KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
February 7, 2020
https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/ncr-today/your-thoughts-catholic-confusion-continuing-abuse-crisis-and-more
It should not surprise anyone that the public disclosure of the crimes committed by sex predator priests has made being a priest more difficult and less pleasant for their non-predator colleagues.
Nevertheless, the “turmoil” caused by the public’s knowledge of these criminals and their crimes vanishes when contrasted with the lifelong damage that is inflicted on the innocent children who have been raped and otherwise used for the sexual gratification by men who are said to be the servants of God.
We should save our sympathy for the raped children and let the non-predator priests resolve their own “turmoil.” Perhaps the solution is for the priesthood to rid itself of the sex predators among its members and see to it that more predators are prevented from joining.
Please consider reporting how many of America’s 17,000-plus Catholic parishes were not “served” by a sexual predator priest between, say, 1951 and 2000. I picked the last five decades because of the very long time between (a) the average age of the victim at the first rape (11) and (b) the average age of the victim when such rapes are reported (44).
ROB BLIGH
San Antonio, Texas
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These are the men (priests mentioned in article) who should be running our archdioceses. They know the real heartbeat of the parishes that make up the archdioceses are not the cardinals and bishops that parishioners rarely encounter.
I am tired of receiving “My dear brothers and sisters” letters from someone who doesn’t know who is part of their archdiocese and stays behind a partition of staff to fend off questions!
MARY WALLACE
Emerson, New Jersey
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I empathize with U.S. priests who feel the pressure and turmoil. The situation in Ireland is not dissimilar.
A factor unnecessarily adding to the pressure is a failure to recognize how much has changed in the understanding of child sexual abuse in the past 40 years. The article refers to “This cover-up … a lot are angry at bishops and the institutional church for screwing up.”
We insist today on the highest standards of dealing with allegations of abuse. It is unjust, and anachronistic, to judge the actions of those dealing with allegations 40 or 50 years ago as if they had our knowledge. The wisdom and best-practice of those times are the folly and outrage of today. They did not have our knowledge of how widespread abuse is, nor of the effects on those abused, nor how to deal with abusers. This is true of priests and of legal, medical and social professionals.
PADRAIG McCARTHY
Dublin, Ireland
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This excellent article described well how hard it must be to be a good priest in the midst of a severe shortage of ministers.
There is a simple solution: Ordain women. Give parishes to women who have already been ordained as Catholic priests. I have been to two of these ordinations. As I see these women, in vestments at the altar proclaiming the gospel, performing the Eucharist, my first thought is: what is the church afraid of?
A man says, “I have been called to the priesthood” and everyone rejoices. He then works to pass the requirements of the seminary and enhance his spiritual life. A young woman says, “I have been called to the priesthood” and the church says, “No, you haven’t.”
From the beginning, with the great women saints, until today when sisters are at the border and women are running schools and parishes, what more do we have to do prove that we are the equal of men in our love for the message of Jesus? The church would rather close parishes than share priestly power with women. One might say that the church has brought this burden of overworked priests on itself.
MARGUERITE DELACOMA
Evanston, Illinois
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