UNITED STATES
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abused and Healing
Virginia Jones
I try not to criticize the Catholic Church in public very much because the people in the pews and the leadership of the Church are all too human. You can’t really motivate people to change through criticism. I am the mother of two teenagers who went from being sweet, wonderful children to still wonderful but rather prickly children as soon as they hit puberty.
My son likes swear words. MY daughter likes creative put downs. I try to listen but sometimes I find myself resorting to long lectures about their bad behavior. The problem is they don’t respond well to lectures. Truthfully, they respond better when I model the behavior that I want them to display.
But my attempts to reform my children fly in the face of the culture around them. Both complain of significant bullying from classmates.
Unfortunately adolescent mood swings are not confined to adolescents because the people in the pews and the leadership of the Church often act like unruly adolescents — inclined to bully anyone who challenges their spiritual safety.
So I try modeling with other Catholics what needs to be done.
But this time, something so bad has happened that I cannot not criticize the Catholic Church.
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