How has the Pennsylvania scandal affected you personally?

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I really love this post! Word for word I could have wrote it myself except you expressed it much better than I could.
 
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I just had an interesting and unexpected conversation. I am RCIA director in our parish. I have a friend, a strong believer, but not Catholic. He just called me and told me he wanted to enroll in RCIA because of the Pennsylvania scandal. Of course I welcomed him, but I said “Why?”

His reply was “If the devil is taking this big of a swing at you, you must be doing something right. I want to know more.”

God’s got this, he really does.
 
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SacredHeartBassist said:
Is anyone making any changes? How are you dealing with it?
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A bit of background for context:

I’m a non-Catholic (non-believer if I am to be brutally honest) who grew up attending a mainline protestant church. As a young adult I practiced no religion. As fate would have it, I ended up marrying a Catholic. Since getting married (about 15 years ago) I have attended Sunday Mass with my wife. During that time the number of Sundays I’ve missed could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I don’t do this because I believe in what is taking place at the altar, but rather to be a supportive husband.

About a year ago we showed up for Mass to discover that the pastor was not there…nor would he be returning - ever. It seems that, earlier that week, someone made an accusation against him for inappropriate sexual behavior. The bishop determined that the accusation was credible and told him to vacate the rectory by the end of business that day. As a non-Catholic I don’t think there is anything “special” about priests, but I do very much appreciate someone who leads a life of service to others, and this priest certainly did that. Plus, he was a nice guy and I genuinely liked him. It shook me to my core to learn of these accusations. Of course, I have read of countless other similar accusations against countless other priests, but this one hit close to home and left a really bad taste in my mouth. I found myself questioning whether or not I really wanted to be sitting in a Catholic church every Sunday morning.

Now, with the news coming out of Pennsylvania this week, I feel as if the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” has finally landed. As I see it, the Church has finally been exposed as being rotten to the core. This is more than just a few (or a lot) of individual priests acting in an immoral manner. It’s a systemic problem that has existed for years and the church leadership is either clueless about what to do or just doesn’t care enough to do anything. It seems as if they have been in CYA mode for years.

To get back to the OP’s question, how does this affect me personally? Well, I’ve got to find a way to tell my wife that I will not be attending Mass with her anymore. While I’m sure she’ll understand, I’m also sure that she’ll be hurt. And I have to admit, I’ll miss going too. The parish is a community of really nice people, and going to Mass was a big part of our Sunday routine. But I just can’t do it anymore.
 
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It’s possible to realize certain Church leaders failed while also realizing this kind of sickness happens in all kinds of institutions and the Church still teaches truth. If that is how WE deal with the situation then why are we not allowed to deal with it that way?

I say this as someone who has experienced abuse (in my family) in schools, in family, with babysitters and yes, even in a dentist chair. Maybe my view of this all is distorted because I’m a bit number to abuse than some. I don’t know. All I know is when people call the whole Church evil my back gets up and I feel the desire to defend it.
 
This makes me so sad. Please stay and use your righteous anger to prayerfully and actively help to make change. It is not for the priests we stay, but for God who has promised to be faithful to His Church no matter what and that He will be with us until the end of time. Please reconsider under prayer.
 
PreviouslyAna said:
Yes, hopefully we have. But recent scandals have shown us that it is still a problem. What’s been going on in Chili is a good example. And I may be wrong, but wasn’t one of the clergy currently accused defrocked by Pope Benedict and then reinstated by Pope Francis? Didn’t Pope Francis need to apologize to the victim for his initial “dismissive” response to his complaint just a few moths ago?
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Yes, the scandal has come to the forefront in Chile lately. Pope Francis did not reinstate the defrocked priest, he simply didn’t believe (at first) the accusations that a bishop had covered up the abuse. I believe Francis has experienced an enormous opening of the eyes with regards to the whole thing (which is why every single bishop in Chile offered to resign—that type of coordinated act doesn’t happen without papal prodding).
PreviouslyAna said:
What is the consequence right now for Priests who murder the souls of children and their enablers? Is it still early retirement with a pension and medical/car insurance paid for by us? I ask these questions not to be snarky. I am just wondering/thinking out loud.
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Not anymore. Most bishops I have seen move to have such priests laicized. Per canon law, that is what needs to happen for a bishop to be able to disavow providing for a priest. But that might vary based on the circumstances. If the priest is old and the accusations seem credible, but cannot be proven, laicization may seem unnecessary all things considered.
 
