Abuse scandal angers conservative Catholics

Boston Globe ^ | 3/27/2002 | Michael Paulson

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The Catholic Church's most reliable supporters, conservatives who have traditionally leapt to defend the institutional hierarchy whenever its practices have been questioned, are increasingly irate over the church's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Commentators William J. Bennett, William F. Buckley,Jr., and Patrick Buchanan have harshly criticized Cardinal Bernard F. Law. Self-described orthodox Catholics are denouncing the church's bishops. "We spend our time monitoring and fighting anti-Catholicism wherever it exists in American society, but I have always had a disdain of intellectual dishonesty, and if I sat on the sidelines I'd have to be accused of that myself," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a group that fights anti-Catholic bias. "I don't know of single Catholic priest or layman who isn't furious about the sex abuse scandal, in terms of tolerance they [the hierarchy] have had for intolerable behavior and the way they've played musical chairs with these miscreant priests. I've never seen such anger."

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Something is becoming glaringly apparent to me the more I read. A few years back I applied to the Master's program at the Jesuit School at the GTU in Berkeley. I have felt a draw to a spiritual path and thought this was where I wanted to study. I submitted a complete, qualified application. I had scored above what was required for the DOCTORAL program there on the GRE. I received a letter back from them that although I was a qualified candidate, "I was not what they were looking for" and "they could not meet my needs". At the time I was devastated and cried for days. About a year after that allegations of corruption and homosexual harassment at the school made the news. I felt a little bit better and thought maybe God had a reason for what happened. Looking back now, it appears it was a blessing in disguise. I'm sure there are several posters out there who know more about that situation. I was completely naive at the time but am very grateful now that I wasn't accepted there.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Everyone I have ever met who discussed the theology school at Berkeley mentioned the homosexual factor.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Also - it's not the kind of thing that normal people would ordinarily be thinking about as a potential problem. Imagine wondering every time you applied to a school or for a job whether you would be harassed or intimidated by the homosexual/liberal mafia. Who could live in a culture like that? Who would want to?

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Exactly. After I started to hear about the scandals at the GTU (not just confined to the Jesuit school), I realized I would have been positively miserable there. I am looking very carefully at Master's programs in various disciplines at various schools because I understand how important that is now.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Maybe the admission not working out was God's way of protecting you from these problems.

[constitutiongirl]

Thanks again!!!

[patent]

>>>>another thing altogether for officials to be actively promoting things that are so contrary to everything that the Church was erected to stand for.

This has always been the case, there have always been bad Bishops. >>>>.>I've heard rumblings from various sources about a certain Antonio Gramsci,

That's Askel5's bag, I'm not an expert on him, but his tactics are widely used by the left.

patent

[inquest]

I understand what you both are saying, but something still isn't adding up for me. Yes, I understand that there are always going to be bad apples, and there are always going to be the see-no-evil types. I guess what it is for me is that it doesn't seem that only "good" officials would have been needed to put a stop to it; I would think that all it would take was somebody to see an opportunity to play the hero by rooting out the menace - and it looks as though there would have been plenty of opportunities indeed. It also doesn't look like it would have been that hard, either, since most of these subversives seem like they were lit up like Christmas trees, based on the stories I've been hearing.

I don't know. I guess it's hard to know for sure what the real situation was, but it still doesn't make sense to me.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

I can't explain why a sincere Catholic in a position of authority would continue to shuffle a seasoned pervert around from parish to parish. Trying to figure out something like the Shanley case under Cardinal Law takes one into pure speculation. Was he that stupid? Was he afraid of blackmail? Did he perhaps also have homosexual tendencies at one time which made him more sympathetic? Hard to figure out. I'll admit right out that I do not understand why active homosexuality is tolerated among the clergy by any Catholic authority. Aside from some purely speculative scenario of a vast homosexual conspiracy, not much here makes a whole lot of sense based on these media reports.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Interestingly, my sponsor told me many of the consequences of birth control Pius VI enumerated in Humanae Vitae have proven themselves true.

You need a new sponsor. By the way, that was Paul VI who authored Humanae Vitae. Pius VI was Pope from 1775-1799.

[uglyworld]

That was my own mistake. Somehow I mixed them up.

[St.Chuck]

Paul VI's Humane Vitae was prescient in discussing the consequences of a society accepting of contraceptives and their widespread use. The Church foresaw the dramatic increase in abortion and divorce. Interestingly, on the thirtieth anniversary of Humane Vitae, only two bishops, worldwide cared to discuss the issue. Bishop Pell, now Archbishop of Sydney, and Archbishop Chaput of Denver wrote pastoral letters praising the Pope's foresight. The latter's can be read on the Archdiocese of Denver's website. It should clear up any misunderstanding you may have had with your sponsor.

[history_matters]

Thanks for the good post, St. Chuck.

[history_matters]

It is my opinion (and take it as no more then that-an opinion) that large portions of the heirarchy in this country were corrupted long before Vatican II. Many of the most powerful Cardinals in this country embraced the theories that led straight into cafeteria catholicism, and promoted like minded priests into numerous chanceries all over the country. Their dissent became a lot more open in the decades after V2 as society and the Church reeled from the changes.

Ditto -- my opinion as well.