clericalism needs to be ended, we all know that.
The present Church climate is, "Well, if you don't like it, leave." And we are.
What can we do? Do our
What can we do?
Do our homework.
Study. And download (at no cost) the document below. Send it to your lists. The internet is a fragile creation, and below is the result of a man's 50 years of scholarly effort and labor. People in every country need access to this as an option other than resignation or violence, whatever the issue. Strategic nonviolent struggle is far richer in ideas than standing and protesting, and petitioning or even cutting money. It's fascinating to read, and methods can be humorous. Imagine in WWII the German army trying to find its way around a town where all street and house signs have vanished.
The link to download is the recent ~900 page how-to manual by Gene Sharp called Self-Liberation:A Guide to Strategic Planning for Action to End a Dictatorship or Other Oppression. It is a resource used by people around the world seeking to right injustice, overthrow dictators, halt coups, etc.
It's at http://www.aeinstein.org/selfLiberation.html
It contains the material known to and used by certain leaders of the Egyptian protesters (read more in interview links below).
"All of the readings recommended in Self Liberation may be downloaded as PDF files (at no cost):
*On Strategic Nonviolent Conflict, by Robert L. Helvey (2004), 189 pgs.
*The Anti-Coup, by Gene Sharp and Bruce Jenkins (2003), 72 pgs.
*From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation, by Gene Sharp (1993) and (2003, 2008, 2010), 101 pgs.
*Social Power and Political Freedom (excerpts) by Gene Sharp (1980), 83 pgs.
*The Politics of Nonviolent Action (excerpts) by Gene Sharp (1973), 48 pgs.
*There Are Realistic Alternatives by Gene Sharp (2003), 61 pgs.
*Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential (excerpts) by Gene Sharp (2005), 224 pgs.
Below are some of interviews from links on Sharp's home page www.aeinstein.org
Together they give a comprehensive view of the history of his thinking and some of its basic ideas. Not, I hope, a hazard for Catholics, but I want to add his reasons for saying that if you mix violence against people or property with nonviolent resistance, you weaken your side. It shifts attention and media from the issues to the violence, and reduces support locally and abroad.
A longer, detailed German interview with Sharp
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14871825,00.html
This is a 4 minute audio interview on public radio with Sharp February 22, 2011.
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&...
A 2008 article on Sharp in Wall Street Journal. Some on Helvey.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122127204268531319.html
More personal details plus quotes below from 2007.
http://www.ohiostatealumni.org/media/Pages/GeneSharp.aspx
"Ironically, the military understands Sharp’s work best. “I’ve basically given up on [peace activists],” he said. “They think you get rid of war by refusing to take part and protesting. No! You get rid of war when people have something else they can do more effectively.”
"Robert Helvey, a career military man, recruited Sharp to help train Burmese activists in their underground campaign against the military government. Sharp wrote the document that became From Dictatorship to Democracy, a concise restatement of his other work. The 88-page primer has been translated into dozens of languages. Some of his most eager readers are dictators and their henchmen. That’s a good thing, he said. “They’ll know what they’re up against. They will know that so many dictatorships have been brought down with the aid of these methods.…"
This is also a good article plus 2.5 minute audio.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12522848
And please be encouraged. There is still something very fine about the Vatican. It was, for instance, the Holy See that was in the middle of getting cluster munitions banned by a nonviolent action called international law. Ripping and tearing of little bodies anywhere must not be lost sight of. I see no organization other than the Church able to face off with the multinational arms manufacturers/traders and the wars they need to sustain profit.
Yes, we do need a Tahrir
Yes, we do need a Tahrir square! but all thats going to happen is that people are going to vent on this medium and still nothing will get done.
You're absolutely correct --
You're absolutely correct -- THERE IS NO REMEDY! If there was, wouldn't it have been put into place by now? THEY DON'T WANT TO FIX IT! because it would mean giving up their control, power, and their sick access to children. It would mean actually admitting what they've been doing for CENTURIES! It would mean doing away with the canon laws that protect them from being prosecuted. And, worst of all, IT WOULD EMBARASS THEM. There's a canon law regarding the behavior of priests that says (loosely), "Under no circumstances shall you embarass the Church," and "you will protect the Church first and foremost ABOVE ALL ELSE." (Caps mine.) We should see them as they truly are - a bunch of pedophiles pretending to be priests hiding behind canon law.
