A Personal Issue, The Catholic Church Scandal

by John Cory, Reader Supported News

Sunday, 28 March 2010 09:58

Pope Benedict XVI attends Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican, 03/28/10. (photo: Getty Images)

y views on child abuse and child molestation are harsh and unforgiving and forged by the fires of my own childhood. I give no quarter on this issue.

I have no kind words or forgiving thoughts for the Catholic hierarchy or their enablers, which brings me to Bill Donohue's article on the CNN Opinion web site. You can read what he says here but I'll give you my version:

Child abuse and molestation is bad but this stuff happened a long time ago and times were different then and besides everyone does it including churches, schools, businesses and even the Jews. This is all about picking on the Catholic Church for headlines.

Mr. Donohue - you are performing a cheap parlor trick of turning the Catholic Church into the victim here and frankly, it is disgusting. The victims are at the center of this issue, not you and your Catholic ego.

This is not an attack on the Catholic Church. It is about holding the men accountable who lead the Church. And that includes the Pope.

In the wonderful novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, Baba tells his son Amir: "There is only one sin and that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth."

Men, not God, not Church, stole innocence and trust, privacy and possession of one's body and spirit. Can there be a more heinous crime?

While you dress your Cardinals and Pope in fine linens and moral rectitude, the molested cover themselves in revulsion and self-loathing believing they did something to cause this crime.

While you parade about with burning incense and wafers of contrition the raped and battered wander in doubt and confusion as to how God let this happen.

While you sprinkle the Water of Oblivion and chant sacred liturgies the true victims suffer the holy trinity of abuse, alienation and abandonment.

How dare you cloak the Church in victimhood.

Should the deaf children thank God that they were not able to hear their rapist's grunts and gasps of pleasure at defilement?

Should the molested thank God that they eventually became old enough to no longer be attractive to priests? Or should they have prayed for faster transfers?

Should the abused take comfort in the knowledge that it was only a few "bad apples" in the Church and they were just "unfortunate" to be among the chosen prey?

What you defend is not the Church but the silence of power, the sin of willful ignorance and the sin of omission by those who turned a blind eye to the torture and horror at the hands of God's devoted servants.

What you defend is the murder of the soul.

The first day of abuse becomes an eternity of pain and despair and night becomes a never-ending reel that assaults the senses. The smell and feel of sin forever burned into the brain haunting the heart and soul.

I don't know how to explain this horror in a way to make you understand.

I can tell you that abuse smells like Old Spice and Vaseline Hair Tonic wafting in the air with each blow. I can tell you that abuse tastes like oatmeal on a dishrag in my mouth to keep me from screaming. I can tell you that abuse burns like a tub of scalding water boiling away my sins and it stings like the slice of a knife to bleed out that evil blood inside of me. I can tell you that the sound of abuse is an icy echo: I'm only doing this because I love you. If you were good, you wouldn't make me do this.

There is not a bonfire in Hell big enough for the souls of these people to burn in as far as I am concerned. And the statute of limitations should match the term of punishment and damnation - eternity.

The perpetrators stole innocence and purity, trust and love, and beautiful childhood souls like they were nothing more than trinkets of idol pleasure.

But the greatest theft came from the Cardinals and Bishops and authorities. They stole in silence just like a thief in the night. They were soundless accomplices to the murder of souls.

They stole truth from those who needed its protection most. They stole the right to be heard and to be believed. They stole love and hope and the sanctity of the church.

They stole God.

To defend any of this is to steal the last vestige of dignity and honor and justice from those who deserve it most.

There is only one sin and that is theft.

Thou shalt not steal.

Comments

+30 # Guest 2010-03-28 10:15

You said it. These men should at the very least have been transferred out of the priesthood. The Church hurt its own credibility, they are going to have to do a lot to get it back. I was just the subject of an attempt by one to swear me to secrecy and I told my mother who told my father who went off like a hydrogen bomb. He dragged me downtown the next day and I got to watch him (verbally, anyway) kick the Archbishop's ass. That's you, Rembert Weakland, you jerk. Boy was that gratifying. Don't worry, it's going to be standing room only in hell for a lot of people.

+23 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:06

[quote name="catherine graf"]You said it. These men should at the very least have been transferred out of the priesthood."

Not only transferred out of the priesthood but transferred directly to the civil authorities and hence to prison for paedophilia, which I understand is not a very well thought of offense in most prisons.

+23 # Guest 2010-03-28 10:34

The church seems more intent on saving itself, the institution rather than saving and nurturing souls. The moral authority of the church and its practitioners is hypocritical. This 'scandal' will go down in history as a benchmark time in the changing of a culture. Despicable!!

+25 # Guest 2010-03-28 10:35

Shame on Donohue for lying and defending the indefensible! What a crock of crap. The pedophile scandal has caused tens of thousands to leave the Catholic church.

+17 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:30

As an ex-catholic who was molested by a Priest who chose not to go public this whole thing rips a scab off of memories long ago shunted aside. The Pope should be defrocked, thank you for this article. For all of the news coverage this brought me to tears of gratitude. May the perpetrators all face their own version of hell.

+7 # Guest 2010-03-29 09:50

Lois

I'm praying for you! Wow! I can't even begin to imagine what you have been through. May God continue to watch over you! Stay strong.

