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