The SEX Scandal - Why It Happened

THE SEX SCANDAL AND WHY IT HAPPENED 

The revelations coming out of Pennsylvania, the apparent misbehavior of a highly placed Cardinal covered up for all of these years, revelations out of Ireland, South America, and Europe have brought once again the scandal of priestly abuse of boys and men by those that should have been there to guard and protect them. This was supposed to have been dealt with.  We were assured that protections were in place, that the guilty would be outed and cast out of their ministries so that safety once again reigns in the Church. 

First of all, why did this scandal occur? The sex scandal portion of the events we are dealing with is a self-limiting event.  You find a rotten apple, you remove it from the basket so it will not infect the rest of the apples with its corruption. Had the powers that were in charge handled this in this manner, the criminals would have sent to jail where they belong and would not be able to wear sheep clothing and prowl about looking for more victims.  Instead of what was right, our bishops did what was easy.  They quietly removed the offender from his current post, sent him away for some counseling and then put him right back amongst the sheep. The offender was back to ply his trade. Why did those in charge feel that this was the right thing to do?  I do not believe for a moment that their intentions were bad.  I believe that they believed that these predatory priests could be and were cured by counseling. We know today that pedophilia, specifically a preference for sex with prepubescent children and ephebophilia a preference for adolescent and teens are not curable conditions.  They can be controlled but those afflicted with these diseases cannot and should not be involved where those in their chosen target groups are available. 

Okay, we didn't know that these conditions were curable or not so once you gave an offender a second chance after he was pronounced "cured" by the white coats and he offended again, that should have told anyone that this man was not fit to be a priest and he needed to be laicised and removed from the target-rich environments our parishes provided.  Instead, our leaders gave them third, and fourth and fifth chances. Moving them from one place to another where they would offend and injure many people. 

What followed next was the cover-up of what was done. In 2000 a lay committee was formed that was supposed to be able to root out all of the bad priests and expose the lies and cover-ups.  This committee was all smoke and mirrors for they had no power to demand records.  Oh, they could demand, but the diocese could refuse and they did refuse.  The committee was populated by honest people, all good Catholics, and they saw they were not going to pierce the purple wall of shame that the bishops surrounded themselves with.

That is what happened, but why did it happen.  Here is my theory as to why we are in such a nasty place today.  First, the church lined up cassock to cassock to protect their own in a similar way to the way policeman form the blue line to protect other cops.  Our bishops and Cardinals lost the ability, to be honest.  They continued the charade "for the good of the Church."  The cover-up for the great minority of perverted priests makes it appear that the whole hierarchy of the Church was involved from the most minor deacon to perhaps even the Pope. They wanted to save the Church from getting a black-eye. Well, the eye was saved but the rest of the body is all beaten up to hell.  This happened simply because they lacked the faith that the Church could take it. Emptying the trash is needed in many organizations and it is done quickly when it is needed.  Instead, our curia has caused the Church to bleed like a man undergoing the torture of one-thousand cuts. 

For God's sake, open the files, let air into the Church again.  Realize that the Good O'le Boy network will not work for Christ and His Church. The Pope has come out and said that we need to keep homosexuals out of our seminaries. Even if that were possible, it would not change a thing. A homosexual is not attracted to children, they have their own problems to be sure but altar boy envy is not one of them.

We need to cast out the perpetrators, both the sexual perverts and the leadership that caused this scandal to develop and hurt so many people. Let us lead the way to openness and truth.  For no matter what our detractors say, there is more of this sinfulness going around and most of it is happening outside of the Catholic Church.  When we finally become transparent and regain the trust of the people in the pews, then the people will see that the horror of abuse inflicts not only the Church but lay organizations as well.   

My friends and fellow pew-dwellers. do not do anything you will regret later. The Church is like Ivory Soap, 99 and 44/100 percent pure. There are more good priests, bishops, and cardinals then there are bad ones. Jesus has promised us that the Church will last until He returns for us.  Believe and help our bishops believe by showing them a good example.  They need our support during this time of darkness.  Only you and other faithful Catholics can hold the Church up.  Pray, pray, pray without ceasing.  Have faith and believe and everything will turn out as God wants it to.