When I was a child, I was taught when I sinned and went to confession, my sins were forgiven. HOWEVER, I needed to "make a GOOD Act of Contrition." As an adult, it occurred to me that if I continued to commit the same sins over and over again, there really was no contrition, no remorse, no accountability to God, and so there should be no forgiveness. It seems the priests, bishops, and cardinals have been forgiving each other for centuries without benefit of "contrition" or accountability - it's been criminals forgiving criminals far too long. I want to be there when they come before God and ask for forgiveness.
PLEASE, everyone, read "Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse" by Thomas P. Doyle, A.W.R. Sipe, and Patrick J Wall -- and then LEAVE THE CHURCH! Whether you put only "a small amount to help them pay for running the church" in the collection basket, you're still supporting the church by your presence which translates into aiding and abetting what they're doing. You are all accomplices because you are too weak to stand up and say, "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!" Same goes for the so-called "priests of integrity" -- if they had ANY integrity, wouldn't they have spoken out by now? If they ALL demanded accountability and change and refused to work, do they really think the pope would fire all of them? I think not. Sadly, you're all sheeple and have obviously followed the lead sheep over the cliff.
Some states have taken matters into their own hands and have removed the statute of limitations from sexual abuse crimes against children - Florida and Washington are two. I was active in Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) for 3 LONG years and we all finally gave up because the only thing we gained were the bumps on our heads became larger.
There are other Catholic communities out there -the American Catholic Church and the Eccumenical Catholic Communion. Both are what we have all wanted and hoped the Roman Catholic Church would become - ain't happenin'. I want a faith community - in my lifetime - that adheres to moral values, is accountable for their actions, and sanctions a lay-driven church rather than a power-from-the-top model. I've belonged to one in the Seattle, WA area for 5 years and I LOVE my community. Go to their websites and see if there's a community in your area -- you'll be so happy you did. Read their Constitutions and note there are not 1,792 canon laws to tell you how be with God.
If we cannot be absolutely certain our children are not going to be harmed, then as parents, we SHOULD NOT put them in harm's way. The pope is NOT infallible, all priests are NOT to be trusted, and church should NOT be a place where our children are violently harmed for life. If you, the laity, get your heads out of the sand and read, inform yourselves, of what is actually happening in the Roman Catholic Church, it will make you sick to your stomach. Hopefully, enough to make you leave.
Please READ:
"In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I" by David Yallop
"The Coming Catholic Church: How the Faithful are Shaping a New American Catholicism" (especially Chapter 8) by David Gibson
"Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse" by Doyle, Sipe, and Wall. This actually came out of a documented report they did.
"Papal Sin" by Gary Wills
If you read these books, along with the gazillion articles on the Internet about clergy sexual abuse, THEN you can make an INFORMED decision about whether you want to remain in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church has become dark, evil, corrupt, power-driven, greedy beyond all imagination and NO ONE has dared to stop them. Shame on all of you who continue to support their unspeakable crimes against our children by attending Mass every Sunday and continuing to put these criminals back up onto the pedestals from which they've so obviously fallen.
"Submitted by an ex-Roman
"Submitted by an ex-Roman Catholic...."
Well, at least you are honest. You note you are no longer a Catholic. Mary Gail Frawley ODea, however, writes at the end of her (very helpful) column: "Will we respond?" as if she were still part of the "we," the Catholic church, not a Protestant Episcopalian, an ex-Catholic. Thus, to a degree, she is a worse Protestant for pretending to be a Catholic when she poses such a question (for Catholics). Can she wear one face to her Episcopalian friends and another to Catholics, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true?
Given that sexual abuse among Protestant clergy and staff is just as rampant (as it is in the Catholic church), why doesn't Frawley ODea tackle that? Why not check with the insurance companies that protect Protestant churches against risk? Taking on that task or mission, Frawley ODea won't have to assume the appearance of a Catholic.
Please provide links if you
Please provide links if you are going to make a broad claim like "abuse is just as rampant among Protestant clergy. Also, I would like some evidence of a cover up among Protestant Clergy that is equal to the Catholic Church cover up.
Anonymous, I've been glancing
Anonymous, I've been glancing through QC Geoffrey Robinson's book: The Case of the Pope.
Whether we like him or what he has written or not, it certainly resonates.
