Monday, February 21, 2011

Crocodile Tears in Dublin


Catholic Bloggers often hear about the experiences of lay Catholics the rest of the world isn't privy to. All kinds of vctims who have been bullied and disabused, ignored, slandered. Some of them given their sit down and shut up money pass stories on that are demoralizing. After all of the lamentations and talk about reform and sorrow, how Catholics respond to abuse in this hour is manifested in the allegations of Fr. Euteneur.

The priest disappears. The diocese doesn't even have to contribute to the charade, the people in the pews find a way to make a martyr out of him. When victims step forward, the pewsitters do the dirty work for the Bishops and attack like rabid dogs. Meanwhile, the Bishop has built his empire with the morally loose. The next generation is tossed into the systemic rot.

Ten years ago, a lot of us were hopeful that the revelations of abuse would usher in reform. The reforms needed were simple. These tyrannies are built on the level of an Archdiocese. There needed to be a layer above the level of the Archdiocese that reports directly to the Pope so that the people on the level of the Archdiocese knows that they will be removed and held accountable for any corruption.

Instead of meaningful reform, the fix has been telling stories to innocent children about their parents and relatives putting their hands down their pants to rape them at any moment (without a single story of a priest or bishop putting their hands down children's pants!) and a series of Masses and ceremonies all over planet earth where we are treated to crocodile tears lamentations.

Watching these stunts rubs salt in our wounds.

Here's the most honest thing ever said since Cardinal O'Malley's installation here in Boston:

“We want to be part of a church that puts survivors, the victims of abuse, first — ahead of self-interest, reputation, and institutional needs,’’ O’Malley said.
The institution of our soul's salvation has been dismantled and replaced with this ridiculous dog and pony show.

So long as the people of Dublin are not expecting a system where the Holy See acts on corruption, these bells and whistles will bring some measure of comfort, I suppose.

Here's some commentary from Eponymous Flower that I couldn't agree with more:

Editor: They're not reading from a Catholic script here, they're participating in something akin to a reality television show, likeBishop Bode's phony attempt. Cardinal Sean and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin are playing ball for the wrong team, as usual. His Lordship, the Primate of Ireland, has been vocal about his role as the good guy, but he's consistently silent on Catholic teaching.

It's going to be difficult to be convincing about whatever it is you're apologizing for if you're not going to admit what the problem really is, it's integrity, as pointed out above and repeatedly on this blog. Neither the Primate of Ireland, nor the Archbishop of Boston are consistently Catholic. So, the problem isn't with the media manufactured sex-abuse crisis, it's a problem with the integrity of Catholic Bishops.

22 comments:

Maria said...

it's a problem with the integrity of Catholic Bishops.

And it did not start in 2002. It has been going on for 40 years. Wait, after 40 years we get led out of Egypt, right?

Anonymous said...

There has to be something behind this. Are the bishops and cardinals subjects of blackmail? What are they afraid of the Catholics in the pews finding out? Really, what could we find out that would shock us at this point?

Veronica

Anonymous said...

The 40 years were over in 2003 or4 . The desert of Vatican 2 has started to blossom. The young are looking for justice. God is making errors obvious and the light is illuminating the dark. There is only one way to put this right. It is no good writing to Rome, get a good canon lawyer and take the case to Rome. All the complaints are just posturing but demanding in front of the Rota with a goodly number of catholics present, then posted on the "net will get action.
Do it the old way make subscription lists and donate then demand action.

Joseph D'Hippolito said...

Maria, this problem is a lot older than Vatican II. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with Vatican II. It has to do with the fact that the Church's leaders centuries ago abandoned their calling for a governing structure that embraces monarchistic pretentions, encourages insitutional arrogance and insularity and perpetuates a sense of entitlement. None of this has anything to do with Christ's commands to His disciples in John 13, let alone with Christ Himself.

Caroline said...

..from prophet to priest, every one deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying,'Peace,peace,' when there is no peace. Jeremiah 8: 10b-11

Help us Lord; raise up faithful priests and prophets.
+PAX

Anonymous said...

Caroline,

That is one of my favorites from Jeremiah. When reading the Old Testament prophets, both minor and major, I often think how applicable what they wrote is to our present time.

Veronica

TTC said...

I like the idea of hiring a canon lawyer. We'll have to think about that one. Thanks!

Joseph, I agree the feet washing ritual was part of Christ's Ordination ceremony with his apostles. It's strange in this context but that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is that it's an empty gesture.

All we can do is pray that it meant something to victims and Catholics scandalized.

TTC said...

Caroline, Veronica - A perfect quote from scripture...

Joseph D'Hippolito said...

Carol, the point isn't the foot-washing exercise by itself. The point is that Christ told His disciples not to "lord it over others" the way the rulers of His day (Pilate, Herod, the Pharisees) did. The bigger point is that He told the disciples to reject self-seeking, ambitious careerism; remember, the disciples were arguing among themselves who would be "the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" before Christ began washing their feet.

Word verification: doushe. I'm not making this up. It's an apt description of our false shepherds.

Jerry said...

Hi Joseph,

I don't follow you:

"It has to do with the fact that the Church's leaders centuries ago abandoned their calling for a governing structure that embraces monarchistic pretentions,"

Over the past 160 years, we've had some of the greatest popes in history including Pius IX, X, XI, XII, and Leo XIII. St. Pius X will one day be regarded among the greatest of the great. I'll agree with the finding of arrogance in the post V-II popes, thinking they know better than their predecessors. Case in point, they went soft on poofters, thinking the old Church was too harsh. They couldn't have been more wrong, and now we suffer the consequences.

Joseph D'Hippolito said...

