BishopAccountability.org
	Must Read: Rev. Robert Hoatson, Ph.d, Writes to 40 Professors Who Say 'Attacks' on Pope 'Unjust' Voice from the Desert May 8, 2010 http://reform-network.net/?p=4663 The Legionaries of Christ-controlled National Catholic Register–not the National Catholic Reporter–recently carried on its website a statement by 40 professors saying that "attacks" on the pope are "unjust." http://www.ncregister.com/blog/40_professors_attacks_on_pope_unjust/ I carried that statement on this blog along with my embedded editorial comments. http://reform-network.net/?p=4641 A number of survivors and their supporters commented on the statement, among them my New Jersey friend Rev. Bob Hoatson. Here is what Bob had to say. Thanks, Bob. * * * You can see this comment at the following URL: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/40_professors_attacks_on_pope_unjust/ Forty university- or seminary-based professors have signed a document that makes sweeping generalizations without citing one piece of research to back up their findings. They do not refute or challenge the decades-long and ongoing research into mandatory celibacy by Dr. Richard Sipe which has demonstrated that mandatory celibacy is a flawed policy. They do not cite the statements of Pope Benedict himself that the leadership (hierarchy) of the Church has seriously erred in the handling of clergy sexual abuse. They do not cite grand jury study after grand jury study from America and similar reports elsewhere that lambasted the criminal and immoral behavior of Church official after Church official (bishops, primarily) for placing kids at risk. And, these "learned" men and women promise to "pray and fast," when there is overwhelming research from the mental health professional community that indicates that survivors of clergy sexual abuse need "justice" and "fairness" and "apologies" in order to recover and not prayers and fasting. Perhaps the forty professors will publish the results of their corporate fast for victims? How will we learn of these results? And, how will they "prove" that fasting has helped even one survivor of clergy sexual abuse? And, how many prayers will be said corporately by these forty professors? Will they quantify the effects of the prayers on the recoveries of clergy sexual abuse victims? Every day, I minister to clergy sexual abuse victims. Prayers and fasting are "passive" responses to the crimes committed against these folks. Perhaps the forty professors would like to "tithe" to Road to Recovery, Inc., P.O. Box 279 , Livingston, NJ, 07039 and put their money where their "pens" are. When they realize they are paying the rent of a clergy abuse survivor or for medicine for another survivor, perhaps that's when they will realize that "faith without good works is meaningless." I wonder if these same "learned" individuals would accept a 40-person signed petition from their students supporting something in their seminary or university without a detailed analysis of the issue, including citations and "proof." I think that petition would end up in the circular file, similar to the place best suited for this letter of support. Ladies and Gentlemen of Academia: come out of your ivory towers and place your hands in the wounds of the injured!
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.