Sex Abuse and Denial
Everyone is posting something on Philip Lawler's new book, "The Faithful Departed" which deals with the clergy sexual abuse scandal. (I posted on it here.) Gerald from Cafeteria Is Closed has a very good post on the subject as well. Gerald pretty much focuses upon the denial involved - which some people seem content to perpetuate.
Terry-
ReplyDeleteI feel drained by this sex-abuse scandal the simly will not go away. EVERY anti-Catholic dolt has used it in his or her favor to discredit the Church and advance their own non-sense.
BTW, for those who haven't parted, how do you sue the Church and still remain Catholic?
Tom - I apologize for posting about it. I agree, the entire thing just makes you feel dirty, and creepy. And I do not understand the lawsuits - except for the fact the court actions forced the hierarchy to face this thing head on. Thank God our faith is in him and not his ministers. I intend to try and avoid the subject here on out. God bless!
ReplyDeletetom - what do you mean by your final question? Are you saying because a family sues individuals in the church organization, they cannot be Catholic or still be Catholic in the faith? I am puzzled.
ReplyDeleteTerry, my friend, my comments were not aimed at you by any means! It was sheer frustration at those who have a gripe with the Church who use this terrible period to justify their misanthropy towards anything Catholic. I LOVE your blog! Write about anything you wish, I'm reading:0)
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Tom
Pope Benedict addressed this question in "Deus Caritas Est", 27-35. I'm afraid that by the time I figure it out exactly, this post will be part of the archives, though.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like he reminded us that we do have a responsibilty to love our neighbor, not just make sure he has health insurance, and not limiting our charitable works to paying taxes that support social programs. This was socialism, and it just didn't work out quite as well as everyone hoped.
I think the model to look at is Mother Teresa, and I think I need to cut back on the time I spend on blogs for Lent, in order to spend more time doing for others.
Terry, I think the kids hit a button causing me to reply to the wrong blog. Disregard if I just sent a comment!
ReplyDeleteokay, that was for Amy Welborn's blog , her "a question" post. Nothing like a big dose of humility to set the tone for Lent.
ReplyDeleteAs to the abuse lawsuits:
It's a shame that the lawsuits were the only way to get the bishops' attention, with few exceptions.
Since the bishops didn't remember what the "Treasures of the Church" really are, that little which they did have, has been taken away from them. They wanted to keep their reputations intact, so they lost that, and large chunks of their treasure with it.
It's also a shame that there are lawyers ready to prey on the victims' pain, and that there are victims who think that revenge and money will help them to heal. I have never and will not sue the Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana but I can understand the urge.
I see that Gerald's post on the subject has devolved into, No, we're not more dangerous than public schools. Let's set the bar at a level we can clear, shall we?
I would imagine that if a person sued and won a huge settlement, and the parish had to sell things or cut back on things, it might be in your best interest to switch parishes.
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