Neuhaus on Church Scandal

First Things ^ | June/July 2002 | Richard Neuhaus

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

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[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Scandal Time(Continued)

[Catholicguy]

"One bishop, in his self-serving statement of resignation after an unsavory incident with a teenage boy was revealed, went so far as to suggest that his problem was that he was a particularly caring and intelligent person who was attuned to the latest thinking about matters sexual."

It was FAR WORSE than that. He was my Bishop in Palm Beach Co. Florida. The night before he was going to be unveiled as a hmosexual molester, he faxed ALL the parishes in the county and asked the priests to come to the Cathedral for an importtant announcement. They had NO idea of the content
of the announcement nor did they realise they were being manipulated by this bastard so as to appear they had simply shown-up of their own accord to offer him their support. He began by thanking them for their support and saying he was "surprised" they were there.
He went on to admit a "mistake" (sort of like a typo, I guess)and allowed there might be "one more" incident (I think the count is now three proven cases. He blamed his "mistake" (for which he admitted he felt foolish) on Catholic teaching.
Of course, he immediately skipped town and hasn't been heard from since

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"Mistake."

We live in the ironic age of understatement.

[ThomasMore]

Cardinal Dulles has written here that, despite the "gaying and graying" of the society, Jesuits have been through hard times before and the charism of Ignatius of Loyola will rebound in the future. We must pray he is right. The aforementioned Passionate Uncertainty and other reports suggest that the corruption is far advanced.

If Avery Dulles knows about the "gaying" of the society; pray tell, what the hell is he doing about it? As a cardinal and so called scholar, why hasn't he been shaking the foundations of the S.J.s over the corruption which seems so far advanced? It's to the point where if you don't actively fight against the corruption, you are part of the problem and corruption by way of ommission.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"If Avery Dulles knows about the "gaying" of the society; pray tell, what the hell is he doing about it?" 6 posted on 7/5/02 6:57 AM Pacific by ThomasMore

Good question. I've had a number of conversations on related subjects over the years with ranking members of the Society of Jesus, some rather high up in academia. There's definitely a certain air of mysteriousness which hangs over the inner workings of the Jesuit order. One the one hand, it's a little like any other large bureaucracy where passing the buck and misunderstandings about who has what authority contribute to some silliness. Traditionally, there was also this in-house policy of "Thou shalt not speak ill in public of a fellow Jesuit."

Dulles is, I believe, jurisdictionally in the Maryland Province of the Jesuits (I think). The current "provincial" (a grad of Georgetown?) is hardly a museum-vintage specimen of conservative orthodoxy. I believe I heard him once say that he had voted for Clinton "because of the social justice issues." That...should speak for itself of how bad things have gotten. If you've followed the ups and downs of Fr. Joseph Fessio that gives some idea of what happens to people who get a little too conservative.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

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[ThomasMore]

'The danger in the seminaries, your Eminence, is obvious. …Where large numbers of homosexuals are present in a seminary, other homosexuals are quickly attracted. Other healthier young men tend to be repelled." "Since our seminaries reflect the local American culture," he continued, "the problem of homosexuality has surfaced there in a manner which is widespread and quite deep."

Directly from a cardinal's writing. Why didn't the vatican move on this long ago?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The precise adminsitrative procedures of the Vatican bureaucracy, in relation to AmChurch, are pretty unfamiliar to me. I did hear about an "intervention" once regarding the direction of one seminary. It does happen. Charles Curran, formerly of the Catholic University of America, was finally disciplined, but it took about 20 years. That "New Ways Ministry" (run by pro-homo nun and priest duo) was supposed to have been shut down. But the guilty parties seem to have managed to wiggle around the Vatican's condemnation. Now, this may sound woefully silly, but - and I'm gonna guess here - there may be some element of the traditional Catholic desire to avoid public scandal which explains why we don't necessarily hear about what the Vatican is actually doing at any one moment. As if there isn't already enough public scandal!

The other example which comes to mind was back in the '80s when Pope John Paul II directly intervened to rein in the Jesuits. Obviously, not enough was done. The visitation investigation of American seminaries is liable to end up being a circus-like ritual pantomime. Lot of talk, little substance. I mean, the hierarchy has just sat back and watched the gutting of American Catholic colleges and universities. That's a crime what has happened there.

[ThomasMore]

If one asks why they did not do their job, the answers are no doubt various, ranging from indolence, naivete, willful ignorance, doctrinal dissent, and cowardice to active complicity in evil and the fear of blackmail. Some of the answers may be excusable, all are forgivable, but none is edifying.

This is absolutely right on the money!! This is why I like Neuhaus! He is so succinct! The last line is great; but I would add "or acceptable"!

[ThomasMore]

Yet Rose's account, supported by many others, generally rings true.

There have been a few detractors to Rose over the past two months and some on this forum who have agreed with them. I think Neuhaus has the right take on Rose and "GoodBye, Good Men" and I fall in line with him.

Rose names names, and I have checked with people familiar with some of the incidents he recounts. It seems that his reports are generally reliable, but, even if the situation in vocation offices and seminaries is only half as bad as he suggests, it is very bad indeed.

If the situation is only half as bad as Rose states in his book, YES, it is very bad indeed!!!!

[narses]

Another precise, accurate and devastating quote:

"Which brings us back to fidelity. It is simply counterintuitive to claim, as many do, that there is no connection between dissent from the Church's teaching on doctrine and dissent from teaching on morality."

[narses]

A respected set of theologians and Churchmen seem to find Goodbye, Good Men credible. Have you read it yet?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

I'm aware of those types of incidents as actually happening or claimed as having actually happened by people who seem credible and have no unbalanced grudges which might explain a lie. I'm also personally aware of some things worse than in the Rose book.

[ThomasMore]

nor did they realise they were being manipulated by this bastard

Has he been defrocked or his actions been decried? NO. Where's the NCCB? Where's the Vatican? It seems lately these two decry anything pertaining to the war against terrorism, capital punishment, Israel, capitalism...so forth and so on...but decry one of their own? huh! No Way!

They make me ill!

[ThomasMore]

Fr. Joseph Fessio is a great priest but doesn't have the political clout and has, therefore, paid the price for his confrontation with the evil that has invaded his order. But Dulles is a cardinal now; long enough to have made some very big waves. Heck, I make bigger waves when I urinate.

He's up at Fordham. That's a hotbed of dissidents. He should have started to clean house if he was concerned. I can only believe that he either doesn't care or actually approves.

[narses]

Is Richard Neuhaus an "integrist" also? Will you falsely accuse him of "attacks the Holy Father" as you did me?

[narses]

Read my post on Mahony.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

But neither his Fordham academic status, nor his Cardinal status actually give him leverage within the governing structure of the Jesuit order. Does he even do anything relating to the formation of entering Jesuit novitiates? (I don't know)