In a week when the Pope’s right-hand man pointed to homosexuality as the cause of paedophilia, FINTAN O'TOOLE looks at the church’s response to the child abuse cover-up and asks what it is all about…
That this form of moral evasion had its very own name was a mark of how pitiful and desperate it was. Even those who engaged in it knew that it was a last refuge. When the indefensible could not be defended, the only remaining strategy was to present the perpetrators as victims, and those who criticised atrocities as hypocrites.
As evidenced by this week’s attempt by Pope Benedict’s right-hand man, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to blame homosexuals for the crisis in the church, what-aboutery is now the mainstay of the Vatican’s response to the continuing revelation of its global strategy of covering up the abuse of children by priests.
For a short period leading up to the issuing of Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter to the Irish faithful last month, the Vatican seemed to be inching towards some tentative reflection on its own moral responsibility for the protection of abusers. But as the flood of allegations has risen ever closer to the Pope’s own door, humility has been replaced by an aggressive backlash. Photo
The church leadership has now adopted a three-fold strategy: blame the victims; invoke anti-Catholic persecution; and identify modernity as the root of the problem. Benedict himself began the process of blaming the victims in his Palm Sunday sermon when he spoke of not allowing oneself to be “intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion”. This was not an accidental or thoughtless phrase. It was directly echoed on Easter Sunday by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former Vatican secretary of state and currently dean of the College of Cardinals. Read complete article - The Irish Times
Related links:
Happy Easter! 2010 - Sad Easter! - Benedict XVI - Cover-ups – Defense Orchestration – Kids Are Being Hurt!!! – read more
Priest says he was pressurised into taking blame for pope – by PADDY AGNEW, DEREK SCALLY and PATSY McGARRY – The Irish Times – Read more
Priest says he was bullied into taking fall for Pope in abuse scandal - The Local – Germany’s News In English – read more
Voices Emerge Calling for Pope's Resignation - By Mark Phillips – CBS News – read more
A 'Failed Papacy'? How Benedict XVI Got Into This Mess – by David Gibson – Politics Daily – read more
Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation, theologian tells bishops – by HANS KÜNG – The Irish Times – read more
It's not the sex. It's the cover-up – by Matt Gurney, NP Editor, April 15, 2010 – National Post – read more
"Unconditional obedience is owed to God alone" Galatians 2:11 - Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation, theologian tells bishops – by HANS KÜNG – The Irish Times – read more
Five myths about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal – by David Gibson – The Washington Post – read morePope Breaks Silence Over Recent Church Scandals - - New York Magazine – read more
Ratzinger, Hurley, Maida & Accomplices – The child sexual abuse cover-ups are only the tip of the iceberg. “Kids Are Being Hurt!!!” – read more
“The blind leading the blind” With all due respect, Benedict XVI and some of the hierarchy? YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HURT ANYONE! Kids Are Being Hurt!!! – read more
Pope Benedict calls for Catholic church penance, but questions about reform persist - By Robert Marquand, - The Christian Science Monitor – CSMontior.com – read more
“…a conformity, in which it's obligatory to think like everyone else, to act like everyone," Benedict XVI said. - New York Magazine – read moreShifting Blame - Vatican Attempts - to Hide Behind Gay Priests - Sexual Orientation - Again! -> Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
International
"Ricky Martin Foundation" advocates for the well being of children around the globe in critical areas such as social justice, education and health. Read more
Flagrant Disregard For All Of Humanity, Especially For Children – Being Publicly Demonstrated by Benedict XVI and hierarchy - Failure to Accept Responsibility for Decades of Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups - Kids Are Being Hurt!!! - by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz Read more
Vatican -> WATERGATE (AGAIN)? - No “Checks and Balances” Kids Are Being Hurt!!! – by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz – read more
Vatican distances itself from prelate's gay remarks - By Brendan Trembath – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) – read more
Vatican: Bishops Must Report Alleged Abuse To Police - by BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY - National Public Radio NPR – read more
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Refutes Vatican Official's Statement on Pedophilia and Sexual Orientation – read more
'Halo has been tilted' - South African Catholic clergymen among those condemning Cardinal Bertone - By BIENNE HUISMAN – Times LIVE – read more
It's Not About Homosexuality: Blaming the Wrong People for the Sexual Abuse Crisis – by Rev. James Martin, S.J. – The Huffington Post - read more
Fr Marcus Stock, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales – In deep appreciation, for being a voice of sanity and clarity – extremely beneficial to children, MSK – read more
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.” Erik Erikson
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6
Protect children and the entire world will be safe.
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