By Peter Rugg
The Pitch
June 21, 2011
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2011/06/following_sex_abuse_cases_dioc.php
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The KC diocese is still looking for ways to stop public-relations fallout from the recent child sex-abuse allegations, but so far they're done a poor job of it. Does Bishop Finn know how laughable, how calculating it looks to promise to hire independent investigators when he didn't turn people over to the police for independent investigation at the first warning they were abusing kids? Does he have any idea of how disgusted people are that after all these years and all these cases, the church still acts to protect priests first?
Probably not. Or maybe they know it's too late to reach all but the most devout, because it's hard to think of anyone else who might be touched by their plan to "promote unity" after the scandals with a special Latin-language "Solemn High Mass."
The diocese says it'll hold the special mass Wednesday, June 29, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. "How glorious will it be to see those of your fold theretofore unacquainted ... kneeling next to one another in the pews!" says their announcement. "Amidst all the discord and disunity during this present darkness, let there be light!" Yes. All that child molestation need not be in vain If even two people who were once strangers can politely ignore each other while kneeling for the communion wafer!
As a former altar boy, this does strike me as a good way to remind everyone who hasn't stopped going to church that no one understands Catholics like the Catholics do. Being in that religion is like being in the mafia. You're never really out no matter how badly you want out. Everybody owes, everybody pays.
If anything was a living metaphor for that mentality, it'd be the Latin Mass. There's a reason that they got rid of it when they were trying to bring the church into the modern era and maybe reach average people. Only a Catholic has any idea of what's being done during the service; even then, it's easy to get lost because the priest's back is always turned on you. It's completely cold, lacking even a visceral connection between priest and worshiper. In that regard, for this moment, it is perfect.
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