tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post7443023893632568364..comments2024-03-28T18:32:43.699-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: The Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal, Part IPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-65174520522327200082012-02-06T00:45:13.900-06:002012-02-06T00:45:13.900-06:00Peter,
What you had to say about Cardinal Ronco...Peter,<br /> What you had to say about Cardinal Roncolli, Pope John XXIII, was righ on the mark. I was only a kid when he was elected and had little to measure him by. But as the years passed and other Popes came and went, his legacy stood out much more clearly. I think his papacy really stands out when it is contrasted to the one before his. Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, was a brillian elitist, pro German, some say nambi-pambi mama's boy. He did not want the job initially and found it increasingly nore difficult as the Nazis occupied Italy. He was no war-time 'consulierri'. His defacto papal secretary of state was a little (Austrian) Nun, Pascalina. She literally ran the Vatican, at times, when Pacelli felt inclined to 'hibernate'. Where he was sensitve and reticent, she was bold and decisive. She ran a huge underground network, in the Vatican and in Rome, to protect and extricate Jews from the clutches of the SS death squads. Roncalli, who was a Cardinal at this time, was less than enthused with Pacelli's handling of the Office. Where Pacelli was aloof and insular, Roncalli would be genuine and accessible. It is said that Roncalli often gave Papal Audiences to peasant farmers, where Pacelli would see no one who did not serve a purpose for him. Ever read "La Popessa"? It's a start even though I am a bit skeptical of its content in places.<br /><br />John XXIII was (and is) the real deal, and I think history will only prove him more so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-3173090145821063522012-02-05T21:35:17.380-06:002012-02-05T21:35:17.380-06:00We're talking about some seriously sick criimi...We're talking about some seriously sick criiminal conduct, here, couched in "religion." My mind burns when I'm forced to recollect what went on during my school years. 16 + years in catholic schools...every phase was a new trip through the flame thrower.. No guidance, no warnings, no protection from these carnivors, other than the few bits of critical information one could glean on the street or the ball field. "What happened to Father Paul?" "Another cart accident?" "Yeah, he grabbed the wrong gusto this time and this guy beat the living hell outta him."<br />Grade school found us being slapped silly by a frenzied nun. I watched my younger brother staggering down a tiled hallway, his hands over his face as he cried, blood pouring through his fingers. "Of course HE was at fault." He was 7 years old. High school saw us dodging an entrenched cadre of pedophile priests (and an administrator or two?) My youngest brother was raped at an early age and hounded by these vampires all throughout high school. Some even tracked to his home on the west coast after college, Who knew they networked amongst themselves? College was a stranger trip. Male clergy pursuing young women, others cultivating male students. Seminarians had their own groups, ther own schtick. All of it very underground, but the camouflage nets grew thin at times and these goings on became more apparent. Again, your individual radar had better be tuned in and working, or you might get blind sided. The stories are myraid and then pain goes deep. Part of the problem is that this crap has worked itself into the grain of these institutions over generations. It's insidious and it's dangerous. Did Moses miss one? "Honor and protect thy children."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-53745861840786626972010-04-18T20:25:16.194-05:002010-04-18T20:25:16.194-05:00BubbaDave, I don't know that Pope John Paul II...BubbaDave, I don't know that Pope John Paul II did protect Fr. Maciel. Certainly, his flaws were noted by the hierarchy, and any attempt to boost his reputation is dead before it starts. On the other hand, I don't know that he did have a secret wife and children - your source for that information, please? As for 'preying on seminarians', I don't know of any substantiated charges, only allegations. They may well be true - I can't say - but their very existence has served to tarnish his memory.<br /><br />I don't think the Fr. Maciel case takes anything away from Pope John Paul II's holiness. It may be a negative reflection on one case out of the tens of thousands of administrative problems he handled during his 27 years as Pope; but there are many positives to balance that one negative. One has to look at the whole picture. I personally regard him as a saint, and I have no doubt he'll be officially canonized in due course.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-78636357742587611372010-04-18T11:56:59.876-05:002010-04-18T11:56:59.876-05:00The late, great Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) was ...<i>The late, great Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) was another outstandingly holy man, who's currently on the fast track to sainthood.</i><br /><br />How do you reconcile that with his protection of Fr. Maciel (founder of the Legion of Christ and a priest who had a secret wife and children as well as preying upon seminarians, but brought in a great deal of money to the Church) and the lack of any consequences for Cardinal Law?BubbaDavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-76128793973274136232010-04-16T15:09:40.787-05:002010-04-16T15:09:40.787-05:00Mary, your understanding is unfortunately quite fl...Mary, your understanding is unfortunately quite flawed. The incidence of pedophilia in connection with male homosexuality is quite high. I don't have the numbers in front of me but my recollection is somewhere north of 25%. Additionally, homosexuals of both genders self-report a shockingly high rate of childhood molestation, compared with the general population (north of 30% by my recollection). Additionally, the only group that reports a higher incidence of childhood molestation are child molesters themselves (well over 50%). Now that is not to say that all homosexuals were molested as a child, but a great many were. That is also