Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Tuesday, April 02, 2002 Cruelty to the Left of them, Cruelty to the Right I'm a bit tired of the whole corrupt Catholic priests issue - not because its boring or unimportant, but the sameness of one case after another simply exhausts one's rage or tears. So I wasn't going to comment on this latest case in L.A.. But then I was driving and listening to the news on the radio and the attitude and viciousness of one of the peripheral characters in the story simply cried out for response. The L.A. Times story is here. What bothered me most is the priest whom the woman, who claims she was molested as a young teenager by another priest, says did nothing to help her when she spoke to him at the time and in fact molested her also. Now, we have a strong notion that this woman is correct in her charge of repeated abuse by her parish priest, because it turns out that he did the same to other girls and women and now is or being defrocked. So her's is not a he said/she said situation. The second priest claims he has never done any such thing as molest a girl although he can't recall if he ever met with her or not. His response to her charge? He wants to sue for defamation. As I said, I was going to let it pass until I heard him on the radio. His voice was vicious and without a shred of pity or sympathy for the victim. He claimed he would have done something about it if she had ever told him her story. But does he have any record of exposing bad priests to the Diocese or the police? He doesn't say, and given the credibility of the priests now, his assertion of moral integrity rings false. The second point is his nastiness. I can well understand the shock and outrage of any man who knows he has been unjustly accused of a terrible crime. But how does a decent Christian respond once he's calmed down? Like Cardinal Bernadin. He turns the other cheek. He accepts that God has "blessed" him with unjust persecution in his righteousness. A good man who knows that Truth is with him even if the world doesn't know it, is a man at peace; a man who is kind to his adversaries, and sympathetic to their suffering. He says, "I didn't do what I've been charged with, but I can well understand that it was long ago, the woman may be somewhat confused about incidental events such as her brief meetings with others; and that she may be unintentionally fabricating additional causes for suffering in her frustration, grief, and misery with the Church. I am deeply sorry for her, but I deny what she has said of me. I am deeply shamed that what she has said of the other priest is undoubtedly true. If there is anything I can do to convince her that she is mistaken about me, I will do it. If I cannot convince her, let me say that if she came to me and I failed to act in any way that did not help her - I am utterly sorry and deeply contrite of heart." That what decent men do. They don't snarl and threaten lawsuits. They mitigate damage to others, not to themselves. posted by Mark Butterworth | 1:48 PM | |
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