Head On, Heart Sore
At least he's not ignoring the pestilence that has so long plagued the clergy of Roman Catholicism. That vow of eternal chastity in obeisance to a higher claim of abstinence according to the individual's adherence to scriptural theology that lays claim to virginal purity in those who would come close unto God.No longer to be hushed up and silenced, pushed back into the dark interior of refusal to acknowledge that such evil deeds could erupt from those who give of the Sacred Host in august ceremony.
Pope Benedict XVI has now proclaimed how "deeply ashamed" he is as a result of the scandals visited upon his pre-eminent church. The trust between cleric and parishioner narrowed to suspicion on the basis of prior flouting of church law and humanity's expectations of the good shepherds of the eternal flock.
The violation of children's innocence, their introduction to sordidly harmful trysts, the diminishment of their futures as well-rounded and loving human beings. There is no turning back that particular clock. It is done. The image of the church, her sterling reputation forever tarnished.
Not that such outrages hadn't happened in the past, either long-distant or remotely near. But it is in human nature to believe that such matters are anomalies, aberrations that occur but rarely. It is in human nature to believe that those who pose as godly, will behave in a goodly manner.
Most particularly with those among them whose youth, awkward, questing and tender, everyone agrees must be sheltered from harm.
The pontiff now has given his promise to "absolutely exclude" pedophiles from his clergy. Stricter screening will be henceforth drawn up as a procedure by which potential sexual malefactors can be identified and isolated.
As though it wasn't common enough knowledge within the clerical infrastructure that such sexual misadventures that targeted the immature flock weren't fairly commonplace. As though there wasn't a silent agreement among the clergy that those among them who "erred" would be sheltered.
And those erred against, fearful of making a public spectacle of themselves, fearful that their accusations would not be believed against the more believable word of a cleric, left to suffer their own special agony of trust betrayed, innocence besmirched, futures horrendously impacted, psyches destroyed.
But this singular man who hosts Catholicism's highest office declares publicly, and with unassailable personal conviction that this dire illness that has so wracked his church can and will be expunged.
"We will do all that is possible to heal this wound", he declared. "It's difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future."
What is one to do? Trust and hope that this man's earnest pledge to make amends, to ensure that no such betrayals of the trusting vulnerable will re-occur, will become reality. Is there any other choice, after all?
Labels: Religion, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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