Cardinal Rigali, and the Big Problem

The New York Times reported this morning: “The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that it had suspended 21 priests from active ministry in connection with accusations that involved sexual abuse or otherwise inappropriate behavior with minors…The announcement was a major embarrassment for Cardinal Justin Rigali, who, in response to the grand jury report, had initially said there were no priests in active ministry “who have an admitted or established allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against them.” 

The Big Problem in the Roman Catholic Church regarding all these announcements of pedophilia and abuse of children is that covering up priests’ crimes and misdemeanors has become so common and widespread over the centuries in the RC church that the RC hierarchy isn’t even aware when it’s engaging in covering up crimes. It is simply going about the normal business of totalitarian rule and the right of the RC church to lie and mislead.

Rigali is still apologizing for the behavior of Philadelphia priests and never once saying mea culpa about his own behavior, or the behavior of his predecessor, Cardinal Bevilacqua. Bevilacqua, who is now 87 has gotten himself a lawyer who claims Bevilacqua is too old and infirm to be investigated. But the point is, Bevilacqua wouldn’t have to engage a lawyer if he would just man-up and admit he had covered up the crimes of pedophile priests while he was in charge in Philadelphia. Which he most assuredly did.

Ugh! The cowardice! The dissembling! The hiding! The blaming everyone and everything but themselves!

Will we ever hear Pope Ratz or anyone in the Vatican or Rigali or Bevilacqua say, “The buck stops here…I was wrong…I did it…I covered up these crimes”?

No.

And do you know why? Because that might cause the people in the pews to contemplate, to reflect and to wonder…hmmm…maybe these guys who contend they are God’s representatives on earth haven’t been truthful about other things. Maybe they don’t have God’s ear. Maybe this whole Vatican operation is just a grand scale con run by a bunch of pathetic clowns who like to dress up  in their mother’s gowns and jewelry.

And God forbid the people in the Roman Catholic Church start to think.