Deadly silence. (you may be right).A SINCERE THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE MEMBERS OF THE laity LAITY. Those persons who do not make a part of the clergy. In the United States the division of the people into clergy and laity is not authorized by law, but is, merely conventional. who are speaking out on this issue of clergy sexual abuse. My son, Eric, is pictured on the June cover of U.S. CATHOLIC ("Broken trust, broken lives" by Kevin Clarke Kevin Clarke grew up in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Originally a guitarist, he wrote and directed his first play The Jackpot at the Finborough Theatre in 1987; as a result he was invited to join the first BBC Television Writers training course and commissioned to write for a new series ). We have become extremely involved with this crisis because of our son's death by suicide several months after revealing he had been sexually abused by our parish priest Parish priest may refer to
In investigating the background of the priest, we discovered that he had a long history of molesting (most of the 30 years he served in our diocese). We also discovered, to our horror, that four other young men who had close contact with this priest had also committed suicide. The message I want to make loud and clear is that clergy sexual abuse can lead to deadly consequences. We have started a Web site dedicated to alerting people to the potential for suicide or attempted suicide at www.we-are-alert.com. As a church, we cannot stand by silently as members of the laity and pretend that these are just isolated incidents and that the psychological damage done to the victims is not really that serious. Janet Patterson Conway Springs, Kan. Our own priest was dismissed for sexual misconduct sexual misconduct Professional ethics Any behavior that violates a health professional's ethics through sexual contact of physician and his/her Pt. See Professional boundaries. . Our church is currently in turmoil, and many members have decided to leave. I am a convert and feel this is where God has been leading me all my life. But I think the "judge not" mentality should be thrown right out the window. The church is in this mess because persons in leadership positions did not use the good common sense God gave them to sort out, call to account, and dismiss suspicious behavior. Sadly, it does not seem to be "just a few," rather a few too many. Frankly, I would like to scream very loudly Adv. 1. very loudly - a direction in music; to be played very loudly fortissimo at the guilty, but since I can't, I'll just keep on praying that our Lord will work his miracles in our church, and most especially I'll keep on praying for the dear survivors. Thank you for publishing their stories. Sharon Tiglao City & state withheld All priests who sexually abuse children must be excommunicated and immediately turned over to the authorities having jurisdiction. All documents, statements, and affidavits applicable to each case must be turned over to the prosecution. By virtue of their actions, these men must be incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. and permanently punished so they will never darken dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. the church's doorstep again; or darken the precious light of a child's innocence. Anyone who has knowledge of the evil perpetrated by priests upon children better stand up and start taking action lest lest conj. For fear that: tiptoed lest the guard should hear her; anxious lest he become ill. [Middle English, from Old English they be looked upon as culpable Blameworthy; involving the commission of a fault or the breach of a duty imposed by law. Culpability generally implies that an act performed is wrong but does not involve any evil intent by the wrongdoer. and of the same mind-set. The Catholic Church owes these children--the very least they owe to them is support, protection, and monetary compensation. Anne-Marie Kimble via e-mail While I agree that this is a terrible time for our church, I don't believe anyone who says their faith has been destroyed, had much faith to begin with. Our doctrine is sound, even if some administrative decisions are not. Stephanie Chodera Villa Park, Ill. Kevin Clarke's article "Broken trust, broken lives" (June) was very good. We need to know all the facts and be able to discuss the problems. The pedophile pedophile Forensic psychiatry A person with pedophilia; there are an estimated 500,000 pedophiles in the world. See Child prostitution, Megan's law, Pedophilia. priests break our hearts. They are sick men and should have been helped before the situation got out of hand. It's even worse when it's a priest that we know. A good priest that I've known for over 20 years has been called out of his ministry, and I and many others cannot believe it. He was our spiritual leader at our charismatic prayer group. He led the fight against abortion. He helped build a new grammar school and was planning to open a high school. The charge was misconduct MISCONDUCT. Unlawful behaviour by a person entrusted in any degree: with the administration of justice, by which the rights of the parties and the justice of the, case may have been affected. 2. . We're losing a very good priest. We are praying for our priests, our church, and all the victims. Shirley Noel Northbridge, Mass. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion