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Snapshots
of the Catholic Abuse Crisis: It's Priests Who Are Being Hurt
by the Abuse, Right?
By William D. Lindsey
Bilgrimage
February 26,
2014
http://bilgrimage.blogspot.com/2014/02/snapshots-of-catholic-abuse-crisis-its.html#more
Two snapshots this
morning that speak volumes about why the abuse scandal has
proven so intractable in the Catholic church--and why we remain
so far still from addressing it effectively:
In the PBS "Frontline" series "Secrets of the
Vatican" (the show itself aired last night; PBS now has a
series of articles connected to the show online), Robert
Mickens notes that not one of recent popes--not John Paul II,
Benedict, or Francis--has gotten in front of the issue.
They've all had to be dragged to deal with it.
And then there's this
about Benedict, in particular:
One of the things that always struck me as odd was the first
reaction that Benedict XVI had toward child abuse, at least the
first public reaction, and this happened with the case of the
Irish bishops when that big scandal hit, the statement came out,
and the pope’s first reaction was he was horrified that a
priest could do something like this.
That’s interesting. He wasn’t horrified that a kid
was abused. … Why is it horrifying that a priest could do
something like that? A priest can do all kinds of things, but it
gives a light into the man’s mind that … that was
the most horrifying thing for him. …
And at Raw Story, Travis
Gettys reports on the attempt of officials of the St.
Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese to blame a mother for . . . well, I
suppose, for allowing? . . . the molestation of her sons by
Father Curtis Wehmeyer, who's now in prison for his crimes.
Gettys notes that Archbishop John Nienstedt has never met with
this mother or her family, but he did discuss the situation with
a group of priests last December, noting that his vicar general
Father Peter Laird had had to resign after Wehmeyer's abuse
of the boys became public knowledge.
And then Nienstedt
stated:
I think the person
who’s been hurt the worst in this is Father Laird.
Mickens on Benedict: He wasn’t horrified that a kid
was abused. He was horrified that a priest could do
something like this.
Nienstedt on the abuse of two boys by a priest under his charge:
I think the person who’s been hurt the worst in
this is Father Laird.
As I say, these two
snapshots of the abuse crisis in the Catholic church speak
volumes to me about why the crisis has proven so
intractable--and what is fundamentally and deeply wrong in the
attitude of the shepherds of the church, as they face this
crisis. Priests evidently count, to the shepherds.
Children clearly do not.
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