I agree with the NCR Editorial. This crisis is a hierarchy crisis, and a disaster for the Catholic Church. The Vatican and bishops are accountable and should be held responsible. This is a tragedy that belongs at the door of Pope Benedict. What can Catholics do? Stop paying and obeying. Demand change from the all-boys clerical club. cut off all funds until meaningful structural reforms are adapted such as decision-making authority in the hands of a leadership that is inclusive of women and men, non-ordained and ordained--- ordinary Catholics whose first loyalty is to the Gospel of Jesus. Catholics should also call forth from their communities spiritual leaders including married priests, women priests and other ecclesial leaders to preside at sacramental celebrations in a priest-short, sacramental church. Roman Catholic Womenpriests serve in grassroots communities in the U.S. Canada, and Europe, and are ordaining qualified candidates who are committed to a renewed priestly ministry. See photo of recent ordination in Canada of two new womenpriests.
Bridget Mary Meehan
Abuse crisis is actually a hierarchy crisis
by An NCR Editorial on Apr. 30, 2010
by An NCR Editorial on Apr. 30, 2010
"...The sex abuse crisis is actually a hierarchy crisis...The overwhelming evidence shows that from parish priest to pope, those charged with protecting the community, on hearing that children were being sexually abused, acted first to protect the institutional church. "
..."Who among the bishops would stand in a pulpit and admonish a congregation to follow their example in dealing with serious sin: deny, attack the accuser, hide the crime, pay for silence if discovered, and admit “mistakes were made” only when public pressure makes disclosure inevitable?"
..." It is beyond dispute now, as reporting of the crisis spreads worldwide, that the bishops used the secrecy of their privileged culture, the trust that those within the church and even the wider society conferred on them, as well as the labyrinthine and hidden protocols of their culture to shuffle offending priests and to avoid scrutiny by civil authorities. "
"The bishops’ strategy grew out of a model of governance owing more to the concept of royalty and to court behavior than to the demands of the Gospel. The royal model admits no wrong, requires absolute loyalty and is accountable to no one. Compassion has little place in the prince’s world."
Fr. Donald Cozzens, who has written extensively about the clergy culture and its shadow sides, commented, “We are witnessing the collapse of the Roman Catholic empire -- not, I hope, of the Roman Catholic church. "
..."Who among the bishops would stand in a pulpit and admonish a congregation to follow their example in dealing with serious sin: deny, attack the accuser, hide the crime, pay for silence if discovered, and admit “mistakes were made” only when public pressure makes disclosure inevitable?"
..." It is beyond dispute now, as reporting of the crisis spreads worldwide, that the bishops used the secrecy of their privileged culture, the trust that those within the church and even the wider society conferred on them, as well as the labyrinthine and hidden protocols of their culture to shuffle offending priests and to avoid scrutiny by civil authorities. "
"The bishops’ strategy grew out of a model of governance owing more to the concept of royalty and to court behavior than to the demands of the Gospel. The royal model admits no wrong, requires absolute loyalty and is accountable to no one. Compassion has little place in the prince’s world."
Fr. Donald Cozzens, who has written extensively about the clergy culture and its shadow sides, commented, “We are witnessing the collapse of the Roman Catholic empire -- not, I hope, of the Roman Catholic church. "
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