The Current Catholic Quagmire

Over at Insight Scoop, Fr. Fessio has written a very good article explaining in detail what actually happened in the case of the pedophile priest that has the world ready to lynch the Pope. It explains the case from a POV that, surprisingly enough, I had never seen mentioned in any of the MSM reports.

The remaining problem, in my humble and quite unsolicited opinion, is that the MSM has no way to understand what is there between the lines: it is yet another case of the American bishops throwing the flock to the wolves one more time.

This is the decisive context of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter to Bishop Cummins. It is not a smoking gun. It did not mean that Ratzinger was not taking the priest's sins seriously. (He called the accusations "very serious" [gravis momenti].) It meant that he, following the policy of John Paul II, was taking the priesthood and its commitments very seriously.

And again, this entire affair had nothing to do with preventing further abuse by this priest. That had already been done, or should have been done, by the local bishop.

Emphasis mine.

In order to understand Fessio's explanation of the case, one would have to understand the Church's position on the nature of a vow. Needless to say, in a world where the celebrities we worship get married for a weekend, it's hard to make anyone other than an orthodox Catholic understand that context. (As we discovered in the last election, 54% of American Catholics cannot be bothered to care what the Church teaches.)

Of course, it is very helpful for Fr. Fessio to spell it all out for the orthodox Catholics one more time. (I say that as someone who needed to have it spelled out.) I have always said that there is nothing wrong with preaching to the choir, because the choir needs the moral support! And the choir is capable of becoming extremely confused, in a world where they are told that they'll go to Hell for missing Mass, and yet they watch Abortion Queen Nancy Pelosi waltz down the aisle to communion every Sunday.

But...

I still have a problem with the state of things. (Everyone is surprised, right?) And it is this: WHY do the Powers That Be continue to use "the bishop should have done it" as an excuse, when surely they know who our bishops are. Yes, this case is very old. But how many years has Cardinal Mahony remained the shepherd of Los Angeles, long after Rome knew full well who he was/is? While everyone is now celebrating that L.A. will finally have a real bishop, anyone who lives in L.A. knows what he is up against, and knows that it will take many years before he's able to make a difference.

And now the chorus about how slowly the Church works... blah blah blah.

Here's the thing: mothers don't care how slowly the Church works. Mothers care about the souls of their children.

A priest friend told me, not long ago, that the #1 cry he hears from parents re their children is not that they'll get into a good college or find a good spouse, or even that they'll escape accident and illness. The #1 concern of parents is for the souls of their children.

For years I have been saying that if priests, bishops and popes had children, the Church would not spend hundreds of years righting a wrong.

Maybe the Pope was guiltless 25 years ago, but he knows who our bishops are now, and they are still our bishops. So I still have a problem.

Comments

[Nancy]

It would not surprise me if Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict did not always receive accurate information about dissenting bishops as well as the full extent of the abuse crisis. I find it hard to believe that they would not have intervened if they knew what was going on. The good news is, I think we are going to see an "overturning of tables" as the dissenters in The Catholic Church become exposed and the Church becomes "purified".

[EJHill]

I am NOT Catholic, so take this for what it's worth:

Two points need to made. One, entry into the priesthood has steadily declined since the 1970's. Two, the level of abuse among priests mirrors that of the population at large. (Want to be depressed further? Try badbadteacher.com or Google USA Swimming Scandal)

Abusive priests are not only given 2nd chances, but many more beyond that because of the shortage. You can't do anything until with them until you have a replacement at hand.

And this is an instructive note for our future. As ObamaCare creates a doctor shortage, bad doctors will go unpunished because the system will demand they be given a 2nd chance. And a 3rd. And a 4th...

[medieval costumes]

Too many of this hypocrites. I really despise them. I hope proper legal action should be acted upon this and I hope the priest who committed the act will be punished so that he will serve as an example to other priests.

[Jeff Hendrix]

Yeah, hypocrites. Like the guy getting ready to take his family to Mass and his neighbor was working in the yard.

"We're headed to Church, George. Want to come?"

"Hell, no. Too many hypocrites."

"That's okay. We can always use one more."

[dad29]

Umnnhhh....Diogenes published an essay today which answers your question (at least partially).

Brief: the John Jay study was deliberately "averaged"--thus, the REALLY bad Bishops were 'less' bad, while the really GOOD Bishops were 'less' good.

Notice that FOUR Irish Bishops have resigned since November, when a government study which named names and specified numbers was published?

Big difference...

[gb]

As a mom & grandma, I need to say that your "problem" doesn't hold water bc even most parents & grandparents can't be bothered to confront their kids re: SIN. As in: "you're living in sin" or "not going to Mass is still a mortal sin" or "using birth control pills is against Church teaching" etc etc.

I.e., When was the last time you heard one of the parents who are worried about their kids' souls who began confronting them about their behavior before they flew the nest? Absolutely NO sense in blaming the clergy/bishops etc for not doing their job when we won't do ours.

[Gary]

Karen, what do you think of Peggy Noonan's latest?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304510004575186451300061536.html

[Karen Hall]

I gave up on Peggy Noonan when she started drinking the Obama Kool Aid. I agree with some of her points, but I just have no interest in what an "oh, abortion's not THAT bad" Catholic has to say on the pedophile issue, or any other Catholic issue.

[Valentine]

I support gb - most parents & grandparents can't be bothered to confront their kids

[Jules]

@gb/@Valentine: I want to make sure I understand you correctly. You're saying it's O.K. for Catholic clergy to rape and abuse children because parents aren't 'confronting their children about their behavior...' I don't think anyone's blaming the bishops/clergy for 'not doing their job.' They're being blamed for RAPING CHILDREN, and covering up for RAPISTS when, and I'm no lawyer, I'm assuming at least one of those is a CAPITAL CRIME.

[tom]

Yay for Gomez?

[medical advice]

No, I think your getting it wrong here Jules!

[Deirdre]

Karen? Are you still alive?

[buy ambien]

I hate pedophils...

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