not to say that all homosexuals are pedophiles, but again, a great many are. And it is also not to say that all children molested as a child will become molesters themselves, but again a great many do. It would appear that at least one major developmental pathway to homosexuality AND child molestation is sexual trauma during the formative years when a child is integrating his or her sexuality into his personality, stunting their emotional and sexual growth and locking them into an altered pattern of behavior. the fact that child molestation is a major common denominator with both homosexuality as well as child molestation would strongly indicate that both operate on similar developmental pathways.Rorschachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11848860674369931761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-27263322098661970802010-04-16T07:46:40.353-05:002010-04-16T07:46:40.353-05:00Thank you very much for the articles. I am lapsed ...Thank you very much for the articles. I am lapsed Catholic who has not taken the sacrament of Communion in over 30+ years because I felt that the Church deviated so much from the Message of Our Lord and became a tool of social engineering and outright communism. When I saw priests openly taking arms and becoming part of terrorist groups like the Colombian guerrillas and not a single priest rising in protestbut just nodding along and even doing their own little fashionable left wing stuff, I had to stop attending Mass. I wanted spiritual guidance, I was getting Marxism under the guise of Christianity.Miguelhttp://Gunfreezone.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-12126569067853677552010-04-16T03:39:29.603-05:002010-04-16T03:39:29.603-05:00Without attempting to create rancor, I find I must...Without attempting to create rancor, I find I must post this.<br /><br />When the Catholic Church decides to get back to actually preaching and living the Word of GOD as written, These issues might begin to clear up. Until then, its just chasing shadows. Rome has forsaken the Bible. The toll is starting to show.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-70631717921557849202010-04-12T22:17:55.437-05:002010-04-12T22:17:55.437-05:00I am a protestant. Always have been and always wi...I am a protestant. Always have been and always will be. But I appreciate the honesty that went into this article, Peter.<br /><br />For those who think we protestants don't have sexual hijinks going on, you're wrong. I can say that in my experience, when they come to light, they are dealt with QUICKLY and openly. The offender is put out with the tag of a bad recommendation from the church, so any future ministry/job/whatever would be ever so closed to him. That goes from Sunday School teachers all the way up. Police records are checked and updated every year.<br /><br />It saddens me that some pervs have messed up something that was meant to be so good, but that is the way of the serpent, no?<br /><br />Bob PerrowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-65397759194678054362010-04-12T20:57:24.131-05:002010-04-12T20:57:24.131-05:00Earlier articles reported the rate of pedophilia w...Earlier articles reported the rate of pedophilia was something like to 20 or 25% of the general population. Later this was revised up to rough parity. Any such abuse is horrifying but the church is fair game while the pedophilia rate among teachers is reportedly about 400% of the general population. The only thing one will hear from the collective media about this is the sound of crickets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-23743182269902153632010-04-12T19:08:09.089-05:002010-04-12T19:08:09.089-05:00Thanks for opening the veil of secrecy Peter, I th...Thanks for opening the veil of secrecy Peter, I think this can only benefit your readers!Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-25726246643557540232010-04-12T19:01:26.017-05:002010-04-12T19:01:26.017-05:00Second anon: I imagine it's because pedophiles...Second anon: I imagine it's because pedophiles use positions of trust and closed circles both to groom their victims and to protect themselves. A church is just such a position of trust, but people are quicker to speak up when it's their priest abusing their child than when it's say, their own father, or brother, or other relative- and abuse by family constitutes a high proportion of child molestations. Not least because the predator isn't just grooming his victims in that case, but the people who would be in a position to protect them.LabRathttp://www.atomicnerds.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-16709066019364695252010-04-12T15:34:41.193-05:002010-04-12T15:34:41.193-05:00Interesting article. I look forward to the next p...Interesting article. I look forward to the next parts. Thank you for your time and thought in writing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-74838852688641904992010-04-12T13:53:47.376-05:002010-04-12T13:53:47.376-05:00Oh... And someone asked about Cardinals. For all ...Oh... And someone asked about Cardinals. For all intents and purposes, that is purely an honorific for those who can vote on the next pope (If they are under a certain age. I can’t remember the age limit now). They are Bishops or Archbishops with the same powers. They do get cooler hats and a better coat of arms. And a cardinal’s call to the Pope will probably be returned a little faster than a bishop’s. <br /><br />Example; Galveston-Houston is an Arch-Diocese and Joseph Cardinal DiNardo is its Archbishop. When he passes or retires, his successor will be an Archbishop ONLY, unless specifically elevated to a cardinal. <br /><br />Think of bishops as professors, archbishops as deans, and Cardinals as members of the faculty that get to vote on who the school's next president will be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-39574743288781658442010-04-12T13:50:53.572-05:002010-04-12T13:50:53.572-05:00Peter, thanks. As a practicing, painfully orthodox...Peter, thanks. As a practicing, painfully orthodox, Catholic, this seems like a pretty good summation so far. I’d only like to point out that the bishop’s failures go a little deeper. In trying to entertain the “Spirit of Vatican II”, oh how I hate that term, it is my understanding that many bishops simply abdicated their authority on many occasions by