Secularism is to blame for Child Abuse in Ireland says Pope – Part One

The Pope’s verdict is in.  It’s our fault.  Secularism is to blame.  Who knew?

After more than 15,000 reported cases of child abuse Pope Benedict XVI has written a ‘pastoral letter’ to the people of Ireland.  That link will give you the whole thing, the real deal.  As of this moment I have read 1/3 of this piece of drivel and already I am both shocked and not shocked.  How can that be you ask?  Well I had hoped for a lot more.   It should have gone further and I suppose I had high hopes that for once in his miserable life, the pope would have done the right thing.   On the other hand it’s the usual tripe trotted out by the church when they get caught with their hands in something it shouldn’t be.  I’ll deal with this piece of garbage one section at a time.  To the letter…

1. He’s concerned, deeply disturbed and dismayed by what happened to the children by the church.  He listened to the bishops and he is confident that things will get better.  The part I like is this, “I am confident that, as a result, the bishops will now be in a stronger position to carry forward the work of repairing past injustices and confronting the broader issues associated with the abuse of minors in a way consonant with the demands of justice and the teachings of the Gospel”.

Repairing past injustices?  Does he really think this can be repaired?  He can’t honestly think that.  It must be the damage to the church he wants to repair.  No sane person could possibly think that what happened in that godforsaken country could possibly be put right.  Stopping it from happening again maybe, but repairing?  He is not in touch with the realities of the situation and the damage done to the children and families.  Actually I don’t think he is in touch with reality period!

2. The first sentence of this section is nothing more than laying the blame directly on the Irish priesthood.  Nobody else’s fault whatsoever.  Bullshit Joe.  There were reports going on for a long time and you knew about them and have done nothing.  You did nothing and hoped  the Irish Priests would take care of it and it would go away.  Well it didn’t.  You are their leader and you didn’t lead.  You failed not only the priests, but the children.  This is YOUR failure Joe.

Then he goes on to say that it isn’t only the Church that is abusing children.  How weak is that.  There is no defense in the defense of ‘others were doing it too’.  How bloody childish.

Then he says, ‘the task you now face is to address the problem’.  What?  You’re leaving it up to them?  This is also of your doing, if only by closing your eyes to the facts and not stepping in sooner.

“Perseverance and prayer are needed, with great trust in the healing power of God’s grace.”  Grow a freaking brain man.  If there was a God he wouldn’t have allowed this to happen to the children.  Even if we did allow for his existence, how can you follow someone who would allow this to happen?  You distance yourself from the priests who committed these despicable acts and from the bishops who knew and allowed it to go on for so long.  How is that any different from you and your god?  You both knew!

“At the same time, I must also express my conviction that, in order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenseless children.”  Again, you distance yourself and lay blame on others alone.

“As you take up the challenges of this hour”.  And again you distance yourself.  There seems to be a pattern emerging here.  One that we are not buying into either.

“It is my prayer that, assisted by the intercession of her many saints and purified through penance, the Church in Ireland will overcome the present crisis and become once more a convincing witness to the truth and the goodness of Almighty God, made manifest in his Son Jesus Christ.”

What kind of crap is this?  That is just thinking of the Church, not the children.  Where is the goodness of your god in any of what has happened?  Do you think he allowed this to happen as a test for the Church?  I am amazed at your callousness Joe.  To speak about the future of the church while the people are still in pain is to ignore them and what was done.  That is cold.

3. You go on in this section to try and draw energy from the past.  Good works from the past do not negate the horrors the present has inflicted.  Try dealing with the situation now instead of attempting to distract people from the crimes committed by the Church.  Your Church.

“Those Irish missionaries drew their strength and inspiration from the firm faith, strong leadership and upright morals of the Church in their native land.”

How can you even say those words without choking?  You really are out of touch with the pain these people feel.

Again, harking back to the past looking for support where there is none.  Then to make matters worse you spew this crap, “Many dioceses, especially in Africa, America and Australia, benefited from the presence of Irish clergy”.  The things that happened and are happening even now in these countries may not have been the fault alone of the Irish Catholic Priests, but the Church has done just as much harm in each one of those as it has done in Ireland.  If not more.  All you manage here is to offend the people of those countries.

“In almost every family in Ireland, there has been someone – a son or a daughter, an aunt or an uncle – who has given his or her life to the Church.”  Only to be treated in this manner.  You should be ashamed.

4. The first paragraph is just an attempt to divert attention and lay the blame on secular society.  Secular society did not abuse the children. Priests and Nuns did.  Your lot.  Take responsibility for your own actions instead of blaming the innocent once again.  The Church tried that centuries ago and is still paying the price.  That is not a road you want to go down.

The second paragraph has one thing I agree with.  “Certainly, among the contributing factors we can include: inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life; insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates.”  I’d prefer to shorten it and say “insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in the Church as a whole.”  After that we get “and have obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing.”  What about the centuries of persecution the Church itself has inflicted upon the people?

5. If you don’t step down, you’ll be meeting with a lot more abuse victims Joe.  A lot more.  That is unless you’re more heartless than I think you are.  Ireland is only one part of the larger picture.  You’ve tried to deflect attention on this matter by saying that it isn’t just the Church that commits these crimes.  That is true Joe.  What is also true is that there is no other organisation on this planet that practices child abuse to the extent that your beloved Church did, does and will continue to do until the day it breathes it’s last breath.

6. You start off well, but then go on to say “It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin.”  He was a victim of his own abuse.  He as your god, sent himself down as his own son for that to happen.  It was his own plan all along.  Who are you kidding?

“I know some of you find it difficult even to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred.”  I would advise them to nail the doors shut and never enter them again.  You and yours cannot be trusted.  You have shown that over a very long time.  Ever heard of ‘once bitten twice shy’?  Well you have bitten us way too many times and can’t be trusted any longer.  Go away.  Shut up shop and leave the people alone.  You are an anachronism and are no longer needed.

“I pray that, by drawing nearer to Christ and by participating in the life of his Church – a Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity – you will come to rediscover Christ’s infinite love for each one of you.”  Purified Joe?  How can it be pure considering what this letter is all about?  You call that a pure church?  And what will you do if one more child is hurt?  Say the same tired old thing again?  And again?  And again?

7. Laying of blame on the priests again.  Yes, they committed the acts, but yet again you forget that you knew it was happening and failed in your duty of care and allowed it to continue with no real attempt to put an immediate stop to it.  You are just as guilty.

—

“These children are the future of our world, and they must not be made to bear the ignominy of the past. We shall set a goal that ANY priest, or nun, of any rank involved in these activities shall be cast out of this church and subject to the law of the land wherein the offenses took place, and a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse will be in force from this day onward.”