May 02, 2002 - 10:27 p.m.
I'm stewing a bit tonight. Perhaps I ought to borrow Colin's rant icon...
Another priest has been arrested, this one with ties to NAMBLA, the idiot. The press has even bypassed "molestation" and "pedophilia" for the blunt accusation of "rape."
I'm not saying he doesn't deserve the term. I won't even make a pretense of a defense over this man.
I'm just pissed.
I'm furious that these priests, aware of their role and their "calling," could repeatedly turn their backs on their vows, their responsibility, and their Church.
I'm furious that the hierarchy of the Church couldn't pull their heads out of the Middle Ages and realize the damage a cover-up would do.
I'm furious that His Holiness the Pope didn't bang his shaking fist on the table and promise that heads would roll.
And I'm furious that the press corps has done everything short of hiring Shelby Spong as an anchor to point to this as the final nail in Christianity.
- Priests are supposed to be celibate. It doesn't matter at all if they are heterosexually or homosexually inclined. Priests should not act on these impulses.
- We live in world dominated by the news industry where everything is eventually revealed, with the possible exception of Jimmy Hoffa. These evils were bound to emerge and the bishops should never have been so stupid to think that the Church could keep them hidden.
- The Pope hasn't changed that public perception at all.
As to the press - yes, the whole "scandal" (oh, I hate that word) is newsworthy and it's better to have it on the 6 o'clock news rather than buried in a Vatican file, but could you lay off with the histrionics? The friggin' Church of the Nativity is the site of a siege right now and I have yet to hear as much outrage from the press about an ancient and venerated building (I won't go into the dubious historicity of the site) being riddled with bullets and scarred by fire.
Christianity will survive these morons. It's survived others. It's bound to outlast more in the future. Some Catholics will leave in outrage. I don't blame them. Some will cling ardently to the Catholic dogma. I can understand them. Some will demand that heads roll.
To forgive is divine, so I leave this one to God.
