Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary of Detroit and one of the most liberal and perhaps even heterodox bishops in the country, says he was sexually abused by a priest when he was younger. You could ask why he’s suddenly bringing it up now, four years after the Scandal broke into the national news, but there could be many reasons not to bring it up. Some people deal with such things by repressing them deeply, not dealing with them. Or they may consider it nobody else’s business and don’t want to trot out their life difficulties for general knowledge.
Evidently, it is the lifting of the statute of limitations on filing sex abuse claims that compelled Gumbleton to go public now. He told the Washington Post: “It could cost the church some money, but it also could bring a great deal of healing to a lot of victims.” The Church? And for financial purposes who is the Church? Us! Everyone in the pews. The bishops don’t have millions of dollars of their own money stashed away. Every penny in the coffers of every diocese comes from Catholics like you and me. I’m glad Gumbleton can be so flippant and free with our money that he thinks it should just be given away willy-nilly.
Are “minor” and “inappropriate” the right words?
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