I thought it interesting he has dedicated it to his father, maybe he's Catholic, I hate to ponder on that thought.
Terrible isn't it that our mind automatically takes that path, especially considering the contents, well mine does anyway and whose fault is that.
This is exactly what I have
This is exactly what I have been thinking. Perhaps our Tahir Square is in Rome. We need to do something. I have been betrayed, violated, and scorned by the community that I saw as family, body of Christ. Isn't that what we are taught? It's what I try to teach in my Religion class. I love my faith and yet it is absolutely beyond my ability to understand how all this can continue to be ignored. We have to do something!
We are hamstrung because the
We are hamstrung because the Eucharist and our communities are hostage to the hierarchy.
What if we could come up with simple acts of non-violent resistance that would flummox the bishops?
For example, what if every woman who supported the rights of married men and all women to join the priesthood started wearing veils at Mass? What bishop could object to women covering their heads in Church? But if everyone knew what it meant, and everyone saw all those veils week after week...
What if people refused to receive the Eucharist from priests, but only from Eucharistic ministers? That's rather more radical.
What if, when one of us is refused the sacrament for being in a gay relationship or a second marriage without an annulment, the next person in line takes the Host, breaks it and shares it?
I'm just brain storming here - 40 years of meetings with the bishops have left us spinning our wheels. We need to find a way to take back our Church at Mass.
Bigid, I love these
Bigid, I love these suggestions! Yet, those in charge would just find ways of denying those women wearing vales the Eucharist; eliminate the Eucharistic ministers and make it a "sin" to share the Eucharist or no longer allow the Eucharist to be placed in the hand. None-the-less, food for thought.
We are hamstrung because the
We are hamstrung because the Eucharist and our communities are hostage to the hierarchy.
What if we could come up with simple acts of non-violent resistance that would flummox the bishops?
For example, what if every woman who supported the rights of married men and all women to join the priesthood started wearing veils at Mass? What bishop could object to women covering their heads in Church? But if everyone knew what it meant, and everyone saw all those veils week after week...
What if people refused to receive the Eucharist from priests, but only from Eucharistic ministers? That's rather more radical.
What if, when one of us is refused the sacrament for being in a gay relationship or a second marriage without an annulment, the next person in line takes the Host, breaks it and shares it?
I'm just brain storming here - 40 years of meetings with the bishops have left us spinning our wheels. We need to find a way to take back our Church at Mass.
It is about time that the
It is about time that the people start speaking up. The only way to make an institution listen is to hit them in the pocket book. Even our so called sacred institution the church is totally dependant on Mammon (money). When they find they can't afford rent or there is no money in the bank for their own salaries you will find that their attitudes change very quickly. Bishops and priests like their cushy life style of having everything paid for and being waited on hand and foot, it makes them feel like kings. Like the middle eastern monarchs they like to dictate the terms, feel they are above reproach and are in no position to listen to the commoners. It is the fuedal system of the middle ages; but we do have the power to change it and again that is money. We could call for the ouster of all bishops guilty of covering up sex offenders, and all guilty priests. We can call for the church to allow married priests thus ending our priests shortage and save the closing of many parishes. All we need is a grassroots movement to fireup the people to stop giving funds to the church till they meet the peoples demands, or as they will say, the Holy Spirit has called us in a new direction. The people are the church and the faith is held in the people. Priests are as their deaconate vows say "the servants of the people" and yet we seem to be living in a church where the people are the servants of the priests, something is wrong, very very wrong!
Peace John
The Tahrir Square for the
The Tahrir Square for the Catholic Church--CUT OFF THE MONEY. As long as the laity continue to contribute financially to a dysfunctional system, no one can expect any real change,only lip service. (And yes,I do know some priests who are still suffering from false accusations and innuendos,esp.in my own diocese.)
And who do you think you will
And who do you think you will punish by cutting off the money? The bishops, the priests? No, you will punish the laypeople who spent their lives working for meagre salaries, and who are doing the majority of the pastoral work in our church. Is this what you want? Beware, the cancer of vengeance destroys human mind and heart!
Anonymous, this has
Anonymous, this has absolutely nothing to do with 'vengeance'! Do you think Jesus was practicing 'vengeance' when he overthrew the tables of the money changers in the temple, or when he called the priests of his day and age 'hypocrites and vipers' or when he said 'Woe to those who harm the little ones'?
