Pat Oliphant for March 31, 2010
Transcript:
Sister Mary Dolorosa Excruciata: Hold out your hand, Joseph Ratzinger. Little Bunny: Ah, Easter! The egg, the chocolate bunnies, the lash! Did someone suggest that a woman Pope would get the Catholic Church back in line? Then let Sister Mary Dolorosa Excruciata of the Little Sisters of the Hold Agony, and you've got a deal!
whatdoiknow, made some claims that need reply mostly because they are defensive and inaccurate. By way of disclosure, I am a Christian minister who is not anti-Catholic. Many of my RC colleagues (for whom I have great respect), have said what I am about to say, though they would never say it on the record.
1 The main charge against the Pope appears to be an unproven claim about a pedophile priest from Wisconsin 20 years ago. Response: This is far more than one “unproven claim”, but what on earth does the time have to do with it? This is about a systematic covering up and defending of the offending priests. The church has covered up the crimes of her priests and then placed those priests back in positions where they have regular and often unsupervised contact with children. One instance is unfortunate. A pattern is unconscionable. And Benedict is the head of this church – he has responsibility, even if you suggest he had no authority over the situation 20 years ago.
2 Any criticism of abusing priests that connects them to homosexuality is unacceptable to the media. Response: No, the connection is not made because it does not exist. Homosexuality is attraction to a person of the same gender. Pedophilia is attraction to and abuse of children, regardless of gender. These are very different. Attempts to connect the two are poor science and dishonest.
3 Abuse of children by a few homosexual priests has been known for several years. Response: Exactly! It’s been known for several years - but nothing has been done to hold the offending priests accountable, at least nothing by the church. Even last week, a report came out about two priests in California who missed conviction on a technicality. So what did their bishop do? Put them back into ministries with children. The pope is responsible for this because he has oversight over all of them. By the way, it is not “a few” priests. It is a wide-ranging group throughout the world, and so far, the RC Church has a very poor record of holding them accountable.
This is not an Anti-Roman-Catholic thing - it’s anti-abuse of children and anti-cover up.