Sunday Edition - THE SEX ABUSE CONFERENCE

Sunday Edition

Opinion and Analysis of News From and About the Catholic Church

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THE SEX ABUSE CONFERENCE

I am not sure if the conference that was held in Rome has done any good or not.  It certainly did not try to pass the blame on the press or anyone else.  As a matter of fact, we can thank the secular press for bringing the whole mess to light because it is obvious that the Church leadership in 2004 blamed the press and buried their heads in the sand and allowed the crisis to mature or should I say fester?

That the Church was not paying attention to this as it should can be ascertained by the fact that Cardinal Bernard Law who was run out of Boston on a rail because of the way he protected and transferred renegade priests was in fact given an important position by Pope St. John Paul II selecting bishops.

Speakers at this week’s conference included a Nigerian nun who pointed out actions of the Journalists at the Boston Globe broke this story wide open.   Victims of the predator priests are now coming forward and telling their stories and the Church is starting to really listen.  This would not have happened if the Church were left to investigate the issue themselves.  I believe that there would have been more circling of the wagons and attempts to point the finger of blame elsewhere.

The conference was called to discuss the protection of minors from the predatory practices of the renegade priests.  But we know today that as bad as child abuse is that our Church is guilty of far more than just the reprehensible abuse of children.  What has come to light now is the abuse of seminarians by the now disgraced Theodore McCarrick who was found guilty of abusing seminarians and children over many years.  The judgment against the pompous pervert is said to be “res ludicata”  which means that no further appeals are possible.  He is now out of a job and the Church will no longer be providing wages or allowances for him so the 88-year-old may be in a financial pickle, but don’t bet the farm on that.

The Holy See took this action before the conference in order to make public “new” policy of the Church which was stated by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who is quoted as saying, “The Holy See’s announcement regarding Theodore McCarrick is a clear signal that abuse will not be tolerated.  No bishop no matter how influential is above the law of the Church.” 

How I wish I could believe this.  Would McCarrick have suffered any penalty at all had the Pennsylvania crisis not hit?  Why in the world did Pope Francis pluck this man out of a mandated life of penance and prayer that his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI had sentenced him to?  How many other bishops and cardinals are out there whose secret life is buried under years of bureaucratic secrecy?  You must wonder if those doing all the talking now are doing so to obscure things that happened in prior years that they themselves participated in or covered up?

The Magisterium has over the years attained unofficial notoriety as being a haven for homosexuals and not ones that have accepted celibacy and are living a chaste life in accordance with their vows but rather men that have pursued an active gay lifestyle in violation of their vows and right under the nose of the Pope.   

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston is demanding a report from the Vatican that will show who knew what and when they knew it.  This report will help to rip the veil of secrecy and help to disband the “good ‘ole boys” network of sexually active gay ministers.  Mind you, I do not judge gay people.  They live life according to the light that they have but I do object to them being in offices that can further the shocking and sinful crisis that we find ourselves in.

We need to let the light in.  The dusty, dark, recesses must be lit up, the dust and dirt removed and the people that caused it need to be shown to the door. Is this likely to happen?  I don’t know if it can.  Cardinal Reinhard Marx testified that “Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed or not even created…Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated, and silence imposed on them.  The stipulated procedures and processes for the prosecution of offenses were deliberately not complied with, but instead were canceled or overridden.”

A Catholic sister told the bishops. “This storm will not pass by. Our credibility is at stake.”  CNN reporter Daniel Burke stated after hearing Sister Veronica speak that “A num just read the riot act to Catholic Bishops over clergy sex abuse.”

Okay, what are we pew dwellers to think about all of this?  First, I must ask if we can trust our bishops and cardinals and what they say and do?  I know we have to guard against painting with a large paintbrush because I am certain that there are those who are as shocked as we are over the events that came to light this year.  I am sorry, but while I respect the Holy Father as a good man with a humble heart, I do not think he has been or is a good leader.  Everything starts at the top in this Church of ours and quite honestly wheel spinning seems to be the national pastime of Vatican City.  The Church does NOT belong to the magisterium.  They are supposed to be the servants with the Pope being the servant of the servants of God.  I think some of the men have become full of themselves and think that they can cause thunder but, it is nothing more than a popping balloon. 

The conference was a big nothing, it was all talk and we have had all of the talk we need on this.  The Bishops in the United States made children safe from the likes of me and my fellow choir members, but no one has ever peered into the murkiness of the behavior of our bishops.  We need a lay committee with the powers to subpoena records of all the dioceses in the United States.  No records would be off limits to the investigators and they would report to no one except the Holy Father and they would be tasked to watch where the money went, to whom it was paid and why it was paid.  The Church in and of itself has no resources that have not come from pew dweller like you and me.  The money is supposed to support our parishes and to fund charitable causes. It is not supposed to be a slush fund to pay hush money to sexual conquests of priests and religious.

Pray for our Church.  This scandal has to end, and it will end if we take it and address the problems head-on and let the cassocks fall where they may.  The bride of Christ is being abused by her caretakers and we need to see that it stops. 

Thank you to CNN and National Catholic Reporter for some of the facts you see here.