I posted before…but I’m still reacting. The Pope finally made a statement, which I think is not strong enough. This latest scandal publicity cost me a night of sleep and a day of missed activities and sullied the feast of the Assumption. I am still sickened by it and trying not to let it affect me any further. …but it is.
Someone said these priests were ‘only human’ and ‘fallible’. They are not ‘only human’ …they are monsters.
Yes. The dioceses (or archdioceses) of Louisville, Boston, Portland, Tuscon and Spokane
might have been “surprised” about the gravity of this and how it must be handled. There was
maybe some shred of “we didn’t know it was this bad” or “we were taking the advice of mental health professionals” possible.
That was back in the early 2000s, though. It has been over 15 years since the first version of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was put out by the USCCB. There is no excuse for any diocese or bishop not to have this cleaned up by now. It needed to have been the number one priority from the time the bishops admitted the disastrous consequences and betrayal that “handling things in a discrete manner” caused.
This matter is not just at the forefront in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. It is just the way things are done. People still complain about having to take the training and follow the rules, though. It just floors me.
When a priest who offends is caught and turned over to the authorities and pays the consequences for his crime by loss of ministry and prison time, it is extremely sad that it happened and yet if the signs are that he was turned over and dealt with at the first sign of this kind of behavior it is also a good sign. It means someone is being vigilant, someone is taking these dangers seriously, someone has the courage to act.
Let us take the example of Angel Perez, however:
Perez, a pastor at St. Luke Catholic Church in Woodburn since 2008, was arrested Aug. 13, 2012, after the boy spent the previous night at his home. The priest had asked the boy’s parents whether he could take the boy on a trip to the mountains, court documents said.
The Rev. Angel Armando Perez, 47, pleaded guilty in Marion County Circuit Court to first-degree sexual abuse, intoxicated driving and furnishing alcohol to a minor charges. He will serve six years and three months in prison.
www.oregonlive.com
In the ideal world, if a priest ever proposes an overnight trip without other chaperones, the parents immediately see the problem with that and not only refuse the proposal but report the incident to the vicar of clergy. This was a well-liked priest, as I understand it. That shouldn’t matter. Sexual predators are often charming and personable, rather than obviously “creepy.” It does not matter if they are sociopaths with no conscience or tormented souls who are prone to grievous sin in spite of their best efforts. That is a matter for their spiritual directors, not the faithful as a whole. What matters is never letting the duty to think the best of others get in the way of protecting the most vulnerable among us from wolves in sheep’s clothing–or shepherd’s clothing, either.
