23 June 2008
To:
Bishop Roger
Schweitz
225 Cordova
Street
Anchorage, AK
99501
Re: Repairing Priest
Relations
I read the June 13th
AP piece by Rachel Zoll, “ Bishops Target Priest’s Morale”
quoting you, Merz, the Chairman of the Review Board, Aymond,
the Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and as
usual came away unimpressed and in amazement that the Bishops continue
to ignore the root cause of the festering disaffection within the
Church, failing to see that lack of accountability is the
underlying basis for the malaise now extant within the Catholic
community, in turn affecting Priest morale…ie: the flock sees the clergy
and its leadership as corrupt……and why not!
Corrupt at
several levels:
·
Failing to institute a vetting system when recruiting
·
Failing to reign in financial mismanagement and to explain
financial details in Stewardship Appeals
·
And worst of all - failing to take seriously, wholesale
broad based intentional misconduct, on a level that would qualify in the
real world as “Abetting Criminal behavior” and “Obstruction of Justice”
As an example of
financial mismanagement or the use or
misuse of ‘stockholder’ funds, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Los
Angeles was completed in 2002 at a cost of over $200 Million, originally
budgeted for $180 Million, when a $20 Million dollar Cathedral would
have sufficed.
The Cathedral’s plaza
is filled with palm trees, fountains and a waterfall and beneath its
main floor, an undercroft of 1,270 crypts and 5,000 niches prepared for
future burials, a campanile [free standing bell tower] topped with a
30-foot cross housing a carillon of 18 bells, a 58,000 sq. ft.
conference center. Constructed with the largest use of alabaster in the
world, all 27,000 sq. ft. of the delicate stone having been quarried in
Spain. Windows are a mosaic of thousands of tiles of nearly 20 different
sizes set horizontally in rows that range from 3 to 24 inches wide and
13 to 34 inches tall, all set against Belgian tapestries depicting
saints lining the 300 ft. Nave.
The edifice includes
towering 30 ft. entrance doors of solid bronze coming in at $3M, a
$2M wooden ambo [lectern], a $1M tabernacle, a $1M
cathedral bishop's chair*, a $250K presider's chair, a $250K deacon's
chair, and visiting bishops' chairs costing $150K each. Cardinal
Mahony himself designed the altar, made of burgundy Rosso Laguna Turkish
marble coming in at $5 million. * Can you believe it?...$1Million
for a chair!
I ask you, is it the
mission of the Church
to use money that could have paid for victim compensation or to assist
the poor, or is it to allow an arrogant jerk Cardinal to
build a beyond opulent edifice to satisfy his ego?
Recently, the Los
Angeles archdiocese took a Public Relations hit when it asked four
elderly nuns in their late 60s and early 70s living in semi-retirement
to move from their Diocesan owned home so that it could be sold by the
Diocese, the proceeds to be used for payment of Priest Sex Abuse
settlements.
Sins of the Fathers
being visited upon the Sisters?
When Enron failed,
WorldCom tanked, Adelphia was looted and Tyco excesses were foisted upon
the stockholders, the financial scandals prompted an unusually not
‘tuned in’ Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The Act
established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and
mandated senior executives to take individual responsibility for the
accuracy and completeness of corporate financial reports, enumerated
specific limits on the behaviors of corporate officers, described
specific forfeitures of benefits and civil penalties for non-compliance.
Given what has happened in the
Church these past 35 years,
with out of control mismanagement, (1) a ‘failed vetting system’
or total lack thereof that permitted upwards of 5,000* + abusing and
pedophile priests to be ordained, (2) abusing priests being
transferred about resulting in the abusers re-offending in many
instances, (3) the decision of one man like Cardinal Mahony to
squander $200 million on an edifice dubbed ‘Cathedral of Our Lady’,
why shouldn’t the church and its priests be in a morale stupor? *
A USCCB statistic, not mine.
- In
1995 Sen. Bob Packwood [Oregon] resigned following mounting
evidence of sexual harassment of his office staffers.
-
Boeing CEO Phil Condit, resigned in 2003, as a result of
the defense contracting scandal that ultimately saw two Boeing
executives, ex Air Force procurement official Darleen Druyun and
chief financial officer Mike Sears sent prison.