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:02

I am not catholic but thirty years ago I paid to send my son to a Catholic school in hope of him receiving a better education than the Pittsburgh PA. public schools could provide.Now I worry every day about what may have happened to him.His life has not gone that well and I wonder if I delivered my first child to an institution run by child abusers. I also blame law enforcement and our politicians. I blame the Republicans and their "family values agenda" and the silence and the Democrates.
Is the Catholic Church that powerful? These are our children that they are destroying. Why are they permitted to continue to operate schools? And why are people still sending their children to Catholic schools?

-13 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:13

Herman, why would you blame the republicans or the Democrats? THEY didn't send your child to a parochial school. You did. And to blame the law enforcement is wrong, if they knew nothing about abuse going on inside a church or church school. Put your blame where it belongs and possibly it belongs on you. How involved were you in your child's schooling? I am not Catholic and I think what many priests (or Protestant clergy) have done horrid. But, don't put a child in any school or organization and not be involved.

-26 # Guest 2010-03-28 19:13

That's rightblame the Church for everything that has not turned out exactly the way you wanted it to.

+21 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:02

I was sobbing by the time I finished this commentary. There are no words to explain this horror - the abuse and the conscious cover-up. There can be no understanding. If there is a god, these men certainly aren't men of god. And, Mr. Donohue, you are scum.

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:14

Belief is based on emotion, not reason. There is as much rational evidence to support the existence of a "god" as there is to support the existence of unicorns, Santa Clause and elves. T accept with evidence is to create cognitive dissonance in your ability to reason. If you believe in the supernatural, you will believe anything and quite possibly;y forgive it as well.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-30 08:50

No, Steve. Belief is based on FAITH.

A requirement for forgiveness is the sinner/perpetrator's admittance of wrong and a sincere desire to change and make amends. I see neither of those in this case, only self-delusion and blaming victims. Appalling.

John, I pray for you also. Thank you for writing this powerful statement of your experience. You are a courageous man.

You're my hero.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:15

It is time for the church to work up!

+13 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:22

Thank you for your courage John. How clear could it be that the Pope is not chosen by God in their little secret "holy" enclave. God chose an abuse enabler? Really?

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:29

I do believe that God exist. The rest is strictly speculation and business for profit. The day the church will get rid of its riches, perhaps the world will start to give it a bit more credibility, and I sais "a bit". JLL

+24 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:59

I am not a Roman Catholic, having had a lifelong association with the Presbyterian church. I do have a Catholic son-in-law, nonpracticing, who told me some years ago, when this scandal first broke, that it was all a "Prot Plot", continuing to state that this happens in many churches. I concurred, added that schools are also vulnerable. My point to him was the fact that in other structures- churches, schools, camps, institutions- pedophiles are reported to civil authorities, tried,and banned from further contact with potential victims. That the Catholic church simply moved these predators around without legal actions, make it difficult not to surmise that the reputation of the Church and its anointed leaders did not take precedence over concerns for the flock. I cannot feel sympathy for the situation the church now finds itself in, only for its many victims. Marge

-25 # Guest 2010-03-28 19:18

Give me a break abuse happens dailt in protestant congregations and pedophilia also and transters and coverups.Wake up stop Catholic bashing and understand that the powers protect themselves not anyone else.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-29 21:09

Quoting

Give me a break abuse happens dailt in protestant congregations and pedophilia also and transters and coverups.Wake up stop Catholic bashing and understand that the powers protect themselves not anyone else.

Gee rich008, are you really at peace with the belief that those in power protect themselves and not anyone else, even when there are those who are in power because their followers put them there for the very purpose of protecting these followers ABOVE anything else? Do you really not think that any humans are capable of putting the good of their followers above the clerical perverts?

By the way, the difference between protestant clergy who abuse and Catholic clergy that abuse is this: the protestant churchs very rarely propose that their ministers are second only to God. The Catholic church is so vastly arogant and are led by a Pope whose word is deemed second only to God. It's much easier to go after Protestant perverts.

0 # Guest 2010-04-09 14:55

The Catholic church teaches = not that the word of the pope is SECOND only to God but that the word of the pope IS the word of God!!!!

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 11:59

My heart goes out to the author of this article, so obviously still suffering from abuse in his childhood. Speaking generally, when we are ready to take back our power from our abusers and forgive ourselves (not them), there are ways to do this at the emotional and spiritual level of our being. We can reclaim our soul.

+13 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:10

Spot on Mr. Corey. The attempts to cover up are even more reprehensible than the deeds being covered and the Catholic church can offer NO moral excuse nor any equivocation that will rectify this particular crime. The effort to cover up confers license to continue the crime. A legalist would give credence to statutes of limitation but no moral authority could ever abide by this. My recommendation to the Pope is that he defrock all of the guilty regardless of statutes of limitation and in the end, that he defrock himself and remove himself from office. None of the guilty should escape exposure in full and complete removal from every conceivable sanctuary within the church itself. Open and public confession followed by total banishment is the LEAST that should occur.

+17 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:15

Really powerful writing that brought home the horror of abuse like nothing else i've heard or read.

