Blessings and prayers, Maureen

The hand wringing does continue. Msgr Charles Kavanagh was defrocked based on allegations that have since been retracted. The Archdiocese has intentionally misled people to believe that there is more than one allegation, yet they have not been transparent in terms of the evidence.

I say this not to be critical, but to simply raise awareness that you cannot call people to new evangelization when the institution still has clear examples of its inability to take responsibility for the mistakes it has made. I do not fault the church for making mistakes in the case of Msgr Kavanagh. The mistakes are understandable. The continued avoidance of responsibility is not understandable.

If you truly want rebirth, if you want reconciliation and renewal, then you must right a very clear and obvious wrong. If you do not, then those of us who are informed and who were involved in the process will have to speak out and do what we can to prevent the new evangelization, because deep down that new evangelization will still be based on an unhealthy need for control more so than a genuine and authentic love of Christ.

It is not the Western world that is wandering from their faith. When leaders of the church will not demonstrate the required humility it takes to lead, then it is not people wandering from their faith, it is people being led there by the leadership of the church.

Continued prayers for you and the leaders that you have the courage and faith to acknowledge your mistakes and lead in a manner consistent with the example of Jesus Christ.

Peace,

Gil Brady

Respectfully, the laity is fervently praying that the hierarchy begin today the Year of the Faith, find interior change, and do what is right. Remove the Joe Paternos from the hierarchy! Then you will see the Church flourishing again and disaffected laity flocking into our beloved Church. Instead, it is puzzling – no, tragically painful – to read your shallow lamentations about finding “missionary territory” when the flock has been driven away by the bad judgment of the shepherds.

As a lay person, I hope and pray that the hierarchy has the courage exhibited by the NCAA. Forbes describes it best:

“By leveling serious penalties against Penn State, the NCAA did today what the Catholic Church has so far still failed to do. They have said they have “had enough,” in the words of Ed Ray, chair of the NCAA’s executive committee. From now on winning at all costs should not include the cost of turning a blind eye to childhood sexual abuse. The NCAA is acknowledging moral limits to excellence so that willful ignorance of abuse will not be tolerated, as it was under Joe Paterno’s leadership of the Penn State football program.

The practical morality of this message has resonance far beyond the locker room showers of a big time college football team. All of us, everywhere, should have “had enough” by now. Silence in the face of abuse, however psychologically comfortable and appealing such silence may be, should not be considered OK.

That predator, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s long time defensive coordinator, will in all likelihood spend the rest of his life in prison. But responsibility does not end with him. What these sanctions and penalties say is that moral responsibility is shared by both the abuser and those who allow abuse to take place. Penn State is being held accountable not for an act but for failing to act to protect children from a sexual predator.”

Just one small example of how our Church does not stand up and take notice of disrespectul behavior from the Clergy. Why is it that Nuns and Priests are not required to wear the habit nor the black of a priest with the collar?? I know Bishop Fulton Sheen was very critical of this but the leaders of the Church don’t even try to instill pride in that small way.