-
Again in 2005 Boeing fired its CEO Harry Stonecipher
for having an affair with a staffer.
- In
March 2007, less than a week after visiting the Walter Reed medical
Center following allegations of deplorable conditions, newly
installed Defense Secretary Robert Gates summoned Army
Secretary Francis Harvey to Washington and fired him on the
spot. Harvey’s statement to the press?.....I was head of the
Army…what can I say…the buck stops with me…I have to take
responsibility. This is the real world Schweitz.
- Just
five months ago Merrill Lynch fired its CEO Stan Lynch
for poor performance, and mounting losses,
- A
week later Citibank fired its CEO Chuck Prince for
poor performance, mounting losses.
- Just
this past week Defense Secretary gates fired Air Force Secretary
Michael Wynn and Air Force Chief of Stall General Michael
Moseley because lower level individuals under their command flew
‘armed’ nuclear weapons from Minot North Dakota to Louisiana,
allowed the accidental shipment of Nuclear ‘triggers’ to Taiwan and
found that an operational officer was not able to be reached while
on duty because he was playing video games on his computer. In
explaining his actions, Gates stated that
oversight standards for the
U.S. nuclear arsenal had deteriorated on their watch. Gates found
the mistakes to a problem developed over time within the
culture of the Air Force requiring stern action to send a
message.
When you have 5,000 +
priests, and some Bishops by the way, out there abusing and another 108
Bishops and Cardinals covering up and transferring abusers who
continued to abuse in many instances, HOW does one NOT come to the
conclusion that both the abuse and the broad based massive cover-up had
become part of the culture of the clergy, resulting in
leadership failing to (1) defrock abusers and failing to (2)
‘sack the Bishops and Cardinals’ who covered up and transferred?
Here they are from the USCCB’ audit: I see
you are on the List!
The names of the transferring or covering up
Bishops and Cardinals are: Roll Call Please!
· Bishop Gregory Aymond Austin,
TX
· Bishop Robert Baker Charleston,
SC
· Bishop Robert Banks (ret) Green Bay
WI
· Bishop Gerald Barnes San Bernardino, CA
· Archbishop Eusebius Beltran Oklahoma
City, OK
· Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua Philadelphia,
PA
· Bishop Raymond Boland (ret) St. Joseph,
MO
· Bishop Anhony Bosco (ret)
Greensburg, PA
· Bishop Robert Brom San Diego,
CA
· Bishop Tod Brown Orange,
CA
· Archbishop Alexander Brunett Seattle,
WA
· Bishop Edmond Carmody Corpus Christi,
TX
· Bishop Matthew Clark Rochester,
NY
· Bishop Patrick Cooney Gaylord ,
MI
· Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio Tyler,
TX
· Archbishop Daniel Cronin Hartford,
CT
· Bishop Edward Cullen Allentown,
PA
· Bishop John Cummins (ret) Oakland,
CA
· Bishop James Murray Kalamazoo
MI
· Bishop William Curlin (ret)
Charlotte NC
· Archbishop Eldin Curtiss Omaha,
NE
· Bishop Thomas Daily (ret) Brooklyn
NY
· Bishop Joseph Delaney (ret) Ft. Worth
TX
· Bishop Francis DiLorenzo Honolulu,
HI
· Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio Camden
NJ
· Cardinal Daniel Dinardo Sioux City
IA
· Bishop Thomas Doran Rockford,
IL
· Bishop Norbert Dorsey (ret) Orlando
FL
· Bishop Michael Driscoll Boise
ID
· Bishop Thomas Dupre (ret)
Springfield, MA
· Cardinal Edward Egan New York,
NY
· Archbishop John Favalora Miami
FL
· Bishop David Fellhauer Victoria
TX
· Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza (ret) Galveston
TX
· Bishop Ralphael Fliss (ret) Superior
WI
· Archbishop Patrick Flores (ret) San Antonio
TX
· Archbishop Harry Flynn (ret) St Paul Minneapolis
MN
· Bishop David Foley (ret)
Birmingham AL
· Bishop
John Gaydos Jefferson City
MO
