Saturday, November 20, 2010

More Hypocrsiy from the U. S. Catholic Bishops; Nuns Rebuke Bishops

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops just elected Timothy M. Dolan (pictured at left)as its leader. The decision is distressing for at least two reasons: (1) Dolan is a part of the reactionary, 13th century knowledge embracing element in the Church hierarchy and (2) as Bishop Accountability points out, his record on handling sexual abuse matters is abysmal. Even the National Coalition of American Nuns is distressed by the bishops' actions and their lack of any action to address the gay teen suicide problem for which the Roman Catholic Church assuredly bears a goodly amount of responsibility. The Church continues to claim it is seriously addressing the sexual abuse scandal, yet it continues to leave those who were part of the problem in charge. It's the height of disingenuousness and hypocrisy. First, here are highlights on what Bishop Accountability has to say on Dolan:
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Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s mishandling of the Msgr. Wallace Harris case, and his continuation of Cardinal Edward Egan’s policies, raise serious questions
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[I]n his mishandling of the Harris case, Dolan has chosen secrecy over transparency, and the comfort of an accused monsignor over the safety of children and the healing of victims. He has also given the worst possible example to the bishops he will now lead. New York under Dolan is an archdiocese where hundreds of credibly accused priests remain concealed by the Egan policies that Dolan has continued. In many other dioceses, bishops have posted the names of accused priests on the diocesan website. Dolan has not.
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Bishop Accountability has a full listing of Dolan's misdeeds here. Meanwhile, here are details on the condemnation of the U. S. Bishops by the National Coalition of American Nuns (which suggests that the Church would be far better off with women priests/bishops in charge) via the Washington Blade:
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An organization of American Catholic nuns has denounced the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for reiterating its opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage at its annual meeting in Baltimore this week while remaining silent on anti-gay bullying and gay teen suicide.
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In a statement released Tuesday, the National Coalition of American Nuns accused the bishops of acting like “blinded Pharisees” for waging a fight against marriage equality while failing to speak out on gay teen suicides brought about by school bullying and harassment.
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“More than a month has gone by since the media broke the news about a series of gay suicides,” the nuns’ statement says. “During that time, the U.S. Catholic Bishops failed to make a single statement regarding these tragic, preventable deaths.”
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The statement adds, “Not one bishop’s voice was raised to condemn a culture where youths are bullied for being who God created them to be and are sometimes pushed by society’s judgments to attempt suicide.”
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“The National Coalition of Catholic Nuns calls on all U.S. Catholics to rise up and say, ‘Enough, enough!” says the nuns’ statement. “No more discriminatory rhetoric and repressive measures from men who lay heavy burdens on the shoulders of others and do not lift one finger of human kindness and compassion,” it says “We all need to work for a holy and just society and church.”
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Sister Jeannine Gramick, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights from the D.C.-Baltimore area, is a board member and executive coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns.

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