+13 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:27

Thank you.I haven't been in a Catholic church in years, and don't ever intend to. I feel sorry for those who still cling to this very destructive religion. There are many Catholic's who do good works, but in spite of the hierarchy, not because of it.

+1 # Guest 2010-04-02 04:06

I attend the Catholic church every Sunday and until recently, hae not been paying attention to the scandls too much. This time, I have started reading about the scandals and the posts, and am horrifled. Till now, I hae protected the Catholic church and blamed the "news" for looking for any occasion to curse the church, because of it's size and power. I am now trying to make sence of all this. I do good works for my church and know many who do and neer would think of them as anything other than good people, but when I think of the church as a whole, I get scared.. I must continnue to use my own brain and to look for the face of God in others. I am sure my sences will tell me otherwise when necessary. I will continue to pray for the church and that any abuse cases get tried like any other abuse case. (not covered up) km

+22 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:39

Thankfully I was never abused this way. After nine years of Roman Catholic schooling, I came to question some of the tenets of the faith. At the age of 14 I was sent from Religion class to see the priest-principal of the school. Instead of being listened to and answered, he physically terrorized me into cowering in front of him, a 300 pound bruiser. I left the school and the faith never to return. Now at 66 I am a happy atheist. Who needs that load of nonsense?

+14 # Guest 2010-03-28 18:14

I was an alterboy in the Orthodox church and never abused. After I left the influence of church and READ, I realized the nonsense of religion including the Vatican pact with Hitler in 1933, other religions are as bad. I remember being asked, many times, "are you a good Christian? The statement implied that Christians are good people. I am a contented atheist who believes if there is any credibility to a "Heaven", I will be judged on my actions, not on the membership card I have in my wallet.

+12 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:48

There were several reasons why this happened. First, the Church though the priests could be healed by penitence of therapy, so they didn't report it. Second, they believed they had the right to try the priests under Canon Law. Both of these were crimes of aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice. Lastly, it happened because of shortage of priests, easily solved by letting priests marry (including gay marriage) and by letting women by priests. By doing what it did, the Church lost its moral authority. Drastic changes are necessary.

0 # Guest 2010-04-02 04:10

I agree with you completely Richard. Well said and short and sweet. k

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:51

Mr. Cory,
You speak the truth.

Have you noticed how much hypocrisy is being exposed all around us? The most self-righteous among us, the most who preach personal responsibility and moral superiority, are the ones being exposed as the least worthy of respect and most reprehensible.

Take heart. All the illusions are finally dissolving. Those who defend the Old will ultimately realize that their way no longer holds sway in the world.

+15 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:55

Wait a second...isn't this all about the stealing of innocence, the robbing of true spirit and the destruction of the soul. I thought that was what modern religion was all about?? I guess those heinous pedophiles just took it to the next level. Every time I hear Sarah Palin speak about god, I feel molested.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:55

Wasn't is Caiaphas who said that it was better for one man to die for the sake of the nation? It seems that the hierarchy though it was ok for children to suffer for the sake of the Church.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:57

If they were to take all the gold and silver gilding the coffins of the unlamented departed popes and holy men, and all the paintings and statuary adorning the Vatican and its chapels, and sell it all, and distribute the resulting funds among the molested (as well as those who have been molested by the molested) it would not be one-tenth of what is needed.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:24

"...as well as those who have been molested by the molested..."

Let's be clear: being molested is NOT some kind of guarantee that you, too, will commit that crime. People who have been molested by priests have suffered once. Let's not have them suffer again through the suggestion that those individuals are more likely to be molesters. This suggestion is treated as readily accepted fact. I don't believe it. Isn't it more likely that those who have been molested are less likely to continue that crime? In fact, are vehemently against it? In fact, work to make sure it doesn't happen to others?

+12 # Guest 2010-03-28 12:58

a scream of outrage by one outraged. Can anything be more disgusting than Donahue's slimy attempted diversion of focus from the unforgivable conduct of the offending clergy and the far more unforgivable conduct of the highest Church leaders, his trivialization of this monstrous misbehavior that has gone on for centuries. For shame!

+8 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:03

Those most responsible for the cover-up of pedophile priests are now the Vatican's major players (the of result of an uncharacteristi cally active candidate campaign for office before and after the the death of John Paul 2). A few months ago these fellows blessed us with the confusing news of their determination for the need of an inquisition - not into the lives of priests - but into the lives of American Nuns. It now seems clear that those involved, realizing it was only a matter of time before more of decades of buried dung would/could be dug up, were attempting to create a diversion at the expense of our sisters.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-29 08:52

Interested in your "take" on the Catholic church scandals. Are you a nun? My Catholic father suffered agonies because we kids were NOT raised in the church, thank Heaven! Of his six siblings who reached maturity, three took orders, one priest, two nuns. Now I wonder about THEIR lives...and am so glad my brothers and I escaped !! Susan, Octogenarian, last one living...

+12 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:10

To suppress sexuality, especially male sexuality, is a program for failure. Religion which excludes women from the priesthood is a program for failure. Religion which deems women and their greatest gift taboo is a program for failure. It's no surprise the program has failed, and will continue to fail, until the feminine is brought into the Holy of Holies, and not just to fold the g---d---- vestments. And yes, those whose failure to do the impossible caused deep and lasting hurt to young people need to be held accountable. Their superiors need to be held accountable. it's the money changers in the temple, on steroids.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-29 08:19

Well spoken, Cecie! I so agree.