· Cardinal Francis George Chicago,
IL
· Bishop Joseph Gerry (ret) Portland
ME
· Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger Evansville,
IN
· Bishop Joseph Gossman (ret) Raleigh
NC
· Bishop Charles Grahmann (ret) Dallas
TX
· Bishop James Griffin (ret)
Columbus OH
· Archbishop Jerome Hanus Dubuque
IA
· Bishop Daniel Hart (ret)
Norwich CT
· Bishop William Higi Layfayette,
IN
· Bishop James Hoffman (dec) Toledo
OH
· Bishop Howard Hubbard Albany
NY
· Archbishop Alfred Hughes New
Orleans, LA
· Bishop Joseph Imesch (ret) Joliet
IL
· Bishop Samuel Jacobs Alexandria LA
· Bishop Michael Jarrell Houma-Thibodaux LA
· Cardinal
William Keeler (ret) Baltimore, MD
·
Archbishop Thomas Kelly (ret) Louisville, KY
· Cardinal
Bernard Law (ret) Boston MA
· Bishop John Leibrecht (ret) Cape
Girardeau MO
· Cardinal William Levada (CDF) San Francisco CA
· Bishop William Lori Bridgeport CT
· Bishop
George Lucas Springfield IL
· Bishop
Robert Lynch St Petersburg FL
· Cardinal Roger Mahony Los Angeles, CA
· Cardinal Adam Maida Detroit MI
· Archbishop Henry Mansell Buffalo NY
· Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (ret) Washington DC
· Bishop John McCormack Manchester NH
· Bishop Patrick McGrath San Jose CA
· Bishop John McRaith Owensboro KY
· Bishop Carl Mengeling (ret) Lansing
MI
· Bishop Anthony Milone (ret) Great Falls
MT
· Bishop Manuel Moreno (dec) Tucson AZ
· Bishop James Moynihan Syracuse NY
· Bishop Robert Mulvee (ret)
Providence RI
· Bishop George Murry (ret) St Thomas
US Virgin Is
· Bishop Anthony O’Donnell (ret) Palm Beach FL
· Archbishop John Myers Newark NJ
· Bishop John Nevins (ret) Venice
FL
· Bishop Thomas O’Brien (ret) Phoenix AZ
· Bishop Raymond Pena Brownsville TX
· Bishop
Michael Pfeifer San Angelo TX
· Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk Cincinnati
OH
· Bishop Anthony Pilla (ret)
Cleveland OH
· Bishop Ricardo Ramirez Las Cruces, NM
· Bishop Daniel Reilly (ret)
Worcester MA
· Cardinal Justin Rigali (trans.) St
Louis Mo
· Bishop Thomas Rodi Biloxi MS
· Bishop Frank Rodimer (ret) Paterson
NJ
· Bishop Placido Rodriguez Lubbock
TX
· Bishop Robert Rose (ret) Grand
Rapids MI
· Bishop Sylvester Ryan (ret) Monterey
CA
· Archbishop Roger Schwietz Anchorage
AL
· Archbishop Michael Sheehan Santa Fe NM
· Bishop Richard Sklba (aux) Milwaukee
WI
· Bishop John Smith Trenton NJ
· Bishop John Steinbock Fresno CA
· Bishop Phillip Straling Reno NV
· Bishop Walter Sullivan (ret) Richmond
VA
· Bishop Arthur Tafoya (ret) Pueblo
CO
· Bishop James Tamayo Laredo TX
· Bishop James Timlin (ret) Scranton
PA
· Bishop Donald Trautman Erie PA
· Bishop Kenneth Untener (dec) Saginaw MI
· Bishop William Weigand Sacramento CA
· Archbishop Donald Wuerl (trans) Pittsburgh PA
· Bishop John Yanta (ret)
Amarillo TX
· Bishop Paul Zipfel Bismarck ND
Incredible isn’t it?
108 Cardinals and Bishops transferring and or covering up abuse for
5,148 abusers resulting in 11,750 pedophile victims – both USCCB
statistics - and NO ONE in
the CHURCH did anything
about it!.....including the nitwit Pope, John Paul.
Do you really
believe that Christ would have countenanced the diatribe that has thus
far emanated from the Bishop’s conference? I think he would be turning
over the tables and throwing the rascals out……to paraphrase Matthew
21:13. Sound familiar?......rascals who allowed this to go on and who
now duck responsibility.
Life is not measured
by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our
breath away. This scandal, the cover up, the lack of accountability in
the leadership from the top down...no firings, no demotions, no
dismissals....well it simply takes your breath away because in any
other company, corporation, organization in other words the real
world...they would be gone with this record!
