“What do you say to a priest who’s been barred from pursuing his vocation for 7 years, if you realize there’s no substantial evidence to support the disciplinary action taken against him? Oops? Sorry?”
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Category Archives: Abuse Scandal
Persecuted Priests: A Growing Problem in US by Mary Ann Kreitzer
How many ways do bad bishops punish good priests? Take your pick: exile, silencing, mandatory evaluation at pseudo-psychiatric facilities like St. Luke’s, frequent reassignment, making them permanent parochial vicars with no hope of becoming pastors, marginalization, driving them out (to other dioceses or the military vicariate), whispering campaigns that designate them “mentally unstable” or “unfit for ministry,” etc. The ultimate punishment, the bishop’s sword of Damocles, so to speak, is suspension. It hangs over the head of a good priest who knows his “spiritual father” will use it. How many orthodox priests hear variations of the threat, “You have no idea what I can do to you!” But the good priests do know. They’ve seen the sword fall on their brothers.
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: The Damaging Culture of Silence
(Incidentally, when bishops force their priests to be fingerprinted and subject them to criminal background checks, they may have caused this unintended effect to arise over time: Priests are being trained by the bishops themselves to take recourse to secular authorities to solve ecclesial disputes. Canon Law may take a back seat to secular law when bishops and priests disagree. The specter looms of priests and their bishops settling disputes in a secular courtroom.)
Fr. Benedict Groeschel on The Many Facets of the Abuse Crisis: How’d We Get Into This Unholy Mess?
I’ve been focusing on the fallout of the abuse crisis as it affects priests removed from ministry without due process. For perspective, let’s go back five years when the earthquake of clerical abuse stories destabilized the local Church in 2002.
At that time, Fr. Benedict Groeschel taped an emergency response called An Urgent Appeal in three parts. Father addressed:
The Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church: Turning Defeat into Victory
In her writings, Alice von Hildebrand frequently discusses how, with the intercession of Mary, we can turn defeat into victory.
I often wondered how abuse survivors quietly went on their way to authentic healing after suffering the pain of unimaginable betrayal. These accounts are nowhere to be found in the mainstream media or on the pages of well-known victim advocacy sites. Here is a blog post from one such person.
My Attempt to Help Priests in Crisis is Thirteen Years Late
In the winter of 1995, I was speaking with a very saintly priest about a story that made the front page of The Washington Post that morning. News broke out that four priests were arrested for abusing their young victims. One of them officiated at my friend’s wedding the year prior.
Back then before the media barrage of similar stories, I was capable of being stunned. This faithful priest then went on to tell me that the biggest scandal in the priesthood is its suicide rate. He didn’t elaborate.