Catholics: What to give up for Lent

How about pedophilia? Would you give up that one for us, please? And protecting your male, Catholic hierarchy. There's another good one. Please? If not for us and if not for yourselves, how about for your own children?

Quote of the day--on the Catholic Church

"The Catholic Church is an authoritarian institution, modelled on the political structures of the Roman Empire and medieval Europe. It is better at transmitting instructions downward than at facilitating accountability upward. It is monolithic. It claims the unique legitimacy of a line of succession going back to the apostolic circle of Jesus Christ. Its leaders are protected by a nimbus of mystery, pomp, holiness, and, in the case of the Pope, infallibility—to be sure, only in certain doctrinal matters, not administrative ones, but the aura is not so selective. The hierarchy of such an institution naturally resists admitting to moral turpitude and sees squalid scandal as a mortal threat. Equally important, the government of the Church is entirely male."

Link to complete story: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/04/19/100419taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz0kubiopF3

Finally, a step in the right direction from the Vatican

This just out this morning:

"The Vatican responded Monday to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law."

Long overdue but we'll take it.

See? If pushed enough, we can make some progress.

Now we need to keep pushing, Catholics included.

Heartening Catholic news

It was great to see the article on the front page of the Star today, telling of our own, local National Catholic Reporter (NCR) newspaper and their work since the 1980's, for pity's sake, to get their church to "do the right thing" regarding the sexual and physical abuse scandals in their church.

That took guts, on their part.

All that time, being virtually the only group pointing out what was happening and what needed to be done, to address the scandals and put the church on the right path.

They're right, too, the rest of us are all "Johnny come lately's" at this, sure, but you know what? More and more groups, from within and without the Catholic Church need to speak up and call for accountability of the Catholic Church's leadership so the people abused can be addressed and so, hopefully, abuses like these in the past can never be repeated.

I say again--and it's stunning that no one in Rome, at the Vatican gets it--there need to be structures put in place within the church so these things don't happen again, once the past abuses have been addressed.


Kudos to the NCR and their work and diligence.

It's been the right thing to do all along.

Link to original story:
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/09/1868404/kc-based-national-catholic-reporter.html

Terrific question I just found for the Catholic Church--and the world

Why Are Pedophilia-Hiding, Child-Abusing Church Fathers Allowed to Write Laws About Women's Bodies?

To save my life, I can't answer that one.

It sure isn't due to good judgement.

Jon Stewart's not buying what the Vatican's selling--and neither am I

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Yet another protected Catholic pedophile priest

This time, in Alaska:

"Alaska Natives are accusing the Catholic Church of using their remote villages as a dumping ground' for child-molesting priests—and blaming the president of Seattle University for letting it happen.

"According to the allegations, Father Joseph Lundowski molested or raped James Does 29, 59–71, and 73–94, plus Janet Does 4–7—a total of 40 children—giving them 'hard candy, money he stole from the collection plate, cooked food, baked goods, beer, sacramental wine, brandy, and/or better grades (silver, blue, or gold stars) on their catechism assignments in exchange for sexual favors.'"

I needn't go on here, about this. If you want more information and to read more of the story, go to the link at the bottom of this post.

My points here, now, are the same as I always post:

--The Catholic Church needs to own up to its wrong doings;

--It needs to explore what happened, where and to whom;

--It needs to see if anyone is guilty of any laws;

--If anyone is guilty of these laws, they should be put up for possible trial;

--They need to see if anyone in the church is guilty of cover up;

--Catholics themselves need to demand response and responsibility from the church leaders--priests, bishops, cardinals, even up to and including the pope himself--to respond to these problems;

--They need to make clear that covering up any abuses in the future will not be tolerated;

--Finally, the Catholic Church needs to put structures into place so that any abuses do get reported so they don't happen again.

A "hat tip" to America Blog (Americablog.com) for today's post, bringing this to my attention.

Link to original post: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pedophiles-paradise/Content?oid=1065017