Frank Keating,
retired Governor of Oklahoma and former Chairman of the National Review
Board, resigned from the Review Board over frustration arising from the
refusal of the Bishops to cooperate, citing their preference to deny,
hide, obfuscate, suppress names of offenders, resist subpoenas, noting
that the Bishops listen too much to their lawyers and not enough to
their hearts.
Former White House
Chief of Staff and U.S. Rep. Leon Panetta, a California Democrat
who served on the Review Board and was one of those who met with
Cardinal Francis George commented on the continuing abuse allegations
arising out of the Chicago Diocese stating at a news conference, "it
confirmed for me what is at the heart of this pedophile priest problem,
the Catholic hierarchy's failure to understand the seriousness of the
crisis”.
George’s response?
According to three sources contacted by Sun Times reporters, that when
the members of the Review Board met with George, he issued a warning,
“you will be the downfall of the church!” The group was dumbstruck.
“The bishops and priests have failed to deal with this scandal” Panetta
told George. “The healing process could not begin, Panetta said, unless
the church acknowledged the problem”.
Indeed, the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theology
professor at Notre Dame, got it right on when he recently said that
“survey after survey showed that as much as people were appalled by the
behavior of predatory priests, they were more appalled by the
behavior of the Bishops in covering it up!” Repeat after me…more
appalled by the coverup!
No where is the truth of the adage that an
organization cannot be counted on to police itself more evident
than in the church.
It’s about accountability and
transparency….both of which are woefully lacking in the mission
of this church….which did nothing to sack its CEOs ie:
the transferring Cardinals and Bishops even though the Church knew of
the emerging scandal as far back as 1985 after the submittal of the
report by Canon Lawyer Thomas Doyle.
Recently Rockford Illinois Diocese Bishop
Doran, when confronted with the allegations surrounding Harlan
Clapsaddle, had him temporarily removed from ministry, sent for
treatment and unbelievably put in back in ministry
at a Nursing Home, without disclosing to the Nursing Home his
past, [ sound familiar ] which was not revealed to the Nursing
Home, until two days before Clapsaddle resigned for good. Some
management!....and Doran wants Stewardship money from the
stockholders?…no explanations?…no questions asked?...and if he doesn’t
get, he’ll extract it out of operating funds!
Your efforts to restore Priest
morale comes on the heels of the single greatest scandal to beset any
institution against a backdrop where
not ONE SINGLE
transferring Bishop or
Cardinal
has lost his job, the
ultimate in disdain, and is an example of mismanagement at its zenith
that would not be tolerated in the public arena, and cries out for
accountability at every level not just financial, but in
personal responsibility as well by those who transferred
rather than managed, who covered up instead of leading by
example.
In 1993, a former seminarian
reported sexual abuse and exploitation at age 18 by Fr. Michael
Yakaitis who was then ( you are going to choke on this ) a
“spiritual director” and Dean of Students at St. Mary of the Lake
seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.
The student seminarian reported it to
seven church officials. COUNT ‘EM 7,
including:
·
Fr. John Canary former Vicar for Priests and current
Rector - St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein;
·
Fr. Larry McBrady former Vicar for Priests in the
administration of Frances Cardinal George;
·
Fr. Gerald Kicanas former Rector - St. Mary of the Lake
Seminary, Mundelein and current Bishop of the Tucson Diocese;
·
Fr. Cletus Kiley former Rector - Niles College Seminary
and current assistant to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops;
·
Cardinal Joseph Cardinal Bernardin; Hope he is
working it off in Purgatory!
·
Fr. James Presta Rector - St. Joseph College Seminary,
Loyola University of Chicago; and
·
Fr. Michael Foley former Rector - Archbishop Quigley
Preparatory Seminary High School.
None of the above deny it, with
Fr. John Canary admitting on February 7th 2005 in an on-air
interview with television reporter Jay Levine of WBBM channel 2 Chicago,
the earlier reporting of the abuse by the seminarian.
Nothing happened! I guess the
‘blue code of silence’ not only exists in the police department.
