The endless thirst for controversy and tabloid trauma seems to be a staple of the human condition. We can never get enough – that is, until enough was more than we could manage from the outset. The sheer enormity of Catholic clergy child abuse, and its ripple effect throughout Western culture, has rendered a peculiar mindset: one that has institutionalized betrayal nearly passing for mundane. These issues have been swept and smothered under the rug for decades; even diluted into societal touchstones and routine jokes delivered with a what’re-ya-gonna-do helplessness.
But the rug seems to be bucking over a quake just now. Pope Benedict XVI, himself, has been directly linked with the vile shell game of abuser-shuffling, these allegations coming fast on the heels of Ireland’s report on the scathing results of a years’ long inquiry into cruelty and sexual violence in Catholic churches, schools, and orphanages. And the outcry, both organized and individual, has an outlet now in the internet and the 24 hour news circus that might very well be the seismic catalyst for real change.
My friend, author Kim Michele Richardson, lays out her appeal to the highest post in Rome, backed by years of personal study and experience.
Have a read and let your conscience guide you.
Because I Love To Hear Myself Type 