In February, a Philadelphia grand jury indicted four priests of sex abuse and found evidence that an additional 37 had also abused. The panel that reviews sex abuse cases for the Philadelphia archdiocese was as surprised as anyone. In an article in Commonweal, a lay Catholic publication, the chairwoman of the review board criticizes the archdiocese, saying it “failed miserably at being open and transparent.”
The problem, writes Ana Maria Catanzaro, was the clergy’s attitude of superiority. She writes:
So why haven’t they gotten it? In a word, clericalism. In his book Clericalism: The Death of the Priesthood, George B. Wilson, SJ, articulates “unexamined attitudes” typical of clerical cultures: “Because I belong to the clergy I am automatically credible. I don’t have to earn my credibility by my performance.” And: “Protecting our image is more important than confronting the situation.” And: “We don’t have to be accountable to the laity. We are their shepherds.”
Read The Fog of Scandal on CommonwealMagazine.org.
Ox Drover
I will say a great AAAAAAA-Men!!!!! To this! I think Ms Catanzaro’s article (the part quoted above specifically written by Mr. Wilson) sums it up…the attitude of superiority, the attitude of entitlement, the attitude of always being right, the attitude of protecting the IMAGE…sounds sort of sociopathic doesn’t it? The next to the last sentence in the above quote. “We don’t have to be accountable…” should finish with ANYONE BUT OURSELVES.
In fact, this whole thing of such”altruism” taken to extremes –doing a bad thing for “the greater good” (protecting the church in this case)is exactly what I think Barbara Oakley was talking about in her research about “pathological altruism.”
dancingnancies
Hey all. I just wanted to share with you this very important ( in my opinion ) link entitled “Beware the Open-Ended Question: an Opportunity for Anchors!” … it deals with being aware and knowing when you are being manipulated ( especially via NLP, something S/N/P’s shamelessly use- remember this link I posted a long while ago? http://www.nlpmind.com/images/ss.gif Or if you don’t it’s okay, but glance at it and it basically illustrates NLP seduction in a nutshell )
I found it to be very valuable, the more you know- the less chance you have in being manipulated unscrupulously. The author of the article writes :
Here’s the link to the article Beware the Open Ended Question : An Opportunity for Anchors!
Ox Drover
Dear Dancing,
These are great articles, thanks for the links!!!!!
Ox Drover
http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-29/news/29829638_1_priests-sexual-abuse-sexual-assaults
Glad these cases are proceeding on.
behind_blue_eyes
I went to a Catholic University outside Philadelphia and I was looking at the names to see if I recognize any.
Back_from_the_edge
I am scared to look.
Ox Drover
What I think is so good about this deal in Philly, is that they are not just indicting the ones who did the crimes, but the ones who KNEW AND HID IT….
Funny thing, if I knew that you robbed a bank and I didn’t turn you in,and helped you hide that you did it, I am an accessory after the fact and EQUALLY GUILTY with you.
Why are these bishops who hid these things any less guilty than I would be?
behind_blue_eyes
Ox;
Politics. Local DAs do not want to raise the ire of potential voters who may view them as “anti-Catholic.” Keep in mind I was raised Catholic and went to 16 years of Catholic school.
Ox Drover
Oh, yea, I know….justice be damned, protect the bad guys so they and their friends will vote for you…to heck with the kids who were injured.
Matt
OxDrover:
What I find so astonishing about this “independent panel” is that when the members were told that they were investigating issues of canon law that not a one of them didn’t get up out of his seat and make a bee-line to the DA’s office. It is obvious to even the most oblivious observer that they were being made party to a cover-up right off the bat. In 2003 it was apparent nationwide that there was a serious problem in the Catholic church in America. I had a friend who is a civil attorney who by 2001 was representing numerous plaintiffs who had been sexually abused by priests.