Withholding the money supply of these predators and hypocrites has nothing to do with vengeance and everything to do with Jesus Christ. I now give ALL my money that used to go to my local parish to charities that do not use it for nefarious [evil] purposes. Without total financial transparency, and not this phony imbecilic attempt to deceive the faithful with the " pastoral financial council' with the pastor as chairman and without independent auditors, no one should contribute. See http://www.charitynavigator.org/?gclid=COnOgu7NnJ8CFQgNDQodGzzJNw for legitimate charities that have been vetted by accountants. If your goal is to truly help those who need it, you will give to a worthwhile institution that doesn't use it for hush money, to pay bribes, or to hire lawyers. But if you just wish to continue the pattern that you learned as a child, well then keep giving to the Catholic church and don't allow the legal facts to interfere. See http://bishopaccountability.org/ for a complete record of the legal depositions and documents regarding the crimes of the Catholic church.
If you know that an individual or institution is complicit in immoral and illegal acts, as a Christian, you have an obligation to withhold financial support regardless of how you were trained to disregard anything negative about the Catholic church.
Yes, the cancer of vengeance
Yes, the cancer of vengeance destroys the human mind and heart (not to mention the soul). Yet, I don't think that this is about vengeance. I think it is about strategy. I certainly will consider your point that what may end up happening is that those who work for the Church for such meager salaries to help spread the good news, may be the ones affected. If this is true, it is all the more alarming that the hierarchy would first take from the ones who have the least and risk the spreading of Christ's love in order to maintain their lifestyles and the wealth of the institutional Church.
Parishioners can establish
Parishioners can establish separate parish accounts to pay staff salaries, utilities, etc. as well as help folks in need.
There is no need to continue enabling rightwing episcopal and papal behaviors by giving money to parishes under current arrangements.
There's no "vengeance" here, only responsible measures to assure transparency and accountability at the parish level.
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Yes, we
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Yes, we must visualize. We must stand in the truth. We must voice the truth. Proclaim it. Priests, too, must not be cowed by the threat of intimidation and of having their faculties pulled ("Losing your life for my sake?") and speak out en masse about what is unacceptable by priests, by bishops, by the Roman hierarchy up to the Pope.
Amen.
Yess, and we must sspeak out
Yess, and we must sspeak out en mass about what is unaceptable by laity as well! Otherwise we will be the greatest hipocrits!
To speak about what is
To speak about what is unacceptable by priests, bishops, etc. - what about speaking out as to what is unacceptable by the laity. As baptized Catholics we are all responsible for what goes on. Let's stop the blame game and accept that we are all sinners in need of redemption. Let He (she) who is without sin cast the first stone. I'm not in approval of what is happening but I'm tired of a bunch of sinners being so sanctimonious. I'm just another sinful woman who begs for your prayers and asks God for forgiveness for all of us.
TMR: You say,"What about
TMR: You say,"What about speaking out as to what is unacceptable by the laity. As baptized Catholics we are all responsible for what goes on."
This is what I say to you and the laity. All the laity are guilty of sending their money to Bishops to enable the Bishops to use our money to cover up the sodomzing of children. By covering up the initial crimes, the Bishops of the hierarchy caused more children to be sodomized and raped and used our money to finance the cover ups and hire defense attorneys to "defend" their diocesan power.
In short the laity are guilty of funding the Bishops' criminal activity and any lay person who defends the hierarchy, is not only ignorant,but also contributing to perpetuating the criminal power of Bishops. You may not be aware of the full extent of the coverup scandals. This not a priests scandal. It is a WORLDWIDE BISHOPS SCANDAL.
Those who think the Bishops have reformed are deluding themselves. Every Bishop is completely free to secretly spend the laity's money any way he wants. Furthermore every Bishop is still completely free to cover any future scandals involving his priests. Nothing has changed. The Bishops still have no oversight and no limitation on their power.
You may be tempted to say that the cardinals are overseeing all the bishops, but that is not true. A Cardinal is just a bishop of a large archdiocese. A cardinal does not supervise outside of his archdiocese.
