abuse

I promised more on this topic, and so, to stay true to my word, here’s a little more ranting on the morally bankrupt, male-ordered dictatorship we call the Vatican.  Rest assured, next week I’ll get back to posting the fascinating details of life in suburbia, which include attempting to grow a freelance writing business while committing umpteen hours a week to Girl Scouts and avoiding the endless outbursts and varied rebellions of my children.

I am a lapsed Catholic (and I’m pretty sure by now you can figure out why).  This is largely because, by my research, there appears to be no genuine movement on the part of the Vatican to fully, openly, and honestly address the very critical problem of sex abuse throughout the Church.  I read Archbishop Listecki’s sermon on the Journal Sentinel site, apologizing for the ill-handling of sex abuse cases, while continuing to absolve the current Pope from any wrong-doing whatsoever (I wish he’d click on a few of the links at the end of this post…).  It was so absurd it was almost humorous – kind of like a mother apologizing to her children for their violent father, begging them to forgive beatings they endured at his hand, asking them to look no farther than her for answers, apologies, and healing. 

In case you overlooked the comments of my last post on this topic, I most certainly do believe in God, and Jesus, and the power of choice – the choice that God gave us when he endowed us with free will — that each and every one of us has in every minute of every day.  I do not overlook or take lightly the fact that we all sin (I for one, have created and inspired failures of epic proportion, and I state this with absolutely no pride at all).  We fall down.  But, isn’t with the privilege of free will distinctly tied to the weight of responsibility to distinguish right from wrong and act accordingly?

Let’s cut to the chase:  on every level, every single sane, person (no matter whether God-loving, Catholic, or not) knows that the sexual abuses crimes committed were wrong.  Outright, flat-out, horrifically, undeniably wrong.  I would go so far as to say – and I do not use this term often or lightly – EVIL.  Why is there no accountability?  Doesn’t forgiveness and mercy and healing come AFTER the transgressions are fully made true?  Are we just counting on the fact that burning in hell will be penalty enough for the offending priests, and that no earthly consequence will change the future of the church? 

Someone for whom I have great respect reminded me that our is not to judge.  I have grappled with that over a few days, and here is where I’m at with it:  when someone is victimized at the hands of another, advocating for the victims and being instrumental in modifying the offender’s behavior (by, for example, turning the offender over to the authorities and the laws that all of the rest of us must answer to) trumps my judging someone else.  

Calling a Spade a Spade:  Catholicism is a Dictatorship

Here’s a thought:  if the Vatican were an elected body – elected by the entire Church, not simply those appointed from within – how would the response to and the consequences of these crimes be different? 

Let’s ignore for a moment that this is, in fact, an international problem that spans societies with all kinds of governments.  Tell me:  why do people of democracies – the U.S., Ireland, France – NOT demand and exact reform and change in our Church? 

I don’t know about you, but there are specific reasons that I live in a democracy:  in it, I have freedom and rights unlike in any other form of government.  Name a dictatorship (we’ll ignore socialism for purposes of this post) that works for the masses.  Let’s overlook the extreme cases of Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany.  So how about Chavez’s Venezuela?  Sadaam’s Iraq?  Castro’s Cuba?  Do the citizens of those countries eat well, do they live well, are they safe, educated, and adequately sheltered?  Is education accessible to all?  Is opportunity commensurate with effort?  Is there a middle class?  What are man’s rights, women’s rights, children’s rights?  Can people speak their minds without fear?  I don’t know about you, but I can tell you under no circumstances would I want to live in said restrictive, poverty-stricken societies, LET ALONE raise my daughters in one. 

Don’t get me wrong, I will be among the first to admit that the US is far, far from perfect (if I were a political blogger, countless posts were borne from that statement, and that’s if I picked just one branch of government).  I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t fully acknowledge that democracy is far from perfect, because of course humans are far from perfect.  Even when we use a collective conscience, and stand up for what is right, demanding that all levels — right on up to and through our leadership — adhere to high standards and respect individual rights and opportunities, there will be problems, shortcomings, and even tragedy.  But at least democracy offers a system that can address wrong-doing and consciously attempt to prevent it from recurring. 

Do Other Religions Have These Same Problems to the Same Degree?

I was fortunate to receive several emails relating to my last post.  One of them, from an astute former English teacher, hypothesized that the celibacy requirement self-selects for sexual predators.  My gut feeling is that this is very valid point; however, I did not take time to research this.  If the required celibacy in fact is part of the root of the sexual abuse, my pleas for reform remain valid.

Now What?

Enough of my babbling ad nauseum.  Here are my own conclusions about this entire mess.  I urge you to consider them in conjunction with the responsibilities inherent in free will:

• No Transparency + No Accountability = Dictatorship
• NOT making a choice is actually MAKING a choice. 

 I welcome your comments and opinions.

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A few of the many sources that I consulted while writing these “Being Catholic” posts:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/09/files-future-pope-resisted-defrocking-priest/?test=latestnews

http://www.wisn.com/news/22995025/detail.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/31/wisconsin.church.abuse/index.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/02/2863465.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-09/pope-open-to-meeting-with-sex-abuse-victims-as-scandal-spreads.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQWrzPjAEtxgfa_tARqu5413A4PAD9ER09I00

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1589335.html

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122954&sectionid=3510303

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/how-the-church-shuffled-p_n_538010.html

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