PreviouslyAna said:
This makes me so sad. Please stay and use your righteous anger to prayerfully and actively help to make change. It is not for the priests we stay, but for God who has promised to be faithful to His Church no matter what and that He will be with us until the end of time. Please reconsider under prayer.
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Read his post carefully: He’s an atheist who’s just been attending Mass to support his Catholic wife.
 
Someone pointed out in another thread on this topic that this whole Pennsylvania thing is a new report, but it is not really a new story. That strikes me as true.

Again, not to discount these terrible things. But why are we re-scandalized by this? We already knew that priests were guilty of these things going back decades. And we knew that many bishops—often following the advice of the psychological experts at the time—had priests sent away to be “cured” with therapy only to come back and abuse again.

Since 2002, most bishops know better. Reports are dealt with openly, and those who are accused credibly are removed from ministry. Even this very report acknowledges that only two of the 300 accused are from incidents in the past 10 years. And both of those were dealt with properly.

I really hope I do not sound callous towards those who have been abused. This is not my intent at all. But I’m struggling to figure out why this report has shaken so many people when it hasn’t really told us anything we didn’t already learn back in 2002. It’s not new information. What am I missing? I’m honestly asking.
 
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I put myself firmly among those who have no intention of abandoning the Church and the Sacraments.

That said, if anyone wants to start a #CleansetheTemple club, I’ll sign up as soon as I hear about it. I will also buy the bumper stickers and the t-shirts. I have no confidence that reform will come from the top down, and if so, then it must come from the bottom up.

D
 
The fact that even one person knew and did nothing is bad enough.
There is no getting around that. Abuse of power is a very dangerous thing, and if you cannot see that it is pervasive in the Church it is because you don’t want to, which is why the problem will continue to fester.
 
PreviouslyAna said:
What is the consequence right now for Priests who murder the souls of children and their enablers?
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I do not know everywhere else, but here,the ones that were accused have gone toJustice and when proved guilty, they are in prison.
 
Right. Because I’m the problem. Me who has absolutely no power. Who else is to blame?

I don’t think it is pervasive in the Church. Sorry but the stats say differently. Your perception is your own. Don’t go around attacking others for not seeing as you see.
 
SeriousQuestion said:
I can’t control how I feel.
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Deciding to care does not depend on emotions. It depends on seeing the gravity of the problem and recognizing that there is a duty to protect the innocent that has been grievously offended against in a way that cannot be ignored.
 
You in the general sense, not you personally.
As in all the people, clergy and lay, who don’t want to admit this is a systemic problem and that we all must be diligent in rooting out this evil that has taken hold in our Church
 
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I noticed that after, but decided to let it be. What better place to be in a position to receive God’s grace than by attending Church? Lol
 
Nah, I agree. We do need to root out the evil. I think we just disagree on what caused it.

I’m not Catholic by birth and since joining this forum I am honestly SHOCKED at the Catholics who REFUSE to let anyone speak what even amounts to a bad word about a priest. It’s very odd and a very destructive way to view things.

I can agree that mentality is problematic.

I don’t think priests and Bishops and the institution itself is a problem. I think our mentality towards it might be (based on what I’ve seen in this forum).
 
The “institution” is the problem.
It was set up as a “top-down monarchy”.
Priests and Bishops were “set apart” and treated with the utmost respect.
When the parish was one’s community, a priest or Bishop could make or break a person, clergy or lay.
The mantra was “pray, pay, obey, and don’t ask questions”.

Change is difficult to begin with. When you start wanting to take power away with that change, you are going to see a lot of resistance. That is where cover-ups are born.
 
I was at first - SHOCKED !
Then I felt - mortified - being a Catholic.

Felt angry too - at all the Priests involved. Demonic activity.
Looked up their faces on yahoo images.

Felt sympathy and compassion and sorrow - for the victims.

Imagine Jesus - going about the land - way back when -
having 4 of his disciples - always involved in true scandal such as this.
He’d be run out of town.
Just when men were starting to volunteer for priesthood - duties -
I see that - decreasing again.

Demonic activity fro HELL - like cancer - through out - the body of Christ.
 
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Precisely, and that’s exactly what happened years ago. There are now stringent child protection procedures in place to deal with any ‘new’ cases of child abuse, and also measures to ensure no priest is left alone with a child.

So, yes, the CC has taken on board the travesty of what occurred, in the past and has dealt with it.
 
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