You might think that the Vatican and the Pope are supervising the bishops to prevent them from criminally covering up the sodomizing of children. The Vatican and the Popes have either been ignorant of what was going on diocese after diocese, in country after country, in which case they have failed in their supervision, or the Vatican and the Pope knew what the Bishops around the world were doing because every Bishop is required to prevent scandals from becoming public knowledge as a matter of traditional policy.
Because these cover-ups are so widespread in virtually every diocese in so many countries, it is a virtual certainy that such a universal policy exists. Why you ask would there be a universal policy requiring all Bishops to keep secret all these sodomizing scandals? Because BISHOPS are REQUIRED to keep ALL SCANDALS SECRET. Why would there be a universal policy to do that you ask? Because when scandals occur people get angry and demand justice and this anger causes division and disunity in the church.
Of course such a universal policy only works when it is kept secret. If you know the history of the church then you know the one thing that the hierarchy must stop and prevent is disunity and division. The Bishops have used any means necessary to prevent a schism. Covering up scandals may have worked in the past if the scandal was localized. What happens in one parish or one diocese can be hidden from the rest of the church. The irony of this worldwide sodomizing scandal is that by following their uniform cover-up policy the hierarchy has made the scandal far worse not only because many thousands more children were sodomized, but more importantly because all the Bishops have created a schism of betrayal between the laity and the hierarchy.
The hierarchy have created a schism of mistrust, a schism of betrayal. They have yet to tell the whole truth.
You want the "blame game" to stop. I do too, but not until the entire hierarchy and the pope admit the whole truth and lay oversight of the hierarchy is restored. What do I mean? The worldwide abuse of power by the hierarchy must not only be admitted, but also the bishops of the hierarchy must be chosen by the local community which was the tradition of the church for over 1800 years. If the way the governing power in the church works is not reformed, many thousands of more children will be sodomized by a hierarchy that has no limit on its power.
So we're ---all--- to blame
So we're ---all--- to blame for the rape and abuse of children at the hands of priests only to have that covered up by bishops? The laity, TMR, engage in mere mistakes and imperfections compared to the absolute spirit-destroying ---sins-- that these priests have!
So you would equate say, eating meat on Friday which many Catholics still consider sinful with rape and abuse that goes along with the territory of power and control over a body of people??
Wow. All I can say is that I would put you right in the category of those bishops and priests, who. when all of this exploded, immediately blamed women and contraception.
Sanctimonious, you say? Someone really got to you, TMR and you bought it all lock, stock and barrel. Unfortunately too many still do. And --fear-- is that which propels such meek acceptance and behaviors.
And are you just another
And are you just another sinful woman who is seducing young boys or girls, betraying your trust? We might all be flawed, indeed, but this is appalling and goes far beyond simple good old human sin. Read Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory". This is not simply a case of sinners being hypocritical by pointing out priests who rape and diddle. There repeated offences have destroyed innocence, destroyed lives, physically and spiritually, and have consequences on future generations and profoundly undermined the moral credibility of the Church. Further, these offenders did not ask either your forgiveness or that of anyone else. They went on repeating their actions and performing Mass and receiving the Eucharist, with one massive disconnect between performing sexual acts after just having celebrated Mass. What does that say about the Faith of these priests?
TMR on Mar. 16, 2011. You
TMR on Mar. 16, 2011.
You stated:
"To speak about what is unacceptable by priests, bishops, etc. - what about speaking out as to what is unacceptable by the laity. As baptized Catholics we are all responsible for what goes on. Let's stop the blame game and accept that we are all sinners in need of redemption. Let He (she) who is without sin cast the first stone. I'm not in approval of what is happening but I'm tired of a bunch of sinners being so sanctimonious. I'm just another sinful woman who begs for your prayers and asks God for forgiveness for all of us."
--------------------------------------------------
Catholics have been doing what you stated since the Fall of the Roman Empire! And centuries later----we are still in a mess. And do you think that the hierarchy are not sinners? Do you think that they are sprinkled with Holy Spirit dust on the day that they are ordained/conscreted bishops? That's what they want you to think! Stop thinking/speaking like a brainless peon---who needs some hierarch thinking and leading you by the nose everywhere. Read up on what is going on! Pray asking for guidance! And act boldly----you only have your chains to loose!
You are to PRAY as if everything depends upon God and WORK as though everything depends upon you.
