Benedict XVI: Shame by Omission

            Let me be perfectly clear on this: I despise all religions equally. However, truth be told, I think that deep in my limbic system, I harbor a special zone for Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. 

            Now don’t get me wrong; Islam is way up there with Christianity on my despicable list.  Perhaps, my particular dislike of the Catholic Church stems from the fact that I was educated in a Catholic school system and so have had a much closer brush with it.

            Fortunately, my father was an enlightened intellectual who early in his life was able to cast aside the Catholic myths and disinformation he was born into and replace them with the loving, humanistic views I so admired in him.  Most importantly, dad bequeathed to me a moral compass that has never led me astray; he also inculcated in me the belief that the abandonment of reason is the lowest form of human indignity.

            There are many things my father could not abide about the Catholic Church but I suspect that if he were alive today, the ongoing child abuse scandal and the Catholic Church’s shameful mishandling of it would surely be the worst.  That priests have been abusing their young charges should come as no surprise to anyone who understands even the basics of human nature.  Animals develop aberrant behavior when placed in unusual circumstances that differ drastically from those for which they have adapted.  This is particularly true of social animals, humans being the best example.

            The Catholic Church has created one such unusual circumstance.  Young men are invested with spiritual authority by the Vicar of Christ, a dangerous and magical fabrication in itself, and are then required to remain celibate, a breach of basic human biology. These now deluded and deprived (if not depraved) men are given as charges young and impressionable children who have been brainwashed from birth to obey and follow without question the earthly representatives of an (imaginary) almighty being in the sky.  That aberrant behavior in the form of child molestation results from this arrangement is inevitable. That the Church has all but closed a blind eye to it is an abomination.

 
 

            From 1981 to 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church body that, among other things, had jurisdiction over matters of clerical sexual misconduct.  It has now come to light that under his watch, claims of sexual abuse by clerics were dealt with largely in a fashion to shield the Church as well as the accused. Canon Law, the Church’s legal system steeped in secrecy and veiled in silence, all but forced bishops to cover-up any allegations that might in any way sully the Church’s image. Benedict’s failure to deal with the predators in his organization in a definitive manner, in my mind, is criminal.  To Christians, his failure should be seen as nothing less than a Sin by Omission. Judge for yourself if the following definition taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia applies:

Omission

"Omission" is here taken to be the failure to do something one can and ought to do. If this happens advertently and freely a sin is committed.  Moralists took pains formerly to show that the inaction implied in an omission was quite compatible with a breach of the moral law, for it is not merely because a person here and now does nothing that he offends, but because he neglects to act under circumstances in which he can and ought to act. The degree of guilt incurred by an omission is measured like that attaching to sins of commission, by the dignity of the virtue and the magnitude of the precept to which the omission is opposed as well as the amount of deliberation. In general, according to St. Thomas, the sin of omission consisting as it does in a leaving out of good is less grievous than a sin of commission which involves a positive taking up with evil. There are, of course, cases in which on account of the special subject matter and circumstances it may happen that an omission is more heinous.

 

            I hope you will agree with me that when it comes to cases involving the sexual molestation of children, omission is just as heinous as commission.  Benedict should be prosecuted for his failure to act.

 

            It will be interesting to observe Benedict and his minions as the scandals get closer and closer to home.  The USA, Canada, Brazil and Australia may have seemed far away but then came Ireland, Germany and now Verona. To make matters worse for the pontiff, claims of sexual abuse have just surfaced against the Regensburger Domspatzen boys’ choir in Germany that, until 1964, was run by Georg Ratzinger (now Monseigneur), his brother.  Fortunately, abused members of this choir are sure to find a sympathetic ear or two in the most famous choir in the world, The Vienna Boys’ Choir, itself now caught up in the German paedophile scandal.

Comments

[Pandora Beads]

Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths

[Marc Morabito]

Hello Joseph,

Many thanks for your blog which is well written, informative and intelectually challenging. The piece about the Catholic Church and pedophilia was of particular interest to me as I,too, was raised in Catholic (boarding) schools and I cannot say that I ever was molested by a priest or heard of any such behaviour against any of my fellow students, I can say though that I came across many dedicated priests who toiled selflessly for very little reward while performing worthwhile service to their community. I do not deny that the pedophilia scandal is real or an abomination and has been mishandled by the Catholic hierarchy on many levels but it pains me to see so many good people tarred with the one brush indicriminately. So, in the interest of "fair and balanced" reporting, please allow me to contribute the following piece I recently received in my electronic mail from a fellow parishioner :

Excerpts of an article written by non-Catholic Sam Miller - a prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman:

"Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. The graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students..

The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church , 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed.

Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States .

Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls'. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions.