In the Midst of Global Catholic Crisis, Look at Whom U.S. Catholic Bishops Choose as Their Leaders

James Tissot's "Jésus Pleura," Brooklyn Museum, New York, Wikimedia Commons

The Catholic church globally is facing the biggest crisis it has faced since the Reformation. This is a deep crisis of credibility, in which increasing numbers of the faithful find it impossible to trust, admire, or follow the pastoral leaders of the Catholic church, and, in growing numbers, even to retain any living connection to the Catholic institution. In the midst of this historic crisis, whom do the chief shepherds of the Catholic church in the U.S., its bishops, choose to be leader of their bishops' conference? Here's an exerpt from a report of Brian Fraga at National Catholic Reporter:

Ruth Krall, Historical Meandering: Ideologies of Abuse and Exclusion (2)

Vasily Polenov, Le droit du Seigneur (1874), in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow

The essay below is the second part of Ruth Krall's essay entitled "Historical Meandering: Ideologies of Abuse and Exclusion." The first part was published on Bilgrimage several days ago. As the introduction to the essay at the link I have just provided explains, the essay is one of a series of essays Ruth has published on Bilgrimage, under the series title "Recapitulation: Affinity Sexual Violence in a Religious Voice." Links to the previous essays in this series appear at the link I've just given you above. The common theme binding these essays together is the endemic natural of religious and spiritual leader sexual abuse of followers. The current essay explores this theme by arguing that clergy sexual abuse is a global public health issue whose noxious presence can be found inside multiple language groups and national identities. The secong part of Ruth's essay, "Historical Meandering," follows (note that footnotes begin with xiii because this essay is a continuation of the first part published previously):

"Everything in This Spreading Crisis Revolves Around Structural Mendacity"; "Poland's Most Senior Nun Has Been Banned from Further Media Contact": Talking Abuse

Poland's most senior nun has been banned from further media contact after condemning the sexual abuse of religious sisters by Catholic priests in her country https://t.co/Jrf8GRhDFi

— Pope news (@Pope_news) February 19, 2019

 

Talking abuse, Catholic context and Southern Baptist context: good things I've been reading and want to share with you:

McCarrick Defrocked, Abuse Summit Convening, and NY Times Lets Gay Priests Speak: My Twitter Commentary

For years, Roman Catholic Church leaders have driven gay congregants away in shame. And yet, thousands of ministers are gay men.

Two dozen gay priests have shared with us the stories of their lives in the Catholic closet. https://t.co/BN0Dy6Zn0i

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 17, 2019

Like the man in the White House, I've been tweeting this morning — but what preoccupies my attention is perhaps quite different from what preoccupies his. Here's a selection of tweets from this morning that, to my way of thinking, tell a certain story when they're read together.

Houston Chronicle Invites Readers to Share Stories of Abuse in Southern Baptist Churches: My Commentary

Houston Chronicle is not playing, with its exhaustive investigation of abuse within Southern Baptist churches. On a page attached to its exposé report yesterday, the Chronicle invites readers to reply directly via an online form and share their own experiences of abuse in Southern Baptist churches with the Chronicle reporting team:

Father Prado on Pope Francis: Wants to Deny Access to Priesthood to Gays Because He's Catholic — I Have Questions

Father Fernando Prado, author of the book The Strength of Vocation, in which he interviews Pope Francis and gets the pope on record "worrying" about gay priests and opining that it's better to keep the gays out of the priesthood, recently spoke to Crux. In an article entitled "Pope doesn’t back down from skepticism about gays in priesthood," Inés San Martín reports about that conversation and about Pope Francis' view that, in Prado's words, "homosexuals" should not have "access to the priesthood." 

Why Blaming Gay Priests for Catholic Abuse Situation Will Not Help Anything (Plus News about Cardinal Pell, Anti-Gay Hardliner)

As I posted my posting two days ago with an assortment of reports about the sexual abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches, I had decided that I'd do a follow-up posting featuring some valuable commentary from Jamie Manson about Pope Francis' "worries" about gay priests. In my view, the critique/discussion of comments by top Catholic officials like the ones Francis has made to Father Fernando Prado about homosexuality and gay priests needs to go hand in hand with reports about abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches. Where a plethora of reports from various churches, including the Catholic church, demonstrates plainly that the vulnerable people being abused by priests and pastors include females…. Demonstrating that the gays-are-the-problem analysis is a red herring if we really want to get to the root of sexual abuse of vulnerable people in faith communities….

Abuse of Vulnerable People and Churches: Recent Reports, from Baptists to Nuns Raped by Bishops and Priests to Jesuits to a German Princess Saving the Church

This is a collection of reports on the abuse situation as it is unfolding in various churches now. These are all recent statements, and not by any means a representative report on all that is happening on the sexual abuse front in religious groups right now. Stories are breaking on that front fast and furious — this is only my own selection of reports that have drawn my attention recently, for reasons that will be apparent as you read:

Joelle Casteix's Clear, Informed Response to Viganò Crowd: Feeds Old Stereotypes, Silences Victims, Minimizes Abuse, Encourages Cover-Up

Joelle Casteix has written the clearest, most informed response I've yet seen regarding the allegations of Viganò and his followers about the sexual abuse horror show in the Catholic church. Her essay, "'It’s a Gay Problem,' and Other Myths From the Catholic Church's Sexual Abuse Crisis," is at Religion Dispatches this morning. An excerpt:

