friday night thoughts.
Apr. 9th, 2010 08:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gfrancieI have been having conversations with other Catholic friends and family members about...everything. In particular the Pope's comments about the media's coverage as just playing on petty rumors.
Petty rumors.
What an insulting thing to say. I think a number of Catholics would be inclined to say, "OH REALLY?"
I think of the priest from my home town parish (that I have talked about a bit) who engaged in inappropriate behavior with teenaged girls. I think of my sister inlaw's Father who suffered horrifying abuse at the hands of priests in Ireland and I also think of someone who worked at my CYO summer camp when I was growing up. He was a counselor about the time I started going to summer camp and later on he was a director there and at the summer camp I went to as a teenager. An incredibly sweet guy and a few years ago he spoke publicly about the fact that he had been molested by a priest at summer camp. (the one I went to as a kid) It was a really awful situation. The priest was a charismatic figure and well known for a lot of good work. The priest had a lot of demons and later on the director came forward about what had happened to him. (about the time he became a camp counselor) There was a financial settlement with the diocese. What I always found interesting is that the director went to work in the place where the molestation had happened. He is a guy who really had his faith thrown for a loop and the whole experience had a profound effect on his life. He went from being an out-going kid to being filled with a lot of hate and depression. Years later he spoke with the priest and forgave him but was really upset when he learned how many other kids had been abused. The director obviously loved his job and provided a safe and wonderful experience for kids. When more public allegations came out the priest asked to be de-frocked but he never faced any criminal charges for molesting kids. I found out recently that this priest molested another well-known counselor and (someone my brother recalled fondly from his days at Summer camp.) Again this counselor obviously was able to take something from this situation so that others didn't experience the same thing.
Pope Nazi-pants the Dickith indeed...
Petty rumors.
What an insulting thing to say. I think a number of Catholics would be inclined to say, "OH REALLY?"
I think of the priest from my home town parish (that I have talked about a bit) who engaged in inappropriate behavior with teenaged girls. I think of my sister inlaw's Father who suffered horrifying abuse at the hands of priests in Ireland and I also think of someone who worked at my CYO summer camp when I was growing up. He was a counselor about the time I started going to summer camp and later on he was a director there and at the summer camp I went to as a teenager. An incredibly sweet guy and a few years ago he spoke publicly about the fact that he had been molested by a priest at summer camp. (the one I went to as a kid) It was a really awful situation. The priest was a charismatic figure and well known for a lot of good work. The priest had a lot of demons and later on the director came forward about what had happened to him. (about the time he became a camp counselor) There was a financial settlement with the diocese. What I always found interesting is that the director went to work in the place where the molestation had happened. He is a guy who really had his faith thrown for a loop and the whole experience had a profound effect on his life. He went from being an out-going kid to being filled with a lot of hate and depression. Years later he spoke with the priest and forgave him but was really upset when he learned how many other kids had been abused. The director obviously loved his job and provided a safe and wonderful experience for kids. When more public allegations came out the priest asked to be de-frocked but he never faced any criminal charges for molesting kids. I found out recently that this priest molested another well-known counselor and (someone my brother recalled fondly from his days at Summer camp.) Again this counselor obviously was able to take something from this situation so that others didn't experience the same thing.
Pope Nazi-pants the Dickith indeed...
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-10 05:00 pm (UTC)We've become such goldfish that we assume the social, medical and cultural reality of today is the same as during the 50-70's (for the Irish and Milwaukee issues in particular) and criticize accordingly. The Church is a target because it's apparently more socially acceptable to attack Catholics than Boy Scouts or Protestant churches.
What gets completely ignored in the discussion is today's reality. The Catholic church will not (and can not) ignore allegations of abuse, will actively investigate and take appropriate action. As a youth leader, I'm not even allowed to take one of my teens out for coffee by myself. It's policies like this and the current culture amongst the priesthood and religious which is the reality, not the actions of 40 years ago.