Worse...want to know
what Yakaitis did? Introduced the seminarian to pornography and
alcohol when the seminarian sought counseling from “this spiritual
director” over confusion about his own sexuality....preference
included....then initiated the abuse and later to avoid any
repercussions “threatened to expose” the seminarian’s sexual preference
if he revealed what took place. Yakaitis
should have been defrocked!...but wasn’t….what a Church!
In 2000, the
former nun principal of Holy Family school in Chicago reported to the
Archdiocese that Rev. Daniel McCormack - the recently convicted
offender - may have had inappropriate contact with a child in 2000.
We may now change “may have” to definitely did!
In 2001
Cardinal Francis George appointed the same Fr. Michael Yakaitis from the
above 1993 episode, to be student chaplain at the University
of Chicago’s Calvert House, a Catholic facility for Catholic
youth attending the U. of C., without checking Yakaitis’
background which was in the file of the Diocese clearly evidencing
prior credible sex abuse allegations, to which abuse, Fr. Yakaitis
has since admitted in 2005. Cardinal George and his staff did not even
check Yakaitis’ file when sex abuse scandal was on everyone’s tongue!
But one wonders why the mope was even still around as a priest
instead of being defrocked? The Catholic Church complicit
in the Obstruction of Justice…in “aiding and abetting”.
In 2003
Francis George had the Rev. Kenneth Martin living in the Cardinal’s
residence next door to an elementary school while “working” for the
archdiocese knowing that Martin had previously been convicted
after pleading guilty to abusing a boy for 3 years while a
high school teacher in Maryland.
In 2006 with the McCormack case,
we have an abusing priest who with a Masters of Divinity from the same
Mundelein Seminary out abusing boys as late as 2002 when sex abuse was
on everyone’s tongue proving* that his urges were far more
powerful than his common sense, exposing himself to criminal prosecution
when this behavior was such a hot button issue.
*The reason to keep these guys out
of ministry and away from children and preferably behind bars….they
cannot and do not control themselves.
Then on January 28th
2006 his ‘eminence ?’ Francis
George publicly commended the principal of Holy Family school for coming
forward in 2000 and reporting Fr. McCormack and
expressing regret that the archdiocese failed to respond
sooner!
These failures to
report the abusers, is not a mistake…..it’s a pattern!
Indeed the principal before writing her letter had called the Chancery
Office to report the suspected abuse and was told not to press it if the
parents were not pushing it! Some Church!
The arrogance!…the
gall!....with just this past week, goofy Bishop Gregory Aymond, Chair of
the U.S. Bishop’s Committee for Protection of Children and Young
People, telling CBS News that because Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell
was prohibited from wearing ‘clerical attire’ and no longer permitted to
serve in ministry; that these two restrictions were a ‘significant
consequence and penalty’ for the abuse allegations leveled against him
which he did not deny and which were found to have overwhelming
credibility. Christ would give him a ‘millstone’ and Aymond,
probation!
Transferring Bishops who covered up
need to be sacked and Bishops and Cardinals like goofy Francis
George who have repeatedly ‘blown it on their watch’ need to resign like
Francis Harvey of the Army did, not be elected to Presidency of
the USCCB…with the future successor President and nitwit
Bishop Gerald Kicanas saying, he knew
[pre-ordination] about the three reports of “sexual improprieties”
against then-seminarian Daniel McCormack, yet still supported
McCormack’s Ordination, saying, “It would have been grossly unfair not
to have ordained him.”
Kicanas needs a 5:30
AM blindfold appointment before the ‘ready!...aim!...fire!’squad.
Merz’s predecessor, Robert Bennett former
head of the USCCB’s Review Board was quoted acknowledging that many
Bishops abandoned their responsibility [ that’s a laugh – how
about virtually all ] so why should Catholics now have confidence
that Bishops will not do so in the future?
Further evidencing the seriousness of the
morale issue, Merz is quoted in Zoll’s piece as saying he learned of one
priest who was exercising in a public gym when a passer-by said, “Are
you waiting for a boy to lie down next to you?” Even Mahony himself
reports that while posting a letter at a mailbox last year, he was
apparently spotted and recognized by a local congregant who suddenly and
unexpectedly socked him the face knocking him to the ground. I only
wish I had been there to implore Mahony to apostolically ‘turn the other
cheek’ so I could have delivered a ‘haymaker’ of my own!
