“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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Bishop Robert Hermann: I Would Consider It a Privilege to Die Tomorrow to Bring About an End to Abortion
“We have lost 50 times as many children in the last 35 years as we have lost soldiers in all the wars since the Revolution. I think any bishop here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion. If we are willing to die tomorrow, then we should be willing to, until the end of our lives, to take all kinds of criticism for opposing this horrible infanticide.”
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.)
Reader Mail on An Affair with a Priest
“She was confirmed (she was never a practicing Catholic). Went to ________ to finishing schooling (PHD). She met a young priest (35 she was 28), got close to him and for about 7 months had an affair with him (slept with him).
In 2007 (to “run away” form the situation) she came back we started talking (I didn’t know all this) and we started dating in 2008. On May 19th she told me everything about her past, not only this affair but her other relationships (9 others) and she’s had an abortion. It was huge and it took me awhile to digest.”
Charles Wilson: What Happens When Bishops Are Found Wanting?
“As revolting and destructive as the sexual abuse issue is, it is the exercise of ecclesiastical office with respect to upholding the teaching and laws of the Church that is more closely related to the work of the Saint Joseph Foundation. After all, in almost twenty-four years of existence, the Foundation has received only a handful of complaints related to sexual abuse, while we have received thousands of complaints alleging deficient or erroneous teaching, violations of liturgical norms and the abusive exercise of the ministry of governance. Using the very limited amount of data available, I will try here to give our readers some idea of what has happened whenever bishops’ performance in these areas has been called into question.”
Russell Shaw: Nothing to Hide
“As the premier Catholic communications professional in the United States, Russ Shaw is a longtime critic of clericalism, excessive secrecy, ‘happy talk’ and spin control in Catholic culture. He’s also an articulate and engaging writer with an unparalleled record of service to the Church. Nothing to Hide is a provocative, important book that explores the boundary between appropriate confidentiality in the Church, and the kind of secrecy that cripples Christian community life. It’s a must-read.”
+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver
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: