A friend sends along the following cogent thoughts reflecting on the past year:
Have you noticed a few things about the hierarchy over the past year, namely:
1) While bishops have resigned, there have been no real apologies, nothing even close to Jimmy Swaggart’s, “I’ve siiiinnnned!”
2) Not a single bishop has accused himself of “lying” or “covering up.”
3) Not a single bishop acknowledging that he was in any way personally compromised when he made certain bad decisions.
4) Not a single bishop, upon resignation for lewd and lascivious behavior, ever acknowledging that he surrounded himself with indecent priests who were appointed precisely because they themselves were compromised.
5) Not a single prelate or other Church official calling for a “post-mortem” investigation to answer fundamental questions: What went wrong? When? Who knew it? When did they know it? Are guilty people still in charge?
6) Not a single bishop concerned about the pastoral practices of offending priests: What did they teach? How did they counsel penitents? The assumption has always been that they were good priests with this little corner of their lives out of kilter.
7) Not a single priest (that we know of) who has resigned from a chancery position in conscience.
Conclusion: This is not a “learning curve” problem, Father Groeschel. This is a sign of profound corruption in the Church.
