Saturday, February 23, 2019

Oh sorry! Excuse me for expecting better!


  Yesterday I was listening to the news regarding a meeting of Catholic bishops from around the world regarding the sex abuse scandals, they happen in almost every country where the church has members. I was raised Catholic, my friends and neighbors are mostly Catholic so I'm not an outsider with anti-Catholic views just looking to criticize the church. What I heard however; made me laugh with disbelief and embarrassment.

 I don't know what I was expecting, I thought that by now the church would be more educated, have more knowledge and at the beginning it sounded like they were trying to do the right thing. Soon it was evident that they were just saying the right phrases to make positive headlines. The conference on abuse did not allow any victims to speak, did not invite any experts on sexual abuse to speak and did not create any repercussions in the church for abusing people. Instead they created a list of "reflections" for a person to think over.

  Many bishops were surprised by the allegations, I have to ask, what rock have they been living under? You don't get to be a bishop by hiding in the woods all your life! You have to be educated and generally live in a populated area. Other bishops said that sexual abuse was a "western illness", that it doesn't happen in places like India or African and Asian countries, despite many people showing up from those countries with the same horror stories that happened here. The bishops also got bogged down with what "is" actually sexual abuse. Apparently raping a woman is slightly acceptable in some countries but not others, raping boys is for the most part a no no but they felt we need to take in cultural differences. Well... oops, silly me, I thought the vow of celibacy meant no sex at all. I thought that vow would have made it pretty clear as to what is or isn't acceptable. These same bishops would probably tell you that sex between two "adult" males is sick, that's one of the reasons their judgments lost their power over me long, long ago.

 I will be honest and say I was disappointed and actually surprised by hearing this, the hierarchy used to be very conservative but more worldly or better educated, now they sound more like evangelicals. I'm almost expecting them to declare that it's the devil attacking the church and that the victims secretly belong to a cult that was formed to bring them down. This feeds into the people who are too lazy to think for themselves, I remember one older woman who insisted that the victims are just looking for money and attention. That's completely false, I know of men from well-off families that came forward, they were embarrassed to have friends and colleagues hear about sex acts committed against them but they felt compelled by never being able to move on from the abuse until they said something.

 Now I feel maybe this result is actually a good thing, maybe more people will start to see how silly and phony the whole thing is. People need structure and guidelines to live by but it's 2019, time to stop living like it's two thousand years ago, put away the robes, candles and crying statues, let's move on.

12 comments:

Bob said...

The Catholic Church; the scandal that keeps on giving because they refuse to admit it happens, and do nothing to make it stop.

Deedles said...

God don't like ugly!

Old Lurker said...

The church keeps taking one step forward and one step back. It is a longstanding institution and I think it will survive in some form, but it needs to come clean about this. At least the church is discussing the abuse openly.

At some point it needs to admit the kind of sexually repressed person it tended to attract to the clergy.

Cali-Boi said...

I was raised Catholic also. I had a run in with a priest in younger years, not anything like rape, but he had ways to get me to show him my penis. He never touched, I think he feared getting in trouble, but he got kicks by just wanting to see it. Don't know what I would have done if he had made me had sex with him.


This issue will NEVER change.Catholic bishops and priest will never give up their carnal delights.... from the top, down, they all have each others backs. It's such a pathetic religion.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I was not surprised in the least. Criminal organizations do not reform themselves from the inside.

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

Oh, the Catholic Church will never change. Ex altar boy here. An organization full of sexually frustrated men wearing frocks surrounded by the most fabulous antiques in the world will never let go of power.

XoXo

Richard said...

Another ex-Catholic here. I concur with Debra. The church is only concerned about money, power and influence.

Willym said...

I found it interesting that on the CBC reports from Rome the victims they spoke to were women. And yet Cardinal Raymond "Dress me in Pretty Things, Daddy" Burke says it's all those "homosexuals"and has nothing to do with the abuse of power. Ask the women of the Magdalene Laundries who were abused by priests and nuns - physically and sexually. And don't get me started on the parents who are now "holier than thou" - the same parents who silenced their children because "what would the neighbours say", called them liars "because the good father would never do that", or worse punished them for speaking the truth. And this council is nothing but a cover up and an attempt at PR for an institute that is corrupt from the top down.

Mike said...

It's not about sex or abuse. Never was. It's about power and money and hierarchy. This is just a side show to prevent Catholics and governments from seeing the truth and excluding the Church from control. Just look who the bishops pal around with. The same lot!

Ranch Chimp said...

Pope hasn't done nothing that I can see, in the latest reform news or whatever. Bottom line, is these priests, clergy or such need to be tried as criminals like anyone else and if found guilty, serve prison time like everyone else, and NOT in some country club fed facility. Here in Texas, we have hoe squads, hoeing the fields, even in summer ... that is where all other child molesters go, I see no reason why they should be an exception. And if they like, they can find plenty of sex in prison ... so they should feel right at home. The catholic church is so powerful as far as money/ capital, attorneys and political clout. But no, I see nothing that the Pope said that is significant.

Mike said...

If the political powers in the US weren't exactly like the clergy (protecting their power, privilege, money) they'd start prosecuting the bishops for covering up crimes. It's the worst of the good old boy network. Three women were invited to the Pope's summit. Three. When interviewed, one made a lot of sense until she said 'something has to be done right away or we'll lose our credibility.' Really? Just as bad as the men. The truth is, every one of the bishops is looking toward their next promotion, counting the years Frank has left and wondering what their chances are for the big prize.

Ur-spo said...

I doubt anything really will come of this, and things will continue
The Catholic Church is a lot like FB: FB does all sorts of atrocious things in my opinion but so long as people still go it doesn't have to end/change.