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:13

My father would never tell me why he hated the Catholic church --- I can only guess. He had some emotional difficulties which plagued him all his life. I have long been convinced that those who perpetrated these offenses against children should spend the balance of their lives in dark, dank cells fed only bread and water and allowed to speak to no one but sometimes each other. Solitary confinement seems the worst I can imagine for them. The church should pay a larger price. Popes and Bishops who cover up this kind of abuse should be isolated from the rest of society forever -- not revered.

+14 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:17

John, a heartfelt and clear response to
the hidden violation of children by
trusted members of the church and the
leaders who were aware and hid the truth.
If ever there was a time to abandon the
'catholic ship' it is now.

+13 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:20

I found the following to be profound...not just absolutely amazing.

Although it uses the Catholic church's current sex abuse scandal as it's backdrop, it is to me, beyond that, the most compellingly deep emotional insight into the feelings of a child who has been molested that I have ever read.

+11 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:33

Amen!
The cath. church has not yet grasped the dimension of the moral abyss they are in. The theft of innocence and trust is a deadly sin. The Total Contempt of children, as they have exercised and tolerated it for centuries, is The Ultimate Sin.
Even today they will only confess and repent when caught with their pants down. And then it will be back to business as usual. And so the church leaders will continue to put much effort into depriving others, like gay people, of their civil rights. They are showing time and again that they just do not understand what morality is all about.

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:21

I keep trying to figure out why they would cover for these perverts, unless the pervert knows something we don't know.

+12 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:22

In my very first moral theology course I learned that one of the requirements for faith was respect for the source of the facts in which one is placing faith. The damage the Roman Catholic church has done, beyond the pain of those who suffered first at the hand of the abuser and second at the hand of the church, is that it has forfeited any claim it had to moral authority. There is no longer any basis for respect.

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:29

I want to see the Catholic Church completely destroyed, ALL churches for that matter.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:34

Religions are like humankind, they are born, grow, prosper, grow old, crumble and die. And like humankind filled with all that is both good and evil in the world. The death throes of a dying church may be the most dangerous of times. Are we witnessing the death of only one dying church? Let us hope not. In the new order perhaps mankind will learn to live for one another.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:44

amen.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:48

I am one of the tens of thousands who left the Catholic Church because of the sexual abuse scandal. Mr. Donohue is trying to defend the indefensible. His arcane protestations of Church victimhood are laughable in view of the real victimhood of countless numbers of children and young adults subjected to abuse by clerics and the subsequent cover up by church hierarchy. How can anyone defend an institution that is corrupt to the core? There is nothing holy about the holy Catholic Church. Like most religious establishments, it is more interested in power and control than in the spiritual welfare of its adherents. Over the centuries it has suppressed free inquiry, scientific knowledge, progress and personal freedom. It has destroyed dissidents, burned heretics and oppressed women. The Church will survive this latest horror as it has survived other abominations in the past, but it will not emerge unscathed or unbowed. And Mr. Donohue will just have to live with that.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:51

Let the church implode on its own corruption, let it die. It is an amoral institution that exploits the credulous faithful for its own selfish ends. The issue of child abuse in the church has been recorded back to the early centuries of the church with anchorite monks in sexually assaulting any youth that got within their reach. It is way past time for it to go.

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:57

I was aghast - mouth wide open - listening to the words of Mr. Donohue who surely will suffer retribution for those words he uttered minimalizing the offenses of the years of cover up. The man's "beliefs" leave no room for reality or history. Surely he knows that the papacy is not without sin - mortal sin of every type. Donohue defends himself and his belief system - not the church. Christ would weep at the words of this false apostle. It is time for Mr. Donohue to retire himself from public commentary. He did the Catholic Church a great inservice with his haughty defense - the devil himself could not have done a better public relations spin. Shame.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 13:57

This cover-up is a sad commentary on the values of the Catholic hierarchy. The Catholic Church is known to take centuries to redress the sins of its leaders (eg the Inqusition). I expect it will again take many centuries before the church hierarchy take corrective action to protect the innocent. By then, most Catholics with true Christian values will have found other churches whose morality is more important than its image.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:02

I don't believe in organized reigion...some kind of spirituality maybe, but nothing organized...They also have "the only way to get to heaven!" a little pretentious, don't you think?
Some people were taught the way to savation is too kill your fellow man/woman,
sorry, but you folks who choose to believe it can keep it

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:16

Yes, abuse happens everywhere, but I can't think of another place where it has been systematically covered up, perpetuated, and "excused" like it has been in the Catholic Church. I'm one of those who no longer can bring myself to attend Mass.
After a year of waiting, when the scandal first fully broke, and seeing NO REMORSE... I realized that there was no other group I belonged to where I would even give them five minutes after this sort of thing became open.
The Hierarchy has ruined the Church for many Catholics, while pretending to be "pro-Life" We can keep our faith without continuing to contribute to this evil reality.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:18

This scandal is further proof that the christian god, like all gods, is a construct of man made of convenience, rationalization and self-delusion. The children who have left the catholic church over this abuse were never given a choice. Confronting bullies is only possible when you are free to reflect on your rights and to complain. Too many are bound by gagged by religion in our society. Its time to throw off the chains.

