What Extraordinary Chutzpah!
From the Catholic News Agency, 1.8.2008.
I have added my comments in bold, red font.
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Worldwide Eucharistic adoration campaign for priests and sex abuse victims started
Vatican City, Jan 8, 2008 / 05:54 am (CNA).- The Congregation for the Clergy has launched a worldwide Eucharistic adoration campaign for the holiness of priests and for vocations to the priestly life. One particular focus of the new effort is to pray for the victims of clergy sexual abuse.
Notice the order of presentation here: first priests, then vocations, and finally victims. Victims are mentioned last. No surprise here. After all, this is the seat of power of the Roman Catholic Church, where victims are always last, doing the talking.
According to Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, the head of the Vatican dicastery, the purpose of the initiative is for there to be somebody, somewhere, praying for priests every hour of the day before the Blessed Sacrament, as well as imploring the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
Again, it’s priests first. Then trot out the Virgin, a favorite of John Paul II, to make the initiative authentically Catholic.
Hummes, the head of the Vatican ministry for the clergy, said a letter was sent to “dioceses, parishes, rectories, chapels, monasteries, convents and seminaries” calling on them to organise groups of “adorers”. The letter asks the faithful “to make amends before God for the evil that has been done and hail once more the dignity of the victims”, who had suffered from the “moral and sexual conduct of a very small part of the clergy.”
Of course, ask the faithful to make amends—not the abusing priests, not the bishops who enabled them, and not the pope who orchestrated the whole thing! What extraordinary chutzpah!
Women were also mentioned as important members of this new initiative. “The vocation to be a spiritual mother to priests is not well known, poorly understood and therefore not commonly practiced, despite its vital importance. Regardless of age, all women can be spiritual mothers to a priest”, the congregation noted. Women are also encouraged to pray anonymously for a specific priest and to spiritual accompany him.
Of course, let’s make the women feel guilty for not having prayed the priests out of their abusive behavior. The depths to which the Vatican will stoop! Sweet Jesus, save us!
Another aim of the initiative is to promote the creation of new Eucharistic shrines and perpetual adoration chapels. Adorers are also encouraged to make reparation for the “moral and sexual misconduct of a very small portion of the clergy.”
A better way to make reparation is to lock up criminal priests and the bishops who enabled them. And, because ultimate accountability for this sordid mess rests with pope (remember the buck stops with the top man), Benedict XVI should wear sackcloth and ashes for the rest of his mortal days.
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I have submitted the following comment in the space provided at the CNA webpage that carried the story and invite you to add your comment as well:
Prayer should never be used as a deflection mechanism by a guilty party. The current and past pope have botched and lied about the clergy sex abuse crisis.
This crisis could have been averted, and still can be controlled in one and only one way. The pope must 1) come clean and tell the truth about complicity in keeping crimes secret; 2) fire bishops who have enabled, hidden, and coddled abusing priests; and 3) allow an independent panel of lay and clergy to dismiss known criminal priests from the priesthood.
4 Responses to “What Extraordinary Chutzpah!”
January 9, 2008 at 2:35 am
What about parents that took pay offs instead of getting help for thier children. My folks would not have let any one and I mean any one get away with abusing us when we were young. Also get the numbers we need to make sure all children are protected, when you check the stat’s it’s family memebers and those close to chilren that do the most abuse. Lets protect ALL children not just the one in the church as all children are our concern!
January 9, 2008 at 2:46 am
It is extremely difficult to sort through the mixed and hypocritcal spiritual messages that appear in the media almost on a daily basis nowadays… it appears that suddenly the Catholic hierarchy is spending more time on their PR homework to ensure that as much twisted press will continue to confuse, isolate and embarass the struggling faithful in the pews. The solution is very easy:
*** ACKNOWLEDGE that sex crimes were committed against the innocent for decades, without accountability;
***ADMIT that the business and employment practices of the Cathoic Church ENABLED sex crimes to continue in the past and remain in effect today, without government or law enforcement intervention;
*** PROSECUTE the Bishops, attorneys, human resources directors, teachers, coaches and members of the hierarchy that refused to report sex abuse to law enforcement as mandated by law.
Voila! The problem is solved. Put the ENABLERS in prison and when their prison terms are served, we can all ask the Vatican to consider launching a sincere, trustworthy and good faith attempt to heal our society from the horrific clergy sex abuse crisis… maybe a Eucharistic campaign will be appropriate after TRUTHS AND JUSTICE are revealed.
January 9, 2008 at 3:55 am
This is one of the most nutzy reports I have read in a long time. This pope and whoever advises him are totally out of touch with reality. Good God himself wouldn’t find a place at the table in this church.
January 10, 2008 at 7:46 am
Notice how he twice mentions “a very small number of the clergy” One supposedly celibate priest abusing children is a very large number of the clergy. Their supposed celibacy is their ticket to privilege and trust and respect and they brag incessantlyabout how great a sacrifice they are making.
If the truth were to ever come out it would show that there are thousands of priests still abusing children, especialy in mission countries where they have unlimited access to children with no one watching them or no organizations, government or otherwise to look out for children and women.
The hierarchy knows about a great deal of it and ignores it. Over and above that, all over the world there are innumerable secret serial abusers who are supposedly celibate.