Bishop: Diocese of Covington felt 'bullied and pressured' into condemning students too quickly

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Wow: “Within hours we were being pressured from all sides.…” How horrible - to be pressured. We’ve come a long way from the times when Christians didn’t blink when being fed to lions.
 
Ender said:
How horrible - to be pressured . We’ve come a long way from the times when Christians didn’t blink when being fed to lions.
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I’m not sure how the situations are comparable. It’s not like he denied Christ or committed a sin by condemning what appeared to be behavior not fitting of a Catholic.

Granted I’m sort of hoping this makes people more alert to the dangers of making judgments from out-of-context information, harassing people to get them to do what you want, and always assuming bad intent, especially of those whose ideologies you disagree with. Unfortunately, given what I’ve read, I think the chances of any meaningful, widespread introspection are near zero.
 
ZMystiCat said:
I’m not sure how the situations are comparable. It’s not like he denied Christ or committed a sin by condemning what appeared to be behavior not fitting of a Catholic.
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The situations aren’t comparable. In this case a bishop was “pressured” and condemned students before he even knew the facts of the confrontation. He may not have sinned but he made an egregious error in judgment…because he was “pressured.”
 
I doubt they were pressured by anyone. After all, they didn’t issue a statement right away.
 
lilypadrees said:
I doubt they were pressured by anyone. After all, they didn’t issue a statement right away.
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Bishop Foys issued a statement wherein he said this:

“We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely…”

Nor was Bishop Foys the only one to pile on prematurely. This was from Bishop Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington:

“I am ashamed that the actions of Kentucky Catholic high school students have become a contradiction of the very reverence for human life that the march is supposed to manifest.”
 
Pressured? Like the phone was ringing a lot? I’m sorry but this response is almost worse. The shepherd felt like the wolves were howling too loud!?
 
Hoosier-Daddy said:
The shepherd felt like the wolves were howling too loud!?
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In response, he threw some of his sheep to the wolves. Yeah, I think he should go away for a retreat and meditate on his ability to perform his duties and tend his flock. The persecution isn’t gonna get any better for the Church and we certainly don’t deserve this kind of behavior.
 
Well, I appreciate Bishop Foys’ humility. It’s refreshing to see a bishop humble himself publicly. It must have taken courage for him to admit that outside pressure got the better of him. The truth, however embarrassing, is better than trying to come out smelling like a rose.
 
I have written a letter urging Bishop Foys to resign immediately, for the obvious reasons. I think he deserves the punishment that he wanted to mete out to the students. There is nothing Catholic about the way he responded. He wants forgiveness and understanding that he was not willing to show towards the students. He has to be held to a MUCH higher standard. His criticism of the boys was itself abusive. It’s too much for me to let a bishop off the hook, excusing HIMSELF for his own lack of self-control and judgment. He has damaged the Church and those boys in particular. He has held the Church up to ridicule and confirmed the low credibility of the bishops.
 
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c1949 said:
I have written a letter urging Bishop Foys to resign immediately, for the obvious reasons.
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There are four dioceses in Kentucky. At least in Foys case the Covington students were actually within his own diocese. What is worse was the gratuitous piling on of two of the other bishops (Stowe and Kurtz) who also felt somehow justified in condemning children before the facts were known. Lord save us from such as these.
 
It’s far beyond you to ask for a resignation. You can write a letter detailing why you think he should change his path but asking for a resignation completely discounts the letter from the very word resignation.
 
More than likely any suggestions will be immediately disregarded…

Unless, of course he feels “pressured” to change his ways :roll_eyes:
 
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This apology sure raised my opinion of Bishop Foys. It is so refreshing to see and example of humility in the press. Too many today have no capacity for humility, leading to deeper entrenchment in opinions and judgement, even when shown erroneous.
 
In the Bishop’s defense, his exact words were: “We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely, and we take full responsibility for it.”

I just wanted to clarify that I am pleased with the Diocesan statement on the matter.
 
If what the bishop says is sincere I would expect some pretty brave things coming out of that diocese in the near future.
 
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