At Moment of Increasing Homophobia in Catholicism, Remembering Fr. Mychal Judge

9/11: Franciscan Fr. Mychal Judge, chaplain to the firefighters, was an early casualty. The image of his fellow firemen carrying his body to a nearby church became an icon of the day--an image of loving service and sacrifice, a contrast to messages born of fanaticism and fear. pic.twitter.com/XBfaZZZgJ3

— Robert Ellsberg (@RobertEllsberg) September 11, 2018

Paris Archbishop Upholds Sanctions Against Vatican "Expert" on Homosexuality, Msgr. Tony Anatrella

A tidbit of news that should not escape our notice as Vigano et al. try to stage a coup toppling Pope Francis, with overt allegations that he has protected a "homosexual network" of church dignitaries who are responsible for the abuse crisis:

Krzysztof Charamsa Publishes Book Explaining Choice to Come Out as a Gay Priest: The First Stone: I, Gay Priest, and My Rebellion Against the Church’s Hypocrisy

As many of you will know, shortly before the Catholic Synod on the Family opened, a Polish priest, Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, who worked in the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed that he was gay and has a partner, Eduard Planas. He was subsequently removed from his CDF position and defrocked. If you click on Krzysztof's name in the labels below, you'll find a series of postings telling his story, with links to statements he has made.

David Gibson and Tom Heneghan Publish Religion News Service Report about Father Tony Anatrella: "Scandal That Could Have Repercussions All the Way to the Vatican"

An update as the week ends, on the story of Father Tony Anatrella, about which I've been keeping you posted (and here) as it's discussed in the French media recently: at Religion News Service, David Gibson and Tom Heneghan have just published a report about the Anatrella story with the headline "Prominent French Priest and Vatican Adviser Accused in Sex Scandal." This is the first such report I've seen in the English-speaking media, though, admittedly, I have not been searching carefully for such reports, after I found initially that the French media were reporting on the new Anatrella allegations, while I found no such reports in English-language media.

Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa to The Guardian — Pope Francis's View of Catholic Discussion of LGBT Issues and Lives: "This Is Not for This Moment"

Again, many thanks to all of you for your many valuable comments here that have gone unacknowledged as I've been traveling for several days. This morning, I want to share a link that Chris Morley kindly provided in a comment here yesterday. As he notes, The Guardian has just published an article by Stephanie Kirchgaessner about Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, the Polish priest and Vatican official who was expeditiously defrocked after he came of the closet as gay right before the synod on the family convened.

Krzysztof Charamsa on Pedophile Lobby in the Vatican and the Logic of the Church: Who's Welcome in the Catholic Community, and Who Is Not Welcome

As Chris pointed out in a comment here yesterday, in a section of his Religión Digital interview with the defrocked gay priest and Vatican employee Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, journalist José Manuel Vidal asks Msgr. Charamsa about what seems to be a glaring discrepancy between the alacrity with which Catholic officials defrock a priest who comes out of the closet, and their ability to tolerate (and hide) a pedophile priest for years. Brittmarie Janson Perez has sent me a translation of that section of the interview, which I'd like to share with you this morning.

NON POSSO PIU: "I Am Through with Making Allowances and Excuses for the Vatican," by Brittmarie Janson Perez

Brittie Perez (Brittmarie Janson Perez) has sent me another excellent essay that I'm delighted to publish today. Readers who have followed this blog will perhaps remember that I've previously published other pieces by Brittie — here and here. What follows is Brittie's latest text, entitled Non Posso Piu:

Professor William J. Dohar on Why No U.S. Bishops Stood by Pope Francis When He Asked, "Who Am I to Judge?

William J. Dohar

And it's not only Professor Charles J. Reid who's speaking out about the Catholic church's treatment of gay folks: at Religion Dispatches, another professor, William J. Dohar of Santa Clara University's religious studies department, notes that, in making his remark following World Youth Day about not judging gays, Pope Francis made trouble for bishops. He made trouble for bishops like His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who felt compelled to head to the media and inform them that there was nothing in the least new about what the pope said: nothing new here, just move on.

Jamie Manson on the "Dark Side" of Proposals to End Mandatory Celibacy: Whither Gay Priests?

To my mind, the operative paragraph in Jamie Manson's recent wise warning to Catholics in favor of the option of married clergy to consider a possible "dark side" of revising the mandatory celibacy requirement is this one:

Gay Catholics Giving Witness in the Teachable Moment of Catholicism's Current Crisis: Michael Bayly and Andrew Sullivan

Yesterday, I wrote that the Vatican gay lobby story and the story of British Cardinal O'Brien place the Catholic community in a teachable moment regarding those who are gay and lesbian.  I said,

Still Playing to Peoria: His Eminence Cardinal Dolan Slams Irish Seminary as "Gay Friendly"

As Fr. Joe O'Leary noted here in a recent comment about Christiane Amanpour's interview with Sr. Joan Chittister, the report by His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan to the Vatican re: the Irish College in Rome has been leaked to the media, and it's causing quite a furor.  As David Gibson reminds us in an article about this furor at National Catholic Reporter, Pope Benedict commissioned His Eminence in 2010 to lead a delegation of church officials that would investigate Irish seminaries after the Ferns Report, the Murphy Report, and the Ryan Report had uncovered the extent of abuse of minors in Catholic institutions in Ireland.