How to trust priests post: crisis revelations

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The reason I lay these stories bare now it because of my strong belief that this pervasive dysfunctional culture is at the deepest core of the cover-up, abuse, and scandal of all forms–not just sexual–that continue to be rampant in these church circles.

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Sexual secrecy is the currency in the church and learning how to use it is almost treated like an art form in seminaries. This culture has been woven into the fabric of Roman Catholic clergy culture for centuries. The church’s strict and absolute regulations around sex and sexuality which themselves are created and promulgated by the very men who breach them provide a perfect cover for those whose own sense of sexuality is without boundaries, regulation, or integration. Sexual secrecy and blackmail is the clergy’s bitcoin by which position, power, and control are bartered in the shadows, costing children and adults alike their faith, their safety and well being — and in some cases, their lives.
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The media, including a lot of very conservative Catholic sources, are making out the seminaries to be like brothels. I seriously doubt that is the norm.

Do people sneak stuff on the side—yeah, just like every other college. Some people might know/think they know that so and so is doing X, but a lot of times it is hearsay.
 
Fr. Schmitz posted a video in response to the scandal:


One of the things that struck me is how he was initially surprised that people are even asking whether or not he is just as angry about these crimes and sins as they are. He didn’t think that even needed to be said. Of course he is upset! I would venture to guess that most priests and bishops feel exactly the same. Of course this upsets them just as much as it upsets all of us.

I do think it’s easy for us—even subconsciously—to just lump all priests together as though their ordination is a stronger tie that binds than morality and common human decency. Or else we assume that all priests are part of some mysterious hive mind where they all know the same things and think the same way.
 
I normally don’t watch a lot of “celebrity Priest” videos or follow their blogs, but what Fr. Mike had to say was quite powerful. I thought a couple of times he came close to tearing up.
 
I have very close personal friends, people whom I consider family, who are priests. They are from across the US and from overseas to those who studied in Rome. None of them have experienced this sort of thing.

That does not mean that there are not some perverse sinners in some seminaries, however, to paint it as a “culture” as in some sinister film is unfair to the thousands and thousands of Godly men in seminary and Godly men & women who instruct/mentor/guide seminarians.
 
I think this Priest captures a good bit of the frustrations that we Catholics are feeling. But why does he say that wanting to see Priest and Bishops come out strongly against this is hard to understand because it’s obvious that all would think that. Well, what I am seeing is the opposite of that by and large. I see Bishops and Cardinals with slime coated excuses for why they didn’t know, or things have changed, etc. etc. 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean is a good start. Mass resignations of American Bishops like Chile would be a good start. Pope can accept the ones necessary for a good start of cleaning things up. Then the Pope can himself retire and I might believe that real change has a chance.
 
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gracepoole said:
You can’t get past the guilt part of this. I’m more interested in whether there’s a culture of silence that requires priests not to speak about such things.
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But it is about guilt, the guilt of the sex abusers (be they pederast or pedophile) and those who colluded with them and covered up their actions.

There should not be a blaming of Catholic priests in general for the actions of those who abused others, those who deliberately turned the other way, and those who covered it up. Nor is it fair to assume that most priests did indeed keep silent and looked the other way regarding sexual abuse.
 
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Again, you’re not understanding. I’m not claiming that all priests are guilty of anything. If there is a culture of silence in seminaries, I can only imagine how impossible it is to navigate it and survive it. But if it’s been this way for centuries — and it seems foolish to think it hasn’t — I’m wondering what else has been happening for centuries that the laiety doesn’t know about.
 
So I don’t want to tell anyone to do research because much of what I found was pornographic in nature. But if one hasn’t read about the crisis in the seminaries and also refuses to believe it, that’s disingenuous.
 
glencor63 said:
I’m a convert to Catholicism. I was never so grateful to have been raised Protestant as the past two weeks. I am so glad to not be a product of Catholic culture. A culture that tolerates no dissent and no challenge to authority. A culture that uses “avoiding scandal” to justify hiding systemic abuse. Make no mistake; the number of victims is in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions over the centuries. This is why Catholic leaders have resisted a grand jury investigation of their archives. It would devastate the faithful. They know the faith of Catholics is generally based on outward signs and not inward conversion.

The laity is dependent on the clergy to the point where they tolerate the most abhorrent behavior. Protestants would never tolerate this level of corruption in their churches. Jesus is God! The Alpha and Omega. The First and the Last. The Beginning and the End. He is not bound by flesh. He can use anyone or anything to preach the gospel. He doesn’t NEED priests. He CHOOSES to use priests. He can (and has) dispensed with them. He destroyed the temple and eliminated the priests of the OT because of corruption and abuse of his sheep. He can feed us the Eucharist directly from heaven, if necessary. The laity must realize that Jesus is equally their God. Priests serve at the behest of God, not because they are superior beings. To be Protestant is to know your value before the almighty. It’s to be free to say, ENOUGH! Discern the character of any priest by testing the spirit as Christ commanded. Peace!
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Um…

 
I definitely don’t think all priests are guilty and I ache for those who are doing God’s will. That said, as someone who grew up with abusive priests but didn’t know about the abuse until I was an adult, it’s hard sometimes to know who the good priests are.
 
gracepoole said:
it’s hard sometimes to know who the good priests are
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Why not assume that a priest is good until you have specific reason to think otherwise about that individual priest?

Yes we should keep our eyes open, but we shouldn’t start by assuming the worst until proved otherwise.
 
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Brendan_64 said:
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gracepoole:
it’s hard sometimes to know who the good priests are
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Why not assume that a priest is good until you have specific reason to think otherwise about that individual priest?

Yes we should keep our eyes open, but we shouldn’t start by assuming the worst until proved otherwise.
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That’s kind of my point. I never assumed anything negative about any priest. And now many of those who served my childhood parish are listed in bishop-accountability.org. I think it’s reasonable to be shy about placing one’s complete and unquestioning trust in priests now.
 
Yeah, but Jesus’ followers didn’t know which one it was until the betrayal happened. Trust is about knowing the priest you’re talking to isn’t that one.
 
The late President Ronald Reagan, when asked about an arms treaty with the former Soviet Union used the phrase, “trust, but verify.” Good idea moving forward. I trust the mechanisms put in place by the bishops in the early 2000’s. There has been little clergy abuse in the last 15 years, and anyone found to be credibly accused, at least in my diocese, is immediately removed from ministry and reported to the proper authorities. Doesn’t necessarily mean they are guilty, but steps have been taken, draconian ones. Still, I keep my eyes open and concentrate more on the beauty and glory of Christ’s presence in the Roman Catholic Church, even through the frail and good but sinful men in the priesthood.
 
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