I’m saddened and sickened.
Cardinal Rigali has failed his community. From all accounts both the priests and laity are angry and disappointed. There is a chance that because of ongoing fraud, the statute of limitations will be voided and old cases can be brought to court… Thereby exposing the diocese to further legal and financial jeopardy. What I want to know is who will replace him and how ling before the replacement arrives? The innocent clergy and the laity of Philadelphia deserve better!
I have given up posting on CAF for Lent, but I felt the need to post since I am from the archdiocese. I have been following this since the beginning. I haven’t had the stomach to read the grand jury report, but I finally buckled down and did it and it just made me sick and angry. This has been the topic of conversation all over my area. We are angry, disgusted and are hurting deeply from this. I know when all of this first came out, so many people I knew stopped going to mass, either for a while or have never gone back. My brother, who had been away from the Church for quite a while, had started going back to mass a few years ago. He still wasn’t strong in his faith although slowly it seemed to be growing, but this new grand jury report has completely turned him off from religion. He wants none of it and has even come to a point where he believes that all religion is just made up. Perhaps it isn’t a good excuse to leave the Church, but how many other people who have been on the fence have been pushed over to the other side because of these heinous, evil acts? That archdiocese is a largely Catholic area. I didn’t even know that Catholics were not well-liked until I moved out of the area and experienced it myself, that’s how much Catholics are a very large part of the population. This has hurt us all.
People in that archdiocese have had their hearts broken, their trust betrayed and their faith shaken. I know mine has been. It is taking all of me to remind myself that these are humans corrupting the Church, not the Church corrupting the humans. But this, compounded with the hypocrisy and cruelty I have experienced from the archdiocese hierarchy towards a few whom I care for, has made it a tough year for me.
These people should have been immediately transferred over to the authorities when it was found out, instead of being transferred around to other parishes and parish schools in which these men had access to children. One of the priests was a teacher at my school when I was attending. Another priest was from my home parish and another was the pastor of my previous parish. I have friends who were abused by priests in this diocese as well. Needless-to-say, this is hitting very close to home for me. In a way, the bigger crime is the fact that these predators were continually moved around even when it was known and even when multiple complaints were made. Msrg. Lynn should be punished at the fullest extent of the law. Although the previous archbishop, Bevilaqua, is suffering from dementia, the truth needs to come out as to whether or not he was in complete compliance with Lynn in regards to allowing these priests to continue on with their duties. Archbishop Rigali should have never made the statement a few years back exonerating both A. Krol and A. Bevilaqua before making sure of doing a more thorough investigation over it. Even when that statement was made in parishes, people walked out of the mass in some churches, some priests refused to read it because they felt it was wrong and insulting to the people of the archdiocese. So, even then, it was considered wrong.
Many people are upset with the current archbishop over the way he has handled it from the beginning… including priests in various parishes. Some have even said it in so many words during their homilies this past Sunday. Our pastor was visibly angry and saddened by it. He apologized for what these men have done to shaken/question our faith, to tarnish the priesthood and to hurt the Church, herself. There are people already calling for him to resign. My heart wants him to resign as well. His actions or lack of action has created wounds and re-opened wounds. I feel so raw right now.
What’s so sad is that there are many good priests, doing their best as men and as priests, but these evil, sick, perverted criminals have hurt the whole of priesthood. I know many people who say that they now have a mistrust of priests even if they are more than likely good, normal people. How horrible is that? It hurts me to know that in the beginning, I was skeptical about it all, but so much of it has been proven to be true. It makes me angry.
I wish to God that the archdiocese would have just been transparent about all of this from the beginning, especially once it all blew up in all of our faces.
Back to my Lenten promise and will no longer post here. Thank you for allowing me to express my conscience and my hurt. And my apologies for my post being so long.
