Sunday, April 10, 2005

A black eye for the Vatican

The Vatican either doesn't get it or doesn't care. Considering the following, I think it's a bit of both.

Cardinal Bernard Law, the former Archbishop of Boston who resigned in what most would consider disgrace in December 2002, has been chosen to lead one of the nine daily Masses of mourning for the pope at Rome's St. Mary Major Basilica. This is an official, important and highly public role of honor that Law will be playing, and extremely unsettling considering his resignation came about after unsealed court records revealed he had allowed priests guilty of abusing children to move among parish assignments and intentionally not notified the public. Laws actions not only aided and abetted pedophile priests to avoid prosecution, he enabled them to continue to engage in sexual molestation and victimize a slew of additional innocent children without fear of reprisal.

From Jim Connolly's "The Pope Who Revived the Office of the Inquisition
An American Catholic Reflects on Papacy of John Paul II"

18. Last but not least, Karol Wojtila proved his utter moral bankruptcy in his horrendous mishandling of the pedophile scandals in the Catholic Churches of the United States, Canada, Ireland, Britain, and several other nations. Wojtila could never bring himself to a clear apology or an acknowledgement of wrongdoing or institutional responsibility for the Catholic Church's practices of abuse, intimidation, and rape of tens of thousands of children and adolescents. Most reprehensibly, Wojtila removed the independent power of the United States Catholic bishops to discipline pedophile priests while attributing the horror and filth within the American Catholic Church to some sort of American cultural malady.
One would think that if JPII and/or the Vatican truly believed the molestation in US churches was due to an American cultural malady, they would most certainly have removed such a shining example of this malady from any role of power within the church. Instead, while Law had to resign from leading the Archdiocese of Boston, JPII chose to honor him by appointing him archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, one of 4 basilicas under direct Vatican jurisdiction. This is, ostensibly, the official Vatican position as to why Law is being permitted such an honor.

The hypocrisy of declaring homosexuality an abomination that must be combatted by denying those who engage in hamosexual relationships the same rights as those who engage in heterosexual ones & the Vatican warning US politicians not to allow legalization of gay marriage (an act that can only occur between consenting adults and that the Catholic church is not required to condone or perform) in contrast with the open support of someone so intimately involved in the continuation of sexual abuse of non-consenting children by priests is morally reprehensible. The Vatican has been named as a defendant/co-conspirator in US lawsuits for the sexual molestation cases and has asked the State Department to intervene on its behalf in the matter. The Vatican wants to have a say in governing the US to ensure we're all (Catholic or not) compliant with Catholic Dogma and yet they still want immunity from prosecution as a Sovereign Nation. American citizens (children no less) were routinely attacked and abused on American soil over decades with what can only be seen as the tacit condonation of the Catholic Church and the Vatican.

The honors bestowed on Cardinal Law by the Vatican should be seen as nothing other than the Vatican thumbing its nose at victims of child molestation and the laws of this country. We've declared war on sovereign nations for less and held other countries civilly liable for crimes committed against our citizens with their approval. The Vatican should be forced to stand trial and defend itself for the actions of its officers. Additionally, the next Pope should apologize to all who were victimized by Catholic Priests and Church Leadership and strip Bernard Law of all ecclesiastical duties.



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