Yes, it will require
Yes, it will require sacrifice -- losing our friends, the Eucharist, the liturgy, our very lives. Don't look to the priests to lead, either. If they were going to do that, they would have done so by now. Just as in the revolutions in the Arab countries the people have risked their even lives, so in the church, Catholics must be willing to give up the comforts of their faith for the sake of truth, the safety of children, and the rights of women.
Please do not forget that
Please do not forget that there was also group abuse, gang rape, and ritual abuse ... or manipulating them in the confessional, forcing them to talk about sex so they could masturbate. Priests also forced children into confession immediately after sex, or, told them they would go to hell if they told anybody about this. This kind of ritual torture is beyond bearing - and well documented.
Well documented? Where?
Well documented? Where?
Mr. Ratzinger's response:
Mr. Ratzinger's response: Tsk,tsk, we acknowledge that there were a number of priests with problems that required internal church discipline and that has been taken care of. "Next time come when the time is given!" Now here's a list of non-catholic charities that the 'faithful' (ie: dupes/sheep/devout/ENABLERS/fearful/easily manipulated are cautioned against supporting. Look at my calendar, when's the next 'spectacle'? I'll show them what a 'pope' looks like. Have Dolce and Gabanna delivered my new underwear yet? Have my Bavarian pastries arrived? Have Msgr. George take a look and then have him join me for the evening news and aperitifs. Oh yes tell him I spotted a lovely timepiece online at Cartier with a very special provenance, I think it was found in the estate of Goebells and I'd like him to see if it suits.
A very powerful statement
A very powerful statement that should find its way to the mainstream media and a copy to PBXVI. I would be amazed if one US bishop will respond to Ms Frawley ODea. Until the bishops speak up about the abuse obfuscation by fellow bishops this issue will continue to fester for years. There isn't much the laity can do in an organization where it has limited power and no authority.
Carter Hayward (an Episcopal
Carter Hayward (an Episcopal theologian) once wrote that the time table and the agenda of the revolution are set by the oppressed. Waiting for the bishops, or any substantial number of priests, is futile. The laity is going to have get organized and act up. The baptized are the People of God. We have a hierarchy to serve the people of God, not the other way around.
Do you mean this Carter
Do you mean this Carter Heyward?
“While we may not be monogamous, we may resist the pejorative connotations of promiscuity that originate in a culture of sex-negative moralism. We may prefer to think of ourselves as open to sexual friendhips.” Carter Heyward, Episcopal theologian, in Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God, p. 121.
Sackcloth and ashes. Send a
Sackcloth and ashes. Send a small piece of sackcloth (burlap will do) and a small amount of ashes in an envelope to your bishops suggesting that this is what bishops should be wearing. If you can muster up enough lay people to do this it might make the message more effective. Let your local papers/tv hear about this after you get enough of the laity involved.
"Sackcloth and ashes. Send a
"Sackcloth and ashes. Send a small piece of sackcloth (burlap will do) and a small amount of ashes in an envelope to your bishops suggesting that this is what bishops should be wearing. If you can muster up enough lay people to do this it might make the message more effective. Let your local papers/tv hear about this after you get enough of the laity involved."
Great idea but nowadays if you do this you are likely to find the FBI at your door, because of the "powdery substance"!
Good point about the "powdery
Good point about the "powdery substance." To avoid FBI visits why not send bishops pieces of palm fronds that are distributed annually on Palm Sunday?
Catholic Tahrir Square is in
Catholic Tahrir Square is in front of the state and Federal offices equivalent to the Philadelphia DAs. The persisting problem is not a Church issue. It is a matter of public safety, which the civil government is obliged to protect and defend. If resolution requires bishops behind bars, it's about time for it to happen. It is inconceivable that senior management of any large US corporation or university would have been given the free passes that bishops and cardinals have enjoyed for nearly two decades if they were known to have done what the bishops and cardinals are claimed to have done.
Sitting in the cardinals' chairs are men who, to receive their rank, promised and swore before God and Pope
"... nor to divulge what may bring harm or dishonor to Holy Church…". (Trans. by Zenit http://www.zenit.org/article-8491?l=english ) . Therefore, expecting these men to deal willingly and honestly with secular authority is obviously naive under the circumstances of clerical sexual abuse which they and their brother bishops have enabled and concealed as a matter of institutional tradition. Civil Philadelphia is as good a model as the Philadelphia diocese is a bad one.