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:20

Child abusers should be immediately turned over to police for prosecution by church bosses and if they are not, those men are criminal for harboring. Put all of them in jail where they belong. There is nothing holy about these people, they are just pathetic and evil.

+5 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:32

How dare Donohue even mention any other religious group among the perpetrators of such institutionaliz ed evil. He mentions the Jews. I thought that the Catholic Church had dropped antisemitism! Why did Donohue also include the Baptists, Methodits, Church of Latter Day Saints and so on? No, he specifically cited the Jews, hoping that others would have more mitigated feelings toward the rape, molestation and the "stealing of souls," leaving readers to say, "Yes, the Jews do it too!" What a pitiful thing to do. If this is the best that the Church can do, maybe all Catholics sould leave NOW!

Disgusted, horrified and left with great sorrow, Anyse. A victime of sexual and emotional abuse, but not by a Caholic priest in my case. I know this pain and self-disgust all too well.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:42

How CAN Donahue say what he said? Now, he will be thought of as also a condoner of such acts. What in blazes does it matter WHEN something evil happened. It happened and those in charge knew it, condoned it by not taking correct action.
We catholics should be God damned ashamed of our leaders actions. The "leaders" who didn't do their job and should resign or quit, like in other institutions....and this one even more so. Jesus Christ, where are you?

+3 # Guest 2010-03-28 14:54

The fact is sometimes the Institution is more important than God to the leaders. This too is a sin. Each of them must confess and repent to their God. Repentance includes a 180 degree turn from past acts.

+9 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:02

Well, Bill Donohue is a total nut — it's hard to believe anyone but a handful of kindred kinds waste their time on him. That he would see the Catholic Church as persecuted by this is classic Donohue. It's the same old attempt to silence criticism and truth. In doing so, he too becomes an accomplice.

But now the scandal has risen to the highest level. The spotlight is on the Pope as it now emerges that he was just another cog in the cover up machine as a bishop and cardinal. Too bad Pope's can't be impeached, huh?

Europe is suddenly exploding with abuse scandals — it took a while for the cork to pop over there. It's now seeming like "what too you so long, Europe?" Been there, done that — they are reeling. Look at Ireland . . .

It is my sincere hope this wretched and corrupt institution simply continues to implode on itself as it is now doing, and that the flocks simply leave . . .

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:22

John Cory, thank you for having the courage to write this. It truly is heartbreaking to read it, on Palm Sunday, and to read Donohue's comments. How disgusting is he; how low can he stoop? He is truly one of the revilers of Christ.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:42

the solutions to church abuse of children? let us end the hereditary privilege that we give to the clergy. stop the bowing and genuflecting and confessing to the priest. priests are not really fathers. let us become a more secular and discerning society that examines ancient theology and belief systems. organized religions are myths designed to protect the power of the clergy. study church history and see the evil the church has done. demand separation of church and state and start demanding criminal liability for the priest who hurts your child. we cannot become another dublin ireland where the police protected horrid priests. we must be an enlightened, secular and empirical society. if god exists, he is manifested in human love. only platonic love can save us. we do not need mumbo jumbo,hocus pocus from catholic priests with their silly superstitions and love of power.

+8 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:45

Thank you for this eloquent summation of this very important issue. Today, the Pope used his Palm Sunday homily to equate accusations of child abuse to "petty gossip." This, of all things, is exactly why the Church cannot be trusted to make amends or to police their own organization. This is a "petty" annoyance to them.

More than 30 years ago, a priest befriended me, made me love him, sexually abused me. He not only physically "raped" me, but he also raped me of my innocence, my faith in God, and my faith in mankind. There is not one segment of my life this has not affected. And for anyone to diminish the impact of this abuse upon the victims -- whether it is the lowliest Deacon or the Pontiff himself -- is nothing more than re-victimization.

+5 # Guest 2010-03-28 15:56

My heart goes out to you, Mr. Cory. There is no more pure truth than yours, a victim yourself. I just wonder if Mr. Donohue might himself be a victim who still blames himself?

There is no more pure truth than that spoken by the victim. I have to wonder if Mr. Donohue might be one as well? Perhaps he has convinced himself that the church really loves him.
The Catholic church worships only itself.

+5 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:04

This was a very courageous article. I suffered from sexual abuse stemming from the Catholic Church and it is healing to read all these powerful comments.
I will be happy when this sham of a church falls and looks to me like it won't be long. Benedict should be in jail.

+7 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:22

Wow - what an honest commentary. Amazing to me. I am mystified by all of this particularly since the Church puts so much emphasis on the SIN of using Birth Control and the SIN of abortion. Guess it does not matter once a child is born what happens to them.
There is a big difference in my mind between being a moral person, a spiritual person and one who stands before everyone saying they have the entrance to heaven when they have created a hell for so many.
Sometime I wonder if Rome, the Catholic Church is but a continuation of Rome itself. Not very clear these days. I remember reading Angela's Ashes - I was stunned but this is beyond anything I thought possible.

