Waiting for Light

By Daniel Carlson
vanishingpredators
February 4, 2019

https://vanishingpredators.com/blog/f/waiting-for-light

The Rosetta Stone is an ancient artifact that, once discovered, allowed researchers to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics that had previously been unintelligible. With the release, last week, of information about Catholic priests “credibly accused” of child sex abuse in Texas, many Catholic faithful likely experienced a “Rosetta Stone Moment” in their struggles to make sense of the sketchy and piecemeal data with which they were presented.

This much anticipated release of the names of 286 Catholic clergy alleged to have engaged in the most reprehensible of crimes as far back as the 1950s, came about as a joint undertaking in the thirteen Dioceses and two Archdioceses in Texas. And though some applaud this effort as a step toward greater transparency, many others believe this sordid list raises more questions than it answers.

For example … how many accusations were made against each individual named priest? In which parishes did these individuals serve, and when were they there? What does the term “credibly accused” mean? Why did it take so long for this information to be released? And how many accusations must be made before a priest is relieved of his duties?

This last question is an important one for it seems … incredibly … that one clergyman in the Houston area was actually permitted to say Mass on the morning his name was released as being among the “credibly accused.” It is important to note that the Archdiocese had been informed of an accusation against this priest in November, 2018, with a second victim coming forward within the past month.

Sigh.

If this is what passes for openness and transparency in the parlance of Catholic leadership, those of us in the pews have a long wait before the evil of child sexual abuse is fully grasped and eradicated from our Church. As the noted life coach and minister, Craig Lounsbrough, warns:

We create “light” that isn’t light enough to reveal who we are.  And that kind of light is in fact the greatest kind of darkness.