Recently, the bishop of my local Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish announced a groundbreaking $15 million compensation package to victims of sexual abuse in the church. Though I haven't considered myself a Catholic for many years (I'm a firm agnostic, if there's such a thing), I was brought up by a very Catholic mom, and was kind of glad to see the local RCs actually taking some positive action on this issue.
Last week, this same bishop announced his resignation, saying he needed time for "personal renewal." Some speculated it was related to the compensation package; indeed, I kind of wondered whether he was muscled out by higher-level officials in the church for making such a grand gesture to abuse victims.
But no.
Today, it was announced that the ex-bishop has been arrested for distributing and selling child pornography. His laptop was randomly searched at Customs two weeks ago, and that's when they found the evidence.
Ugh. My poor mom must be heartbroken. I'm sure she'll keep her faith in the Church, and in a way I'm glad for her that she finds comfort in it, but I'm more than a little disgusted with them right now. How does this keep on happening? Can it even be fixed?
Controversial, anyone?
11 years ago
3 comments:
i was strong-armed out of the church in my teens. i was offended by how certain believers treated me.
i have NO faith in the church.
but i have a *little* faith in the idea of something bigger than me.
also, child porn is gross. even that 'barely legal' stuff with the pig tails and the schoolgirl outfits is gross.
hairy guys in cub scout uniforms are hot though, that one time.
also, firemen calendars can be hot, you know, with the hoses and such.
I'm with you Meaux. I don't know how my mother-in-law can hold to her faith when this kind of news comes up.
Ugh, gp--that narrow-minded attitude toward people who don't conform to their interpretation of what's "right" is what turned me off of the whole Catholic thing in the first place. Well, that and the fact that I always found the services boring (and had no choice about going when I lived with my mom).
I should be clear that I mean no disrespect to those who've had better experiences with the Catholic church than I. I know they do a lot of good (and sincerely hope they're able to clean out the bad), and I know many people get a lot out of the services. But yeah, Doran, it is getting increasingly hard to understand how people can keep on placing their faith in this organization, in its present state.
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