BishopAccountability.org
	Comments by Tom Doyle, Debby Bodkin, and John Shuster Voice from the Desert December 29, 2009 http://reform-network.net/?p=2471 Here are three recent comments on this blog that deserve wider circulation. * * * Tom Doyle’s comment on NSAC Calls Second Resigning Irish Bishop’s Statement Incredulous follows. [Irish bishop] James Moriarity’s statement is completely believable but one must understand it in its proper context. There can be no doubt that he, like the others, had cognitive recognition of the fact that sexual abuse of a child by anyone is harmful and in addition, cognitive recognition that sexual abuse of a child by a cleric is harmful. The difference between Moriarity and the same kind of cognitive recognition by a lay man or woman is this: he knows but doesn’t care. In all probability his lack of a proper and appropriate emotional response is grounded in the radical formation he has experienced in the toxic clerical sub-culture of which he has been a part for all of his adult life. The clerical sub-culture creates a significantly different value system in its members. The highest value is placed in the clerical/hierarchical culture itself. The bishops are taught to believe that they are the hierarchical system and hence the Church. This of course lacks any foundation in history or scripture but that matters not. The hierarchical system is a breeding ground for a deadly psychological disorder known as “Acquired Situational Narcissism.” This disorder prevents the person from truly valuing anything other than himself for its own sake. In other words, if something is of value it is based on its benefit to the narcissist and in this instance to the narcissistic system. Consequently had Moriartity stated publicly that he knew that sex abuse of children by clerics was horrendous and evil and admitted that he allowed it anyway because he did not want to tarnish his image, then he would have been accurate and either a “recovering narcissist”, of which there is no such thing, or a budding convert to honesty which is almost as rare. * * * Debby Bodkin’s comment on NSAC Says Irish Bishops Christmas Resignations Small but Necessary Stirrings of Taking of Responsibility follows: Based on the ENABLING of sex crimes committed against children and adults, Irish Bishops made decisions to resign their positions in the Catholic Church–thank you! Catholic children and adults in Ireland have now moved one step closer to finding much needed truth, justice and peace. Tragically, in the United States, the greatest and most generous country in the world, Catholic Cardinals and Bishops have continued to justify their role in the clergy sex abuse crisis by retaining politically-connected attorneys to plead freedom of religion and separation of Church and State in criminal and civil courts of law. Any moral and decent human being understands that freedom of religion privilege is not a free pass to sexually abuse anyone and never will be. Our children in the world continue to observe each and every decision made by individuals trying to justify and/or deny the wrongs revealed since the clergy sex abuse crisis erupted in 2001. What happens? The Church’s attorneys get richer….. the truths (sex crimes) remain dirty secrets in sealed Church files… the legal battles continue in U.S. courts…. and the civil rights of unsuspecting children, adults and the faithful in the pews are denied–all in the name of God. Does anyone truly believe decisions made by the Vatican, the U.S. Church and its attorneys, in defense of business practices that have enabled sex abuse crimes against children and adults for decades, are strokes of genius or God’s plan for the Church? Without justice, there will never be peace. Without peace, faith and our country’s laws are empty. * * * John Shuster’s comment on Behind the scene look at resignations of 4 Irish bishops follows: The church’s culture, from the current pope on down to the priests, nuns and church employees, is driven by fear. They use the church as an institution and business to sustain their lifestyles which are far from their professed values of celibacy/total sexual continence, poverty/oneness with the poor, and obedience to God’s will as expressed from the wisdom of the community. Most of these people couldn’t make it in the real world, and they are terrified to lose the security they have found by riding on our backs. Because of their lack of integrity and double lives, they are easily extorted by their power hungry colleagues, embezzlers and sexual predators. Because they do not have significant life challenges that help them grow within a true family, they become more and more complacent and self-medicating. They lead a lifestyle that lacks the checks and balances that reality provides, and our Roman Catholic community/tradition is suffering because of their depressed self-indulgences which continue to spiral more and more out of control. If we want to change these people, find a true consequences way to really make them obey their own rules. Force them into touch with the realities that we all face. When that happens, everyday people will tear down their facades in the same way they took down the Berlin Wall. As long as people understand Roman Catholicism to be a mixture of spiritual codependence and cult of personality worship of church leadership, little if anything will really change and our children who are exposed to the institution will still be at risk.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.