The world is covered with flora and fauna, some lovely, some ugly. Among the ugly fauna are priests in the Roman Catholic Church who are pedophiles. The hierarchy, a collection of executive types responsible for keeping the Church operating smoothly, have not dealt with their ordained pedophiles effectively. As a result, the members of the organization are displeased. Non-members are horrified. Actually, the members are horrified, too. I am a member, and I know how horrified I am.
I am also getting tired of explaining how I can remain a member of such a corrupt organization. Why don't I just join the Quakers or the Shakers or, better yet, the Lakers?
The only answer is that the church is like my family. If a member of my family goes astray, do I catch a bus for Keokuk? I do not. I stay and try to help with the changing, the healing. I remain a Roman Catholic, and I do try to help with the changing, the healing. I don't want to be a Quaker, a Shaker, or, worse yet, a Laker. I love my parish church. Yes, it's liberal. If it weren't, I'd have to find another hang out on Sunday morning.
I do have questions. There are saintly members of the hierarchy. They are unconcerned about matters of control and power. Do they care about the keys to the executive washroom? They do not. They care about the keys to the kingdom. They are ignored by the non-Catholic media.
Why is that? I know of their existence only because I read periodicals published by Catholic religious orders.
According to the Internet, there is no accurate count of either ordained priests or members of the Roman Catholic Church. Here is an inaccurate count. There are over 2.1 billion Catholics and 406,411 priests. How many Catholics have claimed abuse, and how many priests have been accused of being abusers? I have not seen totals published. Why is that? If I knew the number of abusers and abused, I'd be happier. I might even check out the Quakers.
I don't imagine that it is like Henry Kissinger once said, "90% of the politicians, give the rest of us a bad name." I should think that we are talking a small percentage, but what percentage who knows. It is not like you could a pose the question at a priest convention, "Will all pedophiles please stand up." What is frightening or perhaps hopeful is that I read once, don't remember where so I can't vouch for the accuracy of the statement, that the priesthood attracted pedophiles. It seems a bit far fetched because becoming a priest is no small matter. But if true, then the crux of the situation becomes that the pedophile is attracted to the job...the job does not create a pedophile. Is that accurate? Who knows. But if it is, then upper management can eliminate the problem by actively and with great publicity pursuing these individuals and handing their asses over to the police with a body of evidence, rather than moving them off to some unknown corner into an administrative job. How many times have we heard of the Church revealing a pedophile? No it is always the victims going public forcing the church's hand. That may not be an accurate statement either. The church may be throwing them out left and right, but I have not read of any cases, but I am hardly an expert in this matter.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is the persistence that this matter has. The first of these cases hit the big time media, what 20 to 30 years ago, and they keep surfacing with a regularity that is troublesome. It is ironic that an organization that is so preoccupied with human sexuality should be rocked with what is one of the worst offenses. Ironic perhaps but also predictable.
When you start messing with elementary forces you can unleash huge energies. Wasn't the father of one your girlhood friends, splitting atoms under the bleachers at the U of C. "The Italian navigator has landed in the New World." (Of course I would love that quote.) Well in my estimation, human sexuality is one of the elementary forces, mess with it at your peril, and the Catholic Church has made a science out of messing with sexuality. Good luck!
Want to solve the problem?
1. Active pursue pedophiles, hand them over to the police with evidence and publicity.
2. Eliminate celibacy requirements in all areas of church life. In fact encourage matrimony among the clergy. The pastor's spouse can play a big role in a congregation.
3. Open the priesthood to women.
I am going to quit this comment and start a new one. Length, you know, has always been a problem with me.
Continued from above. Part 2 actually.
