Friday, May 17

Get a load of this Beliefnet piece on Catholics mobilized by The Situation and using the Internet to..mobilize. What's missing? Uh....us, maybe. We're all over the blasted place - in the Washington Post, MSNBC, NRO, John Leo, and Vatican Radio, and this writer doesn't even notice us over here, blogging merrily away, blasting bishops, spreading news and views, praying... Harrumph.
There's a new blog comin'....

That will put The Corner to shame. I'm honored to be a part of it. Debuts Monday. Watch this space for details.

A reader writes to tell us that the Archdiocese of Chicago will be holding listening sessions next Tuesday. Go here for information. Any Chicago readers who attend and would like to contribute reports, please do.
Please go visit A Catholic Blog for Lovers.

That got your attention, didn't it? Good.

Well. Congratulations to Mark Shea for winning the Vatican Radio Contest. Figures. Patriarchy and all that. Not that I'm bitter.
Another big, fat horror story about Cardinal Mahony from the New Times LA

Actually the piece uses Mahony as a hook on which to discuss the dismal records of the bishops as a whole in dealing with the problem. It's fascinating and depressing.

If you go to the third page of the article and read the account of a seminarian named Brooks who went to Mahony with complaints about a seminary in San Diego, you will find many, many bombshells and a connect-the-dots between predatory priests turned predatory bishops that goes a very long way to explain a great deal.

If you're a parent or have dealt with kids a lot - say in a classroom - you know how aggravating it is when they refuse to tell the truth. I vividly remember the days when both my older sons were living at home and were pretty much constantly at odds. (When they were around 10 and 13 or thereabouts). A fight would erupt over some meaningless issue, but of course, no one was ultimately responsible. No one had started it. No one had hit first. No one had violated anyone's space first. Getting the truth could be very difficult. It drove me nuts. Why couldn't the one at fault just save me (and himself) the aggravation and simply get it over with and tell the truth?

I'm beginning to feel the same way about our friends in the episcopate. Why don't they just save us a lot of time and trouble and be out with the truth? Stop with the blasted passive voice of "mistakes were made" and the faux puzzlement over how these things could happen (Again, the passive voice!) and come clean.

Take a clue from one who, a couple of readers indicate, should be added to our "Bishops Who Get It" list: Brunett of Seattle.

Brunett released an open letter on the Situation. Here are the third and fourth sentences:


"The present crisis has been aggravated by decisions of individual bishops who allegedly transferred known offenders from one parish to the next, placing the safety and welfare of children and youth in jeopardy. Attitudes of denial, arrogance, and secrecy have added to the burden of victims seeking justice, healing, and redress."


All of Brunett's statement's on the Situation are posted on the archdiocesean website. Note the prominent link on the left of the homepage.


Coincidentally, a hearing an an accused priest is convening here today.This article also contains a useful history of how these accusations has
been handled in Seattle in the past.


One thing the article doesn't mention is that when Brunett suspended Cornelius (oops, I mean "placed him on administrative leave"), Brunett said Mass at Cornelius's parish the next Sunday. Brunett takes his pastoral responsibilities seriously.


Did I mention that Archbishop Curtiss is a member of the Pontifical Commission on the Family?
There were listening sessions in Milwaukee last night. Milwaukee likes listening sessions. It makes them feel as if they're actually doing something. The seesions were packed, and Archbishop Weakland attended one of them:

The atmosphere was charged at St. John Vianney Church in Brookfield, one of the sites for the Milwaukee Archdiocese listening sessions. There were boos among the standing-room crowd of 1,100 when participants were told Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland - who was present - would not answer questions.



"This is beyond ridiculous," said Sharon Mutchler, a member of St. Joseph's Parish in Wauwatosa, who later suggested that someone take over the microphone. "We've been reduced to grade school."



Maureen Gallagher, one of the facilitators at the site and the archdiocese's director of education, tried to calm the people by saying, "If people have special questions, I'll meet you upstairs and we can discuss it."

....David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a telephone interview Thursday that individual parishes have held such sessions but relatively few dioceses have.



"You know, I think people shouldn't confuse talk with action, though. And the problem is, in the past there was such secrecy that now even a shred of openness seems like a welcome change of pace. But again, we shouldn't deceive ourselves. Talking about the problem doesn't mean solving it. And I think it's incumbent upon Weakland to take more proactive steps."


Be sure to read, in separate article, about one family's confrontation with Weakland about his inaction in regard their daughter's abuse.