Bishop Duffy, thank you taking the risk to step forward to speak out! For the longest time the world has observed from a far~~~ the child abuse that has occurred for too long, under the watch of the Catholic Church. It was virtually shoved under the thick, expensive Vatican rug. It was also evident there were other matters that took precedence. Plainly, a signpost that read—–“Do what I say not what I do.—- Life went on, children continued to be violated, priests were removed from one parish and then sent to another, hiding the violation until it happened again, and again and again and again, which didn’t make sense way back then. Now, since issue has lagged on, it makes perfect sense. All that transpired has only shown a clearly dated and dysfunctional process which has been also adopted by the masses to use in their own family and obviously hasn’t worked by the statistics shown, through the years, of what this sort of behavior ultimately does to a family and a church.
What sort of example were these named Priests and their mentors mirroring to the naïve and to the millions of followers? The named clergy continued the behavior while preaching about sin, while listening and advising during confession, while mentoring those who needed a counselor, while reciting mass and handing out holy communion.
Where in the Bible does it say child abuse was honored and accepted? What would Jesus do in this situation? I feel, most would say, not to subject any child to abuse. And most would probably say, get these men help and remove them from an environment which triggers their dysfunction. Some would agree, to come to a place of compassion and forgiveness. I believe, if this above scenario happened way back when the Vatican first heard of the abuse, many followers would of processed this in a different way. It’s so way out of hand at this point– with the latest news of one Priest refusing to step down from the post he took total advantage of.
Today, in the news, it stated the current Pope knew of this and issued a letter to all the clergy to keep this a secret. If one Googles this story, it will pop up. If this is true, it reminds me of my own family of how we needed to keep our families secret. (as I stated above about how the masses used this behavior in their own family) To share it with anyone was to dishonor our family. It took me years to get over the violence that was disturbingly embedded in my being and more years to share it with others. I still have siblings who protect the family system as they are which isn’t unusual. Look at the church followers who are still in that dysfunctional mode. Most families functioned and still function in this manner.
Bishop Duffy, it takes great courage to speak out on behalf the innocent. I’m sure this has been a tough road to be the only publicly, honorable example. Is the control so strong, most fear their positions will be taken away from them if they speak out? The bottom line, what’s most important to this Priest who refused to step down? Plainly, it isn’t about the children.
Is this an indirect cry for help that celibacy doesn’t work, especially regarding men? It has been extensively written about that men are wired differently.
This has been a lengthily abusive issue—- why isn’t the Church NOW making the necessary changes? Why are they waiting?
Each named or unnamed clergy should step down off of their imagined pedestal. They’ve mistreated their respective appointments and hurt thousands, now adults. My hope, that the victims eventually use this significant life occurrence to be passionate advocates for change in a system that is still in denial and isn’t working.
