tiny, tiny, tiny mortal sins
By Diogenes (articles ) | December 10, 2003 3:03 PM
Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said mass at the parish of the Rev. Thomas Feldhaus and addressed the parishioners about the charges that their pastor inappropriately touched a boy on two occasions in 1979.
“As you all know by now, accusations of misbehavior have been brought forward against your pastor,” Pilarczyk told parishioners. “These accusations are about things that allegedly happened nearly twenty-five years ago.”
Feldhaus denies the charges, and deserves a full and fair hearing, and Abp. Pilarczyk is right to make it clear that the accusations are yet to be investigated. That said, he does the Archdiocese no favors in trivializing the alleged incident by the term "misbehavior" -- which suggests that the charge is much ado about nothing. The alleged victim refuses to speak at any time with anyone connected with the Church, indicating that he, at any rate, feels the damage was serious.
Nor do I see why the archbishop should think that mention of the time factor ("nearly twenty-five years ago ") is relevant. Even if he privately believes the victim is a coward for not speaking up sooner, he should communicate to the faithful not skepticism or peevishness directed at the complainant but resolve to get at the facts. Should the allegations prove true, the point at issue is not why the victim waited to so long to protest, but why the priest let two decades go by without finding the guts to get help for his victim and for himself.
|
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus: Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you! |
Progress toward our June expenses ($15,085 to go):
$30,000.00
$14,914.93
50%
50%
|
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: -
Dec. 10, 2003 10:29 PM ET USA
"Mistakes have been made."
-
Posted by: -
Dec. 10, 2003 9:03 PM ET USA
Pilarczyk is presenting the "party line". He is the perfect example of what is wrong with U.S. Bishops, of which he was a leader for several years. He knows that it matters not how he addresses this problem. He is untouchable and fears nothing from the laity or the press.
-
Posted by: Pseudodionysius -
Dec. 10, 2003 3:47 PM ET USA
We are an Easter people.
