Defense Of The Philadelphia Church

Defense Of The Philadelphia Church — Three Catholic priests and a teacher charged with molesting boys in the late 1990s have inspired a new round of Catholic bashing and dumped new chum in the water for the circling lawyers who feed on such things.

Also facing charges is a church administrator who stands accused of not taking the steps required to protect children.

All well and appropriate but a statement in the grand jury report implying that the Philadelphia Archdiocese remains indifferent, and even tolerant, of these predators  spawned opportunities throughout the nation for strident headlines and faux outrage by those always looking to put the Church in a bad light.

One has yet to see addressed the point that if the reforms by the Archdiocese were ineffective why aren’t there any cases newer than 11 years old?

In the 1970s, cynical predators knowing full well that the sheep are always defenseless against the sheepdog sneaked into respected institutions ranging from the Boy Scouts, to the Catholic Church, to Protestant churches, to universities, to government offices, to  the ACLU, fully protected by a media that proclaimed only the traditional can be perverse.

Scandal and tragedy have caused the BSA and the churches to get their houses in order, often with the old media putting haranguing obstacles in their path.

The others, well, Bill Clinton, Barney Frank and the late Ted Kennedy remain lionized political figures. The ACLU case happened only a few short years ago in 2007.

And what goes on in our universities is pointedly ignored by the old media.

The Catholic Church is a very good thing. The city, state and nation would be far worse off if it should disappear.

But fear not, because it’s not despite the strongest wishes of some. The scandal and the attacks are only going to make it stronger.

 

Defense Of The Philadelphia Church

4 thoughts on “Defense Of The Philadelphia Church”

  1. Back in the late 50’s and 60’s when I attended Catholic school, if a child went home and told their parents that a nun or priest did something inappropiate they would never have been believed. The reason that there hasn’t been any abuse in the last 11 years is because today parents believe EVERYTHING that their child tells them to the other extreme.Sorry, I wish that I could say that I agree with this article but I don’t.


  2. “to the aclu”
    Unbelievable! Please provide an example of the ACLU being infiltrated by the predators. The ACLU is the predator.

  3. Sorry Bill! I don’t quite share your optimism that the RC church will come out of this stronger. I do agree that the media is quite selective about which sexual scandals get scrutized and which get swept under the rug. Even though I’m sure there are many ambulance chasers looking to make a buck, there are just too many true victims that have really suffered while trusted leaders of the church looked the other way – decade after decade. The vast majority of priests are true men of God but, unfortunately, they will have to bear this burden for many years to come.


  4. But that’s the point.

    For a couple of generations we’ve had bishops and cardinals far more interested in taking the easy path to an easy life than following St. Peter.

    They were far more swayed by what was said by the New York Times or the Kennedys or pop culture than what was said by Rome.

    The events over the last decade has caused a clarification of thinking by the church which is why I do think it will get stronger even if it gets smaller and less wealthy.

    And that’s why I think this latest scandal is overblown.

    I’ll grant that it could be wishful thinking on my part.

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