ReplyDeleteAh now your question on the media. What is the purpose of the media? Inform us. Ha! The purpose of the media is to make money, and one of the ways of making money is to publish "the news". So if you are interested in making money you publish news that sells. So why doesn't the mainstream media talk about your saints? Because we would rather read about Arnold having children with the house maid, Father X having a play with the alter boys, and the head of the International Monetary Fund sexually assaulting a maid. Who is screwing who will always out sell who is saving who. Sorry fact of life. Why has the Atlantic gone from a fat tomb with great insightful articles to something approaching ET with a rare insightful article? Why does Newsweek look like a web page print out loaded with factoids but not much meat? Why does our local news station flip through news topics with one liner sentences--most of them probably fragments--with each topic being separated by this weird rushing noise like a jet zooming by you. Because informational slam bam thank you mam sells. Making people sit back and think, doesn't. Your saints are not going to turn a buck.
And what is an Old Baguette to do? Become a Quaker? No that may be my rag, but not yours. We have been over this ground before. What is your problem with the Catholic Church? Is it Godly or Earthly? If it is Godly, leave now, and don't look back. If it is Earthly, then stay and make a pain in the ass of yourself (only as long as burning at the stake remains illegal--say what you want about secular governments, they do help keep the zealots in line).
Let's consider the Godly side. To me God is like a huge automobile insurance company and the religions brands of automobiles. Does Geico give a shit whether you drive a Chevy or a Toyota? Does God give a shit whether you are a Catholic or Shinto? Does Chevy give a shit what kind of car you drive? Damn tootin, they do, but Geico don't. So if you are having a problem with Catholic theology, you don't think God behaves like they say then boogie--leave, seek God in another brand. Will God care? Does Geico care? It all good stuff.
But do you quit driving a Chevy because the car salesman is a pedophile? You know the brand is good but you must deal with a certain number of sleaze bags. Story time. Once upon a time, actually about once a decade, Sextant buys a new car. Several days after the sale, like clockwork, I get a phone call and a survey in the mail from the car manufacturer asking me what my experience was with the dealer. These things usually have about 20 questions on them regarding how happy I was with the transaction and the car dealer. Well dear car companies buying a car is not like going to the opera or a football game. I don't buy a car to experience buying the car. I buy the car for transportation. I could give a shit less if the dealer had halitosis, wore a bad toupee, or spoke with a lisp. What I do care about is how good is the damned car. I have never received a survey from a car company asking me what I thought of the car. Well maybe the Vatican should send out surveys...
Did the priest speak clearly and explain all the features of Catholicism?
Was the priest polite and listen to all your concerns?
Did the priest fondle your children?
I shouldn't joke about this, it is not funny.
Good God, I just tried to post my comment. Too long. So I had to break it into two. So now we have a Comment in three Acts. Go to the next comment for Act 3 in the meaningless babble of Sextant.
Continued from part 2 above. Part 3, read the above comment first.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the Old Baguette doing with her life? She is a running a ministry. So is VW Busman. Your place my dear, is in the pew, staring the son of a bitch in the pulpit (hmmmm jack in the pulpit, no wonder I don't care for the clergy) in the eye letting him know that we are watching and we have big mouths. Your ministry is to remind that young couple that their mission in life is not to crank out as many good little Catholics as the womb will bear and therefore some thing more effective than the rhythm method is not sinful in the eyes of God, only the church, and who are they but a car brand. And sometimes I think your ministry is to poke at hornets nest and get Sextant ranting about stuff of which he know little. I have never been shy about making an ass of myself. I believe it to be my ministry. Everyone has a purpose. My purpose is to serve as a bad example.
Now to more mundane matters of the body rather than the spirit. What is the story on the shoulder? Not bad I hope. And even more mundane, the camera? I have heard nothing from the Old Baguette regarding the art of photography. Both VW Busman and I have been waiting for these amazing photos, just dripping with punctum, of lonely tracks in the moonlight calling out to the inner hobo in all of us.
As an aside, when I posted comment part 2 above, the word verification was s c r o m u t s. Interesting anagram. Is Google trying to entertain me?
Reading back my comments I realize I forgot another quote, this from Admiral Rickover, the father of the US nuclear navy:
ReplyDelete"If you’re going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy; God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t."
So there you have my dear Old Baguette, sin against the church and keep 'em on their toes.