Is it any wonder that the disdain and
cynicism that exists is a DIRECT product of the magnitude of the scandal
and the way the leaders collectively ‘covered up’, abetted
and ‘obstructed’?
Still think the Emperor
wears no clothes? Do you still share in the collective ignorance of
others like you, denying the obvious fact that this Church and its
leadership has blown it? Can’t see the elephant in the room? The
obvious truth that this Church has committed through its Pope,
Cardinals and Bishops crimes of aiding and abetting, and crimes of
obstruction of justice.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned and like Nero, John Paul II concerned
himself with trivia while the greatest scandal to beset any institution
in modern times was in full swing. No, I do not have to show up in the
pews on January 1st, August 15th, November 1st and December 8th,
December 25th, Easter Sunday, or 40 days later, or at least
make an Easter Duty nor to show up on Sundays to be saved…that is for
the lemmings.
If a U. S. President
were 84 years of age and unable to talk publicly since 2003, unable to
walk in public since 2002 and had Parkinson’s for the past 10 years,
would you have confidence in and be guided by a President so frail?
What about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U. S. Armed
Forces?
Wouldn’t you have
expected that a person in such condition to step down or retire, and
allow another in better mental and physical health to exercise the post
or position? Why is it that the church requires its Cardinal and
Bishops to retire at age 75 but allows senile old men to hang on to
their death at age 84?
Rare is the 84 year
old who has not noticeably slipped in abilities at all levels,
strength or the lack thereof termed frailty, attention, clarity of
thinking, stamina, ability to recognize deception or avoiding being
duped or controlled by others - witness the amount of scams perpetrated
upon the elderly.
Pope John Paul II in
a letter to the world’s elderly released on October 1 1999 par. 17
thereof stated:
“ It is
wonderful to be able to give oneself to the very end for
the sake of the kingdom of God. At the same time, I find great peace in
thinking of the time when the Lord will call me: life to life”.
On other occasions he
likened his continued stay upon the throne of St. Peter as a
trial undertaken willingly, accepting suffering not unlike
Christ on the cross. Enduring the suffering, he was likening
himself to Christ, but at the expense of the Church, which he had
long since been unable to lead, his ever positioning advisors
calling the shots.
If Christ would not
abandon the suffering of the cross, neither would he abandon his
suffering. No, he forged on…..unfortunately, at our expense and the
expense of the Church as a whole!
Kind of reminds me of
the story of the grandson, who shows up at work with a sad face. Upon
being queried by co-workers as to the source of his apparent distress,
the grandson relates that he just returned “from a funeral having buried
his grandmother”. Displaying appropriate empathy, the co-workers offer
their sympathies while also inquiring as to the age of the
grandmother. “She was 91”, comes the reply. “How did she go?” “ She
died in her sleep”, the grandson replies. Hearing this, the
co-workers reply: “Well if you have to go, that’s the way to go…in your
sleep!” The grandson replies: “Yah, good for her; but not for the
other 3 passengers in the car”.
John Paul mentally
died, lost competency somewhere starting fourteen years ago, not good
for the rest of us in the car, who he was driving (leading). I
personally saw him in St. Peters from 50 feet away for 10 minutes in
Nov. 2001, wheeled in on an electric Pope scooter. He was beyond
feeble, inaudible, doddering, giving a ‘private audience’ to some heavy
hitters’ [contributors] from S. America, so his advance men [ their
words not mine] told our tour guide. Sure enough a husband & wife made
it up the middle aisle after his assistants secured him to the throne of
St. Peter. In a secular world, Papal Blessings bought and sold to those
who can afford it!
I know of
NO successful
institution in the world where the leader is permitted to lead into
one’s eighties or hangs on to leadership while evidence of dementia and
failing health impede that leadership except dictators and goofy Popes.
The Church needs to
change; needs to include in its policy making one-half of its
membership heretofore excluded….WOMEN
; needs to “term
limit” the time that any one Pope
can hold that position either by mandatory retirement age or outright
term limit. No Pope should be permitted to occupy that position for
more than 10 years, and any election should equally be term limited by
age, all having to retire by age 70 including Bishops and Cardinals.
