MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Age
September 18, 2019
Yesterday morning I wept as I read the special investigation report, “Seminary Sins” (The Age, 17/9). As an elderly Catholic, I am terribly ashamed and grief stricken at what has happened to so many children and young men under the church’s watch.
For most of my life I, and so many others, had no idea of what was occurring but the church did. We were brought up to have absolute respect for, and trust in, the clergy who were supposedly above reproach and, thus, were never questioned. We can no longer plead ignorance, nor can we tolerate “business as usual” from an institution which is imbibed in secrecy, misogyny and denial.
I know many truly fine priests and I acknowledge with gratitude their ministry and friendship. Nonetheless I am choosing to “vote with my feet” and no longer regard myself as a Catholic. I now merely bestow upon myself the status of “freelance Christian.”
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