help is on the way

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 20, 2009

So you're a diocese whose bishop was arrested with kiddie-pix on his laptop. What's the pastoral response? Obvious. You help your priests get in touch with their feelings.

Priests in the diocese of Antigonish had the opportunity to express their feelings about the child pornography charges against Bishop Raymond Lahey during a two-day counselling session in North Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Rev. Paul Abbass, the spokesman for the diocese, said nearly 50 priests attended the sessions to speak about their feelings with peers and discuss ways to intervene with parishioners.

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Abbass said a psychologist from Ontario's Southdown Institute acted as a facilitator at the sessions and spoke about the challenges of the vocation as well as the issues of child pornography and pedophilia.

First question: would the Diocese call in the Southdown Institute for the feeling fest if it had the slightest fragment of belief that Lahey were innocent?

Second question: since the Diocese is officially treating its own clergy as victims of a bad bishop, and that bad bishop is suspended pre-trial like a piñata taking daily swats from the media, why can't it twist his episcopal elbow into his episcopal ear until he agrees to plead guilty? Think of it as helping the bishop get in touch with his feelings. And the psychologist could take the day off.