Random Thoughts
I don't know if I care for the fact that my niece and nephew are more likely to learn in their history books about some foreigner like John Calvin than they are about a real American like Thomas Jefferson.
Let's teach Texas schoolchildren about the Tejanos who fought against Santa Ana because they are part of the history that actually happened, not because we wish to do local Hispanic politicians a favor. After all, some people are going to hate Mexicans no matter what kind of history book they read. So let's stop worrying about those people and concentrate on the truth.
There are many reasons I remain a Catholic but agreement with the Vatican's latest speeches is not one of them.
If I worked for the Vatican right now, I would worry less about The New York Times and more about lightning bolts.
Many of the people who have been most critical of the Vatican's handling of the clerical abuse scandal are Catholic. And it is precisely because they have respect for the odd notion that a Catholic priest should be held to the same moral standard as a Catholic layperson -- if not higher -- that they are so critical. After all, if we cannot expect high morals from a Catholic priest, then what is the point of having Catholic priests?
People may be willing to shrug off any differences they have with the Vatican about birth control, abortion or gay rights but they do tend to take it seriously when it involves the possibility of their children getting hurt. And calling them names is not going to change that.
I don't know if I care for the fact that my niece and nephew are more likely to learn in their history books about some foreigner like John Calvin than they are about a real American like Thomas Jefferson.
Let's teach Texas schoolchildren about the Tejanos who fought against Santa Ana because they are part of the history that actually happened, not because we wish to do local Hispanic politicians a favor. After all, some people are going to hate Mexicans no matter what kind of history book they read. So let's stop worrying about those people and concentrate on the truth.
There are many reasons I remain a Catholic but agreement with the Vatican's latest speeches is not one of them.
If I worked for the Vatican right now, I would worry less about The New York Times and more about lightning bolts.
Many of the people who have been most critical of the Vatican's handling of the clerical abuse scandal are Catholic. And it is precisely because they have respect for the odd notion that a Catholic priest should be held to the same moral standard as a Catholic layperson -- if not higher -- that they are so critical. After all, if we cannot expect high morals from a Catholic priest, then what is the point of having Catholic priests?
People may be willing to shrug off any differences they have with the Vatican about birth control, abortion or gay rights but they do tend to take it seriously when it involves the possibility of their children getting hurt. And calling them names is not going to change that.
Labels: Catolicismo, Educación, El Vaticano, Historia, Pensamientos Aleatorios I, Tejanas y Tejanos
posted by Tonio Kruger at 9:34 PM
2 Comments:
In my parish, St. John the Evangelist in Goshen, NY, the first major pedophile scandal materialized in the early nineties. The priest in question, "Father Ed" had been molesting boys in their early teens. To say that the parishioners were traumatized by this would be an understatement. They were devastated. Then something wondrous happened....
Father Ed was eventually replaced by Father Trevor Nichols. Father Trevor had been an Anglican in merrie old England when he converted to Catholicism. On becoming a Catholic was transferred to Saint John's - WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS! A married priest! WITH TWO KIDS!
You want to hear the punch line? Our little parish did not implode. The sun did not fall from the sky. Huge cracks did not appear in the earth's surface. In fact, it was nice having them. They were - and are to this day - deeply beloved by the people of St. John's.
Allowing priests to marry would transform the Catholic Church. Having a married priest and his lovely family in our midst certainly transformed the people of St. John's.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
I'm not quite convinced married priests would be the ideal solution to the present scandal--after all, I've met a lot of women whose married parents proved to be less than perfect--but it's a start and it certainly beats anything the Vatican appears to be coming up with.
Then again the Catholics who taught my Adult Confirmation course back in the 1990s were predicting that to be a logical step way back then--and little seems to have been done about it since then.
We'll see.
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