deconversion

Back in the 19th century, there was a notorious piece of anti-Catholic propaganda called "The Awful Adventures of Maria Monk", which purported to tell the "truth" about what went on behind the scenes in convents.  It spawned a whole genre that was eagerly lapped up by a public willing to hear the worst about priests and nuns--secret tunnels, buried babies--and even now these stories keep popping up in anti-Catholic circles.   More than once I found myself having to defend the Church when these accusations would come up (usually in a fundamentalist Protestant setting).  It baffled me how anyone could believe such nonsense.  Obviously, they had never had any contact with nuns or monks or priests.  Because there was not a shred of truth to any of these stories--right?

Now flash forward to the last 20 or so years, where a scandal of even greater proportions than Maria Monk and her ilk is sweeping the Catholic Church.   I watched, dumbfounded as the revelations of sexual abuse and coverup started coming in, little by little, and snowballing to include the entire world-wide Church.  And again, it baffled me.  Maybe one or two priests might be guilty but no way could all of them?

But as the revelations and coverup continued, my bewilderment and dismay turned to anger.  How dare these men tell anyone how to conduct their sex lives, when they themselves were blatantly breaking their PUBLIC vows of chastity by raping children, and being sheltered from the consequences by their superiors who knew full well what was going on?  How dare they?   What they had done and are still doing is a slap in the face to every Catholic who still lives by the Church's rules regarding sex.  Especially those Catholics, like myself, who ended up unmarried because we would not compromise and who endured a lot of abuse because of it.  I took no vows of chastity.  But I can honestly say that I have never forced myself on another human being.

Now I pick up the paper and read where the Pope is upset because Belgian police have seized computers and detained bishops as part of an investigation into clergy abuse.  His Not-So-Holiness has even issued a statement of solidarity to the bishops.  Where is the statement of solidarity towards the victims?  Where is the statement of solidarity towards the faithful?  There was a time when I once defended the Church.  No longer.

If the Church wants to regain its credibility, it must stop impeding investigations and start cooperating.   It needs to stop sheltering those that have been accused of sexual abuse and let the law take care of them.  It needs to stop making lame excuses and come right out and say, we blew it.  It needs to apologize to the victims and to the faithful.  The guilty parties and the bishops need to publicly explain to the public WHY they did what they did, and WHY they covered it up.  Then, and only then, can the Church speak on sexual matters.

But I am not holding my breath . . .