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Sex Abuse Facts

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The Catholic Church teaches a high standard of morality and when some of its members violate that standard, the media pounces and calls it hypocrisy, and rightly so. To be clear, this post in no way condones any of the abuses which have occurred over the years. They were all terrible, sinful tragedies.

However, over the past few years the media feeding frenzy has been such that I think it might be time to regain a little bit of perspective. The following facts came from an article at TheMediaReport.com.

1. IT’S NOT ABOUT CATHOLIC PRIESTS
FACT: Catholic priests do not offend at a higher rate than clergy of other religious denominations or employees of other institutions that deal with youth.

2. STRANGE DAYS INDEED
FACT: The media’s frenzied Catholic priest sex abuse storyline stems only from a historical anomaly, as the vast majority of allegations occurred during a narrow band of time from the 1960s to the early 1980s. During this period the Church sent abusive priests to treatment, conforming to the then-prevailing societal view that offenders could be successfully rehabilitated but resulting in a high rate of recidivism.

3. YESTERDAY’S NEWS
FACT: Almost all accusations against Catholic priests date from decades ago, and indeed nearly half of all abuse accusations concern priests who are already dead. In an institution of 77 million people, contemporaneous accusations of abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States are very rare, recently averaging only 8.5 “credible” allegations per year.

4. THE STORY THE MEDIA WON’T REPORT
FACT: The incidence of sexual abuse by teachers in public schools today has been estimated to be “more than 100 times” that by Catholic priests, and there is alarming evidence of school officials covering up abuse and failing to report suspected cases to authorities. Yet the mainstream media has largely ignored this shocking story while still rehashing decades-old allegations of abuse by Catholic priests.

5. A MODEL FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
FACT: The Catholic Church is likely the safest environment for children today.

I would invite you to pray a rosary today for the holiness of Catholic priests around the world

Sunday Lectionary: The Big Question

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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 26th, 2012

The Readings this Sunday ask a basic question: whom do you choose?

In the First Reading, Joshua asks this question of Israel. Whom will they serve? Yahweh or some other god? In the Gospel Reading, after hearing the “hard teaching” of the Lord about His Body and Blood, Jesus asks the Twelve if they wish to leave along with some of the other disciples.  Peter answers the  question in the same way I hope we would all answer: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”.

We have a fundamental choice in life. Do we choose God, or do we choose something or someone else? As we hear God’s Word this week and gather around the altar to “taste and see that the Lord is good”, let us renew our commitment to the Lord and say with Peter “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God”.

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Ambo or Pulpit?

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If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you’ll know that a good portion of my posts either come from questions people have asked me or from my own wondering about a particular subject. Today’s post falls into the latter category…

When Jesus preached to the crowds, Scripture records that one time He ascended a mountain to teach them (Matthew 5:1) and on another occasion He got into a boat and moved a little way from the shore (Luke 5:3). There is theological significance to both of these actions, but there’s also a very practical reason that the Lord did this – He wanted His preaching to be heard clearly by as many people as possible.

The necessity to clearly hear the words of preaching continues today and we see it reflected in the architecture of our church buildings in the presence of a pulpit/ambo/lecturn.

Pulpit-large

For quite a while, I’ve noticed that Catholic liturgists typically use the word “ambo” to describe the preacher’s platform, rather than “pulpit”, which you hear more often both in the Protestant world and in popular culture. However, is there really a difference between “ambo” and “pulpit”, or is this just a case of Catholic/Protestant “potato/potahto”?

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“This requires ceremony…”

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The other night I went to see the movie Courageous with a bunch of other guys on a “man trip” ;-). I’ve written about this movie before, but over the next few weeks I’d like to mention a few other thoughts which came to mind while watching the film…

The Resolution

In the story, a group of four men decide to sign a Resolution, a statement of conduct (derived from Scripture) which they promise to follow as both men and as fathers.

In a certain scene, one of the men shows a copy of the Resolution to his wife. She gets really excited and then starts asking him lots of questions. What will the final Resolution look like? What is he going to wear when he signs it? etc. The man gives his wife a look of complete incomprehension and confusion. It’s clear that he hadn’t even considered these things. To this she responds:

“If you’re gonna do this, then do it right. Something like this requires…ceremony!” 

I had to smile at this, since, to my Catholic ears, I heard:

“If you’re gonna do this, then do it right. Something like this requires…liturgy“ 🙂

 

The Liturgy Ceremony

Later in the film we see what this ceremony looks like…

All the men are wearing suits and their family members are present, also in formal attire. They meet in a beautiful park underneath some trees. A long-time friend and minister to one of the men officiates, calling each of the men forward one-by-one.  Each man then repeats the Resolution out loud in the presence of his family and pastor, after which he signs a framed copy of the Resolution written in beautiful calligraphy, which he later hangs in a prominent place in his home.

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Sunday Lectionary: The deaf will hear

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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time: September 9th, 2012

In our First Reading this week Isaiah consoles Israel, promising a time will come when wrongs will be made right, when “the ears of the deaf [will] be cleared” and the dry lands be refreshed. From the very beginning of the Bible, a Saviour was promised, a Messiah who would heal the rupture between man and God. Isaiah’s words find their fulfillment in this Sunday’s Gospel Reading as Jesus restores a man’s hearing, a sign that the long awaited Messiah had finally come…

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Sunday Lectionary: God’s Green Fingers

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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: June 17th, 2012

After the feasts and solemnities of recent weeks, we finally return to the regular Sundays in Ordinary Time.  For the next few weeks, our New Testament Reading we will come from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians and, for the remainder of this year, we will be working sequentially through the Gospel of Mark.

The Readings this week make heavy use of plant imagery. So, dig out your trowel, dust off your gardening gloves and let’s get stuck in!

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