I love your last sentence.
I love your last sentence. So true!
I agree mostly with your
I agree mostly with your comments. But it IS also a church issue because we are or brothers' (and bishops' and cardinals' and popes') keepers. It all happened unde the guise of "Catholic" be it parish, school or seminary. We may not try to escape responsibility by passing the whole thing off to civil authorities.
Thank you very much for that
Thank you very much for that link. I'm surprised it is not more often quoted, as it is truly the smoking gun that gives the clue to what has actually been going on for all these years, despite the liararchy's pretensions to new transparency. As this solemn oath does go into wider circulation, be sure the Rev. Federico Lombardi and similar mouthpieces will be vigorously spinning it and wringing it out into something innocent, the opposite of its plain-sense meaning.
I have bookmarked the link in favorites>religion>catholic>abuse.
I have said it from the very
I have said it from the very beginning--the complicitious, enabling hierarchy is just as guilty, if not more so, than the offending religious and clergy. What the hierarchy has gotten away with via their secrecy and cover-up is horrific. It is time that the guilty bishops, archbishops, and cardinals be prosecuted and brought to justice, starting with Bernard Cardinal Law himself. It is time that the church (we are the church) stand up for justice and for all those abused and victimized over these many years.
This is so difficult to read
This is so difficult to read as it shames many of us who look the other way! We, the faithful, must also demand accountability and dialog on gender equality issues that the hierarchy refuses to discuss. This is also much like behavior of MidEastern dictators who turned deaf ears to their people.
We Catholics should never
We Catholics should never underestimate the effects of a centuries long exploitation of the people by the clerical and hierarchal caste in the church with their mantra of "PRAY, PAY AND OBEY!"
What prevents this uprising that O'Dea is calling for is rooted in the unholy bargain struck within each Catholic's subconscious when we were children with the church's elites: Your place in the hereafter will be reserved if you always assume the docile posture of a sheep, and just keep your head down munching on the grass.
The power of the hierarchs rests on the 3 prongs of the same trident: 1. an all-male celibate feudal oligarchy; 2. the suppression of women; 3. the control of all the "gold."
Remember, he or she who has the gold, rules! The revolution will not begin until we Catholic decide to defund the hierarchs.
I think that Mary O'Dea just answered her own question: the uprising will begin when folks in the pews realize that what confronts the church is broken politics, not broken faith or religion.
Catholics don't need the permission of the hierarchy to do something about the politics. Sadly, Catholics need to discover that the necessary revolution in the church will not be lead by priests or academicians.
We need to take matters into our own hands.
Are we going to join Mary O'Dea on the barricades in Tahrir Square?
Jim, you wrote: "...the
Jim, you wrote: "...the unholy bargain struck within each Catholic's subconscious when we were children with the church's elites: Your place in the hereafter will be reserved if you always assume the docile posture of a sheep, and just keep your head down munching on the grass."
.
This is so true. Call it indoctrination, brainwashing or whatever... it is the plague of learned helplessness that leads to passive acceptance of even the most egregious evils committed by those holding power ...or even worse, making excuses for them. Authoritarian hierarchs who are stuck in the Middle Ages are still trying to pass off this pathology as some weird sort of "holy obedience".
.
What if every single one of
What if every single one of us printed out several copies of O'Dea's column and mailed it to the bishop/s in our diocese with the question: What are you doing about the people who did this?
And what about sending it to our retired bishops and priests, many of whom are probably a little more likely (and a little less scared) to act than some of our current clergy members.
And then send it to your local Catholic paper, send it to any reporter you know. Let's get the whole country talking about this to their bishops! Post it in your FB status, e-mail the article to your entire address book! She's right - it's time we expressed our outrage!
She is absolutely right -
She is absolutely right - where is our outrage? What are we waiting for? Every single one of us should do three things:
1) Make copies of this column and mail it to our bishop/s with a note asking them: "When are you going to demand that EVERY person who knew a single thing about an abuser be named and punished/" and demanding that "anyone who allowed an abuser to stay in ministry be removed from ministry NOW."
2) Send it retired bishops and priests, who may be more likely (and a little less fearful of reprisals) to actually act on it.
3) e-mail this article to our entire address book, and tell people to send it to their bishop with a demand that something be done!