+10 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:24

I dare anyone to name another organization that could have survived the exposure of a corporate culture of not only tacitly condoning child abuse but of sending the perpetrators out into new communities to continue their actions.

It's astonishing to me that the Catholic Church still exists. The revelations of the last few years certainly harden my conviction that organized religion is indistinguishab le from other profit-based, self-preserving corporations.

Disgusting.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 18:12

Quoting

It's astonishing to me that the Catholic Church still exists. The revelations of the last few years certainly harden my conviction that organized religion is indistinguishab le from other profit-based, self-preserving corporations.

Disgusting.

Right you are, and since organized religion behaves like any self serving corporation, they should be taxed just like any corporation would be. Further, their corporate existence should be licensed and that license revoked when it is deemed too corrupt to have it's existence permitted.

+8 # Guest 2010-03-28 16:56

The taking of a life is the ultimate crime but snuffing the light out in a child's soul shares the spotlight. To not understand this ...to run and hide from this is even more contemptuous. I've had it with the Catholic church and their bells and whistles of pretend grandeur. Too many horrific events in this world are brought about by religion and to stand by and say nothing about these perverts in robes is too much to take. These kids did nothing ... these adults have to pay for what they did; they're not privileged humans because they're ordained. I truly believe these children will be able to rise above their predators.. a bright and beautiful light will once again shine into their souls and give them the peace they need and deserve. Putting these guys away is a very good start.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 17:19

they stole my desire to ever set foot in a Roman Catholic church again in spite of the life's work and devotion of countless wonderful, dedicated priests and nuns-who have also had their dignity smeared by this on-going travesty-part of me feels I should stay and fight for change but the other wants to just shake her sandals off.......and this doesn't touch the subject of womanizing by the good men of the cloth.....but I've been told that doesn't count because women are not innocent like children and should know what is going on....God does not like dirty, boys!

+6 # Guest 2010-03-28 17:28

Mr. Cory, you are a courageous man and i wish such things had never happened to you or any other person. Thank you for telling your story, it will resonate in my soul forever, and everyone who reads it. There is love in this world and i wish it upon you.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 17:37

You have to wonder if the pope and the church officials believe in their own god. Do they think they can fool their god or hid behavior from their god. Perhaps they believe they are more powerful than their god. At any rate they surely think the 'rules' are for others and they have special privileges.
As a parent I was horrified to learn of the molestation that happened in catholic run schools for deaf children. Some of the children had not yet learned sign language and could not even tell their parents. Such vulnerable little people subjected to such evil, horrifies me. I will never pass a church without shivering.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-28 18:39

A very powerful read as are the comments.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 18:45

God bless a righteous person with a just cause.

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 18:53

For far too long, organized religion has been a bottleneck to the spiritual evolution of humankind. The principle of separation of church and state by our founding fathers was a great step forward. With the revelation of the hypocrisy and deep corruption it is time to rescind the privileges of these profiteering institutions and remove their tax-exempt status. No amount of money would be compensation for what has been stolen from these children but it would send the message that society does not condone these vile practices.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-28 19:13

Not since the time of Pope Alexander the 6th, whose sexual misdeeds in the vatican are legendary, has the catholic church descended into such a deep moral cesspool. Eventually even their own couldn't tolerate the corruption, giving birth to the protestant reformation. Catholic relief agencies are some of the most effective in the world, Catholic educational institutions and medical institutions are revered the world over, but the particular program of a "celibate" priest having dealings with adolescent boys unsupervised as part of parish life, was never something Jesus organized when establishing his church in his lifetime. Regarding the alleged transfer of a convicted pedophile priest while serving as archbishop: If the pope knew, he's evil, if he didn't, despite his leadership role, he was negligent. Either way Mr. Infallible has a lot of explaining to do.

+4 # johncorye 2010-03-28 19:59

I want to thank all of you for your comments here today and to RSN for posting my writing - especially this piece.

I am always grateful to the readers here at RSN. I hope you will keep coming back.

Cheers
John Cory

+2 # Guest 2010-03-28 21:01

Quoting

I want to thank all of you for your comments here today and to RSN for posting my writing - especially this piece.

I am always grateful to the readers here at RSN. I hope you will keep coming back.

Cheers
John Cory

All thanks to YOU John Cory, and of course RSN for running your submission. Telling your truth, one sadly shared by far too many, serves a profound purpose. You shed light on the hurt that has been caused and because it is personal to you, your testimony bares great weight. Kudos to you for the fortitude to tell us. We all need to read your truth and judge the deeds of pedophile priests accordingly. I hope that your voice lends toward the kind of reconing that is long over due.
Thank you for your courage. I am inspired.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-28 20:08

Thanks for clearly painting the "big picture" with regards to the ramifications of this type of abuse. As a Christian, I am deeply sorry and prayerful for any victim of any kind of abuse or wrongdoing by a perpetrator, Clergyman or not. I also pray for those who try to justify or cover up these acts, as doing so only contributes to the pain, suffering, and confusion the victims go through.

My prayer is that these victims seek Christ, as He is the truth, Way, and the Life.

Thanks for reminding us of what should and should not be the focal point regarding this issue. God bless you and take care...

