Letter: Catholic Church needs to atone for terrible sins

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 16, 2018

Catholic Church needs to atone for terrible sins

I am replying to the March 7 News editorial, “Is it time for a change?” Just as it focused on the topic of celibacy not always being in existence, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church also wants the laity to believe that women priests never existed in the church’s past history, which is certainly not the truth.

The Vatican has even likened the grave offense of pedophilia to ordaining women priests. As underhanded as that pronouncement is, certainly more despicable and as low as you can possibly get were these so-called men of God and their reprehensible actions. The specific bishops who gave orders of transfer to offending priests were indeed looking out solely for themselves.

With this deed now done, those priests were out of their sight. But how in any universe could they ever erase from their mind the victims, the actual children and young men and women whose lives were forever shattered?

While the hierarchy of the church was only concerned with keeping this hidden, the bishops were only concerned with their own ladder climbing to move up the rung career wise, even if that meant basically stepping over all of these victims while at the same time offering no help or compassion – absolutely nothing other than looking the other way.

Yes, indeed, the hierarchy needs to go over its current centuries-old policies. Cardinal Bernard Law, who was constantly moving offending priests from one area to another, was rewarded by the hierarchy by being transferred from Boston to Rome. Recently a woman sex abuse victim resigned from a papal commission. She was fed up with the public stance the hierarchy presents, but would not actually act on behind closed doors. When an institution still does not seem to get it completely, that needed change will be sorely missing.

Peg O’Connor

Buffalo

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