Upon reading the recent DA
Upon reading the recent DA report, I emailed my bishop and in that context, indicated that I, as a prudent person, would be foolish to let a Prince of the Church within a country mile of my spiritual well being.
(I received an auto reply email in response)
The bishops are not accountable to the laity, nor to each other and only loosely to the folks in Rome, who are on their own planet. Think of Queen Elizabeth, or Prince Charles or Diana. They might dress nicely in ceremonial robes, be interesting to watch, perform some basic figurehead function, but don't expect them to make the London Underground run on time!
The battle for us is real, but it needs to be fought in our hearts, in our homes, in our communities, and in our parishes, for all who might be abused, discriminated against or disrespected.
Dont count on the bureaucrats downtown in the diocesan offices.
I don't know about other
I don't know about other countries but in Canada there is no statute of limitations with regard to reporting child abuse, and there is also a "duty to report" any suspected or known child abuse. Failure to report suspected child abuse can result in charges being laid.How is the clergy able to bypass these laws by sending known abusers for "treatment" or even worse another parish? Until the reporting law is upheld, nothing will change.
The nuclear disaster
The nuclear disaster occurring in Japan would be a better analogy -- we watch in horror and the situation gets worse despite assurances that it can be controlled. Everyone gets excited since the fallout might affect MY country. All kind of "preventive measures" are going to be taken all over the world. And there will be a few changes made, but things will calm down and all will return to normal.... The managers (the bishops) try to keep everything going smoothly since everyone seems to be benefitting from the current energy system (the PC world). Meanwhile the contained nuclear power (SIN) keeps bubbling just out of site. Until the day comes when it is possible to again call sin what it is -- SIN, nothing will change.
Instead we are told "do not judge", "it is just the way things are today", "we must show charity to all" -- PC claptrap!
Sex outside of marriage IS A SIN
Pornography IS A SIN
Homosexuality IS A SIN
etc, etc, etc.....
These priests didn't start out to be abusers - they started out experimenting with sin as youngsters and developed a mindset that "I won't be judged", "It is acceptable in today's world", "You must be kind to me and understand".
Let's ask outselves what kind of church are we building for tomorrow if we don't call sin a sin today. That's what we need the bishops to start doing.
Nothing will change until
Nothing will change until these Bishops, who were abusing children themselves or neglecting their responsibilty to supervise seminaries and priests under their care, are punished in jail for their sins of omission. How were some of these priests ever allowed to be ordained? Their problems didn't just happen. That includes Cardinal Law who is sitting on his throne in Rome. Why is Msgr Lynn being challenged when Cardinal Law committed the exact same sins. It's that simple.
My brother-in-law was one of
My brother-in-law was one of the victims...a favored altar boy invited for a sleep over in the rectory at age 11 long before that would have been viewed as something suspect...Afterwards, he never told anyone for 20+ years until the media accounts became widespread in 2002...The result?...The post-traumatic stress and the acknowledgement of his own violation led to the unravellling of his 18-year marriage...and the settlement he received did little to bring healing or closure...Now, my sister is a single mom/divorcee...And the perpetrator? His life goes on in a gated retirement community less than 20 miles from where I live...
In the meantime, despite this, my faith and positive experience with Catholic parish life led me to support my husband's desire to become a deacon, so now, through him, I am publically associated with the same institution that allowed the rape of a minor to go unpunished...And, what does my sister, the former wife of the altar server rape victim--who will never set foot in a Catholic church again--have to say? She is actually positive and hopeful at the potential of a married clergy that she sees in my husband's calling because she believes that even if there is no actual link between celibacy and pedophilia, a married priesthood would allow men called to serve the potential for a healthy expression of their sexuality within the sacrament of marriage.
And, what about me? Am I guilty of complacency, of going along with a unchecked power structure that lacks transparency and accountability? Yes, but I can speak up within church circles, so I do, when possible, with mixed results...mostly...complacency and denial...Denial...it's not just a river in Egypt.
My God what a powerful
My God what a powerful testimony! All I can say is that you are actually in a powerful position to speak for any or all of the abused that come forth in your diocese. What bishop would dare rebuke you for standing up for the abused? God has placed you into a unique position should shenanigans arise down the road in your diocese. God knows, it would take courage. But surely your Deacon husband will not hold you back, given what he knows about your family history and his own obligation first to Jesus as opposed to a bishop.
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