More Catholic Church Insults to Sex Abuse Victims

I bookmarked this story a day or so ago and have been thinking about how to comment. I guess where I come down is that a garden that honors victims of clergy sexual abuse doesn't measure up to a hill of beans when the Popes - yes I mean the less than saintly John Paul II and Nazi Pope Benedict XVI - bishops and cardinals that allowed the sex abuse scandal to fester for decades and/or tried to cover it up remain in office and/or are treated as figures to be pampered and respected. If I were an abuse victim, I suspect that I'd tell the Oakland, California diocese to go do something rude and crude to itself.

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If the Roman Catholic Church were truly sorry and contrite (which it is NOT) for the world wide sexual abuse scandal, dozens and dozens of bishops and cardinals would have been removed from office. Likewise, instead of litigating tooth and claw against abuse victims, the Church would have voluntarily made settlements with those who had the lives ruined or severely damaged by predator priests. If Bishop Vigneron were truly sincere in his words, he would be publicly demanding that Rome act to remove bishops from office and publicly condemn former bishops and cardinals involved in the cover up. sadly, no one in the Church hierarchy has the guts or integrity to make such a public demand. Dedicating a garden is disingenuous at best in my view. Here are some highlights from CNN:

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Terrie Light stands outside Oakland's stunning new modern cathedral in a first-of-its-kind garden that honors victims of clergy sexual abuse. She was abused by a priest at age 7. "It's a really small, important physical representation of a horrific thing that happened in many places," she told CNN.

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At the garden's dedication on October 11, Allen Vigneron, bishop of Oakland, once again offered the church's apology. "To the hurts of so many innocents, we preferred the darkness to the light. And for that, I again make heartfelt apologies to all victim survivors. As it says on the plaques at the entries, 'We remember and we affirm: never again.'" Terrie Light, who has been a vocal advocate for abuse victims for many years, says getting the garden built was not an easy process. "We got silence, then we got passed around," she says.

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The garden is not what survivors had originally envisioned -- a lush, English garden with flowers and trees. But they are pleased with the outcome. "It's a very simple space," Light says. Most victims of abuse in the Oakland area favored the garden; a few opposed it, feeling that it implied closure to a problem that still exists.

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The problem very much still exists and I doubt that we will ever see anyone in positions of authority punished. Just look at Cardinal Law formerly of the Boston Archdiocese. He resigned that office but now has a major position and lives in lavish luxury at the Vatican. The moral bankruptcy of the Church continues undiminished.