…to my knowledge they still haven’t read the links I suggested. Pat again hit them on the Milwaukee Case, but thanks to The Hermemeutic of Continuity we have yet another good link to offer them.
It is too good to simply quote, they and you should read the whole thing.
It’s as if his pastoral letter when he said this:
6. To the victims of abuse and their families:
You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope. It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, he still bears the wounds of his own unjust suffering.
and this:
7. To priests and religious who have abused children
You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour upon your confreres. Those of you who are priests violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders in which Christ makes himself present in us and in our actions. Together with the immense harm done to victims, great damage has been done to the Church and to the public perception of the priesthood and religious life.
I urge you to examine your conscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed, and humbly express your sorrow. Sincere repentance opens the door to God’s forgiveness and the grace of true amendment.
and this:
11. To my brother bishops
It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse. Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations. I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness.
This is all from his pastoral letter from two weeks ago that apparently the Morning Joe crowd managed to miss.
Until they bother to try to get, you know facts, rather than the gospel according the the NYT they will be worthy of scorn. As they hit him with Eugene Robinson’s “me too” column (you can find it on the Washington post site, I’m not linking him on this) they display their astounding willful and deliberate ignorance. As for John Heilemann on the “crisis of credibility” I suspect there will never be a time when the Catholic Church does not have a crisis of credibility for him.
If these guys aren’t embarrassed then it’s only because they have lost the capability to do so on this subject.
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