I am the Bishop, the first in the line
When reviewing a case, the decision is mine;
If I choose, I will forward the case to the board—
Most often, I don’t do a thing (thank the Lord!)
I am the Bishop; the Board of Review
Are my people, who do what I tell them to do
In each of the cases my Board made a call
They decided the case had no substance at all
I am the Bishop, the man you can trust—
Well, can is inaccurate; really, you must
Just ask me your questions; I give you my word
To give every detail that I want to be heard
I am the Bishop; I see in the news
They are calling for new, independent reviews!
It’s simply outrageous, to treat us this way
And put private Church business on public display
I am the Bishop; I know what we did—
How much is now public; how much is still hid
There’s a chance you’ve been actively kept unaware—
But I am the Bishop. I really don’t care.
NPR is running a story entitled “How Priests Accused Of Abuse Can Go Undetected“. The title pretty much lets you know you’re not going to like what you read. While some of those interviewed see no evidence that the church intentionally protected priests who rape children, the system does appear to be stacked in their favor. The numbers agree, always rising when outside investigators look at the same cases church investigators have already found without merit.
To be fair, it looks like they are trying. And they are, after all, only human.
I’ll give them a break, then. Just as soon as they stop claiming they hold the moral high ground. If they want to be the moral authority, they are asking to be held to a much higher standard. And frankly, they don’t measure up.
(For those who remember, I’ve approached this topic before. Different city, similar story. My version is I Am The Bishop.)
You'd think this would drive *everyone* away from Catholicism. Everyone who no longer wants to be counted as a member should write to their baptismal diocese and their current diocese, telling the church that they quit, demanding that they be taken off the rolls and not counted as Catholics. "I'm out of here. And don't wait up!"Maybe they should take out newspaper ads, "I, Joan Q. Public, am no longer a Catholic and refuse to be associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Every time the Pope or a church member makes an announcement, the newspapers should be full of letters to the editor saying, "I hope they're not counting ME!" They could change their Facebook status to "DISGUSTED FORMER CATHOLIC." After all, why should they have to wait years for the Church to decide they're gone. It could become a meme.
I've known many a "recovering Catholic", long before the sexual abuse scandals came out. The church has done good–provide community and spiritual support– and also done evil–teaching so much shame, denying equality to women, and permitting their priests to destroy so many young lives. I don't understand why they were trusted to "do their own investigation."
This kind of behavior is not exclusive to Catholicism but is rampant throughout Xian religions (and probably others). The more fundie, the more rampant. When priests or ministers portray themselves as the voice of God, they have overwhelming power over children and adolescents. The temptation is too much. You don't hear about it as much with the Fundies and the Evangelicals but it's there too.