Jerry, all monarchies have great sovereigns at some point in their history. But most non-constitutional monarchies -- and the Church effectively *is* such a monarchy -- do not have any internal mechanisms to keep leaders accountable or to keep the public from being exploited, sexually or otherwise. Yes, there's Canon Law but do you seriously believe that bishops adhere to it, or that the Pope insists that they adhere to it?

Besides, look at Catholic history. For centuries, succession to the papacy wasn't determined by a vote of the College of Cardinals but by the kind of murderous infighting between powerful families and coalitions that marked the latter stages of the Roman Empire. Yes, the murderous aspects have been eliminated (thank God!). But we still have bishops who frankly don't give a damn about the God they serve, let alone His people. A holy, righteous God will scourge, judge and condemn those who abused the power He gave them.

Don't believe me? Read Ezekiel 34. Read Matthew 23. Read 1 Samuel 2: 12-36.

TTC said...

Canon law is as big of a joke as the Catehcism is here in Boston.

Jerry said...

"But we still have bishops who frankly don't give a damn about the God they serve, let alone His people."

Exactly. That's because they're men. Our Lord warned us that scandals must arise. And He is abundantly clear about abuse of authority, as you note.

So, the solution is what? Is there some method of governance that the Church has forgotten? Something that Popes Ven. Pius IX, Leo XIII, and St. Pius X omitted or failed to recognize?

TTC said...

"But we still have bishops who frankly don't give a damn about the God they serve, let alone His people."

"Exactly. That's because they're men."

Whoops. If I have given the impression I think men have a fundamental flaw in loving, I beg your pardon. That was not my intention at all. Most of the men I know are deeply devoted to God and their families. There are many priests, even here in Boston, whose love for God is really intense. They have to fly under the radar here in Boston or they'll get yanked into the Chancery and tormented - or sent to Fr. Groeschels for mental evaluations -- but they are here and feeding their flock. They are demoralized and that is a problem we need to deal with as laity.

Fathers have instincts and wisdom. Mothers have instincts and wisdom. Father's instincts and wisdom tend to be much closer to the vest -- in their own families. Mothers have the ability to transfer instincts and wisdom to their community and the world at large.

These gifts are supposed to work together. Mary Seat of Wisdom and Queen of the Angels. Christ, the King, courage of martyrs, Son of Justice, Teacher of evangelists, Good Shepherd.

I don't mean to say this thesis is black and white--because the Holy Spirit has all kinds of ways to endow us for whatever He's hoping we'll use them for. I'm just talking a general rule of thumb.

Generally speaking, the wizards of the chanceries like women who abandon their own families to serve the mutitudes. Those kinds of women, on their crusades, will step over and abandon their own children suffering in front of their faces to perform stunts in the public square like washing the feet of victims in an empty gesture. These types of women have no instincts at all. They are on a journey to feel better about the women they see in the mirror.

If I have convened I think men are somehow flawed, I apologize. That is not at all the way I feel.

Jerry said...

Whoops! We're mixing threads, Carol. I used men in the generic sense. I thought of making it gender neutral because of the discussion brewing on the "Guilt" post. But I can't stand "gender neutral" and "inclusive language."

That men and women have different instincts and wisdom and other stuff is wonderful and necessary. I'm not one to delve very far into that, except to say, Vive la difference!

Joseph D'Hippolito said...

So, the solution is what? Is there some method of governance that the Church has forgotten? Something that Popes Ven. Pius IX, Leo XIII, and St. Pius X omitted or failed to recognize?

The solution is an internal system of checks and balances that keeps prelates from exploiting those beneath them. Here's a possible implementation:


http://www.crowhill.net/journeyman/Vol1No3/dulles.html

Marie Tremblay said...

Carol, it looks like Paul M over at La Salette Journey has discovered the identity of BAM. See his latest.

MT.

Jerry said...

Joseph,

Avery Dulles? He was a liberal. From that site you linked, here is a description of some church other than the Roman Catholic Church:

"The authority of the church does not flow from the hierarchy down to the people or from the people up to the hierarchy: it ascends, descends and permeates the organizational structure. A popular idea does not become dogma until it is accepted by the official church, and the official proclamations of the church do not become dogma until they are accepted by the people. Ecumenical dialog forces the hierarchy to refine its presentation of dogma to win the assent of all Christians, and it is in this consensus of the Christian faithful and the hierarchy that we see the infallibility of the church expressed."

Dogma comes from revelation, not from consensus. That description above is basically modernism. Also, the Roman Pontiff is vested with immediate jurisdiction over all the Church, not according to some "ascend and descend" model. Furthermore, it is dogma that subjection to the Pontiff is absolutely necessary for salvation of all men (Carol: this is generic, tee hee).

I see that your solution to the present crisis is a more modern, possibly American-like egalitarian, model for the Church. That is where we're supposed to be now, because the Dulles-type modernists won out at Vatican II, e.g., von Balthasar's "Razing of the Bastions" was precisely designed to bring down the triumphal Church and make it a more grass-roots affair.

The problem is, it didn't work! The arrogant bishops who threw Tradition to the wind are just as corrupt, just as deaf as ever. Dulles was wrong, and this experiment is just a chastisement from God for even daring to remake the Church in an egalitarian image.

Jerry said...

Just for fun, I "Googled" Dulles and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). And bingo! The VOTF reading list includes "Dulles, Avery. Models of the Church." Just scroll down, a little after "DeChardin, Tielhard."

Carol, have you heard of VOTF before? hee hee

TTC said...

LOL. Yeah. I sure do. In hindsight I wish I kept my mouth shut and let them take the whole thing to the ground.

I must have caught Avery after a conversion. Did he change his trajectory at the tail end of his life?

Anonymous said...

"I must have caught Avery after a conversion. Did he change his trajectory at the tail end of his life?"

If my diocese loving him is any indication, then the answer is NO!

Veronica

TTC said...

Fascinating.