No Pope should be
allowed to fill the ranks of the Church leadership with his
intellectual, philosophical and theological clones; but Bishops
and Cardinals should be appointed by the Pope with the simple majority
joint consent of both houses, the existing College of Cardinals
and a worldwide lay board of 100 elected
members.
A Church so
constructed would be intellectually “pollinated” by the experience of
its leaders coming into contact with others from the cross section of
humanity and would less likely be rendered lemmings by one guy at the
top appointing clones supporting one point of view to the exclusion of
all others.
One does not have to
study Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, to have digested Pliny, Cicero or
Aquinas, to have read Sartre, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Kant or Hume, to
have listened to Eric Hoffer or Hans Kung to discern truth, recognize
poppycock or verbal pandering, to distinguish reality from pretense and
hyperbole from litotes, or to recognize crap. It makes no difference if
spoken by a bigot, a conservative religious ideologue, or a Pope
claiming infallibility….crap is crap no matter who says it. Much of
what came from JP then and Ratzinger today is crap.
We the laity….the
parishioners…are really like stockholders in a corporation. We are
entitled to transparency, to accountability, to openness, to the truth.
We should demand an annual budget by parish, by diocese, by country and
by church in Rome….a list of the officers….a statement of assets and
liabilities. I for one want to see how much is siphoned off by Diocese
and sent to Rome. I want to see the Church’s pension funds,
investments, assets and liabilities. We are entitled to call for the
resignation of failed leadership!
Owing to its
failed leadership, the church finds itself where it is today, both
here and abroad, at the crossroads of insignificance and lost
identity, struggling for relevance in a culture it once defined,
with its churches, excluding those not sold to pay for sex abuse
settlements and judgments, in danger if not destined to become museums
of Christianity, more likely to be visited by tourists with guidebooks
than parishioners with prayer books.
And the reason? It
is because the church is run by conservative ignorant men whose
intellectual thought processes gravitate to preserving the status quo of
values, even if it means covering up, and which are more concerned with
form [the GIRM] than
substance and which are deeply rooted in tradition, and whose leaders
are motivated by an unwillingness to question past practices to
determine if they comport with Christian concepts on the one hand or
represent comfortable familiarity with the ignorance they represent and
innate human reluctance to change on the other.
I am delighted that the
Church is getting hammered in the Courts. The Church through its
leadership has exercised zero accountability…transparency is non
existent. My wife says I am likely to spend some time in the warm
place for my attitude. I tell her that is ok, I’ll tell St. Peter,
“ just put me over there next to one of those Bishops!”
When I see some heads
roll, some sackings, some demotions, when guys like George get demoted
and removed for having blown it three times on his watch, instead of
being elected the president of the USCCB…well then…just maybe then I’ll
change my mind…but until then I can’t wait for the Church to collapse
under the weight of this scandal and the sins of its failed leadership.
This Church needs to account to its
stockholders and not just financially as I alluded to at the
outset…. because mismanagement is apparent at every level.
How can
anyone sympathize with a Church mired in internal corruption and
mismanagement?
This Church is
consigned to marginalization in an increasingly skeptical world by a
better educated populace of God fearing people who have come to realize
that salvation’s destiny is in their hands, not in the traditional
drivel marketed by Pope clones walking down the aisle in their goofy
mitre hats and carrying crosiers whilst blessing the faithful in their
pews…..sprinkling them with the use of a scepter dripping with holy
water…..without ever taking responsibility for what has occurred….in
other words, business as usual, “bow your heads and….”
Truth is
incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride
it. But, in the end, there it is.
Want to
know what Christ is doing about now? He’s sitting with his head buried
in his hands atop his lap, slowly shaking his head from side to side,
weeping and softly muttering, “I can’t believe they are doing this in my
name”!
Sincerely,
Dan Burke
12138 Wildflower Lane
Huntley, Illinois 60142
P.S.
Rachel Zoll:
I know
you covered the Cardinal Law cover up. How the hell can you accord the
actions of Benedict as taking , “… the extraordinary step” when
he merely met privately with victims during his April U.S. visit…?”
Benedict didn’t do a
damn thing and if truth be told, was the chief villain and Architect in
the Church denial. It was Benedict who was the confidant and aide to
that doddering old goofball John Paul those past 15 years prior to his
death. When The Doyle report was submitted in 1985, it was guys like
Benedict that made the decision not to go forward but to cover up. |