+4 # Guest 2010-03-28 20:18

I appreciate the feelings and rational thinking in John Cory 's account of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and cover-up by Bishops. Many a United Methodist clergy have been defrocked or resigned from the ministry over the sexual abuse of parishioners starting in the late seventies. In the 1980's a strong United Methodist Women organization, caring pastors and congregations and women clergy and women bishops turned the tide, changed the rules and the clergy culture.
Now the denial around Catholic abuse is dissolving. Roman Catholic cases which came out along with those Methodist ones received hardly any recognition, even in the press.
May justice roll down like water!

+2 # Guest 2010-03-28 20:38

The Episcopal Church welcomes everyone, including recovering catholics. We have our own problems, including some child abuse which is dealt with when it happens, but we are at a core a democratic and inclusive church. We have a wide variety of beliefs. Many Episcopalians believe nearly everything in the Roman Catholic tradition about the nature of God, Christ, and the Eucharist (while some of us are more protestant). But you can believe these things having to believe in church set up on a medieval anti-democratic, authoritarian model of the king and his nobles, and without continuing to believe in medieval views about women, gays, and married priests. Join a number of my ex-Jesuit friends who became Episcopal priests. If you are a Catholic who can't stand the Pope and can't stand the lies, join us. You can be a modern Catholic with us. We will work to feed your souls, and you will enrich our church communities. We welcome you.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-28 23:11

The 1917 code of canon law- Canon 2359, paragraph 2 states: “If they (clerics) have committed an offense against the sixth commandment with minors under sixteen years of age, or been guilty of adultery, rape, bestiality, sodomy, ...they shall be suspended, declared infamous, deprived of every office, benefice dignity, or position that they may hold, and in more grievous cases they shall be deposed.”
The Second Vatican Council however, repealed this law with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which states in Canon 1395, paragraph 2: “A cleric who has offended in other ways against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the crime was committed by force, or by threats, or in public, or with a minor under the age of sixteen years,
is to be punished with just penalties (?), not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.”
Why was the Canon watered down in 1983? This revised Canon Law was a major step toward neutralizing God’s law regarding pederasty.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-28 23:55

Thanks for the words to express my own anger about child abuse - for I have a granddaughter who told the authorities at age 5 her step mother abused her and had the fingernail marks on her body to prove this. Visitation (which kept her under judicial scrutiny) was taken away when her parents (alcoholics) lied. But now they have told the wrong lie to the appeals court -- If only I knew a judge in the higher courts in NV -- I might reunite with my granddaughter (who kinows I love her)

+2 # Guest 2010-03-29 02:26

Dear John,

I am so glad with your article.Here in the Netherlands one of the bishops even said They did not know of this all. He used the sentence, well known after Worldwar 2, Wir haben es nicht gewusst.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-29 02:39

Born and raised Catholic, lapsed decades ago. No comfort from the constant message that life is a veil of tears, your reward is in the hereafter, and meanwhile give us your money, so that we can support the pampered hierarchy. If you don't you will go to hell. Meanwhile these abuse reports keep coming out. Who can explain that?

+2 # Guest 2010-03-29 05:31

I love Catholics and I hate their institution, but it is not fundamentally different from most long-lived human institutions. Revlon claims to make you beautiful. Fox News claims to provide fair and balanced information. The U.S. Senate claims to act for the benefit of the American People. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be led by an infallible male, whose authority was granted to him by the Son Of God. In fact, we all *choose* to believe whatever we believe. The only question is, how do we deal with the truth when it hits us in the face? True faith in God is the courage to face truth, and to adapt to it. Faith in no way resembles the act of "believing six impossible things before breakfast", just because some human institution promotes the idea that you'll go to hell if you don't.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-29 08:03

As a Jew who believes in Jesus, I was astounded and angered by Donahue's disgusting excuses in defense of his church. First, if the Church is the "true Church," then it shouldn't need to bring others into an attempt to try to wrap itself in Jesus' cross while, by doing so, it will continue covering up it's sinful actions against children.

To continue the cover-up, much as many today can prove that the Warren Commission was a cover-up of the public murder of a Catholic president.

I couldn't help noticing the statement that went something like: "Why do you (the child) make me do this (sexual abuse) to you? If you were good, you wouldn't force me to do this." The statement made me wonder if, in fact when a priest sexually abuses a teenaged child, he tries to actually blame the child whose trusting innocence he is stealing. Such a thing is of Ha-Satan, the originator of all that breaks God's moral Law, the Law God gave to Moses.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-29 08:23

To me, the greatest sin is to be betrayed by those who taught one to believe in truth, love and justice in the name of Christ. The Pope and those who remained silent while innocents like John Cory came close to murdering not only physical life but emotional and spiritual life dependent upon truth, justice and love. The Pope and his servants look amazingly grotesque in their fine robes and ludicrous hats.

Alas, most churches - not just Catholics - have participated in the oppression of innocents while silencing truth and destroying love. This is an abomination.

