Response to Dylan and the "Crisis"
This morning Dylan seems a mite more peeved than a beautiful morning normally warrants (This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it!). However, his causus belli seems just.
Am sick of the Law-bashing, & the Pope-bashing is a stretch. At the risk of being violently refuted: They're bishops, not cops or judges. [Addendum, whilst checking for errors: And they've helped thousands more than they've hurt.]
My extended response, not intending to give offense either to Dylan nor to the world at large:
This was the reason for my post on previous anti-Catholicism. You get to a certain point and an unabashed hysteria takes over. I am reminded of the events of the Salem Witch Hunt, and I am given to doubt that there will emerge a Samuel Sewall* to take responsibility for the ruined lives. I realize that it is a stretch, but all the points made in Dylan's post are true and clear. As I hear more and more stories I am reminded of the Maria Monks and the Sarah Richardsons of a previous time--our press is now on the hunt, the merest whiff of an impropriety, and we have a crime requiring the removal of good people. Yes, I concur, that there have been a great many things wrong. Yes, the priest who have done such things should long ago have been removed from office. But we are approaching hysteria. We get reports of convents of Nuns raping teen-age boys (by the way, this stuff goes way, way back to the Protestant reformation--it formed some of the pornography of the day.) Sheer, unabashed, irresponsible hysteria. Reporting should be done after the facts are established, otherwise it is merely gossip.There can be no doubt that those accused of these heinous crimes should be called to account for them. Those who allowed it to happen repeatedly should be carefully reviewed for suitability for office AFTER they have developed some more sensible policy than the so-called Zero Tolerance, which in all likelihood may be victimizing people who never did anything criminal. It's very easy to make accusations. "Recovered" memories are always highly suspect. Don't get me wrong, there can be no question about some of these accusations. But for example the single accusation against Archbishop (Cardinal?) Pell, seems somewhat suspect to me.
As in all things, the best policy to take in these matters is prayer. In addition, parents who care about their children should not take hush money so that a criminal can continue his actions. I understand that part of the motive in the past may have been love of the church, but much of it seems like greed. This is very complex web of human fallenness, the only real solution to which is to pray constantly.
* On Samuel Sewall--At least reading this won't have been a complete waste if you didn't already know about Sewall.
The diary entries reveal little personal reservations or remorse concerning his own role in the conduct of the trials. In December 1696, however, Sewall wrote a proclamation for a day of fast and penance and reparation by the government for the sins of the witchcraft trials. Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the trials. Each year after 1697 Sewall set aside a day in which he fasted and prayed for forgiveness for his sins in the Salem trials.
