Well, it's been a hell of a ride, laying rubber all over the road for the past decade. But it's time to call it a day and park the Rogue in the garage. Effective today, I am shutting down my blog to focus my attention on other endeavours. My thanks to the more than 2.7 million people who regularly joined me on these sojourns through news stories over the years that dealt with the places with issues of religion and faith intersecting with public affairs. May God bless you with a continuing desire to learn about and help disseminate the issues of faith throughout the public square. Happy trails in your continuing travels! Fr. Tim Moyle, p.p. Diocese of Pembroke
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.
i wonder if it is just an oversight that CBS and the other networks failed to mention (even as an aside ) that in 2009 in the U.S. there were 4 FOUR cases of reported abuse by the clergy in a population of 68 MILLION. For sure the Church made mistakes (of the 12 men who walked with Jesus 1 betrayed Him and 1 denied Him) but they are now doing something that is right. We need to be very careful that we don't allow the devil to use this terrible wrong to take our attention from God...a God who is and a God who cares.
ReplyDeleteMost priests aren't allowed anywhere near children, especially not unsupervised. Most parents are careful that this is enforced. Why would there be a lot of sexual abuse of children within the Church at this point?
ReplyDeleteIf there are still potential sexual predators of the young within the priesthood, they have been driven underground, you gotta wonder how long it will be before the first priestly serial sex killer is uncovered, then you gotta wonder how the Church will respond to that.
reddog:
ReplyDeleteYour cynicism is showing, and tends to slant your comments a teensy weensy bit, maybe. Or maybe I am too sensitive.
In a phobic world, it is as much for the protection of our priests from fictitious claims of abuse (currently) as the fear of them abusing, that they tend not to be alone with children. Priests are often sensitive to being alone in a closed room with women they have contact with as well, in this day and age.
When I was a kid (50's and early 60's), our priests played ball with us, took us to hockey games, and were a part of our daily lives. Nobody that I knew was ever abused in any way by a priest at that time. Sadly there have been many abuses since and elsewhere.
But, in today's world, there are a lot of reasons why our priests are more faithful, not the least is the move of the Holy Spirit within the Church, but includes changes in application acceptance criteria, changes in formation, and sadly, the dearth of vocations to the priesthood.
Show me a priest with time on his hands.
As to your comment about a serial sex killer priest, I did find a serial killer priest a Father Mallari in the Philippines who apparently killed 59 people over a 10 year period. He was a certified wing nut, though and when caught was put away.