Of Scapegoated Cardinals and Pretty Pontifex Words

Dear Cardinal Roger Mahony,

When people confronted you about the pedophile priests in the Roman Catholic Church you had the utter audacity to report in your blog on 2/14/2013 that you:

"Thanks to God's special grace, I simply stood there, asking God to bless and forgive them."

What?!?  I'm quite sure that your described response did n o t h i n g for the people who confronted you.  And to rub salt into the wounds of the people that you were supposedly called to minister to, you went on to write about it in your blog.  Sometimes the better part of wisdom really is to admit wrongdoing.  Whipping yourself in self-serving blog posts and then writing about being a poster child of sorts for humiliation in my opinion is totally lame.  

Your other blog posts of late talk about being like Jesus, humility, and acceptance of being scapegoated.  Doesn't much sound like you are accepting any responsibility to me.

   [ http://cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com/
     if anyone wants to read the drivel.]

And by the way, if Jesus existed, he almost certainly was not a pedophile.  And he did not cover up the wrong that people around him had done.  The throwing out merchants and usurers from the Temple is the story that immediately come to my mind.  Jesus did not ignore what was happening.  Nor did he say to them, "Shhhh, just go round the back or to the temple up yonder."  So no, you are not like the Jesus in the Gospels.  Not at all.

Being scapegoated is nothing in comparison to the pain of kids who were sexually violated by priests.  Just so we are clear about that.  The humiliation of having been a victim is far greater than any "pain" you might be feeling.  Especially within a society that continues to blame the victim.  I'm willing to bet on it. 

No Love,
radical sapphoq




Dear Pope Benedict a.k.a. @Pontifex [on Twitter (®)],

Your-- or someone in your office-- make such pretty words on Twitter (®) of late.  Stuff your pretty words.  Your pretty words aren't enough.

Your pretty words do nothing about those kids, and adults who as kids, who were sexually abused by priests.  What did you do?  You allowed the transfer of accused priests to other parishes with other kids and their parents who did not know what "the new Father" had done or alleged to have done in his previous parish.

I have no hopes for the new Pope acting any more justly than you the old Pope.  Even so, on February 28th, I'll be celebrating your departure.  If I was still a drunk, I would be planning to get totally loaded.  But I'm not.  So instead, I will just eat a piece of dark chocolate while listening to some nerdcore in your dishonor.

No Love,
radical sapphoq



Dear Roman Catholics,

I am outraged that some priests [and maybe even a few nuns?] have sexually abused kids and teens [and maybe even a few adults?].  I am deeply sorry for the people who have had to live through the abuse, far more than I am for any priests, cardinals, or popes who covered it up.

It is not my intention to attack you or even to attack your religion.  

Sincerely,
radical sapphoq  


 

Not Suspicion, Mr. Pontifex

So the news is out that Mr. Pope Benedict XVI has resigned, effective on February 28, 2013.  Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I myself will be having a party on that day.  There is no love here for the @Pontifex-- the first Pope on Twitter ever.  I've never cared for the man-- this supposed figurehead representation of a god on earth-- who managed to alienate those of us fighting for civil rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transfolk, intersexed, queers, and the questioning.  He's also done a smack up bang job of pissing off Muslims, Jews, Anglicans, the survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests, and AIDS activists who know that the use of condoms in Africa truly does save lives.  About the only positive thing that I can say about the man is at least his family reportedly were anti-Nazis.

So now I wait with baited morning breath for the announcement of who the next papal man in a dress will be.  Anybody but Dolan will be my battle cry.  Because Dolan is also a man cut from similar cloth.  The truth is that whoever gets the office will likely continue the conservative trends of Mr. Pope Benedict XVI.  Quite frankly, because I am familiar with some of the crap that has come out of Dolan's mouth, I view the man with some alacrity.  If he winds up in the Vatican, I will wear the black band of mourning around my arm for at least a week.  

I have a problem when a church-- any church-- endeavors to impose its' viewpoints upon the rest of us.  The difference between the uneducated probably interbred folks of Westboro and the Vatican King is obvious to me.  The Vatican has entirely too much influence on the world.  Westboro is a mere footnote in the vomitus running down the gutter.  Because of this influence, I am indeed interested to see who the next pontifex will be.  And also, whether or not he keeps the Twitter account.

Some of the responses of government spokespeeps from around the world have been interesting.  Granted, Mr. Pope was wise to step down when he or someone realized that he is mentally and physically declining.  But the fact remains, this one was not loved.  I can make an educated guess that the various soundbites were made in order to grease relations with the next one before he is even elected.  In other words: Even governments can and do kiss ass.  

The observation that liberals have viewed this pope with suspicion doesn't go far enough.  I think the real word is akin to the word "hatred."  It appears to be popular in some circles these days to make the claim that "we don't hate anyone."  Sorry folks, there are people that I hold in such contempt that I do indeed hate them.  And yes, this blog writer does indeed hate Mr. Pope Benedict XVI. I've crossed out the word liberal from my self-description years ago.  Yet, I am not a conservative either.  I don't feel comfortable in either camp these days.  But to all appearances, most would claim me as a lib because of my stance on civil rights for all civils.  At any rate, I despise Mr. Pope Benedict XVI as much as I despise Dolan.  And that is the long and short of it.

radical sapphoq says: Good riddance to the current @Pontifex.  Maybe the next one won't be such a public relations disaster.  And maybe the next one will not be complicit in the cover-up of priests who have, do and will sexually abuse kids and teens within the mantle of their "priestly" office.  Fat chance of the latter, I know, but hope is a precious commodity.  Le sigh.  The beat goes on.



A smattering of a bunch of news references:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/11/pope-benedict-xvi-resign/1908779/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324880504578297543433266804.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-benedict-to-resign-citing-age-and-waning-energy/2013/02/11/f9e90aa6-743b-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-pope-benedict-resign-20130211,0,123038.story

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/11/16924416-from-prisoner-of-war-to-pontiff-a-timeline-of-pope-benedict-xvis-life?lite

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/world-reacts-to-resignation-of-pope-benedict-xvi.aspx?pageID=238&nID=40872&NewsCatID=359

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9862461/Pope-Benedict-XVI-resigns-a-papacy-marred-by-crises-and-controversies.html

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_22563195/pope-benedict-xvi-resigns-what-happens-next