Jim Austin

His previous columns are archived HERE.

JIM AUSTIN

Suffer unto Me the little children

There are some stories that are so depraved, so laden with vile details and implications about us as humans that they are difficult to read. It almost feels like learning the details of such things demeans the learner. The atrocities countenanced by the Catholic Church against children in their care is one such story.

Child molestation has been the Catholic Church's dirty little secret for as long as I can remember. This church, so quick to find sin in the lives of all but the most pious of members is itself steeped in hypocrisy and perversion.

How else can you explain the institutional cover-up of legions of pedophiles within their system?

The church hierarchy explains, when caught, that their pedophile priests have been counseled, deemed "cured" and sent back to other parishes and inevitably other victims.

There are men who are spending their lives in prison for exactly the same perverted acts that have been fostered by the Catholic Church for centuries. Yes "fostered." How else would you describe an institution that knows about crimes committed, talks the victims out of pressing charges (presumably), then moves the criminal to a new location where unsuspecting innocents are waiting to be sodomized?

This is a crime of unspeakable dimensions. Not only are children being abused physically but they are also being psychologically impaired for life. A "holy man", a man whose sanction they require to pave their way to the hereafter, is trampling their trust. How many of these subhuman predators have used the threat of hellfire to get children to compromise themselves?

I have read the Boston Globe and other papers as they describe the depths that these priests have plumbed and the cowardly cover-up by the church officers. No mention is made of the reason that drives these perverts to prey on innocent children. It is as obvious as it is unmentionable.

Priests may not marry. Priests must remain celibate. These men who council parishioners on birth control, who mediate between marriage partners are themselves expected to remain totally inexperienced in sexual matters.

If we dismiss the notion that the priesthood attracts pedophiles, which I do, then the only conclusion is that this "no marriage" policy is to blame.

Of course it is.

The church and every supposedly "disillusioned" Catholic know it. How any parent can send their child to Sunday school and not be consumed with anxiety is beyond me.

Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has reluctantly been forced to let go of some elements of its medieval thinking. They no longer practice "simony," which allowed the church to raise money by selling "get out of hell free cards." They don't excommunicate people anymore for practicing birth control.

The Church still excludes women from participating as equal partners in their own religion. And they knowingly put children at risk.

The Archdiocese of Boston is currently cleaning house and giving up the worst of their holy criminals. The cause of this ongoing priestly misconduct will not be addressed. How many thousands of children will be scarred before these primeval church doctrines are held up to the light in Rome? Don't hold your breath.

Where is the outrage?

Why don't priests who properly use their offices to comfort and guide the spiritual lives of their parishioners come down on these wolves in priest's clothing like holy warriors? Lay Catholics themselves seem to be tsk-tsking at the "wayward" behavior of their priests instead of screaming for justice and punishment.

We can only hope that the helpless victims of these crimes will eventually find a place in heaven. The hellish alternative will surely put them in contact with priests once again