NEW JERSEY
Waiting for Godot to Leave
Friday, May 3, 2013
One of the ways I don’t-make-money is as a freelance writer (eg., this blog). So I’ve taken it upon myself to write a speech for Bishop Myers on the scandal involving Father Fugee. Heck, I’d even give it to him for free. Here goes. Archbishop Myers stands at a podium and says …
Fellow Catholics and all others who have been following this story –
I am going to do what Jesus Christ wants me to do and what the saints and those aspiring to sanctity have always done. I am going to repent. And I am going to do so publicly, both as a way of bringing humility into my life, and also as a lesson to all of you. “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,” as St. Paul said (1 Cor. 11:1). As a bishop, that is my primary role, in fact my only role: I am to imitate Christ for your sakes.
It is a job I have not been very good at. I’m afraid almost every single one of my brother bishops can say that; indeed almost every single one of you, my listeners, can say that. So since we’re all steeped in sin, and since we all have such a desperate need of a savior, let me begin.
Over ten years ago, one of the priests of this diocese got in legal trouble for doing something that caused a lot of damage. This priest had some psychological problems, as all abusers do. For one thing, he freely admitted that he had homosexual desires – and while it’s not politically correct in this day and age to call these desires what they are (perversions), and while the Church has always recognized that every sinner is perverse and corrupt in his heart (not just those who commit sodomy), it is nevertheless a disorder of love and affect to seek sexual fulfillment in any way other than through marriage and a family. My Church is the only institution that will continue to be bold enough to say that, even in the face of the coming and present persecution. So we begin with the fact that this priest has a problem, and it’s one that many people wrestle with.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.