MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News
Leslie Hittner
A few weeks ago, three Daily News readers asked that I stop my Catholic bashing. In his letter, Jerome Kulas went on to reinforce everything I had written about recent statements of Cardinal Raymond Burke. The only issue of disagreement between Kulas and me appears to be that I think those statements are preposterous, while Kulas thinks they are spot-on.
That single point of disagreement is hardly “Catholic bashing.”
Next, Bill and Rita Clark asserted that the Catholic Church has been doing all it could with respect to the abusive behavior of some of its priests. They offered no evidence of this and apparently believe that their faith in the church is sufficient to make this true.
In their letter, they conclude: “The church has done everything possible to make amends to the victims of sexual abuse, and as for expecting its employees to follow church doctrine, they can’t expect to stay employed if they flaunt church policies. Just what is Hittner’s problem?”
What I fail to understand is why every Catholic in this country — indeed in the world — is not upset about the continuing cover up of priestly sexual abuse by bishops and other members of the hierarchy.
Why do you accept it as OK? Do you accept it because it happens elsewhere? Do you accept it because the bishops dish out feel-good “we’re doing what we can” statements and take them at their word?
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