Saturday, April 10, 2010

Bishop James Conley Defends the Pope

Bishop James Conley has a good article titled, In Defense of the Pope, over at First Things. Here are a few excerpts:
"...Sexual abuse of children cries to heaven for justice. It violates everything that is good and holy. It mocks everything Christ said in the gospels. Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to the innocence of a little child. And for a Catholic priest to commit a crime and a sin like this is profoundly evil..."

"...It's certainly true that some Catholic priests perpetrated this evil on the innocent in years past. And too many Catholic bishops ignored or failed to grasp the gravity of this crime in addressing the problem. These men are gravely accountable to God for their actions.

But no other community or institution has examined itself on this painful issue as rigorously as the Catholic Church. No other group has put into place zero tolerance policies for sexual abuse and created safe environment programs like the Catholic Church in America, to the point where the Church is one of the most secure environments anywhere for children and young people.

And no person has done more to rid the Church of the evil of sexual abuse than the current successor of St. Peter, Benedict XVI. As archbishop of Munich thirty years ago, then as the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now as the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict has always been dedicated to his responsibilities of purifying the Church in this area..."

"...No other world religious leader, Jewish, Muslim or other, would be treated in this way. Contempt for the Catholic Church—and don't be fooled; the contempt is directed not just at Church leaders, but at ordinary believers as well—no matter how vulgar or bitter, is the last acceptable prejudice. Why? Because the Catholic Church is one of the few remaining voices that speaks effectively against the moral confusion of our day. The Catholic faith does not and will not bless the damaging moral path some people now seem to prefer..."

"...Discipleship involves suffering. But suffering does accomplish a powerfully good thing: It clarifies who is willing to suffer for Christ's Church and her mission, and who is not."

Read the entire article here.

2 comments:

  1. Good Post! The outright anti-Catholic sentiment and lack of journalistic integrity by the secular media in their coverage of these sex abuse cases is extremely disturbing to me. I have been posting on this subject, also.

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  2. Bishop Conley was my spiritual advisor when I was in Rome in the UD program. I can't even begin to tell what an amazing and devout man he is. He is also a convert. One of the most understanding men I have ever met. Anyways, I am proud to see that he has written a fine article.

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