putting on the modern “Administrator/CEO” hat and letting lay councils, advisors, and committees deal with important issues. <br /><br />That trend, sadly, is still in evidence today at the parish level where music ministers, liturgical ministers, and DREs (for those who are non-Catholic, those are essentially the religious education principals) ride rough shot over the priests who are afraid to challenge them or are down right happy to let them run amok. <br /><br />Thankfully, the younger priests allowed into seminary (many are still encouraged to “go out and experience the world” and are turned away or have to go elsewhere to study) are very orthodox and spoiling for a fight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-44839553824146976072010-04-12T12:08:51.529-05:002010-04-12T12:08:51.529-05:00It is complete nonsense to blame the seminary chan...It is complete nonsense to blame the seminary changes for the abuse scandal. My understanding is that most pedophiles are not homosexual. I have always understood it was a great free education for a gay man. "The increase in the number of alleged offenders and reported incidents corresponds closely to the period when aberrations in seminaries in the USA were reportedly at their worst" Interesting that the abuse has taken place all over the world and not just in the US. My view is that this rise in reporting has to do with the Oprah effect. Victims are no longer ashamed to speak out about past abuse and the trend of therapy and counseling have encouraged discussions. The Vatican didn't know about abuse is total nonsense. I can remember knowing about these issues as a child in the 60's. I am a lifelong Catholic, who is happy to hear the criticism of our neglect. My children attend Catholic school and alter serve in our church. The light that has shone on this issue, has resulted in rules that protect all children. Pedophiles are no longer easily able to find victims in our church. The questions remains: where are they hiding now?Mary Stackhttp://Mstack60@hotmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-34316588891946405292010-04-12T11:59:43.134-05:002010-04-12T11:59:43.134-05:00I wonder if the shortage of priests is the result ...I wonder if the shortage of priests is the result of the same seminary experience you cite as a potential cause of the abuse increase?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-76518673146719957992010-04-12T11:32:38.433-05:002010-04-12T11:32:38.433-05:00Not to disparage the actual horrible acts that wer...Not to disparage the actual horrible acts that were done, but I find it astonishing that our State Media are reviling the Catholic Church and demanding that all homosexuals be purged while at the same time demanding that the Boy Scouts of America accept them. (That statement was made on a blog whose name I've forgotten about the NYT attacks on the Pope.)<br /><br />Hypocrisy abounds in Journalism.Crucishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15441911110953212619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-75566220359222555402010-04-12T11:31:18.997-05:002010-04-12T11:31:18.997-05:00As a former Protestant Minister, I can relate to t...As a former Protestant Minister, I can relate to the difficulty of going into this. <br />bureaucracy is universal and not restricted to the Catholic Church.<br />I saw similar processes in the Presbyterian Church and in the Southern Baptist Church before that. Institutional forces always serve to distort human behavior in ways you described so well. <br />I look forward to reading more.Kansas Scouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15744438882831933314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-27090177422796244832010-04-12T11:27:36.734-05:002010-04-12T11:27:36.734-05:00I am an active Catholic that attended 12 years of ...I am an active Catholic that attended 12 years of Catholic School. I have never had anything but a wonderfully rewarding, positive experience with the Church. I am very interested in reading the rest of your article because the Sex/Pedophilia scandal is so far beyond my experience, I have difficulty comprehending it.Carvin' Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08531806639078910419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-42205503015704227782010-04-12T10:01:13.852-05:002010-04-12T10:01:13.852-05:00Not being Catholic, don't really have a dog in...Not being Catholic, don't really have a dog in this particular hunt, but I'd like to point out that somewhere (on the web) I recently read that someone did a study on who the child abusers are. It turned out that Catholic priests are abusers in about the same percentage as the rest of the population.<br />It's just that Church abuse gets written up more; I wonder why?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-45447247130321552502010-04-12T09:33:34.169-05:002010-04-12T09:33:34.169-05:00Where do cardinals fit into the chain of command?
...Where do cardinals fit into the chain of command?<br /><br />ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-66176979896940266422010-04-12T08:30:50.457-05:002010-04-12T08:30:50.457-05:00And I second Jim and Brad; I'm really looking ...And I second Jim and Brad; I'm really looking forward to this. Could you, in some future article, also address the distinction between a priest as celebrant and a priest as a man (or in my Scottish Episcopal Church, woman)? And the Church transcendent and the church as an all too human group of people?Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14377326478767097625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-77204168866228403382010-04-12T01:48:12.219-05:002010-04-12T01:48:12.219-05:00I can only second what Brad said.
JimI can only second what Brad said.<br /><br />JimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-26913936896053483862010-04-11T23:28:29.776-05:002010-04-11T23:28:29.776-05:00Thank you for this. As someone who has never been...Thank you for this. As someone who has never been involved with the Catholic church, I've been having trouble finding perspective on these things from "inside" that didn't immediately flip into full-on shields-up defensive mode.<br /><br />I look forward to the rest of the series.Brad J (Kazrak)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08512490630205471220noreply@blogger.com