There are those in all church communities including priests and nuns who have been courageous, truthful and brave. They are our prophets and saints which should never again be crucified by religions perversion
Virginia Tilla Durr

+3 # Guest 2010-03-29 11:21

The "killing of the soul", the violation of love and trust..There can be no reparation for this crime..No amount of sorries or monetary award can compensate this evil. It is not the pedophile who is twisted and can't understand the vileness of the Acts he perpetrates that sicken me: It is the Good ole boys Club for which Donahue is a spokesperson that with the full knowledge of the EVIL..look the other way..Those in positions of oversight and responsibility that collude with the perpetrators and continue to stand in their costumes and pretend that they have Moral Authority in their pronouncements...

+1 # Guest 2010-03-29 11:44

a church that makes celibacy of priests compulsory, for hereditary reasons only since the year 1139, merits deep questioning. How many children could have been spared will never be known but this church will pay dearly for not honoring and protecting childhood.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-30 03:21

I am a survivor of clergy sexual assault but also spiritual assault, emotional and psychological abuse. I am fine forty years later...MOST days. This latest round of exposees has had a retraumatizing impact on me. I can feel the shroud of sadness and anxiety overwhelming me. I am also a trained teacher of the deaf and understand the kind of vulnerability that the priest took advantage of. Talk about the silenced victims. This mess takes the crisis to a whole new level of outrage.

I pray for the survivors...
I pray for those who did not survive...
I pray for the perpetrators who are mentally ill and need help.
I beg to the hierarchy of the church to be real men and admit their faults.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-30 06:56

And now.. Now in MIAMI, FLORIDA See the Miami Herald article at
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/29/1554330/suit-vatican-knew-about-priests.html

+2 # Guest 2010-03-30 07:46

Such poignant, hard-hitting truth telling. My heart goes out to you, John. Thank you for your courage in speaking out!

+1 # Guest 2010-03-30 08:59

The people who still defend this evil (so called ) church just don't get it. The Catholics have been "generationally brainwashed" for millenniums. Tt's a difficult thing to erase.
Catholic bashing is what the RCC calls it. We call it the Truth of God speaking out. The RCC needs to be ended, one way or another. It's done so many evils during it's history that there is nothing any PR person can say to defend them at this point. They have been found out! Nothing will be hidden anymore, all will be revealed. Thus sayeth the Lord.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-30 09:36

Thanks for the victim's side of all this.
Those abused by priests and the church cover up are often left behind while the focus is put on the authorities thus revictimizing those who dared to tell.
How pathetic donohue (who gets paid to minimize and cover up crimes) and the men and corrupt institution are to take out ads and try to trash the messengers.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-30 15:11

At the end of the day Bill Donohue is a tiny, terrified, ignorant little man.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-30 17:24

Child abuse cover ups have become the norm in our society. From the Catholic church to many convicted pedophiles that have lost all appeals being falsely promoted as innocent to believing pedophiles over innocent children, our society does not do enough to protect children from child rapists. It is good to see at least one group held accountable for the rape of children.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-30 22:35

Your words are difficult to hear, but are absolute, clear truth. They are difficult for fellow survivors because of what it touches in us, our experience. It is difficult for those untouched because it bluntly illustrates the horrifying depths some will descend to. It is truly hard to ignore a survivor's story told in visceral body memories.

Thank you for sharing your story, your outrage, and your article. I will be taking especially this part with me: "Men, not God, not Church, stole innocence and trust, privacy and possession of one's body and spirit. Can there be a more heinous crime?" and apply it to my own healing process, still underway 20 years after a family member molested me.

+1 # Guest 2010-04-01 23:53

These chapters are perpetual. When one thinks of the Catholic Church, one automatically associates it with pedophilia. It is as though boys are schooled so as to be vessels for (pathetic excuses for) men who have sworn to be celibate, only insofar as women are concerned. What terrible irony. I pray that these scumbags burn in hell forever, including the pope because the law is not made applicable to them, on earth. They protect each other, here, while they greedily and gleefully defile children, as an entitlement of their religion.

-2 # Guest 2010-04-02 17:42

I studied in a Catholic school and had a very happy childhood there. I know hundreds who studied in such schools and never heard of a case of abuse. Most people are so happy with the education they received there that send their children to Catholic schools again. These old cases involving an irrelevant number of Catholic priests (less than 0.1%)are in total much less than a o.05% of the total of pedophilia cases in the western world.They happen in the same proportion in protestant and jewish institutions but nothing is said.This is a media attack to weaken and empoverish the Catholic Church organised by those who control the media who by chance happen to hate that Church. What a coincidence that all this hype in the media happens in an orchestrated way at the same time in America, Ireland, Germany and other countries where the Church is still important. They come in waves trying to implicate the innocent Pope himself to make the attack more damaging to the whole institution.

0 # Guest 2010-07-07 15:00

It's me from the first comment. It's good to see all these people contributing here. I wouldn't tell anyone else what to believe, it's your decision. I do still belong to the Catholic church although I left for awhile (!) Here's what I think: 1) a member of the clergy or religious order of ANY faith should be held to a higher standard than everyone else. If they commit any kind of crime it's worse because they profess to have this connection to God. 2) I went back because I felt the problem lay with men, not with God. I understand not everyone feels the same way and if people left the church after this type of experience, I couldn't blame them. It took 30 years for me to work it out. I wish you all well.

0 # Guest 2010-07-24 10:51

Great article, thank you very much!

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